• Anxiety and mood
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.112-119
• /
• 2018

Objective : This study aims to identify personality characteristics in female homicide offenders by using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) test. Methods : This study retrospectively analyzed the mental appraisals and MMPI-2 scores of 54 women charged with homicide and 67 women charged with non-violent crimes, who were referred to National Forensic Hospital in Gongju city for psychiatric evaluation between January 2012 and March 2016. Results : Women charged with homicide scored significantly higher on Hs (p=0.018), D (p<0.001), Hy (p=0.002) and Pt (p=0.004) than the women charged with non-violent crimes. The women charged with homicide may have developed the following characteristics: hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria and psychasthenia. In multiple regression analyses, a final regression model including age of crime onset and depression was significant, explaining 16.5% of the variance in homicides committed by females. Conclusion : These findings suggest that personality characteristics in the female homicide offenders might be different compared to the non-violent crime offenders.

• Journal of the Korean society of biological therapies in psychiatry
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.202-208
• /
• 2018

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in forensic demographic characteristics, interpersonal problems and personality disorder between early and late onset criminal patients with schizophrenia. Methods : The participants included 187 inpatients with schizophrenia who had committed crimes. They filled out the Korean Inventory of Interpersonal Problem Personality Disorder Scales and Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised. They were divided into early onset group and late onset group according to onset age of schizophrenia at 26 years old(under 26 versus 26 and older) and forensic demographic characteristics, interpersonal problem and personality disorders including psychopathy were compared between two groups. Results : There were no differences in gender, education years and family history between the two groups. Early onset group was associated with lower age, earlier onset of age and earlier age at the time of the crime. Duration from onset to diagnosis was not different between the two groups. Duration from onset to crime and after diagnosis to crime was shorter in late onset group. There were no differences between the two groups in the interpersonal problems, personality disorder and psychopathic personality evaluation. Conclusion : These results suggested that there may be forensic demographic differences related to crime between early and later onset schizophrenia. Psychiatrists should consider the age at onset of schizophrenia when assessing the risk of violence in patients with schizophrenia. In the future. it will be needed other study of age classification such as admixture analysis.

• Anxiety and mood
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.99-103
• /
• 2008

Objectives : The authors sought to examine the differences in the number of P300 detected by subjects in experimental and control groups when exposed to relevant stimuli. In addition, the authors tried to determinethe subjects' reaction time when asked to respond to relevant stimuli. Methods : The subjects were 20 informed female volunteers aged 22-38 years (median age : 24). Relevant stimuli (concealed information) were created by unknowingly exposing the two groups to obscene pictures and semantic questions. The number of P300 detected and the length of reaction time were compared between the two groups. Results : Contrary to theauthors' expectations, there were no significant differences in the number of P300 detected or in the length of reaction time between the two groups. Conclusions : These results indicate that, unlike a polygraph test, concealed information tests adopting P300 and reaction time as major physiological responses ofsubjects exposed to meaningful personal information might not serve as a valid practical tool in the field of criminal psychology. However, further studies involving a greater number of subjects are needed before a final conclusion regarding the validity of this new type of concealed information test can be drawn.

• Anxiety and mood
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.16-21
• /
• 2012

Objectives : The current study investigated the personality characteristics of the sexual offender using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) test commonly used in clinical medicine. Methods : 30 sexual offenders (30 male) completed the Korean version of the MMPI. 20 of the 30 sexual offenders were patients with paraphilia. The sexual offenders had been admitted to the Institute of Forensic Psychiatry Ministry of Justice, Gongju, for sexual violence. Results : The MMPI scores of the sexual offenders were significantly higher on the psychopathic deviate (Pd), masculinity-feminity (Mf), paranoia (Pa), psychasthenia (Pt), schizophrenia (Sc) than the comparison group. And The MMPI scores of the sexual offenders had higher values for hypochondriasis (Hs), depression (D), hysteria (Hy), hypomania (Ma), social introversion (Si) than the comparison group, but were not significantly higher. Conclusion : Sexual offenders may be antisocial, paranoid, schizoid or psychasthenic. They seem to have psychotic psychopathology rather than neurotic psychopathology. These results suggested that the psychopatholgy of sexual offenders may be different to the control group.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.3-13
• /
• 2004

A historical overview of the relationship between law and medicine, particularly psychiatry, was presented along with the religious, social and legal aspects of the societies in the Western hemisphere as they affected the concepts and philosophy of the legal system in each society at different point in history. The evolution of the modern concept of juvenile court system and changing patterns of implementing the juvenile law in the United States, particularly the mental health evaluation process to determine the youths' competence to stand trial, were presented in detail. The ultimate goals of protecting the civil rights of children, adolescents and youths are emphasized.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.27-33
• /
• 2021

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the difference in the effects of eye-mask and light-off on sleep status according to a commercial fitness tracker and a sleep diary of psychiatric in-patients in correctional facilities where nocturnal light is compulsory. Methods: This study was conducted over 3 consecutive nights. In-patients of the National Forensic Psychiatric Hospital (n = 29) were assigned random subject numbers and slept as usual in the light-on condition on the first night. The subjects slept with eye-masks in the light-on condition on another night and without an eye-mask in the light-off condition on the other night. Subjects were asked to sleep wearing a commercial fitness tracker and to keep a sleep diary. The order of these changes in bedroom lighting condition on the second and third nights was assigned randomly to participants. Results: In comparison of the sleep variables between the light-on condition and the eye-mask condition, the Wakefullness After Sleep Onset (WASO) was shorter and sleep satisfaction was higher in the latter.(respectively, Z = 3.66, p < 0.017 ; Z = 2.69, p < 0.017) In comparison of the sleep variables between the light-on and light-off conditions, the WASO was shorter and sleep efficiency and sleep satisfaction were higher in the latter (respectively, Z = 2.40, p < 0.017 ; Z = 3.02, p < 0.017 ; Z = 3.88, p < 0.017). However, there were no differences in the sleep variables between the eye-mask condition and the light-off condition. Conclusion: Subjective improvements in sleep variables were noted in sleep diaries of institutionalized psychiatric patients under either the 'eye-mask' or 'light-off' condition. However, there were no significant differences between the 'eye-mask' and 'light-off' conditions. Therefore, we suggest that psychiatric patients in correctional facilities use eye-masks when sleeping.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.39-43
• /
• 2009

We treated the persistent ruminative vomiting of a 13-year-old autistic boy by using a behavioral and psychopharmacological approach in a closed ward. Before the interventions, the patient had lost about 10kg of body weight due to very high-frequency ruminative vomiting. Together with psychopharmacological trials, the psychiatric treatment included a combination of a behavioral approach and food regulation that emphasized food restrictions, and we provided regular light meals. There was a considerable reduction of the ruminative vomiting and 2kg weight gain was achieved during the admission. These therapeutic gains were maintained at the 4-month follow-up assessment and the vomiting symptom reached a near-zero level and the weight loss were recovered by about 8kg. The issues related to the treatment approaches for ruminative vomiting with autism are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.53-57
• /
• 2020

This article reviews a wide range of literature on the standards and process of child custody evaluation in the US, and proposes custody evaluation standards appropriate to Korea. Custody evaluation refers to the process of making psychiatric and psychological evaluations of each parent and the child during a custody dispute and presenting to the family court a report of custody evaluation with the aim of safeguarding the best interests of the child. In the past, it was thought that children arethe fathers' possessions or that younger children should be raised by the mother; however, currently, custody rights are evaluated in accordance with the principle of the best interests of the child. The principle is all-encompassing and vague and hence, the court makes increasingly more requests to mental health professionals for custody evaluation. Since the Seoul Family Court introduced the expert consultation system in 2017, the involvement of mental health professionals in child custody decisions has increased in Korea. Custody evaluators should try to be neutral and find the objective facts, keeping in mind that their role is to aid the court in making a custody decision.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.58-65
• /
• 2020

As in western countries, divorce rates in South Korea have recently been rising, and family disruption has become one of serious social problems. Parents are able to express their opinions and wishes confidently, but the thoughts and wishes of children, especially infants and young children, tend to be ignored. Children can also experience several emotional and behavioral problems during the process of and after their parents' divorce. When South Korean family courts determine custody arrangements, they typically do not have a systematic strategy and process based on custody evaluation to help children and their parents overcome conflicts and build healthy parent-child relationships after divorce. Furthermore, under the current court system, it is difficult for mental health specialists and child psychiatrists to intervene in familial conflicts as mediators or therapists during the course of divorce proceedings. Acknowledging these limitations, the South Korean family court system implemented a formal program for custody evaluations by child psychiatrists and psychologists in 2017. However, they have faced challenges such as a shortage of experienced specialist and lack of a training system or instruments for evaluation. In this paper, the authors aim to share professional knowledge of and experiences with aspects of the custody evaluation process, such as indications, procedures, methods, psychological tests, resources, and final report writing, to better serve children and their parents undergoing a painful divorce process.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.49 no.2
• /
• pp.134-138
• /
• 2016

Objectives: Season of birth, an exogenous indicator of early life environment, has been related to higher risk of adverse psychiatric outcomes but the findings for Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been inconsistent. We investigated whether the month or season of birth are associated with AD. Methods: A nationwide nested case-control study including all community-dwellers with clinically verified AD diagnosed in 2005 to 2012 (n=70 719) and up to four age- sex- and region of residence-matched controls (n=282 862) residing in Finland. Associations between month and season of birth and AD were studied with conditional logistic regression. Results: Month of birth was not associated with AD (p=0.09). No strong associations were observed with season (p=0.13), although in comparison to winter births (December-February) summer births (June-August) were associated with higher odds of AD (odds ratio, 1.03; 95% confidence interval, 1.00 to 1.05). However, the absolute difference in prevalence in winter births was only 0.5% (prevalence of those born in winter were 31.7% and 32.2% for cases and controls, respectively). Conclusions: Although our findings do not support the hypothesis that season of birth is related to AD/dementia risk, they do not invalidate the developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis in late-life cognition. It is possible that season does not adequately capture the early life circumstances, or that other (postnatal) risk factors such as lifestyle or socioeconomic factors overrule the impact of prenatal and perinatal factors.