• Anxiety and mood
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.53-60
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• 2019

Objective : GRIT is a non-cognitive trait which is defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals. It predicts success, performance and thedifference from other traits. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the GRIT scale. Methods : A total of 92 patients were enrolled in the study. All patients received psychiatric assessment including Clinical Useful Depression Outcome Scale (CUDOS), Clinical Useful Anxiety Outcome Scale (CUXOS), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-15), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CDRS), Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), and GRIT as well as demographic assessment. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of total GRIT score and the split-half reliability of each item was calculated to assess test reliability. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to select the best fitting model and assess construct validity. Finally, a correlation analysis was performed to check convergent and discriminant validity. Results : Cronbach's alpha coefficient for GRIT was found to be 0.85 and all Cronbach's alpha were more than 0.8 even in cases where all items were deleted. We found 3 appropriate factor models in exploratory factor analysis, compared them with 3 models and chose the 2-factor model as the most suitable based on the best fit test. Finally, correlation of the GRIT with CUDOS, CUXOS, PHQ-15, CDRS and BRS were statistically significant (all p<0.01), with relatively low correlation coefficient. Conclusion : This study indicates that the Korean version of GRIT is a reliable and valid instrument for investigating individual power of passion and perseverance.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.67-76
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• 2019

For hospice palliative care that provides comprehensive and general care, it is necessary to use assessment tools to objectively list issues and detail care plans. The initial assessment is a process of establishing an overall direction of care by identifying the patient's symptoms, social and spiritual issues and palliative care needs on the admission day or within one day of admission. This process is also used to identify the patients' and families' awareness of the illness, prognosis, treatment options and if the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) has been drafted. Consisting of 13 simple questions regarding the physical, mental, social, and spiritual domains, the Needs at the End-of-Life Screening Tool (NEST) is recommended as an initial assessment tool. Using specific assessment tools, a care plan is established for the issues identified in the initial assessment within three days of admission. A multidisciplinary assessment tool can be helpful in the physical domain. The psychosocial domain evaluates psychological distress, anxiety and depression. The social domain examines an ability to make decisions, understanding of the socioeconomic circumstance, family relationship, and death preparedness. A spiritual evaluation is also important, for which the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual WellBeing Scale (FACIT-Sp) or the Spiritual Health Inventory (SHI) can be used. The use of an assessment tool could not only contribute to pain mitigation a better quality of life for patients, but also provide systematic training for a multidisciplinary team; And the process itself could be a stepping stone for the better care provision.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.69-83
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• 2023

Objective : This study sought to systematically examine the intervention effect of social stories when applied in relation to children with sleep disorders. Methods : Studies available in the SCOPUS, ScienceDirect, PsycArticles, and PubMed databases that were published from 2001 to 2022 were searched. The keywords used for the search were as follows: ("social story" OR "social stories") AND ("sleep" OR "sleep disorders" OR "sleep wake disorder bedtimes" OR "sleep initiation and maintenance disorders" OR "sleep wake disorder" OR "sleep arousal disorders"). Based on the selection criteria, six experimental studies were selected and analyzed. Results : The selected studies were two randomized controlled trials, three individual trials, and one case study. The subjects were mostly children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder who were school-aged or adolescent. The intervention types were often complex interventions, including social stories and other interventions, while the durations of the interventions varied from one day to more than 40 days. The interventions had a positive effect on the subjects' sleep quality, with night wakings, sleep onset delay, and sleep anxiety all being improved. As standardized assessment tools to evaluate the effectiveness of social stories, the Child Sleep Habits Questionnaire and the Child Behavior Checklist were used in two papers each, and were the most commonly used. As non-standardized assessment tools, each of the four papers used turbulence and sleep diaries as assessment tools. Conclusion : The effect of social story mediation can be divided into sleep quality and sleep-related behavior. In terms of sleep quality, studies showing improvements in night wakings, sleep onset delay, and sleep anxiety accounted for a large proportion of the sample. The detailed effect area of sleep quality showed a significant improvement after the interventions in most studies, and in all six studies analyzed in the present study, the continuation of the effect after the intervention was confirmed via follow-up tests. Thus, the findings of this study are expected to be helpful when applying social stories in children with sleep disorders in clinical practice due to presenting the intervention effects, outcome evaluation tools, and intervention periods in children with sleep disorders in prior investigations involving social stories.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.265-271
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• 1997

Objective : A 4-week, single-blind, parallel group study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tofisopam and lorazepam in 32 outpatients with anxiety disorder. Methods : Patients were randomized to receive either tofisopam(N=17) or lorazepam(N=15). The starting dose of tofisopam was 50mg t.i.d. daily, which could be increased to a maximum of 100mg t.i.d. according to the patient's clinical response and side effect. The starting dose of lorazepam was 0.75mg b.i.d. daily, which could be increased to a maximum of 1.5mg b.i.d. depending on the patient's clinical response and side effect. Efficacy evaluations at baseline, week 1, 2, and 4 used the 14-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety(HAM-A) and Clinical Global Impression(CGI). Tolerability was assessed by response to a nonleading question concerning adverse events. Laboratory parameters including vital sign, EKG, hematological, and biochemical values were measured during trial. Results : No significant differences between HAM-A total scores, two HAM-A factors(psychic, somatic) and CGI severity scores were recorded at any point during tofisopam and lorazepam treatments. However, in each group there was a significant decrease in HAM-A total scores, two HAM-A factor s(psychic, somatic), CGI severity scores over time. The pecentages of patients with tofisopam who at least minimally improved increased from 64.7% at week 1 to 94.1% at week 4. The pecentages of patients with lorazepam who at least minimally improved increased from 40.0% at week 1 to 66.7% at week 4. The pecentages of patients with tofisopam who had not any adverse event increased from 58.8% at week 1 to 87.9% at week 4. The pecentages of patients with lorazepam who had not any adverse event were not changed from 46.7% at week 1 to 46.7% at week 4. Laboratory parameters including vital sign, EKG, hematological, and biochemical values showed no significant changes during the trial in both groups. Conclusion : These data suggest that tofisopam may be effective in reducing anxiety and is a anti-anxiety drug of identical potency with lorazepam. Tolerability of tofisopam was superior to lorazepam. These findings should be confirmed by using double-blind crossover study with a large member of patients.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.161-171
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• 2018

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the process of psychosocial assessment, the experience of intervention, and the improvement after the disaster that Danwon high school students survived from the sinking of the Motor Vessel (MV) Sewol in South Korea on April 16, 2014. Methods: We conducted in-depth qualitative research using individual interviews from January to February 2017. Twenty-one of 75 Danwon high school students survived by the MV Sewol disaster were studied. Two interviewers participated in the in-depth interview. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed through content analysis based on psychosocial assessment and intervention after the disaster. Results: Twenty-one participants were 20 years old, where 10 were male (47.62%), and 11 were female (52.38%). More than 75% of the interviewed students felt that mental health services were needed, and more than 85% required mental health assessments. Regarding psychiatric symptoms, the students reported that they suffered depression and insomnia (19.05%), anxiety (14.29%), nightmares and phobias (9.52%), and difficulties regarding concentration, aggression, and game addiction (4.76%). Conclusion: Despite survivors experiencing the same disaster, there were differences in their responses to mental health assessments and interventions experienced during the three years, and conflicting opinions were reported. In planning future evaluations and interventions, it is necessary for strategies to cope with flexibly to consider the characteristics and symptoms of the survivors while maintaining principles.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.245-254
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• 2020

Patients diagnosed with cancer face mental problems such as alienation, isolation, anxiety about death and fear, recovering from psychological difficulties. In this study, a forest healing program was provided for cancer patients to recover from psychological stress, depression, social isolation and self-esteem caused by cancer and changes in salivary cortisol through psychological and emotional recovery were measured. From September 19 to November 28, 2017, a forest healing program composed of a total of 10 sessions, two hours per session was provided for 12 cancer patients in the Forest of Taegyo located in Yongin. Psychological tests were performed with Social Adaptation Self-evaluation Scale (SASS), Korean-version Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the collected data were analyzed with the SPSS 18.0. The salivary cortisol level was measured along with the psychological tests and were analyzed by a specialized testing agency. The results of the analysis showed that the pre- and post-assessment score of SASS was 29.17 and 25.92, respectively, and that the pre- and post-assessment score of PSS was 30.50 and 23.92, respectively. The pre- and post-assessment score of BDI was 41.00 and 34.83, respectively, which showed significant differences. In addition, the pre- and post-assessment level of saliva cortisol was 3.13 and 1.68, respectively, showing a significant decrease. In short, the forest healing program was found to be effective in reducing physiological changes caused by social isolation and stress due to the emotional and psychological difficulties that the subjects who were diagnosed with cancer and were recovering from it have. In the future, it will be necessary to develop and implement a forest healing program by conducting a forest healing requirement survey on cancer patients.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.20-28
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• 2020

Objectives : The aim of this study was to compare psychosocial characteristics of the functional gastrointestinal disorders FGID group, non-FGID group, and control group and determine factors affecting the QOL of patients with FGID. Methods : 135 patients diagnosed with FGID were selected. 79 adults had no observable symptoms of FGID (control group) and 88 adults showed symptoms of FGID (non-FGID group). Demographic factors were investigated. The Korean-Beck Depression Inventory-II, Korean-Beck Anxiety Inventory, Korean-Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-15 and WHO Quality of Life Assessment Instrument Brief Form were used to assess psychosocial factors. A one-way ANOVA was used to compare differences among groups. Pearson correlation test was performed to analyze the correlation of psychosocial factors and QOL of the FGID group. Further, a hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to determine factors affecting the QOL of the FGID group. Results : Between-group differences were not significant in demographic characteristics. Depression (F=48.75, p<0.001), anxiety (F=14.48, p<0.001), somatization (F=24.42, p<0.001) and childhood trauma (F=12.71, p<0.001) were significantly higher in FGID group than in other groups. Social support (F=39.95, p<0.001) and resilience (F=17.51, p<0.001) were significantly lower in FGID group than in other groups. Resilience (β=0.373, p<0.01) was the most important explanatory variable. The explained variance was 47.2%. Conclusions : Significantly more symptoms of depression, anxiety, childhood trauma, and somatization were observed for the FGID group. This group also had less social support, resilience, and quality of life than the non-FGID and control groups. The key factor for quality of life of the FGID group was resilience.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.271-279
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• 2004

Purpose: The object of this study Is to investigate sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, psychology, self-esteem and quality of life in cancer patients on radiation therapy and to provide useful information for therapeutic approach to cancer patients on radiation therapy. Materials and Methods: The subjects were 36 patents who had been treated with radiation therapy and 20 normal people. Sociodemographic information and clinical characteristics of cancer patients on radiation therapy were investigated, and symptom checklist-90-revised, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale for self esteem, World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment Instrument for quality of life were administered to subjects. And Spearman's correlation analysis was used among these. Result : The tendency of somatization, depression, anxiety and hostility in cancer group were significantly higher than normal group. Self esteem and quality of life in cancer group were significantly lower than normal group. No significant difference was found in comparison of psychology, self esteem and qualify on life according to sociodemographic variables. Among clinical characteristics, in the presence of metastasis in cancer patients, the scores of anxiety, phobia and paranoid ideation were higher In patients with pain, the score of somatization was higher And in case of weight loss, the score of somatization was higher. The higher score of depression, anxiety and hostility were significantly associated with lower self-esteem. And higher score of somatization, depression, anxiety and hostility were significantly associated with lower quality of life. Conclusion: Understanding and management of psychological symptoms, such as somatization, depression, anxiety, and hostility, and pain control are necessary to improve quality of life in cancer patients on radiation therapy.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.58-66
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• 2021

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to compare the psychosocial characteristics of patients diagnosed with functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID) by classifying them into irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), functional dyspepsia (FD), functional constipation (FC), functional heartburn (FH) groups, and overlap group (two or more functional diseases) and to examine the factors associated with the quality of life (QoL) of patients with FGID. Methods : A total of 144 patients who were diagnosed with FGID were selected as the subjects. The demographical factors were investigated; Korean-Beck Depression Inventory-II (K-BDI-II), Korean-Beck Anxiety Inventory (K-BAI), Korean version of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (K-CTQ), Multi-dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Korean Version of Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (K-CD-RISC), and World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment Instrument Brief Form (WHOQOL-BREF) were used to evaluate the psychosocial factors. Results : TThe overlap group had a significantly higher K-BDI-II score (F=11.09, p<0.001) and K-BAI score (F=8.93, p<0.001) compared to other groups. In childhood trauma, the IBS patients had a difference in emotional neglect (F=2.54, p=0.04) than the FD patients. The QoL of FGID patients had a negative correlation with depression (r=-0.196, p<0.01), anxiety (r=-0.235, p<0.01), and childhood trauma (r=-0.222, p<0.01), and a positive correlation with social support (r=0.512, p<0.01) and resilience (r=0.581, p<0.01). Conclusions : Overlap group had a higher level of depression and anxiety, and the IBS patient group had a higher level of emotional neglect than the FD patient group in terms of childhood trauma.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2014

Objectives: In this study, the meditation programs (${\alpha}$ version), which are properly coordinated according to the motion, breathing, and relaxation, are evaluated and researched upon to have positive effects on stress and in the area of psychology. Methods: Approved by the Clinical Trials Deliberation Committee in Oriental Medicine, Dongguk University, Ilsan Hospital, this study collected data according to the applicant's consents, demographic information and anthropometry for the Sasang Constitutional diagnosis. Sasang Constitutional diagnosis measured the beta tools by Institute of Oriental Medicine and a decision tree was made for the Sasang Constitutional questionnaires. The STAI, STAXI, BDI, and HRV were measured before and after the meditation in order to compare the effects of meditation according to Sasang Constitution. The HRV was used as a ProComP KM Tech (co). Results: 1) The positive changes available in the Time-domain analysis of heart rate variability assessment showed that the peace of mind is increased. By analyzing the Sasang constitution, So-eum In's peace of mind included a physical stability of the autonomic nervous system. 2) According to the psychological scale evaluation, each depression scale, trait anger, anger-in, state anxiety and trait anxiety index proved significantly positive effects. By analyzing the Sasang constitution, Eun-In which involved So-eum In and Tae-eum In, had positive effects. 3) The psychological scale changed the group of diagnosed depression or anxiety, it did not mean that the psychological scale changes in the depression group, but the index of the anxiety group had been significantly reduced. This program had clinical effects for anxious patients and Eum-In which involved Tae-eum In and So-eum In according to the analysis of Sasang constitution. 4) Correlations between the gender of each psychological scale showed that women have overall low correlations, but, there were no significant changes. Conclusions: The meditation program developed by adequately mixing Action, relaxation and breathing shows that it is effective for overall Eum-in physical and mental relaxation and concentration. In the future, It will have to be developed Meditation program to show the same effect for all people.