Positive psychology supports integrative and balanced perspective on human weakness and strength. It extends the definition of mental health to the presence of well-being and optimal functioning beyond the absence of mental illness. Based on positive psychology, whether acknowledging one's signature strengths and applying these to daily life could increase mental health was examined in this study. Strength-focused treatment, weakness-focused treatment, and integrative treatment including strength and weakness were directly compared to each other. As a result, main effect of group and interaction effect of group×time were statistically significant. Specifically, strength-focused treatment was effective for instant improvement of mental health while integrative treatment was effective for constant improvement of mental health. The implications and limitations of this study as well as suggestions for further research are discussed.
The present study investigated the effects of 'action/inaction' frame-fit on individuals' sequential self-regulation. We employed a situation where individuals engaged in two actions that require self-regulation in a sequential manner (i.e., playing a game, then working on an experimental task). We induced a frame-fit('action'-'action') or a frame-misfit ('inaction'-'action') using task instructions ("play the game for 5 min., then work on the task" vs. "stop the game after 5 min., then work on the task"). A total of 31 college students were randomly assigned to the two conditions of the experiment. Results indicated that male participants regulated the amount of time spent on the game more effectively in the frame-fit condition than in the frame-misfit condition. No significant effects were observed among female participants. Implications and limitations of this finding along with future research direction are discussed.
This study examines the relationship between sociocultural pressures of being slim and restrained eating attitudes and uncontrolled eating behaviors, from which mediating effects of body dissatisfactions and moderating effects of mindfulness as traits and states are investigated. In study 1, 275 males and females were examined in order to assist in a better understanding the effects of sociocultural pressures of being slim due to restrained eating attitudes by mediation of body dissatisfactions, and verify whether mindfulness, moderated them. In study 2, 34 were randomly selected and evidence of associations between variables were added through an experiment, which were verified in study 1 examining whether restrained eating attitudes really affected eating behaviors. In the result of study 1, it was verified and found to be significant that body dissatisfactions was fully mediated in the relationship between sociocultural pressures of being slim and restrained eating attitudes, effecting interactions between body dissatisfaction and mindfulness as traits on restrained eating attitudes. The analysis in study 2 showed that effects of body dissatisfaction on restrained eating attitudes, and restrained eating attitudes on eating behaviors, were all significant. On the other hand, the moderating effects of mindfulness on body dissatisfaction and eating attitudes could not moderate them. In other words, body dissatisfaction was main factor between sociocultural pressures of being slim and restrained eating attitudes, while mindfulness was a protection factor. In addition, the meanings and limitations of this study, and future research tasks, were discussed.
This study explored the effect of rational emotive behavior therapy(REBT) on maladaptive perfectionism, body dissatisfaction, and implicit attitude toward body image in college women and men. A total of 173 college students who attended 4-year university completed frost multidimensional perfectionism scale(FMPS) and multidimensional body self-relations(MBSR) questionnaire. Sixteen(double check here) students who were at top 25percent of both scales and wanted to participate in this study were selected. They were divided into two groups(8 in therapy group and 8 in control group) according to program schedules. All participants completed the FMPS, the MBSR questionnarire, and implicit association test(IAT) at pre-treatment, end of treatment, and 4 weeks follow-up periods. REBT program was administered for 8 sessions. Our results revealed that the level of maladaptive perfectionism and body dissatisfaction were significantly more decreased in the therapy group than those of the control group. These results were maintained at one month follow-up. In addition, response time for inconsistent condition(eg,‘fat picture-positive words’) in the therapy group were significantly reduced at follow-up compared to pre-treatment. Implications and limitations of this study as well as suggestions for future study were also discussed.
Existent experimental study on Asian emotional expressivity suggested that expressions of emotion are different between social situation and private situation. Therefore, this study considered emotional expressivity in two types. The first type of emotional expressivity was co-emotional expressed in social situation. Most existent emotional expression scale uses CEE. The second emotional expressivity was alone-emotional expression(AEE) expressed in private situation. In Study 1, AEE sclae(AEES) was developed and validated. For this study, preliminary scale with a total of 31 items was administered to 230 college students. According to exploratory factor analysis, 12 items were selected. They were administered to 294 college students. According to exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, 10 items were finally selected for AEES. Reliability of the AEES was evidenced by high internal consistency and adequate test-retest reliability estimates over a three-week period. In Study 2, moderating effect of emotional norm in the relationship between emotional expression and subjective well-being was determined. The moderating effect of emotional norm was tested using the procedure of Baron and Kenny񢉂). There was no interaction effect of emotional norm between AEE and subjective well-being. In contrast, there was an interaction effect of emotional norm between CEE and subjective well-being. Implications of these findings and limitations of this study were also discussed.
The objectives of this study were: 1) to investigate the relationships among covert narcissism, experiential avoidance, and SNS addiction proneness, and 2) to examine the mediating effects of experiential avoidance between covert narcissism and SNS addiction proneness. A total of 342 adults (139 males and 203 females) participated in this study. Their average of age was 25.45 years. Psychological tests used in this study included the following: Gang and Chung’s Covert Narcissism Scale, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-16 (AAQ-16), and Jung and Kim’s SNS Addiction Proneness Scale. Our results indicated that females were more likely to show experiential avoidance and SNS addiction proneness. Covert narcissism was positively correlated with experiential avoidance, while covert narcissism and experiential avoidance were positively correlated with SNS addiction proneness. Hierarchical regression analysis and Sobel test revealed that experiential avoidance partially mediated covert narcissism and SNS addiction proneness. Stepwise regression analysis showed that, among the factor of covert narcissism, exploitation/ego-centrism accounted for most variance of SNS addiction proneness. Additional accountability of commitment behavior was significant. The negative effects of covert narcissism and experiential avoidance were discussed and compared to previous studies. The directions for further studies are discussed. Acceptance commitment therapy and cognitive behavioral approaches are recommended for covert narcissism.
This study assessed different causal models of relationship among self-compassion, other-compassion, mindfulness and quality of life. Based on theories and empirical evidences related to mindfulness meditation and loving-kindness meditation, four alternative models representing different causal relationships among mindfulness, self-compassion, othercompassion, and quality of life were derived and compared. The following questionnaires were administered to 373 college students: Self-report scales for mindfulness (K-MAAS; Kwon, & Kim, 2007), self-compassion (K-SCS; Kim, et. al., 2008), two-kinds of other-compassion (ACLS-CO and ACLS-SH; Gim, & Shin, 2014), and quality of life (K-WHO-QOL-BREF, Min, et al., 2002). Of four alternative models, one model showed a better fit than the rest, meeting recommended criteria of fit indices such as CFI, NFI, TLI and RMSEA. According to this model, mindfulness showed both direct and indirect effects(via self-compassion) on quality of life. However it had no correlation with compassion for close-others or for strangers. In addition, self-compassion significantly affected quality of life, and compassion for close-others. However it did not affect the compassion for strangers. Furthermore, compassion for close-others had a significant direct effect on the quality of life and compassion for strangers. However, compassion for strangers did not affect the quality of life. Our results suggested that the underlying processes of meditation practice on quality of life could be somewhat different depending on the kind of meditation practiced. Implications for future research and the limitations of this study were discussed.
This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Korean version of Gaze Anxiety Rating Scale (K-GARS) with factor analysis and polytomous item response theory(polytomous IRT). A total 333 university student were asked to respond to K-GARS and questionnaires to measure social anxiety tendency. Exploratory factor analysis revealed four factor structures in gaze avoidance dimension and gaze anxiety dimension, consisting of three factor structure with a high internal consistency and convergent validity. People mainly reported gaze avoidance in the public speaking or evaluative situation. They felt gaze anxiety when they were engaged in public attention. Polytomous IRT revealed that all items had appropriate discrimination to measure the trait of gaze avoidance and gaze anxiety accurately. Therefore, no item was eliminated from the original GARS. This suggested that Korean version of GARS could be extended from the restricted study field of gaze avoidance and gaze anxiety where empirical data are mostly studied. It could also be practically used in clinical context with a high reliability.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of elderly depression using MMPI-2-RF. A total of 143 elderly patients with depression and 142 elderly people from MMPI-2 normal population of Korea as controls were used in this study. Our results showed that the followings were significantly higher in the elderly depressed patients compared to normal elderly people: emotional/internalizing dysfunction, demoralization, somatic complaints, low positive emotions, dysfunctional negative emotions, malaise, gastrointestinal complaints, head pain complaints, cognitive complaints, suicidal/death ideation, helplessness/ hopelessness, self-doubt, stress/worry, anxiety, anger proneness, behavior restricting fears, multiple specific fears, shyness, disaffiliativeness, negative emotionality/neuroticism-revised, and the introversion/low positive emotionality revised scale. However hypomanic activation scale was significantly lower in elderly controls. Emotional/internalizing dysfunction, demoralization, hypomanic activation, malaise, negative emotionality/neuroticisim-revised, and introversion/low positive emotionality-revised were proved to be the most significant predictors for distinguishing elderly depressed patients from normal elderly controls. Limitations of this study and directions for future research are also discussed.
This study investigated the neuropsychological functioning and its relationship to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in nonclinical college students with ADHD traits using a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests. Based on the scores of the Conners' adult ADHD rating scales-Korean (CAARS-K) and adult ADHD self-report scale (ASRS), ADHD trait (n=31) and normal control (n=32) groups were selected. Verbal/nonverbal memory, attention, and executive functions were evaluated. Compared to the normal control group, the ADHD trait group showed significantly poor performances on attention, interference control, verbal fluency and working memory. In addition, the ADHD trait group showed poorer performance on d2, Stroop color-word condition, spatial span after controlling for the effects of depression and anxiety. In terms of relationships between neuropsychological functioning and ADHD symptoms in ADHD trait group, a negative correlation was observed between the performance of d2 test and DSM-IV total scores of CAARS-K. These results indicated that attention and executive functioning were impaired in college students with ADHD traits. These individuals seemed to have difficulties in attention/concentration, being disorganized, lacking persistence, being poor in planning, with poor academic and job performance.
The aim of this study was to identify the causal relation among interpersonal relationship satisfaction, internet game addiction, and emotional problems in early adolescents. Data regarding internet game addiction, depression, anxiety, and interpersonal relationships were collected from sixteen different cities in South Korea by Korea Adolescents Policy Institute in 2013. Our results revealed that when early adolescents had higher interpersonal relationship satisfaction, their emotional problems including depression and anxiety decreased. In addition, interpersonal relationship satisfaction lowered internet game addiction tendency. Furthermore, higher internet game addiction tendency increased emotional problems. This preliminary trial was performed to find out the relationship between internet game addiction and emotional problems. Our result could be applied to various behavioral addiction problems in late adolescents. Early intervention for interpersonal problems should be seriously considered to prevent internet game addiction in early adolescents.