Objective: Sleep affects the development and severity of psychiatric symptoms in children, and maternal personality traits may influence children’s sleep. We aimed to confirm the longitudinal effect of maternal personality traits on children’s sleep disturbance using cohort data from the Panel Study on Korean Children. Methods: Maternal personality traits were assessed using the Personality Assessment Inventory in 2009, and the sleep disturbance of children was assessed using parent survey data from 2010 to 2014 (2nd−6th waves). Among the 11 clinical scales of the Personality Assessment Inventory, the 5 scales that showed the most significant correlations were analyzed. Presence or absence of child sleep disturbance was evaluated with a chi-square test, and the effect of the Personality Assessment Inventory was assessed by a binary logistic regression analysis with child sleep disturbance as the dependent variable. Results: Of the 171 mother-child dyads, 92 were classified into the sleep disturbance group and 79 were classified into the normal sleep group. Maternal somatic concerns showed a significant relationship with children’s sleep disturbance at years 2 and 3. Maternal borderline features demonstrated a significant relationship with children’s sleep disturbance from years 2 to 5. The binary logistic regression analysis revealed a significant association between high borderline features and children’s sleep disturbance at years 2 and 3. Conclusion High maternal borderline features evaluated at child age 1 were related to sleep disturbance in early childhood. In assessing a children’s sleep problems, it may be important to examine mothers’ dysfunctional personality traits.

Objective: Adolescent gambling is rapidly increasing recently. However, little is known about the core feature of adolescent gambling that should be the treatment target for adolescents. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the core symptom of adolescent gambling using network analysis with large-scale data targeting community indwelling adolescents. Methods: We used dataset of the 2018 national survey on youth gambling problems collected by the Korea Center on Gambling Problems to explore symptom networks of gambling in adolescents. Of 17,520 respondents in the dataset of the 2018 national survey on youth gambling problems collected by the Korea Center on Gambling Problems, 5,619 adolescents with experience of gambling were included in the analysis. We computed an association network, a graphical least absolute shrinkage and selection operator, and a directed acyclic graph to model symptom interactions. Results: In each network of online, offline, and all gambling, stealing money or other valuable things in order to gamble or pay off gambling debts was the most centrally situated and skipping practice followed by dropping out of activities. Especially strong connections emerged between stealing money or other valuable things in order to gamble or pay off gambling debts and academic performance degradation due to gambling. Feeling bad due to gamble and skipping hanging out with friends who do not gamble emerged as a highly central node that might be distinctive to adolescents with online gambling. Conclusion These findings demonstrate central features of adolescent gambling. Different associations among specific network nodes suggest the existence of distinctive psychopathological constructs between online and offline gambling.

Background: Excessive media use is known to be associated with executive dysfunction in children, but it’s unclear whether this exposure can lead to long-term changes of executive function. This study aimed to investigate the association between media exposure and longitudinal changes in executive function within a population-based study, while considering the potential influence of intelligence. Methods: This study used data from 1,209 participants in the Panel Korea Study for Children.The children’s media exposure was measured at ages 7 and 8, and executive function was evaluated annually from ages 7 to 10 using the Executive Function Difficulty Screening Questionnaire. Participants were grouped by media exposure level (low, medium, or high), and longitudinal changes in executive function were analyzed using linear mixed effects models. Subgroup analysis was conducted to investigate how executive function changes varied based on intelligence within each media exposure group. Results: Children with high media exposure (n = 97) had severer executive function difficulties than those with low (n = 141) or medium (n = 971) exposure in all waves. The high exposure group demonstrated persistent higher executive function difficulties up to age 10 after controlling for child gender, intelligence, parental education level and maternal depression. Children with intelligence quotient (IQ) ≤ 100 in the medium to high media exposure group had significantly more severe executive function difficulties than those with IQ > 100. Conclusion This study provided evidence of a longitudinal negative association between media exposure and executive function. The findings suggest that excessive media exposure may lead to long-term changes in executive function in children and highlight the importance of implementing targeted interventions and educational strategies to mitigate the potential negative effects of excessive media use, particularly for children with lower cognitive abilities.

Objective: Disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) adversely impacts children and adolescents. However, a comprehensive and cost-effective scale to assess DBD is lacking in Korea. Therefore, this study translated the Disruptive Behavior Disorders Rating Scale (DBDRS) into Korean and analyzed its psychometric properties. Methods: Parents and primary caregivers of non-clinical (n=429) and clinical (n=28) children and adolescents aged 6–15 years were included in the analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted; further, concurrent validity and internal consistency were investigated using correlation analysis and Cronbach’s alpha, respectively. Furthermore, discriminative capacity was estimated using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Results: The four-factor model of K-DBDRS showed good model fit indices and factor loadings, which supported the construct validity of the scale. Strong correlations between K-DBDRS and related measurements were observed, and a robust level of Cronbach’s alpha was confirmed (0.891–0.933). The discriminative capacity of the scale was good, based on the area under the curve values (0.933–0.953). Conclusion This study indicated that the K-DBDRS is an appropriate screening tool for Korean children and adolescents. Thus, this scale can be applied in clinical and community settings to identify children and adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders.

Objective: There is clinical concern that the stimulant methylphenidate (MPH) might increase the risk of depression, particularly in children. This study aimed to investigate the association between MPH use and the risk of depression. Methods: A population-based electronic medical records database was used. We obtained claims data for prescription of ADHD medication, diagnosis of depression, and prescription of antidepressant medication between January 2007 and December 2016 for 43,259 individuals aged 6 to 19 who were diagnosed with ADHD between July 1, 2007 and December 31, 2007. The final analysis was based on 2,330 eligible participants. A self-controlled case series design was used to identify risk factors for major depressive disorder (MDD). Results: An elevated MDD risk was found during the 90 days before MPH exposure, with an incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 12.12 (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 10.06−14.61, p ＜ 0.0001). During methylphenidate treatment, the IRR was 18.06 with a 95% CI of 16.67 to 19.56 (p ＜ 0.0001), but it returned to baseline levels after day 31 of MPH treatment discontinuation. The IRR for patients aged 6 to 9 years was 13.11 (95% CI: 9.58−17.95) during the 90 days before MPH exposure, and 17.7 (95% CI: 15.6−20.08) during MPH treatment, but returned to baseline levels after discontinuation of MPH treatment. Conclusion We confirmed the temporal relationship between depression and methylphenidate use in young people with ADHD. Though the absolute risk is low, the risk of depression should be carefully considered, particularly in the period directly following the start of methylphenidate treatment.

Objective: Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has a heterogeneous clinical presentation with patients showing very frequent emotional problems. In the present study, patients with adult ADHD were subtyped based on their psychopathology using a person-centered approach. Methods: In the present chart review study, detailed findings of psychological evaluation conducted as part of routine care were utilized. A total of 77 subjects with adult ADHD were included in the analysis. Detailed ADHD symptoms, psychiatric comorbid Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) diagnoses, and severity of mood and anxiety symptoms were evaluated in the person-centered analysis. Results: Three clusters were generated using clustering analysis. DSM comorbid conditions did not significantly impact the clustering. Cluster 1 consisted of ADHD combined presentation (ADHD-C) with less mood symptoms, cluster 2 of ADHD predominantly inattentive presentation and cluster 3 of ADHD-C with significant mood symptoms. Patients in cluster 3 had adulthood functional impairment more frequently compared with patients in cluster 1. Patients in cluster 3 showed recurrent thoughts of death and suicidal ideation more frequently compared with patients in cluster 1. Conclusion Further studies are needed to confirm the relationships observed in the present study.

Objective: Despite the rapid increase in problematic media device use, relatively little is known about specific characteristics and extent of problematic media device and how they relate to different psychological features. Methods: Data extracted from the Panel Korea Study for the Child Cohort Study were used. At the age of 9 years, media device addiction severity was assessed using the K-scale, and children’s behavioral outcomes were assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist. Among children with problematic media device use (n=339), we performed latent profile analysis using the K-scale to identify subtypes of problematic media device use, and then compared the child behavioral problems and executive function according to the different subtypes of problematic media device use. Results: Children with problematic media device use were divided into class 1 (n=51), class 2 (n=138), and class 3 (n=150). Compared with classes 2 and 3, class 1 had more severe problematic media device use, including daily activity disturbance, withdrawal, and tolerance. Class 1 had the most serious behavioral problems and executive function difficulties among classes. Class 2 had greater daily activity disturbance and tolerance than those of class 3, but executive function showed no significant difference between the two classes. In logistic regression analysis, behavioral problems except for somatization were more common in class 1 than in the control group. Conclusion Results suggest that problematic media device use is associated with significant behavioral problem and executive function difficulties and underscore the need for further clinical and research attention for these specific subgroup members.

Objective: Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has a heterogeneous clinical presentation with patients showing very frequent emotional problems. In the present study, patients with adult ADHD were subtyped based on their psychopathology using a person-centered approach. Methods: In the present chart review study, detailed findings of psychological evaluation conducted as part of routine care were utilized. A total of 77 subjects with adult ADHD were included in the analysis. Detailed ADHD symptoms, psychiatric comorbid Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) diagnoses, and severity of mood and anxiety symptoms were evaluated in the person-centered analysis. Results: Three clusters were generated using clustering analysis. DSM comorbid conditions did not significantly impact the clustering. Cluster 1 consisted of ADHD combined presentation (ADHD-C) with less mood symptoms, cluster 2 of ADHD predominantly inattentive presentation and cluster 3 of ADHD-C with significant mood symptoms. Patients in cluster 3 had adulthood functional impairment more frequently compared with patients in cluster 1. Patients in cluster 3 showed recurrent thoughts of death and suicidal ideation more frequently compared with patients in cluster 1. Conclusion Further studies are needed to confirm the relationships observed in the present study.