No abstract available.
Ego* ; Humans ; Hypochondriasis*

OBJECTIVES: Although verbal and social bullying is more common than physical school violence among secondary students, it's harmful influences have been underestimated. It is essential to investigate the risk factors of clinically referred bullied children with school maladjustment and psychiatric symptoms and the protective factors of the non-referred resilient children despite of being bullied for developing the anti-bullying program. METHODS: The questionnaire asking frequency and severity of being bullied socially, Kovacs Children's Depression Scale, and Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale were administered to 128 secondary students in Wonju and 65 secondary students referred for their school maladjustment to psychiatric outpatient clinic. Fifty-five students (boys: 19, girls: 36) of bullied non-clinical group and 42 students(boys: 21, girls: 21) of bullied clinical group were compared with their scores of being bullied, depression and self-concept, and the gender difference in those comparisons was studied. RESULTS: More negative self-concept and poorer relationship with family were noticed in the clinical group, despite of no difference in being-bullied score and depression score between the two. Five subscales of the self-concept, behavior, academic status, appearance, popularity and happiness were more negative in clinical group, but not with anxiety subscale. With coping strategy, there was no difference. Multiple regression analysis showed that depression score was accountable by negative self-concept only in the clinical group, and by appearance and anxiety in non-clinical group. And gender differences were not found in those all variables. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that the risk factor for school maladjustment occurred after being bullied socially is the negative self-concept, and the protective factor for resilient children is the supportive relationship within family.
Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Anxiety ; Bullying ; Child ; Depression ; Female ; Gangwon-do ; Happiness ; Humans ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk Factors ; Violence

OBJECTIVE: The negative symptoms of schizophrenia usually are not responsive to drug therapy to persist and make schizophrenics more difficult in their rehabilitation. The authors investigated the therapeutic effect of token economy(TET) for negative symptoms of schizophrenic patients, and attempted to develop a TET program f3r psychiatric wards in general hospital. METHODS: Negative subscale of PANSS was rated for 35 schizophrenics with negative symptoms as their main problems before and after short-term TET(less than 3 months). Therapeutic factors were identified by comparing patient and program variables between the achieved and the non-achieved group of each level of target behaviors. RESULTS: 1) Subtotal of negative subscale of PANSS was decreased from 31.57+/-4.32 at baseline to 20.66+/-4.63 artier treatment. With TET, symptoms of difficulty in abstract thinking' and 'stereotypic thinking' were less responsive than the other 5 items of the scale Also the dose of antipsychotics prescribed was reduced to 291.21+/-287.74mg/day from 487.58+/-372.79mg/day. 2) The achievement rate of level I (self-help) was 75%, level II (ward-activity) 78%, and level III (social activity/occupation) 68%, resulting in average 74% for all target behaviors. 3) On level II, dose of antipsychotics was lower, and on level III, number of admission was lower and female sex was more frequent in achieving patient group than nonachieving group. The rate of achievement was higher in case of special flood, reception, and outing with family applied as a reinforcer on level I, and reception on level II . CONCLUSION: These results showed that TET was effective for schizophrenic patients with negative symptoms in psychiatric ward. Further investigations to refine the individual program of TET will be needed far enhancement of it s therapeutic efficacy and smart application of it.
Antipsychotic Agents ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Rehabilitation ; Schizophrenia ; Token Economy*

OBJECTIVE: To examine the reliability and validity of the self-report Korean version of Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-Kr) in the community sample. METHODS: The SDQ-Kr was administered to a large sample of school children and adolescents (n=2814) and youth attendees of a psychiatric clinic (n=385) aged 11-16 years. To examine temporal stability, the same questionnaire was administered to a subsample of 167 school youths five to six weeks after the initial assessment. To examine the reliability, we calculated Cronbach's alpha coefficients for internal consistency and Pearson's correlations for test-retest stability. In order to evaluate the factorial structure of the SDQ-Kr items, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with varimax rotation. Finally, discriminant validity was examined by using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves employing the area under the curve (AUC) as an index of discriminant ability. RESULTS: Although the internal consistency of some subscales of the SDQ-Kr was somewhat less satisfactory (alpha coefficients; 0.28-0.54) than the English original, coefficients for the total difficulties scores approached sufficient levels (coefficients; 0.69). Other psychometric properties including discriminant validity (AUC for total difficulties and four subscales >0.7) were comparable to those obtained in other language studies. CONCLUSION: The self-report SDQ-Kr exhibited a low level of reliability, indicating that some items need to be further evaluated and revised to improve the psychometric properties. We suggest that the total difficulties score could be used with more confidence for screening possible mental health problems in youths.
Adolescent ; Child ; Humans ; Korea* ; Mass Screening ; Mental Health ; Psychometrics* ; Reproducibility of Results ; ROC Curve

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the mediating roles of uncontrolled eating and sedentary behaviours in the link of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and weight. METHODS: A total of 352 children in fifth and sixth grade participated in the present study by completing the self-rated Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire and Children of Alcoholics Screening Test during regular classes. An additional questionnaire completed by their parents provided information about the children's ADHD and emotional symptoms, sedentary behaviour based on screen time, and parental variables. The questionnaires were surveyed within one week after their schools' annual physical check-up. RESULTS: Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that uncontrolled eating was complete mediator in association between ADHD symptoms and body mass index (BMI) for boys, incomplete mediator for girls. However, screen time had no significant effect on the ADHD symptoms-BMI link for both gender. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that gender specific intervention programs may be need to help eating behaviour in children with ADHD and overweight.
Alcoholics ; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity* ; Body Mass Index ; Child ; Eating* ; Female ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Negotiating ; Overweight ; Parents

This study was designed to investigate the effect of no-smoking on the pattern of medication for 30 re-admitted psychotic patents in the no-smoking(smoking-prohibited) ward, who had been admitted and medicated previously in the smoking (smoking-allowed) ward, in Wonju Christian Hospital, by comparing daily mean dosage of antipsychotics, benztropine mesylate, and propranolol administered in smoking state and in no-smoking state of the same patients. The results were as follows: 1) The mean hospital stay was reduced to 46.0 days in no-smoking ward compared to 61.1 days in smoking-allowed ward. This means mean admission period was reduced significantly(p<0.05) and over two thirds of all subjects experienced reduction of hospital stay from 2 days to 92 days. 2) A statistically significant difference was fecund in the dosage of antipsychotics in all subjects. Calculated in terms of chlorpromazine equivalent, the daily mean was 296.8+/-180.7mg in no-smoking state, and 395.0+/-232.2mg in smoking state(p<.01), 3) In schizophrenics(n=13), the daily mean dosage of benztropine mesylate was 0.56+/-.62mg in no-smoking state and 0.14+/-0.21mg in smoking state, showing a significant difference(p<.05). In bipolar group, the mean dosage in no-smoking ward was also smaller than in smoking ward, though not significant. 4) The difference of the daily mean dosage of propranolol between two states was not significant. In conclusion, in no-smoking state psychotic patients required less hospital stays and significantly lower dosage of antipsychotics, and the schizophrenics required significantly higher dosage of benztropine mesylate for extrapyramidal symptoms. The authors suggest that psychiatric patients should be encouraged to stop smoking and recommend that psychiatrists monitor smoking state of their psychotic patients for proper and efficient drug therapy.
Antipsychotic Agents* ; Benztropine* ; Chlorpromazine ; Drug Therapy ; Gangwon-do ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Propranolol* ; Psychiatry ; Smoke ; Smoking

Under the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Republic of Korea, the National Autism and Developmental Disorder Centers for people with developmental disabilities are gradually expanding. The headquarters of the National Autism and Developmental Disorder Center provides support for education, training, and research, and several centers have been effectively operating since 2020. This study aimed to provide practical recommendations and guidelines for specialists such as clinical psychologists, child psychiatrists, allied professionals, community workers, and related administrators. It was developed as a guideline to promote early diagnosis, provide important information on integrated treatment, and assist people with developmental disabilities in Korea to make the best decisions for their quality of life.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to develop a Korean version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-Kr). METHODS: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a brief behavioural screening questionnaire that can be completed by the parents within 5 minutes and used to assess the psychopathology (prosocial behaviour, hyperactivity, emotional problems, conduct problems, and peer problems) of 4-16 year olds. The SDQ was translated into Korean, retranslated back to English, and corrected after discussion with the original developer and trial test. The reliability and validity of the SDQ-Kr was evaluated by working with 347 parents of nonclinical (n=98), pediatric outpatient (n=92), and psychiatric outpatient (n=157) children. RESULTS: Working with 62 parents of nonclinical children, the test-retest reliability of 5 subscales of SDQ-Kr was 0.94-0.84 (p<0.01). For 190 nonclinical and pediatric children, internal consistency of 5 subscales of SDQ-Kr was 0.80-0.50 (Cronba-ch's alpha). Factor analysis generated the five identical factors with the five subscales explaining 49.5% of total variance. For 347 children of nonclinical, pediatric, and psychiatric group, ANOVA showed that any two among the three groups was significantly different in subscales and total difficulties scores, except between pediatric and psychiatric children in emotional problems subscore (p<0.01). The discriminating rate among three groups was 75.5% in discriminant analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The Korean version of SDQ shows very similar psychometric performance to the original SDQ developed by Goodman. This study gives evidence of the usefulness of the SDQ-Kr as a promising screening instrument for epidemiological research and clinical purposes.
Analysis of Variance ; Child ; Discriminant Analysis ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Outpatients ; Parents ; Psychometrics ; Psychopathology ; Questionnaires* ; Reproducibility of Results

To determine the effects of excessive drinking and alcohol dependency on mortality and chronic health problems in a rural community in South Korea, this study represents a nested case-control study. In 1998, we conducted the Alcohol Dependence Survey (ADS), a population survey of a village in Korea. To measure the effects of alcohol on chronic health conditions and mortality over time, in 2004, we identified 290 adults from the ADS sample (N=1,058) for follow-up. Of those selected, 145 were adults who had alcohol problems, either alcohol dependence as assessed in the ADS by the Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire (N=59), or excessive drinking without dependency (N=86). Further 145 nondrinkers were identified, matching those with alcohol problems in age and sex. We revisited the village in 2004 and completed personal interviews with them. In multivariate logistic regressions, the rates of mortality and morbidity of chronic health conditions were three times greater for alcohol dependents compared with the rate for nondrinkers. Importantly, however, excessive drinking without dependency was not associated with the rates of either mortality or morbidity. Future investigations would benefit by attending more specifically to measures for alcohol dependence as well as measures for alcohol consumption.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Alcohol-Related Disorders/epidemiology ; Alcoholism/complications/*mortality ; Chronic Disease ; Female ; Humans ; Korea/epidemiology ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Rural Population ; Sex Factors ; Smoking/epidemiology

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of Metadate CD (MCD) when given to Korean children and adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We also explored the effects of the drug on diverse neurocognitive functions. METHODS: Ninety-one subjects with ADHD (mean age 8.6+/-2.2 years) were recruited at 6 outpatient clinics in Seoul, Korea. We used the ADHD Rating Scale (ARS), Clinical Global Impression (CGI), and comprehensive attention test (CAT) to measure the drug's effects. RESULTS: After 0.92+/-0.32mg/kg/day of MCD were administered for 57.4+/-7.6 days, there was a 48.5% reduction in the mean total ARS scores (p<.001). Fifty-seven subjects (64.8%) showed either much improved or very much improved outcomes on the CGI-Improvement scale. The CGI-Severity scale also decreased from an average of 4.7 to an average of 2.9 (p<.001). Errors and response time standard deviations of the CAT, sustained attention test-to-response tasks, the flanker test, and divided attention test scores decreased after treatment (p<.05). The forward memory span of the spatial working memory test scores increased (p<.05). Thirty-five patients (39.8%) experienced side effects, of which the most common were headache (14.8%), nausea (12.5%), and anorexia (9.1%). CONCLUSION: This open-label study suggests that MCD is effective and safe in improving the symptoms and neurocognitive functions of Korean children and adolescents with ADHD.
Adolescent ; Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Animals ; Anorexia ; Cats ; Child ; Corneal Dystrophies, Hereditary ; Headache ; Humans ; Korea ; Memory ; Memory, Short-Term ; Methylphenidate ; Nausea ; Reaction Time