PURPOSE: Smoking is the leading cause of death and smoking initiation rarely occurs after adolescence. Thus research on adolescent smoking is crucial. A consistent definition of smoking is important because inconsistent definitions make comparisons across studies an arduous task. Thus, the aim of the study was to suggest future research directions for smoking definitions after examining pitfalls in the literature. METHODS: In this study the literature on adolescent smoking in the U.S. and South Korea was examined, and three types of smoking definitions were identified. Limitations in the studies are identified and future research directions are suggested. RESULTS: In the U.S. literature, smoking definitions can be categorized into three groups: definitions based on stage models, smoking trajectories, and definitions derived from specific data. In the South Korean literature, various levels of smoking have not been differentiated. CONCLUSIONS: While the literature does not provide a definitive answer regarding the definition of smoking, it suggests three issues to consider for future research. First, multiple measures of smoking are more desirable than a one-time measure. Second, theory- or trajectory-based smoking definitions are more desirable than definitions derived from available data. Finally, regularity and amount of cigarette use should be incorporated in defining smoking behavior.
Adolescent ; *Adolescent Behavior ; Behavioral Research ; *Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Korea ; Models, Psychological ; Motivation ; Smoking/*prevention & control/*psychology ; *Terminology as Topic ; United States

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate predictors of nurses' patient safety behavior during inter-hospital transfer. The study was based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). METHODS: A descriptive survey design was used. Data were collected with a self-administrated 39-item questionnaire completed by 111 nurses from a university hospital in Seoul, South Korea. The questionnaire was developed based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) guideline and included measure of self- reported past patient safety behaviors, intentions, attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral controls. Ethical approval was granted by the hospital review board. Hierarchical regression analyses were carried out. RESULTS: The average score of patient safety behavior was 4.21±0.63 (5 point scale). The TPB variables explained 49.9%of the variance in patient safety behavior. Intention and subjective norm were the most significant predictors of nurses' patient safety behavior. Attitude was related to nurses'patient safety behavior. CONCLUSION: TPB variables predicted the nurses'patient safety behavior during inter-hospital transfer of patients except for perceived behavioral controls. The results of this study suggest that better strategies for subjective norms and intentions related to patient safety behavior will be helpful in safety culture reform.
Financing, Organized ; Humans ; Intention ; Korea ; Patient Safety* ; Safety Management ; Seoul

BACKGROUND: Although research has established the existence of an association between smoking and depression among adolescents, researchers have not reached consensus on the nature of the association. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this paper is to review the literature, to examine the nature of the relationship between smoking and depression in adolescence, and to suggest future research directions. METHOD: A literature search was conducted from the following six databases: (a) Ovid MEDLINE, (b) CINAHL, (c) PubMed Unrestricted, (d) PsycINFO, (e) ERIC, and (f) Sociological Abstracts. The combinations of the words, "depression," "smoking," "tobacco," "adolescent," and "teen" were used for keyword searches to find relevant articles. RESULTS: In 47 of 57 studies, significant associations between smoking and depression were found. However, these significant relationships may either be spurious or unrelated to depression because a substantial number of studies did not adjust for confounders or did not use validated instruments to measure depression. Additionally, if the relationship is causal, its direction remains controversial. Five relationships have been suggested: (a) Depression causes smoking, (b) smoking causes depression, (c) there is a bidirectional relationship between smoking and depression, (d) smoking and depression occur due to confounders, and (e) subgroups with different relationships between the two conditions exist. CONCLUSIONS: It is necessary to further explore the relationship between smoking and depression. Future research should consider the need for: (a) longitudinal research designs, (b) more accurate measurement of depression, and (c) the control of confounders between smoking and depression.
Adolescent ; Age of Onset ; Causality ; Depressive Disorder/*epidemiology/psychology ; Disease Progression ; Humans ; Smoking/*epidemiology/psychology

PURPOSE: To systematically review research articles that examined factors affecting Korean clinical nurses' intention to stay in their jobs. METHODS: Articles related to Korean clinical nurses and published both in Korean and English languages were retrieved from computerized databases using a manual search. Data extraction, quality assessment, and analysis including meta-analysis were completed. RESULTS: The review included 15 studies. There was strong evidence for the effects of 19 factors on Korean clinical nurses' intention to stay. Factors were categorized into three major categories; demographic, extrinsic, and intrinsic factors. In the meta-analysis of 10 articles, career experience of more than 6 years was the main factor that led to high intention to stay (OR=−0.5, p < .001). Job performance related factors (28.1%) and nursing work environment or organizational climate for caring (21.9%) were studied as the main extrinsic factors. Job related attitude (28.1%) including job satisfaction and organizational commitment and nursing value (15.6%) were studied as the main intrinsic factors. CONCLUSION: Expert nurses are more likely to retain their current positions as well as quality workplace environments or psychological capitals. Healthcare organizations must be responsible for improving professional and psychological capital of beginner nurses and affecting change for a warm organizational environment.
Climate ; Delivery of Health Care ; Intention ; Intrinsic Factor ; Job Satisfaction ; Nursing ; Work Performance

Purpose: Despite the high drinking rates and the complexity of drinking behaviors in adolescents, insufficient attention has been paid to their drinking patterns. Therefore, we aimed to identify patterns of adolescent drinking behaviors and factors predicting the distinct subgroups of adolescent drinking behaviors. Methods: We analyzed nationally representative secondary data obtained in 2017. Our final sample included 24,417 Korean adolescents who had consumed at least one glass of alcohol in their lifetime. To investigate patterns of drinking behaviors, we conducted a latent class analysis using nine alcohol-related characteristics, including alcohol consumption levels, solitary drinking, timing of drinking initiation, and negative consequences of drinking. Furthermore, we investigated differences in demographics, mental health status, and characteristics of substance use across the latent classes identified in our study. To do so, we used the PROC LCA with COVARIATES statement in the SAS software. Results: We identified three latent classes of drinking behaviors: current non-drinkers (CND), binge drinkers (BD), and problem drinkers (PD). Compared to the CND class, both BD and PD classes were strongly associated with higher academic year, lower academic performance, higher levels of stress, suicidal ideation, lifetime conventional or electronic cigarette use, and lifetime use of other drugs. Conclusion Health professionals should develop and implement intervention strategies targeting individual subgroups of drinking behaviors to obtain better outcomes. In particular, health professionals should consider different characteristics across subgroups of adolescent drinking behaviors when developing the interventions, such as poor mental health status and other substance use among binge and problem drinkers.

Purpose: Based on the health belief model and theory of planned behavior, this study investigated how age group (adolescence and emerging adulthood) moderated the relative effects of perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, and subjective norms on preventive behavior against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: This secondary data analysis utilized data from adolescents (n=272) and emerging adults (n=239). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed to test the moderating effect of age group on the relationships among variables. Results: Higher perceived susceptibility (β=.21, p<.001), perceived severity (β=.14, p=.002), subjective norms (friends) (β=.26, p<.001), subjective norms (parents) (β=.44, p<.001), and subjective norms (schools) (β=.28, p<.001) enhanced COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Moderated regression analysis showed that subjective norms (friends and school) impacted preventive behavior in adolescents more than in emerging adults. Conclusion Given the need to increase perceived susceptibility and severity among adolescents and emerging adults, these findings provide baseline data for designing effective COVID-19 prevention interventions that consider the developmental characteristics of different age groups. Interventions by health centers at universities can strengthen COVID-19 preventive behavior among emerging adults. As adolescents are influenced by friends, their peer roles must be strengthened to enhance adherence to COVID-19 preventive guidelines.

PURPOSE: Despite the high drinking rates and the complexity of drinking behaviors in adolescents, insufficient attention has been paid to their drinking patterns. Therefore, we aimed to identify patterns of adolescent drinking behaviors and factors predicting the distinct subgroups of adolescent drinking behaviors.METHODS: We analyzed nationally representative secondary data obtained in 2017. Our final sample included 24,417 Korean adolescents who had consumed at least one glass of alcohol in their lifetime. To investigate patterns of drinking behaviors, we conducted a latent class analysis using nine alcohol-related characteristics, including alcohol consumption levels, solitary drinking, timing of drinking initiation, and negative consequences of drinking. Furthermore, we investigated differences in demographics, mental health status, and characteristics of substance use across the latent classes identified in our study. To do so, we used the PROC LCA with COVARIATES statement in the SAS software.RESULTS: We identified three latent classes of drinking behaviors: current non-drinkers (CND), binge drinkers (BD), and problem drinkers (PD). Compared to the CND class, both BD and PD classes were strongly associated with higher academic year, lower academic performance, higher levels of stress, suicidal ideation, lifetime conventional or electronic cigarette use, and lifetime use of other drugs.CONCLUSION: Health professionals should develop and implement intervention strategies targeting individual subgroups of drinking behaviors to obtain better outcomes. In particular, health professionals should consider different characteristics across subgroups of adolescent drinking behaviors when developing the interventions, such as poor mental health status and other substance use among binge and problem drinkers.
Adolescent ; Alcohol Drinking ; Demography ; Drinking Behavior ; Drinking ; Electronic Cigarettes ; Glass ; Health Occupations ; Humans ; Mental Health ; Republic of Korea ; Suicidal Ideation ; Underage Drinking

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of accidental events, depression, and anxiety among workers with industrial accidents in South Korea. METHODS: The participants were 510 workers with industrial accidents. Data were collected by personal interviews with structured questionnaires for three months from August to October in 2005. For analyses, frequencies and means were utilized. RESULTS: The participants' average age was 44.9 years, and about 91% of them were male. Also, they had a greater risk of poverty after being injured. The most frequent cause of accidents was fall (32.2%), and the most frequent injured body area was extremities (73.9%). For around a half of the participants, the treatment period was 12 months or shorter. The participants were at great risk of experiencing a negative impact due to events, depression, and anxiety. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to develop: (a) strategies for injured workers to be financially stable during recuperation; and (b) supporting systems for them not to suffer and exacerbate mental health problems after being injured.
Accidents, Occupational ; Anxiety* ; Depression* ; Extremities ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Mental Health ; Poverty ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were (a) to identify smoking behavior by following a cohort representative of the population of 4th grade elementary schoolers in South Korea over a four-year period (2004-2007), and (b) to explore predictors of smoking initiation among non-smokers in Wave 1. METHODS: Secondary data, the Korea Youth Panel Study, was analyzed in this study. First, frequencies or percentages were calculated to identify smoking behavior (i.e., smoking initiation, smoking intensity, and smoking duration). Second, binary logistic regression analysis was performed to examine significant factors related to smoking initiation. RESULTS: Smoking initiation and daily smoking were more pronounced when the participants entered middle school. In bivariate analysis, statistically significant predictors of smoking initiation were loneliness at school, self-control, delinquent behavior, depressive symptoms, and stress. However, after controlling for other factors, only a high level of risk-taking tendency and a greater number of delinquent behaviors remained statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Based on greater involvement in smoking among first-year middle schoolers, smoking prevention strategies should be provided to elementary schoolers rather than middle schoolers. A risk-taking tendency and delinquent behaviors should be considered as proxy measures to detect the high-risk group for smoking initiation.
Adolescent ; *Adolescent Behavior ; Child ; *Child Behavior ; Cohort Studies ; Demography ; Depression ; Family Characteristics ; Female ; Humans ; Imitative Behavior ; Male ; Smoking/prevention & control/*psychology

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) operate infectious disease surveillance systems to monitor national disease incidence. Since 1954, Korea has collected data on various infectious diseases in accordance with the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act. All physicians (including those working in Oriental medicine) who diagnose a patient with an infectious disease or conduct a postmortem examination of an infectious disease case are obliged to report the disease to the system. These reported data are incorporated into the database of the National Infectious Disease Surveillance System, which has been providing web-based real-time surveillance data on infectious diseases since 2001. In addition, the KCDC analyzes reported data and publishes the Infectious Disease Surveillance Yearbook annually.
Autopsy ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Communicable Diseases* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea