Alexithymia is characterized by difficulties identifying and describing feelings, impoverished fantasy life, and concrete and poorly introspective thinking. Alexithymic patients have been reported to show a stable deficit with regard to processing and regulating emotions. Eating disorders are characterized by a persistent disturbance of eating or eating-related behavior that significantly impairs physical health or psychosocial functioning. Like alexithymic patients, patients with eating disorders show the impaired capacity to process and regulate emotions. There is a robust body of literature showing patients with eating disorders are more alexithymic than healthy controls. Specifically, patients with eating disorders experience difficulties identifying and describing emotions. Childhood maltreatment can increase the risk for depression and alexithymia, which can in turn lead to disordered eating symptoms. Also, higher levels of alexithymia are correlated with a less favorable clinical outcome in patients with eating disorder. Therefore, treatments to help processing and regulating emotions of eating disorder patients with pronounced alexithymic traits may seem to lead to a higher possibility of recovery.
Affective Symptoms* ; Depression ; Eating* ; Fantasy ; Humans ; Thinking

The purpose of this study was to develop the CORE Program for sex offenders and to determine its effectiveness. The CORE Program was designed with an aim to achieve cognitive restructuring, improve the ability to empathize in interpersonal relationships, and enhance self-esteem and intimacy. We conducted this program over 48 sessions for 28 sex offenders. The effectiveness of the program was evaluated using the Interpersonal Responsiveness Index (IRI), Self-esteem Questionnaire (SEQ), UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLALS), Coping Using Sex Inventory (CUSI), Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (RMAS), and Wilson's Sex Fantasy Questionnaire (WSFQ). The data were analyzed using paired t-tests. Our results showed no significant changes in the SEQ, UCLALS, and IRI scores after the treatment program. However, the scores for the CUSI, RMAS, and WSFQ significantly improved after this program. In this paper, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the CORE Program for sex offenders. We also discuss the limitations of our study and provide suggestions for future research. Our findings indicate that this treatment program should be provided to sex offenders for preventing recidivism.
Criminals ; Fantasy ; Humans ; Loneliness ; Paraphilic Disorders ; Rape ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: Alexithymia refers to a specific disturbance in psychic functioning characterized by difficulties in capacity to verbalize affect and to elaborate fantasies. Although initially described in the context of psychosomatic illness, alexithymic characteristics may be observed in patients with a wide range of medical and psychiatric disorders. OBJECTIVE: The present study was to evaluate the relationship between the alexithymia and bronchial asthma, and to compare the results with finding from a group of acute infectious illness subjects. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Alexithymia was measured with on Korean translation of the TAS-20 (Toronto Alexithymic Scale-20 Korea version) and the Scored Archetypal 9 Test(SAT9). Thirty patients with bronchial asthma and thirty patients with acute infectious illness completed these tests. The SAT9 and the TAS-20K scores were compared in the both group, considering the age, gender, education level, and duration of illness. RESULT: Bronchial asthma patients had significantly higher score of on the TAS-20K and SAT9 compared with those with infectious illness(p<0.05). The two scales correlated in expected direction. Alexithymia was significantly related to education level(SAT9: r=0.335, TAS-20K: r=-0.376, p<0.01) and duration of illness(asthma group, SAT9: r=-0.383, TAS-20K: r=0.288, p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Bronchial asthma patients had significantly higher alexithymic scores. This finding suggests that psycliathic consultation may be considered for the management of asthmatic patients with alexithyria.
Affective Symptoms* ; Asthma* ; Education ; Fantasy ; Humans ; Korea ; Weights and Measures

The authors studied neuroticism, using Eysenck's Maudsley Personality Inventory (MPI), in 3,893 male college students and 1,976 female college students of Yeungnam University. There was significant difference in the mean averages of total neuroticism scores between male and female students, male students scored 13.45±.44, female students scored 16.89±7.19. The items relating to (16) Do you sometimes feel happy, sometimes depressed, without any apparent reason? (38) Do you daydream a lot? (1) Do you have dizzy turns? (2) Do you get palpitations or thumping in your heart? And (35) Do you worry about your health? were scored highly in male, and the items relating to (16) Do you sometimes feel happy, sometimes depressed, without any apparent reason? (1) Do you have dizzy turns? (38) Do you daydream a lot? (8) Do you worry too long over humiliating experiences? (9) Do you consider yourself rather a nervous person? Were scored highly in female. Three hundreds and ninety eight male students (10.3%) showed seriously high neuroticism scores of 24 or higher, while 256 female student (13.0%) showed high neuroticism scores of 26 or higher. In a comparison between male students in different school grades, freshman showed the highest level of neuroticism scores. Among the psychosocial factors, there were strong tendencies toward higher neuroticism scores in the students who were dissatisfied with their colleges or departments, and who had pessimistic views of self-image in the past, present, or future in both groups. The male students whose educational fees were paid by their parents, and whose spending money per month was under 10,000 won, showed higher neuroticism scores. The female students whose educational fees were paid by their brothers or sisters, and whose maturation locations were U-P, and who resided in dormitory or other residencies, shoed higher neuroticism scores.
Fantasy ; Fees and Charges ; Female ; Heart ; Humans ; Internship and Residency ; Male ; Parents ; Personality Inventory ; Psychology ; Siblings

This study investigated the effect of leuprolide acetate treatment on sex offenders' sexual fantasies and behaviors, as well as on their criminogenic psychological character and the risk of second conviction. The study participants consisted of 22 sex offenders who were confined to the National Institute of Forensic Psychiatry. Among them, 9 patients were given off-label leuprolide acetate for three months to inhibit sexual impulses, whereas the others were not given any medication. All sex offenders underwent two psychological evaluations; the first evaluation was conducted before starting medication, and the second was conducted after medication. Wilson's Sex Fantasy Questionnaire (WSFQ), the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (RMAS), and the Endorsement of Violence Scale (EVS) were used for evaluation. Leuprolide acetate-treated sex offenders showed a statistically significant decline in the total WSFQ score (p < 0.05). However, the RMAS and EVS scores did not differ after leuprolide acetate treatment, indicating that cognitive distortions like rape myth acceptance and endorsement of violence were unchanged after leuprolide medication. Leuprolide acetate may reduce deviant sexual impulses and fantasies, as suggested by previous research form Korea and other countries. However, it probably cannot alter cognitive distortion. On the basis of these findings, we recommend a combination of leuprolide medication and other therapies, like cognitive behavioral therapy, for the treatment of paraphilic sex offenders.
Cognitive Therapy ; Criminals ; Fantasy ; Forensic Psychiatry ; Humans ; Korea ; Leuprolide ; Paraphilic Disorders ; Rape ; Violence ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVE: The Empathy Quotient (EQ) is a self-reported test developed by Baron-Cohen et al. (2004) to measure the cognitive and affective aspects of empathy. The purpose of this study was to develop a Korean version of EQ and to establish its psychometric properties based on a representative Korean sample. METHODS: The Korean version of EQ and its correspondence with another popular measure of empathy, the Korean version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), were evaluated in a sample of 478 volunteers (156 men, 322 women; mean age, 27.2 years). A test-retest study was conducted at 1 month on a selected sample of 20 subjects from the original sample. Correlation and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. RESULTS: The test-retest reliability was good, and the internal consistency was acceptable (Cronbach's alpha=0.78). Positive correlations were found between the EQ and three subfactors of the IRI, perspective taking, empathic concern, and fantasy, and the total EQ score was negatively correlated with the personal distress subscale. The confirmatory analyses suggested that the three-factor structure offered a good fit to the data. CONCLUSION: These findings support the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the EQ.
Child ; Autism Spectrum Disorder ; Empathy ; Fantasy ; Humans ; Male ; Psychometrics ; Reproducibility of Results

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper was to examine the relationships between clinical practice stress and burnout, and the mediating role of empathy in nursing students. METHODS: A cross-sectional research design was employed. One hundred seventeen nursing students completed questionnaires on clinical practice stress, empathy (perspective-taking, fantasy, empathic concern and personal distress) and burnout in December 2017. IBM SPSS Statistics 23 was used and descriptive statistics, frequency, Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression were conducted. Baron & Kenny method and Sobel test were adopted for analysis of the mediation effect (personal distress of empathy). RESULTS: The mean scores of clinical practice stress and burnout were 3.45 and 43.09, and perspective-taking, fantasy, empathic concern and personal distress of empathy were 2.67, 2.42, 2.64 and 2.19, respectively. The highest relationship between clinical practice stress and empathy was personal distress of empathy (r=.32, p < .001). Burnout was positively associated with clinical practice stress and personal distress of empathy (r=.22, p=.015; r=.51, p < .001). Personal distress of empathy demonstrated a complete mediating effect on the relationship between clinical practice stress and burnout (Z=3.22, p=.001). CONCLUSION: These results showed that decreasing personal distress of empathy is important for nursing students, and may help in reducing clinical practice stress and burnout.
Burnout, Professional ; Empathy* ; Fantasy ; Humans ; Methods ; Negotiating* ; Nursing* ; Research Design ; Stress, Psychological ; Students, Nursing*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate current status of psychosexual function in adults with cerebral palsy (CP) by Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory (DSFI), which is a widely used multidimensional measure of sexual functioning. METHOD: Forty-two adults with CP and 150 healthy controls participated in this study. All participants were interviewed with DSFI, which consisted of 10 domains such as sexual information, experience, drive, attitude, psychological symptoms, affect, gender role, fantasy, body image and satisfaction. RESULTS: Adults with CP showed significantly lower scores in sexual information, experience and satisfaction, and higher scores in psychological distress symptoms and conservative attitude, compared with controls (p<0.05). Especially, unmarried men with CP had a significant sexual dysfunction in most substantive domains of DSFI (p<0.05). However, there was no statistical difference in married men, unmarried women and married women, compared with normal controls. Sexual experience, drive, body image and satisfaction were significantly distressed in non-ambulatory CP, compared with functional ambulators (p<0.05). The score of sexual satisfaction had a significant relationship with those of sexual experience, attitude, psychological symptoms and body image in adults with CP (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Adults with CP showed a distress in psychosexual functioning, especially in unmarried men and non- ambulators. Therefore, active interventions of sexual counseling and education will be helpful for enhancing their sexual function.
Adult* ; Body Image ; Cerebral Palsy* ; Counseling ; Education ; Fantasy ; Female ; Gender Identity ; Humans ; Male ; Single Person

INTRODUCTION: The objective of the present study was to investigate the defense style of insomnia patients and to grasp the differences in defense style between primary insomnia patients and insomnia patients with history of major depressive disorder. METHODS: Forty three subjects with insomnia (11 subjects with primary insomnia and 32 subjects with major depressive disorder) and 138 control subjects participated in this study. To diagnose insomnia and major depressive disorder, interviews including structured clinical interview for DSM-IV (SCID-IV) were done. To assess the defense style, self-reported Korean version of Defense Style Questionnaire (K-DSQ) were completed by the participants. RESULTS: Compared to normal controls, subjects with insomnia used more acting out (t=3.25, p<0.01), consumption (t=2.66, p<0.01), fantasy (t=3.51, p<0.001), resignation (t=5.42, p<0.001), suppression (t=3.28, p<0.01), projection (t=3.92, p< 0.01), splitting (t=4.31, p<0.01), undoing (t=2.66, p<0.01), withdrawal (t=6.72, p<0.001) and isolation (t=3.80, p<0.001), and less omnipotence (t=4.08, p<0.001) and humor (t=3.20, p<0.01). Compared to normal controls, subjects with primary insomnia used more undoing and withdrawal. Compared to subjects with primary insomnia, subjects with insomnia with history of major depressive disorder used more resignation and withdrawal, and less humor. CONCLUSION: In the current study, there were differences in defenses between primary insomnia patients and insomnia patients with major depressive disorder history. To evaluate the pattern of defenses through the K-DSQ might provide important clues to differentiate these two conditions.
Acting Out ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Fantasy ; Hand Strength ; Humans ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

According to Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development health statistics data, out-of-pocket expenditures account for 36.8% of current health expenditures in Korea, in contrast to the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development average of 20.3%. The government has announced the implementation of a new healthcare policy to reduce out-of-pocket expenditures. Korea already has a universal coverage system for most essential health care services. Even though health services based on out-of-pocket expenditures are usually optional, and are supported by lower levels of evidence, the National Health Insurance program has promised to cover all medical services except for cosmetic plastic surgery. This will drive more demand for optional health services and drain healthcare resources. Korea needs improvement of its quality care system instead of high-cost optional services, because of the rapid transition to an aging society.
Aging ; Delivery of Health Care* ; Fantasy* ; Health Expenditures ; Health Services ; Insurance Coverage ; Korea* ; National Health Programs ; Surgery, Plastic ; Universal Coverage