BACKGROUND: This study examined how mental health status influenced suicidal ideation among community-dwelling elderly at senior citizen centers in Korea.METHODS: Data were obtained from a survey on elderly mental health in Jeollanam-do (a southwest province in Korea) conducted by the Jeollanam-do Provincial Mental Health and Welfare Center. In total, 4,113 people were recruited from all 22 cities in Jeollanam-do. We evaluated sociodemographic factors and mental health status using self-reported questionnaires, namely, the Suicidal Ideation Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form Korean Version, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Korean version of the General Health Questionale-12, and Satisfaction with Life Scale, to assess psychosocial factors affecting suicidal ideation. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to examine the factors associated with suicidal ideation.RESULTS: Among the 4,113 subjects, 325 (7.9%) reported recent suicidal ideation. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that depression (p<0.001), low-level social support and life satisfaction (p=0.006), poor general mental health (p<0.001), physical disease (p=0.009), and poor self-perceived health status (p=0.039) were significantlyassociated with suicidal ideation.CONCLUSION: The presence of physical disease, poor self-perceived health status, depression, and poor general mental health conditions increase the risk of suicide ideation among the elderly. Social support and life satisfaction affected their suicidal ideation independently of depression.
Aged ; Depression ; Humans ; Jeollanam-do ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Mental Health ; Psychology ; Suicidal Ideation ; Suicide

Background: Depression is increasing among college students in general. Moreover, almost one-third of college students have been reported to suffer from depression. Thus, this study aimed to assess differences in stress coping strategies and resilience between depressed and normal-mood groups among college students. Methods: A total of 3,306 college students participated in this study. The students responded to a questionnaire that included questions of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale, stress coping scale (SCS), and brief resilience scale. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the impact of variables on depression. Results: Using the CES-D (cutoff score ≥21), 423 (12.8%) college students were classified as depressed. Adjusting for individual demographic factors, the SCS results of the students with depression showed significantly higher scores in emotion-focused coping (p<0.001), wishful thinking (p<0.001), and lower problem-focused coping (p<0.001) than the normal-mood group. Moreover, they presented lower resilience scores. Students who had emotion-focused coping (odds ratio [OR], 1.11; p<0.001) and lower resilience scores (OR, 0.76; p<0.001) were associated with higher CES-D scores. Conclusion The study findings revealed significant differences between the depressed and normal-mood groups in terms of stress coping skills and resilience, suggesting the need for promoting stress coping strategies and resilience to lower depression-related problems among college students.

Background: Alcohol drinking among college students is socially permissible in Korea. However, this population’s tendency to consume alcohol excessively results in many alcohol-related problems, including psychiatric problems.This study aimed to identify the sociodemographic characteristics and psychiatric comorbidities associated with hazardous alcohol drinking among college students. Methods: In total, 2,571 college students participated in the study. Data were collected using the Korean version of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-K), the Mood Disorder Questionnaire, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, a modified Korean version of the 16-item Prodromal Questionnaire, the Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Self-Report Scale-Version 1.1, and a stress-coping scale. Logistic regression analysis was performed on variables significantly correlated with hazardous alcohol drinking. Results: In total, 633 students were grouped into the hazardous alcohol drinking group (AUDIT-K, ≥12). The associ-ated variables were age (odds ratio [OR], 0.95; p<0.05), smoking (OR, 4.00; p<0.001), bipolar disorder (OR, 2.45; p<0.05), depressive disorder (OR, 1.35; p<0.05), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; OR, 1.44; p<0.05), and problem-focused stress coping (OR, 0.97; p<0.05). Conclusion In this study, hazardous alcohol drinking was associated with smoking, mood disorders, and ADHD. We suggest that alcohol use among college students be carefully monitored and managed in terms of its psychiatric comorbidities.

OBJECTIVES: Shiftwork is known to be one of the common causes of sleep and health problems and finally causes the decreased quality of life. The purpose of this study was to investigate the sleep patterns of shiftworking and daytime psychiatric nurses using actigraphy and compare it with subjective assessment for sleep. METHODS: Twenty-three shift-working and 25 daytime nurses were enrolled. They rated their sleep quality using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index(PSQI) and other self-rating scales were measured for psychosocial aspects. Actigraphy was applied to the subjects for a total of 7 days to measure the sleep parameters. They also wrote sleep diaries during the period of wearing actigraphy. Sleep-related parameters of actigraphy, global score and components of PSQI, and the results of other self-rating scales were compared between shift-working and daytime nurses. RESULTS: Although the global score of PSQI did not show significant difference, the PSQI components showed significant differences between two groups: the shift-working nurses showed lower sleep quality, more sleep disturbance and hypnotic medication use, and worsened daytime dysfunction than daytime nurses. The shift-working nurses showed significantly shorter total time in bed and total sleep time, lower sleep efficiency, and longer average awakening time than those of daytime nurses in actigraphy. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that shift-working nurses experienced more sleep disturbances in both subjective and objective aspects of sleep than daytime nurses. This study also suggests that actigraphy may be useful to measure the objective aspects of sleep that are difficult to assess with subjective questionnaires alone.
Actigraphy ; Quality of Life ; Weights and Measures

OBJECTIVES: he purpose of this study was to examine psychosocial factors related to burnout of social welfare officers working in Jeonnam Province.METHODS: A total of 395 social welfare officers (male 99, female 296) working in 22 areas of Jeollanam-do province, were subjects of this study. We examined socio-demographic factors, using a self-reporting questionnaire. Subjects were asked to complete the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS), Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSS), to assess psychosocial factors affecting to burnout of social welfare officers.RESULTS: Among 395 subjects, 221 (55.9%) reported recent experiences of burnout. There was no significant difference in age between two groups, divided by burnout. Sex (p < 0.001), rank (p=0.003), working period (p=0.034), depression (p < 0.001) revealed differences between the burnout group and control group. Scores of PSS (p < 0.001) were higher, while the scores of GSS (p < 0.001) were lower in the burnout group, than control group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that female (OR 2.840, 95%CI 1.466–5.504, p=0.002), depressive high-risk group (OR 6.824, 95%CI 2.893–16.096, p < 0.001) PSS (OR 1.247, 95%CI 1.153–1.349, p < 0.001) and GSS (OR 0.950, 95%CI 0.930–0.971, p < 0.001), were significantly associated with burnout.CONCLUSION: We found that some factors, were associated with experienced burnout in social welfare officers. Depressive symptoms were the strongest associative factor, for burnout in public servants in charge of social welfare. Sex, stress and self-efficacy also correlated with burnout, and especially self-efficacy was a protecting factor.
Depression ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Jeollanam-do ; Logistic Models ; Psychology ; Social Welfare

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to screen Korean college students for correlates, and comorbidities associated with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).METHODS: A total of 2,593 college students participated in the study. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected and self-report scales, such as the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale-Version 1.1, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, the Korean version of the Mood Disorder, a modified Korean version of the 16-item Prodromal Questionnaire, and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test were included. Students with and without ADHD were compared using univariable analyses, and the association of ADHD with other psychiatric comorbidities was predicted using multivariable analyses.RESULTS: Of the total participants, 4.7% were diagnosed with ADHD. Multivariable analysis revealed that ADHD in college students was significantly associated with depression, psychotic-like experience, alcohol abuse, and female sex after adjustment. We found that ADHD in young college students was associated with several psychiatric comorbidities.CONCLUSION: These results suggest the need for early detection of ADHD in young adults and highlight the importance of implementing early psychiatric intervention for problems such as depression, psychotic-like experience, and alcohol abuse in adults with ADHD.
Adult ; Alcoholism ; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity ; Comorbidity ; Depression ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Mood Disorders ; Prevalence ; Weights and Measures ; Young Adult

Background: In this study, the relationship between depression and stress-coping strategies among public enterprise workers whose workplaces were relocated to a newly-built innovation city was investigated. Methods: This study included a total of 922 public enterprise workers living in Naju Innovation City. Along with their sociodemographic data, each subject was assessed concerning depression, occupational stress, and stress-coping strategies using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale(CES-D), Korean Occupational Stress Scale (KOSS), and stress-coping scale (SCS), respectively. Logistic regression was performed to investigate the impact of the relevant factors on depressive symptoms. Results: The overall prevalence of depressive symptoms was 14%. Some sociodemographic variables, the total scores of the KOSS, and four subscales of the SCS revealed significant differences between the depressed and normal groups. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that the KOSS (odds ratio [OR], 1.17; p<0.001) and SCS, such as problem-solving-focused (OR, 0.75; p<0.001), emotion-focused (OR, 1.15; p<0.05), and wishful-thinking-focused (OR, 1.10; p<0.05), were significantly associated with depression. Conclusion The results indicated that depressive symptoms were highly prevalent among workers whose workplaces were relocated. In addition, these symptoms were found to be related with occupational stress and stress-coping strategies. Our findings also suggest that promoting healthy stress-coping strategies and reducing occupational stress may help in preventing the occurrence of depression and managing depressed workers.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the effect of a forest healing program on psychological and physiological changes in employees exposed to work-related stress. Methods: This study included 38 employees whose workplaces were located in Naju and Jeonnam. They were given a set of forest healing programs. They completed self-rating scales to assess changes in anxiety, depression, and workrelated stress. Salivary cortisol levels, electroencephalography changes, and photoplethysmography components were also assessed. The mean differences in these parameters before and after treatment were analyzed. Results: The mean ages of male and female employees were different (p<0.010). After controlling for age as a covariate, all variables were examined for main and sex-associated effects using two-way repeated measures analysis of variance. Although the mean changes in saliva cortisol levels were significantly lower after treatment, the sex-associated and interaction effects were found to be insignificant. Conclusion Although the short-term forest healing program did not provide notable results, it may have beneficial effects on certain psychological and physiological aspects. Further studies are warranted to determine the feasibility of the forest healing program as a suitable stress management strategy for employees.

Background: This study, examines the applicability of the Lifestyle Evaluation Tool for Patients with Metabolic Syndrome (LET-PMS) questionnaire, originally developed for general population, on psychiatric patients with metabolic syndrome. Methods: The study included 320 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorder (N=190), bipolar spectrum disorder (N=65), and depressive disorder (N=65). They were provided assignments using 36 items from the LETPMS questionnaire and various established scales. The evaluation encompassed psychometric properties of reliability, exploratory factor, and confirmatory factor analysis. Results: We refined the LET-PMS questionnaire by eliminating six items through a reliability test. The resultant questionnaire exhibited six factors. The overall Cronbach’s alpha value was 0.896, with factor-specific reliability coefficients ranging from 0.730 to 0.859. Based on confirmatory factor analysis of the adapted LET-PMS, the root mean square error of approximation was 0.069 (0.05-1.1). Goodness-of-fit and comparative fit indexes were 0.815 and 0.821, respectively. All 30 items met the criteria for suitable configuration. Conclusion The LET-PMS questionnaire demonstrated robust internal consistency and sound structural validity, making it suitable for psychiatric patients with metabolic syndrome.

Background: This study aimed to examine the influence of the coronavirus disease pandemic 2019 (COVID-19) by comparing the incidences of depression, suicidal ideation, and suicidal attempts before and after the outbreak of the pandemic among community-dwelling older adults. Methods: In total, 9,784 older adults were recruited from 22 counties in Jeollanam-do between 2019 and 2022. Selfreported questionnaires, including sociodemographic factors, suicidal ideation, suicidal attempt, and Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form Korean version, were used. Results: The proportion of the depression high-risk group tended to increase since the COVID-19 outbreak, increasing to 16.3%, 23.1%, and 25.7% in 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively; however, decreased to 21.8% in 2022. The incidence of suicidal ideation showed a similar pattern. The incidence of suicidal attempts showed a different pattern, rising to 1.3% and 2.6% in 2019 and 2020, respectively and then falling to 1.1% and 0.8% in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Conclusion This study examined community-dwelling older adults and their mental states during the COVID-19 pandemic, and found that the risk of depression among older adults increased 1.708-fold in 2020, 1.877-fold in 2021, and 1.599-fold in 2022 compared to that in 2019, the year before the pandemic. Similarly, the risk of suicidal ideation increased by 1.582-fold in 2020, 1.913-fold in 2021, and 1.623-fold in 2022 compared with 2019 data. As the pandemic extended, mental health states improved; however, not to prepandemic levels. Suggesting that older people need continued support to alleviate the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.