PURPOSE: This study investigated the current mental health status of school-age children from multicultural families and explored the maternal factors influencing their mental health. METHODS: The subjects consisted of 70 pairs of elementary students and their mothers who were registered at Global Children Center in A City and Support Center for Multicultural Families in H County. One of the dependent variables was the children's mental health measured using the Korea Child Behavior Checklist, and the predictors were the maternal factors measured using the Korean General Health Questionnaire, modified East Asian Acculturation Measure, modified Acculturation Stress Scale for International Students, and reformulated Social Support Scale. RESULTS: 14.7% of the children were within the clinical range for total social competence, and 8.7% showed elevated total behavior problems. Maternal acculturation stress, marginalization, and depression were the predictors of the total social competence, explaining 25.0% of the latter. One of the contributors to the total behavior problems was the maternal mental health, explaining 18.0% of such. CONCLUSION: The findings indicated that promoting the mental health of children from multicultural families requires comprehensive support for positive acculturation and the promotion of mental health in interracial married women.
Acculturation ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Checklist ; Child ; Child Behavior ; Cultural Diversity ; Depression ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Mental Competency ; Mental Health* ; Mothers ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Aim To avoid the limitation of the use of cationic polyethlenimine (PEI)-complexed plasmid DNA use for in vitro or in vivo gene delivery due to its cytotoxicity and lower efficiency in the presence of serum. Methods A polyplex with decreased positive charge on the complex surface was designed. The PEI/DNA (PD) complexes coated with an anionic biodegradable polymer, alginate were prepared and their gene delivery behavior with PD was compared. Results The alginate-coated PD polyplex, where alginate: PEI: DNA [alginate: DNA, 0. 15 (w/w); PEI: DNA, N: P = 10] showed about 10 -30 fold-increased transfection efficiency compared to corresponding non-coated complexes to C3 cells in the presence of 50% serum. The surface charge of the alginate-coated complex was approximately half of that of the alginate-lacking complex. The size of alginate-coated complex was slightly smaller than that of the corresponding complex without alginate. The former complex also showed a reduced erythrocyte aggregation activity and decreased cytotoxicities to C3 cells in comparison with PD complex. Conclusion The alginate-coated PD polyplexes as a new gene delivery system can improve transfection efficiency in high serum concentration with low cytotoxicity to C3 cells.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a mother/infant-toddler health program developed to enhance parenting knowledge, behavior and confidence in low income mothers and home environment. METHODS: A one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was used. Sixty-nine dyads of mothers and infant-toddlers (aged 0-36 months) were provided with weekly intervention for seven session. Each session consisted of three parts; first, educating to increase integrated knowledge related to the development of the infant/toddler including nutrition, first aid and home environment; second, counseling to share parenting experience among the mothers and to increase their nurturing confidence; third, playing with the infant/toddler to facilitate attachment-based parenting behavior for the mothers. RESULTS: Following the programs, there were significant increases in parenting knowledge on nutrition and first aid. A significant improvement was found in attachment-based parenting behavior, but not in home safety practice. Nurturing confidence was not significantly increased. The program led to more positive home environment for infant/toddler's health and development. CONCLUSION: The findings provide evidence for mother-infant/toddler health program to improve parenting knowledge, attachment-based parenting behavior and better home environment in low income mothers. Study of the long term effectiveness of this program is recommended for future research.
Adult ; Behavior ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; First Aid ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant Welfare ; Infant, Newborn ; Interviews as Topic ; Male ; Mothers/*psychology ; Nutrition Assessment ; Parenting/*psychology ; Poverty ; Program Development ; Program Evaluation ; Self Efficacy

PURPOSE: This study aimed to develop and test a model of the happiness of mothers with young children based on the stress-coping-adaptation model of Lazarus and Folkman. METHODS: The data collection period was from May to July 2016. A self-report questionnaire was used to collect data from 210 mothers with children under 5 years of age living in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Gangwon provinces. The exogenous variable was parenting stress, and the endogenous variables were parenting alliance, depression, optimism, ways of coping, and happiness. Data from 201 questionnaires were analyzed using the SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 20.0 programs. Data analyses included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. RESULTS: The final modified model showed a reasonable fit to the data, and out of 25 paths, 13 were statistically significant. This model explained 78.4% of the variance in the happiness of mothers with young children and confirmed that depression, optimism, parenting alliance, and social support-focused coping have a direct effect on the subject's happiness. Parenting stress also influenced happiness through parenting alliance, depression, and optimism. CONCLUSION: In order to bolster the happiness of mothers with young children, positive psychological interventions that can minimize psychological vulnerabilities, such as depression, and that can enhance their strengths, such as optimism, may serve as effective ways of coping with and adapting to stress.
Child ; Data Collection ; Depression ; Gangwon-do ; Gyeonggi-do ; Happiness ; Humans ; Mothers ; Optimism ; Parenting ; Parents ; Seoul ; Statistics as Topic

PURPOSE: This study aimed to develop and test a model of the happiness of mothers with young children based on the stress-coping-adaptation model of Lazarus and Folkman. METHODS: The data collection period was from May to July 2016. A self-report questionnaire was used to collect data from 210 mothers with children under 5 years of age living in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Gangwon provinces. The exogenous variable was parenting stress, and the endogenous variables were parenting alliance, depression, optimism, ways of coping, and happiness. Data from 201 questionnaires were analyzed using the SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 20.0 programs. Data analyses included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. RESULTS: The final modified model showed a reasonable fit to the data, and out of 25 paths, 13 were statistically significant. This model explained 78.4% of the variance in the happiness of mothers with young children and confirmed that depression, optimism, parenting alliance, and social support-focused coping have a direct effect on the subject's happiness. Parenting stress also influenced happiness through parenting alliance, depression, and optimism. CONCLUSION In order to bolster the happiness of mothers with young children, positive psychological interventions that can minimize psychological vulnerabilities, such as depression, and that can enhance their strengths, such as optimism, may serve as effective ways of coping with and adapting to stress.

Purpose: This study examined the effects of stress vulnerability and parental burnout on the mental health of women with early schoolaged children, with a focus on the mediating role of spirituality. Methods: A survey was conducted among 171 women with early schoolaged children in Gyeonggi Province, Gangwon Province, and Seoul. Data were collected from September to December 2022 using the Korean-Symptom Check List 95, the Parental Burnout Assessment, and the Spirituality Assessment Scale. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling with SPSS/WIN 22.0 and AMOS 20.0. Results: The study model demonstrated a good fit, explaining 40.5% of the variance in mental health through stress vulnerability, parental burnout, and spirituality. Spirituality had a significant direct impact on mental health. Additionally, participants’ spirituality directly influenced their mental health, while stress vulnerability and parental burnout indirectly affected their mental health and were mediated through spirituality. Conclusion Stress vulnerability and parental burnout are negatively associated with mental health, while spirituality partially mediates these effects. Implementing a program to promote spirituality is suggested to assist mothers in recognizing the value and meaning of parenting activities during nursing interventions for mental health.

Purpose: This study explored the effect of adolescents’ sexual behavior on mental health according to behavior, demographic, and sex-related characteristics. Methods: The 11th Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey was conducted with 67,427 adolescents in South Korea. The hierarchical logistic regression was conducted to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to investigate the relationship between adolescents’ sexual behavior and mental health (i.e., stress, depressive state, suicidal ideation, and subjective happiness). Results: Male and female adolescents were more likely to experience stress, depression, and suicidal ideation if they were high school students, low-income, smoked, drank, and/or had low academic achievement. Those with sexual experience showed higher levels of stress and depression and suicidal ideation rates and lower happiness. After controlling for a variety of covariates, including individual, family, and school factors, adolescents experienced sexual intercourse showed significantly higher mental health status ORs than those who had not had intercourse. Conclusion It is necessary to provide an expanded health education program that combines healthy lifestyle and mental health promotion rather than fragmentary sex education to prevent negative physical and mental consequences of sexual intercourse among adolescents.

Abnormal adaptation of the stress-response system following traumatic stress can lead to alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis that may contribute to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study used several behavioral tests to investigate the anxiolytic-like and antidepressant activity of L-tetrahydropalmatine (L-THP) in an experimental rat model of anxiety and depression induced by single prolonged stress (SPS), an animal model of PTSD. Male rats were treated intraperitoneally (i.p.) with vehicle or varied doses of THP 30 min prior to SPS for 8 consecutive days. Daily THP (50 mg/kg) administration significantly increased the number and duration of open arm visits in the elevated plus maze (EPM) test, reduced the anxiety index, increased the risk assessment, and increased the number of head dips over the borders of the open arms after SPS. THP was also associated with increased time spent at the center of the open field, reduced grooming behaviors in the EPM test, and reduced time spent immobile in the forced swimming test (FST). It also blocked the decrease in neuropeptide Y (NPY) and the increase in corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) expression in the hypothalamus. This is the first study to determine that THP exerts pronounced anxiolytic-like and antidepressant effects on the development of the behavioral and biochemical symptoms associated with PTSD, indicating its prophylactic potential. Thus, THP reversed several behavioral impairments triggered by the traumatic stress of SPS and is a potential non-invasive therapeutic intervention for PTSD.
Animals ; Anxiety* ; Arm ; Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Depression ; Grooming ; Head ; Humans ; Hypothalamus ; Male ; Models, Animal ; Neuropeptide Y ; Physical Exertion ; Rats* ; Risk Assessment ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

Neuroinflammation is an important process underlying a wide variety of neurodegenerative diseases. Carvacrol (CAR) is a phenolic monoterpene commonly used as a food additive due to its antibacterial properties, but it has also been shown to exhibit strong antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective effects. Here, we sought to investigate the effects of CAR on inflammation in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, as well as the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects. In our study, lipopolysaccharide was injected into the lateral ventricle of rats to induce memory impairment and neuroinflammation. Daily administration of CAR (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg) for 21 days improved recognition, discrimination, and memory impairments relative to untreated controls. CAR administration significantly attenuated expression of several inflammatory factors in the brain, including interleukin-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α, and cyclooxygenase-2. In addition, CAR significantly increased expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA, and decreased expression of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) mRNA. Taken together, these results show that CAR can improve memory impairment caused by neuroinflammation. This cognitive enhancement is due to the anti-inflammatory effects of CAR medicated by its regulation of BDNF and TLR4. Thus, CAR has significant potential as an inhibitor of memory degeneration in neurodegenerative diseases.
Animals ; Brain ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; Cytokines ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Food Additives ; Hippocampus ; Inflammation ; Lateral Ventricles ; Lipopolysaccharides ; Memory ; Necrosis ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Neuroprotective Agents ; Phenol ; Prefrontal Cortex ; Rats ; RNA, Messenger ; Toll-Like Receptor 4

We examined whether wogonin (WO) improved hippocampal neuronal activity, behavioral alterations and cognitive impairment, in rats induced by administration of trimethyltin (TMT), an organotin compound that is neurotoxic to these animals. The ability of WO to improve cognitive efficacy in the TMT-induced neurodegenerative rats was investigated using a passive avoidance test, and the Morris water maze test, and using immunohistochemistry to detect components of the acetylcholinergic system, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB) expression. Rats injected with TMT showed impairments in learning and memory and daily administration of WO improved memory function, and reduced aggressive behavior. Administration of WO significantly alleviated the TMT-induced loss of cholinergic immunoreactivity and restored the hippocampal expression levels of BDNF and CREB proteins and their encoding mRNAs to normal levels. These findings suggest that WO might be useful as a new therapy for treatment of various neurodegenerative diseases.
Animals ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Cholinergic Neurons ; Cognition Disorders ; Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein ; Immunohistochemistry ; Learning ; Memory ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Neurons* ; Rats* ; RNA, Messenger ; Water