• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.80-91
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• 2022

Purpose: This study aimed to identify relationships among knowledge and skills about suicide prevention, attitudes toward suicide, and burnout of suicide prevention work of nurses at mental health welfare centers. Methods: An explanatory sequential mixed-method research was conducted. For the quantitative study, the subjects (nurses) were 133 nurses executing suicide prevention work. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 25.0 program. For the qualitative research, 13 nurses with high burnout scores were interviewed. The data were analyzed using theme analysis method. Results: Quantitative results showed the average burnout of suicide prevention work was 54.62 ± 12.51. The burnout of suicide prevention work had significant correlations with attitudes toward suicide (r = .30, p < .001) and suicide prevention skills (r = - .18, p = .037). Qualitative results showed six themes related to burnout of suicide prevention work. They were 'feeling a lack of confidence in one's suicide counselling skills', 'feeling of the limits of one's ability to cope with a suicide crisis', 'feeling regret for not being able to help the clients', 'being over-empathetic to the clients', 'Not being able to understand the clients because the subjects (nurses) opposes committing suicide', and 'thinking that the suicidal thoughts of suicide attempters do not improve'. Conclusion: To reduce burnout of nurses' suicide prevention work at mental health welfare centers, there is a need to develop an educational program considering nurses' attitudes toward suicide and one to enhance their confidence in suicide prevention skills.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.210-217
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• 2024

Objectives: South Korea has the highest suicide rate among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries; there is an increasing trend in suicide attempts among middle and high school students. Various factors contribute to the risk of suicide among adolescents, and the perception of suicide prevention has emerged as a significant factor. This study aimed to investigate the association between emotional and behavioral difficulties among middle and high school students and their perceptions of suicide prevention and to explore differences in suicide perception according to age. Methods: A survey was conducted among community middle and high school students, including 530 participants, between 2020 and 2021. Emotional and behavioral difficulties were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Korean version, and participants were asked to complete a questionnaire on the importance and possibility of suicide prevention. A correlation test and analysis of variance were used to examine the relationships between the variables, and suicide awareness was compared according to age. Results: The participants who displayed higher strength or lower difficulty were more likely to respond positively to suicide prevention measures. They also exhibited high strength and low difficulty levels, thus agreeing with the importance of suicide prevention. Regarding age-related perceptions of suicide, adults aged 20-29 years reported the lowest probability of suicide prevention. Conclusion: Suicide perceptions influence the incidence of suicide. Therefore, active societal engagement through suicide prevention campaigns and related education is essential to improve such perceptions. Continuous attention and support are required to address this issue.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.167-176
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aimed to verify the effectiveness of suicide prevention education using the "Life Charger" program for older adults. Methods: This study conducted the "Life Charger"suicide prevention education with 95 older adults in the experimental group. Participants were recruited from a senior welfare center and a senior citizen center in D metropolitan city, and their attitudes toward suicide and sense of competence in providing help before and after the education were investigated. While no measures were taken for the control group, their attitudes toward suicide and help-giving competence were surveyed during the same period. Statistics were analyzed using SPSS 23.0, demographic variables of the experimental and control groups were calculated as percentiles, and Chi-square analysis and paired-sample t-test were performed to verify the homogeneity of the experimental and control groups. Results: To verify the effectiveness of the "Life Charger"suicide prevention education, the effectiveness of attitude toward suicide before and after the education was verified. The experimental group showed a significantly higher level (t=-6.34, p<.000). Their competence in providing help was also at a significantly higher level (t=-10.20, p<.000). Upon verifying the effectiveness of the program, the experimental group's attitude toward suicide was found to be significantly higher; however, the control group showed no change in attitude toward suicide and competence in providing help. Conclusion: This study verified that the "Life Charger"suicide prevention education for older adults was effective in increasing attitudes toward suicide and sense of competence in providing help. To increase the effectiveness of suicide prevention education for older adults, follow-up research should determine whether there are any actual changes after the training, and attitudes toward suicide and help-providing competence should be increase d through universal and repetitive education to prevent suicide among older adults.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.41-49
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• 2012

Introduction : Suicide in Korea has increased to 31.2 persons per 100,000 population, the world's highest level. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the world, but in Korea, it is 4th leading cause of death. Therefore suicide is a serious problem in Korea. Many suicide prevention strategies have been proposed. Despite efforts to prevent suicides in Korea, a steady increases in the number of suicides has been brought into question the effectiveness of suicide prevention activities in Korea. Methods : Strategy of restricting suicide methods in many countries was reviewed. Systematic approach to restrict suicidal methods in Korea is proposed. Results : Restricting suicide methods is one of the effective suicide prevention strategies employed in the UK and other countries. Since many suicides occur impulsively, suicide attempt lethality is an important factor in determining the rate of deaths in suicidal attempts. Physical restriction of suicide methods is important in preventing suicide, but restriction of cognitive access to information about suicide and suicide method is more important in preventing suicide. In particular hanging is one of the most common methods of suicides in Korea, it is crucial to develop strategies to prevent suicide by hanging cognitively. Also information about suicide should be properly controlled. To do this, suicide news reporting guidelines should be observed, and website makers whose websites provoke thoughts about suicide should be more strictly sanctioned. Conclusion : Restricting suicide methods along with other suicide prevention plans may be the most effective way to prevent suicide in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.7-16
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• 2023

Objectives This study aimed to review the Korean Constitution articles 14 and 20 of the "Law on suicide prevention" and investigate public perceptions of specific improvements to suicide prevention policies using results from the Korean 2018 National Survey on Suicide. Methods The questionnaire was designed to analyzing the act restricts sharing of patient information between hospitals, making it difficult to track suicide attempts. The questionnaire was also designed to suggest further medical and normative criteria for objective judgment of continuous follow-up utilizing suicide risk evaluations and proportional principle review that consider patients' and medical staff's basic rights. Results This study identified the result of the 1500 respondents, 79.1% believed that Korea should allow suicide prevention management to be implemented without requiring individual consent to protect suicide attempters. Conclusions According the results, I propose the following criteria for policy improvement: use of anonymized information and non-profit research for technical and ethical considerations, access to medical information only for therapeutic purposes, and use of surgical severity assessment criteria appropriate for Korea.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.17-25
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a suicide prevention education program called "Life Talk Talk" among middle and high school students in D City. Methods: The educational content of the "Life Talk Talk" program was compiled through nine rounds of consultations and meetings with suicide prevention experts. Prior to the implementation of the program, consent was obtained from all research participants and their guardians. First , a pilot study was conducted with 100 middle and high school students located in D city, following which the present study was conducted from May to July 2023 with 1,400 middle and high school students in D city. The effects of the program were evaluated by assessing the changes in suicidal ideation, help-providing abilities, and suicide prevention knowledge in the data collected both before and after the education. Statistical analysis included frequency analysis and a paired-sample t-test. Results: The final analysis included 1,380 participants. In the general characteristics,, 1,079 people (78 %) answered "yes" to the question about suicide prevention education experience . The study found a significant decrease in suicidal attitudes (t=-8.92, p<.001) and significant improvements in emotional and cognitive attitudes of participants after the "Life Talk Talk" program . Additionally, all five items related to help-providing abilities (t=-23.83, p<.001) and suicide prevention knowledge (p<.001) showed significant improvement from before the program. Conclusion: The significance of this study lies in demonstrating the effectiveness of the "Life Talk Talk" suicide prevention education program in reducing suicidal attitudes as well as improving help-providing abilities and suicide prevention knowledge. Therefore, to enhance the effectiveness of suicide prevention education, it is essential to regularly implement concise and engaging educational programs that capture the attention of adolescents.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-3
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• 2019

Suicide is a major problem in Korean health care and a serious social problem. In Korea, 12,463 people (24.3 per 100,000) lost their lives due to suicide in 2017. Although the government has established three National Comprehensive Plan of Suicide Prevention (2004, 2009, 2016), and National Action Plan of Suicide Prevention (2018), the suicide rate is still high. The suicide rate of the elderly is especially high. This is due to the economic vulnerability of the elderly in Korea. Therefore, in order to prevent suicide in Korea, mental health care approach and social welfare approach should be integrated. The intervention of preventing suicide of suicide attempters should include social welfare services as well as mental health program and should be based on community. There are many health problems, including prevention of suicide, which can not be solved only by the efforts of health care. Many health problems are social problems and the integrated approach is needed to solve them. In order to solve many health care problems and improve health, integrated approach of health, social science, and humanities is needed.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.513-521
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop an integrated suicide violence prevention program for adolescents. Another purpose was to evaluate the effects of the integrated suicide violence prevention program on self-esteem, parent-child communication, aggression, and suicidal ideation in adolescents. Methods: The study employed a quasi -experimental design. Participants for the study were high school students, 24 in the experimental group and 25 in the control group. Data was analyzed by using the SPSS/WIN. 11.5 program with $X^2$ test, t-test, and 2-way ANOVA. Results: Participants in the integrated suicide violence prevention program reported increased self-esteem scores, which was significantly different from those in the control group. Participants in the integrated suicide violence prevention program reported decreased aggression and suicidal ideation scores, which was significantly different from those in the control group. Conclusion: The integrated suicide violence prevention program was effective in improving self-esteem and decreasing aggression and suicidal ideation for adolescents. Therefore, this approach is recommended as the integrated suicide violence prevention strategy for adolescents.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.318-331
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• 2022

The government has been promoting suicide prevention policies, but the elderly suicide rate has still not improved. This study focused on the role of local governments in solving suicide problems and analyzed three-year data from 2015 to 2017 at local governments level to investigate the relationship between suicide prevention policies and elderly suicide rates. Multiple regression analysis and logistic regression analysis was conducted to control social capital factors, demographic factors, and medical use factors that can affect the elderly suicide rate. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that suicide prevention ordinances were enacted and suicide prevention centers were established in areas with high suicide rates. In areas with high suicide rates, the suicide rate decreases if the elapsed period is long after the establishment of the center. From the perspective of suicide rates, it was analyzed that the local welfare support system was more affected. Accordingly, it was confirmed that the suicide prevention policy should be established in connection with the reinforcement of welfare policies

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.14-25
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a suicide prevention nursing competency program for visiting nurses, and to examine the effect of this program on suicide prevention-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Methods: A total of 66 visiting nurses were recruited from 10 public health centers and divided equally into the experimental and control group. For the experimental group, the suicide prevention nursing competency program was provided twice a week for 120 minutes across 3 weeks. Participants were asked questions related to suicide prevention knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors at pre, post, and 1 month after the intervention. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, a t-test, repeated measure ANOVA, and Friedman test. Results: There were significant differences in knowledge and behaviors at the measured time periods, and significant differences in attitudes and behaviors between the two groups. There were also significant interactions between groups and times in attitudes and behaviors. These results suggest that the effects of the program were persistent until the 1-month follow-up. Conclusion: The developed suicide prevention nursing competency program is effective in evidence-based education for visiting nurses to increase suicide prevention-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors.