• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.53-61
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• 2006

Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate difference of the alexithymia between panic patients and normal controls by examination of the relationships between different components of the alexithymia construct and level of anxiety and depression in panic patients and normal controls. Methods The subjects were 167 patients who met DSM-IV criteria for panic disorder and 110 normal controls. They drew up symptom checklists and self-rating scales, and were measured by Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-Panic attack & Agoraphobia(ADIS-P & A), Korean version of Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20K), Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-State & Trait (STAI-S & T), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Revised Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI-R). For statistical analysis, we performed t-test to compare the sociodemographic characteristics and the scores of self reported scales between panic patients and normal controls. Pearson correlation was performed between TAS-20K and it's subfactors, STAI-S & T, ASI-R and BDI in panic patients and normal controls. And stepwise multiple regression analysis was preformed to explain results of correlation analysis for alexithymia. Results: The panic patients reported more significant alexithymic (p<0.001), more difficulty identifying feeling (p<0.001) and describing feeling (p=0.001) than normal controls. Futhermore, panic patients were more significant anxious, sensitive to anxious feeling and depressive than normal controls. Moreover, the alexithymia of panic patients was explained by trait-anxiety $({\Delta}R^2=0.255)$ and anxiety sensitivity $({\Delta}R^2=0.062)$, that of normal controls was predicted by depression $({\Delta}R^2=0.144)$ and anxiety sensitivity $({\Delta}R^2=0.033)$ Conclusion: The panic patients reported more anxious and sensitive to anxious feeling, and these symptoms predict alexithymia in panic patients. However, the alexithymia of normal controls was explained by depression more than anxiety sensitivity, and such a result isn't consistent with previous studies and this may be mainly due to difference of the homogeneity in object of the studies.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.808-819
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• 1996

The purpose of this study was to examine the stressors and coping strategies of school -age children and to explore the relationship between stressful life events and health symptoms and the effects of coping and trait anxiety which is theoretically considered to mediate the relationship between stress and health symptom. The study subjects consisted of 639 elementary school children in the fourth to sixth grade living in Seoul. Of the 639 subjects, 348 were boys and 291 were girls. The mean age was 11.35 (SD=.86). The Feel Bad Scale(FBS), Schoolager's Coping Strategy Inventory(SCSI), Spielberger's Trait Anxiety Scale for Children(STAIC), and Health Symptom Questionnaire (HSQ) were adapted for this study. A pilot study was undertaken to ascertain the reliability and validity of the instruments. The Cronbach alphas of FBS, SCSI, STAIC and HSQ were from .81 to .92. The Researcher and a research assistant visited the school and data were collected in the class using the questionnaire method after an explanation of the purpose and procedures was given to the children. Data collection was done during the period between Nov.25 to Dec.19, 1995. Using the SAS statistical program, percentages, t-test, ANOVA, correlation analysis, and multiple regression were used for data analysis. The result are as follows : 1. The mean score for the FBS was 204.79(range : 48-472) and there was a significant difference according to grade. The most severe stressors perceived by children were parental divorce and death or illness of family members. The most frequently experienced stressful life events were conflict with siblings and being home alone. 2. The mean score for the SCSI was 57.36(range : 9-118) and there was a significant difference according to grade. The most frequently used, and perceived as helpful, coping strategies were distraction and cognitive activities. 3. The mean score for the HSQ were 20.7(range : 0-81) and there were significant differences according to grade and sex. The percentage of the children answering that they perceived their health state as not good was 3.9%. 4. The mean score for the STAIC was 33.76 and there were significant differences according to grade and sex. 5. There was a significant relationship between stressful life events and health symptoms ( r=.53, p<.01). Also, Stressful life events were postively related with coping strategies(r=.39, p<.01). Trait anxiety was highly correlated with health symptoms(r=.72, p<.01). 6. To examine the multivariate effects of the variables to health symptoms, multiple regression was performed. Stressful life events, coping, trait anxiety, and health concerns were identified as significant variables. Explanation of the health symptoms by these variables was 56.78%. The study revealed that stressful life events correlated with health symptoms in school-age children and coping and trait anxiety had mediating effects on this relationship. The implication for nursing is that there is a need to develop supportive interventions for high risk population to decrease health problems due to stress. Also, it is recommended that a study be conducted to explore protective factors for the prevention of health problems in children.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.98-104
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• 2012

Objectives : This study aimed to investigate the correlations between neurological and psychiatric symptoms at two weeks after stroke. Methods : For 412 stroke patients, stroke severity was evaluated by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale(NIHSS), disability by the Barthel Index(BI) and modified Rankin Scale(mRS), cognitive function by the Korean Mini-Mental State Examination(K-MMSE), and muscle power by grip strength. Psychiatric symptoms were assessed by Symptom check list-90-Revision(SCL-90-R), consisted of nine symptom domains : Somatization, Obsessive-compulsive, Interpersonal sensitivity, Depression, Anxiety, Hostility, Phobic anxiety, Paranoid ideation, Psychoticism, and Additional items. The correlations between the neurological and psychiatric symptoms were investigated at the time of admission and before discharge(i.e. before and after treatment). Results : At the time of admission, NIHSS score was associated with scores on Phobic anxiety and Additional items ; and scores on BI and mRS were associated with Depression, Phobic anxiety and Additional items. At the time of discharge, NIHSS score was associated with scores on Somatization, Depression, Phobic anxiety, and Additional items ; scores on BI and mRS were associated with scores on Depression, Phobic anxiety and Additional items ; MMSE score was associated with Obsessive-compulsive, Depression, Phobic anxiety, and Additional items ; and grip strength was associated with Somatization, Depression, Anxiety and Additional items. Conclusions : More severe neurological symptoms were associated with higher psychiatric morbidity particularly in depression, phobic anxiety, sleep and appetite disturbance at acute stage of stroke. More intensive psychiatric care and intervention are needed for the high risk group.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.237-249
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• 2019

Objectives: Interest in the use of complementary and alternative treatments to treat dementia. Meditation is used to treat various symptoms of physical and psychological diseases. Some studies suggest that meditation might have positive effects on cognitive functions, especially attention, in the elderly. However, how meditation affects Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients remains unclear. In this review, we assessed the effectiveness of practicing meditation in combination with standard care in AD. Methods: We searched the CCRCT, MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED and CINAHL databases on 30 May 2017. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that used meditation in adult patients diagnosed with AD. We allocated patients to a meditation combined with standard care or a standard care-only group. Results: The two RCTs met the inclusion criteria. A total of 98 patients were included in the meditation with standard care and standard care-only groups in this review. All meditation programs in the included trials were based on practicing mindfulness. The results of our meta-analysis indicatedthat adjunctive mindfulness meditation programs exerted favourable but non-significant effects on cognitive function on the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) (MD=4.68, 95% CI -0.11 to 9.46; Z=1.92, p=0.06). Only one study assessed depression, anxiety, quality of life and stress. No adverse events related to meditation were reported in the included studies. Conclusions: Insufficient data iscurrently available to determine the effectiveness of practicing meditation on patients diagnosed with AD. Hence, further RCTs with high methodological quality and larger sample sizes are needed to effectively estimate the effects of meditation on AD.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.26-35
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• 2015

Objectives:The purpose of this study was to evaluate reliability and validity of the Korean version of the Postconcussional Syndrome Questionnaire(KPCSQ) which was originally developed in 1992 by Lees-Haley. Methods:Patients with traumatic brain injury were recruited from April 2009 to December 2011 from the Korean University Ansan Hospital. We selected patients that met the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria of postconcussional syndrome and organic mental disorder including organic mood disorder, organic emotionally labile disorder, organic anxiety disorder and organic personality disorder. The KPCSQ, Trait and State Anxiety Inventory(STAI-I, II), and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale(CESD) were administered to all subjects. Factor analysis of the items were performed and test-retest correlation were evaluated. Internal consistency of the KPCSQ and its subscales was assessed with Cronbach's alpha. External validity of the KPCSQ were examined by correlation coefficient with the STAI-I, II, and CESD. Results:The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the total PCSQ was 0.956. The test-retest reliability coefficient was 0.845. The PCSQ showed significant correlation with STAI-I, II and CESD. The factor analysis of the PCSQ yielded 4 factors model. Factor 1 represented 'affective and cognitive symptoms', factor 2 represented 'somatic symptoms', factor 3 represented 'infrequent symptoms' and factor 4 represented 'exaggeration or inattentive response'. There was no significant difference between the PCS group and the organic mental disorder group in the score on each measure. The scores on KPCSQ and its subscales in the subjects that had scored 5 or more in 'exaggeration or inattentive response' are significantly higher than those in the subjects had scored 4 in 'exaggeration or inattentive response'. Conclusions:This study suggests that the Korean version of PCSQ is a valid and reliable tool for assessing psychiatric symptomatology of patients with traumatic brain injury. Further investigations with greater numbers of subjects are necessary to assess the clinical usefulness of the KPCSQ.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.709-729
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• 1996

This study was done to analyze the trends of research on coping in Korea, to suggest future direction, for research on coping, and ultimately to contribute to an increase in explanation of adaptation. This article reviewed 79 nursing research papers on coping done since 1978 by examining them according to the period of publication or presentation, research design, type of subjects, measurement instruments, research for a degree or not, range of reliability, and association of coping and related variables. The results are as follows : The number of studies on coping increased rapidly from the mid-1980's and decreased slowly from the mid-1990's. The maority of the studies were surveys, comparative studies, or correlational studies. The subects of the 46 studies were healthy people, while those in the remaining studies were patients with a variety of illnesses. Thirth-eight studies on coping were done for master's thesis, three for dissertion, and 38 were not degrees. The Bell and Jalowiec coping scales have not been used since the early 1990's. In contrast, Lazarus and Folkman's W.C.C.L. has been used increasingly since that time. The reliabilities of the coping scale were reported in 37 cases and the Cronbach's alpha coefficients were .71 to .86. All subjects reported using more problem-oriented coping than emotion-oriented coping in short-term or emotion-oriented coping and healthy groups did more long-term coping. It was difficult to describe consistently the relationship between stress and coping according to the type of coping scale or research subjects, but generally moderate relationships were found. This was due to instrumental problems and no consideration of situational context. The subject group who used more short-term coping and less long-term coping reported poorer mental status, and higher scores in burnout and state anxiey than others. That is, the relationship between stress and adaptation increased the power of explanation with intervening the mediating effect of coping. The association of locus of control, mastery, social support, and self-concept with coping showed positive relationships : those of uncertainty and severity in illness with coping showed negativerelationships ; those of state anxiety and depression with short-term coping were positive, and those of self-esteem with long-term coping or problem-oriented coping were negative. There were significant differences in the scores of types of coping according to religion, level of education, and socio-economic status. That is, Presbyterians and Catholics, those with higher education levels and higher socio-economic status used more long-term or problem-oriented coping. On the basis of the above findings the following recommendations are made : 1. There is a need to test the mediating effect of coping variable in order to clarify the concept. 2. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine the patterns of change in coping strategies when stressful events are encountered. 3. It's necessary to develop a reliable and variable measurement tool for coping. 4. There is a need to identify subscales of coping to increase explanation of variance 5. It's necessary to consider personal, situational, and antecedent variables : the characteristics of subject populations, the natures of illness and treatment situations. 6. The power of explanation of studies designed to identify the stress-adaptation process should be increased using the combination model of process-oriented coping and cognitive-structural model.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.685-698
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• 2023

This study aimed to identify binge-eating behavior and food addiction in Korean population and to determine their associations with obesity, eating behaviors, mental health and cognitive characteristics. We collected clinical questionnaire scores related to eating problems (e.g. binge eating, food addiction, food cravings), mental health (e.g. depression), and cognitive functions (e.g. impulsivity, emotion regulation) in 257 Korean adults in the normal and the obese weight ranges. Binge-eating and food addiction were most frequent in obese women (binge-eating: 46.6%, food addiction: 29.3%) when we divided the participants into 4 groups depending on gender and obesity status. The independence test using the data with propensity score matching confirmed that binge-eating and food addiction were more prevalent in obese individuals. Finally, we constructed the logistic regression models using forward selection method to evaluate the influence of various clinical questionnaire scores on binge-eating and food addiction respectively. Binge-eating was significantly associated with the clinical scales of eating disorders, food craving, state anxiety, and emotion regulation (cognitive reappraisal) as well as food addiction. Food addiction demonstrated the significant effect of food craving, binge-eating, the interaction of obesity and age, and years of education. In conclusion, we found that binge-eating and food addiction are much more frequent in females and obese individuals. Both binge-eating and food addiction commonly involved eating problems (e.g. food craving), but there was difference in mental health and cognitive risk factors. Therefore, it is required to distinguish food addiction from binge-eating and investigate intrinsic and environmental risk factors for each pathology.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.72-87
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• 2000

Objectives : This study was to provide normative data of Korean version of DSI(K-DSI), a sensitive measure of relatively minor stressors that could be administered daily. Methods : K-DSI was administered in 524 adults, age of 19 or over, daily for 1 week. On the seventh day, Becks Depression Inventory(BDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory(STAI), and Social Readjustment Rating Scale(SRRS) were also given to test the convergent validity. Analyses(ANOVA or t-test) were conducted to examine the potential effects of demographic variables on K-DSI score. Internal consistency for reliability and Pearson's corelation coefficient with BDI, STAI, SRRS for convergent validity were computed. Percentile scores were calculated for daily and weekly K-DSI Event, Impact and I/E Ratio scores. Results : K-DSI scores in women were higher than those in men. According to age and educational level, the younger and the higher educational level the normative groups were, the higher were K-DSI scores. Among the 5 categories of the inventory, the category of cognitive stressors was highest. Internal consistency of K-DSI(Cronbach's $\alpha$) was .99. Daily and Weekly events and impacts scores were significantly correlated with the scores of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Social Readjustment Rating Scale, and Beck Depression Inventory. 75 percentile scores of the daily/weekly Events, Impacts, and I/E ratio were 17/118 - 124, 57/368 - 389 and 3.48 - 3.49/3.47 - 3.48 respectively. And 95 percentile scores of daily/weekly Events, Impacts, and I/E ratio were 57/151- 161, 405/1038 - 1122, and 4.72 - 4.86/4.46 - 4.56 respectively. Conclusion : Reliability and validity of K-DSI were tested satisfactorily. Authors presented the normative data of K-DSI for Koreans. K-DSI could be a useful measure in clinical settings or researches to assess the minor stressors frequently experienced in everyday life.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.746-764
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• 2022

Communication breakdown has been mentioned causing a heavy burden for dementia caregivers. This study aims to inspect and structure the process and results of communication between people with dementia and their caregivers. The impeding/facilitating elements of communication are also extracted. Interviews with 21 of dementia care experts about the direct and indirect experiences of communication with people with dementia were analyzed based on the grounded theory. Results show that combination of the cognitive and communication decline of the people with dementia, confusing environment and caregivers' inappropriate attitude and lack of communication skills leads to communication breakdown and relations severance. Minimal contacts and task-oriented conversation results in conflicts and people with dementia's increasing agitation, anxiety and violent behaviors while understanding of individuality and listening with heart lead to recovered lucidity in the state of serious dementia, recovered pleasure and voluntary participation in the daily activities for people with dementia. Core paradigm was defined as 'Person Centered Care through relation formation'. There are 4 types of communication with people with dementia : partnering, patronizing, conflicting, avoiding types. Researchers suggest that Person Centered based communication skills be educated and trained for dementia caregivers.