The present study examined the effects of structured writing therapy on anger, depression, rumination and avoidance in interpersonal conflicts. To examine this, 36 participants in their twenties with interpersonal conflict experiences were assigned into three groups, a treatment group with structured writing program (N=13), a comparison group with non-structured writing program (N=13), and a waiting-list control group (N=10). During four sessions of 20 minutes each, the two writing groups wrote about their conflict experiences, whereas the waiting-list control group was not treated with any writing program. Each participant was asked to complete the questionnaires on anger, depression, rumination and avoidance in a pretest, a posttest and a follow-up test. Repeated measure ANOVA was conducted in order to analyze the treatment effect, and the result showed that writing groups exhibited a significant reduction in their level of depression, rumination and avoidance subsequent to treatment as compared with the waiting-list control group. In addition the obtained laevel was seen to last even until the follow-up test. Nevertheless in terms of anger, no significant change was seen in the writing groups compared with the waiting-list control group. In addition, no meaningful difference was found between the structured writing group and the non-structured writing group. The result of this study shows that irrespective of being structured, writing therapy is an effective involvement method for those who have interpersonal conflicts to reduce depression, rumination and avoidance. Finally, the limitations of this study and suggestions for further studies are discussed in the present work.
Among various changes due to aging, especially physical health and pain are a very important issues for the elderly. It is generally known that elderly people suffering from chronic pain become more depressed and start experiencing a lower quality of life. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of K-MBSR, a Korean mindfulness-based Stress Reduction program on pain and depression in the elderly. For this purpose, data were collected from the experimental group participating in the 8th session of the K-MBSR program, and from the control group participating in the 8th general elder school program at a similar time. Data on mindfulness, Korean pain catastrophizing scale, pain intensity, and elderly depression(K-GDS) were collected in the form of self-report questionnaires before, after, and after the programs (4 months after each program). Based on the program attendance and missing values of each group, the data of the final 43 subjects (22 in the experimental groups and 21 control subjects) were used to perform a mixed-ANOVA. Statistically significant difference was observed between groups at the post- in mindfulness, pain intensity, pain catastrophizing, and elderly depression. Especially, the statistically significant difference was seen in pain catastrophizing, and pain intensity. The results imply that K-MBSR program can be used as an effective intervention to reduce the intensity of pain, pain catastrophizing, elderly depression. The discussion and limitations of this study are also discussed.
The purpose of this study was to test the effect of the mindfulness-compassion meditation on dysfunctional expression and rumination of anger. Using the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-Korean version (STAXI- K), 30 university students were selected based on the descending order of scores. The students were divided into treatment group and control group with 15 students in each group. A single-session mindfulness-compassion meditation was administered to the treatment group and with psychological education for anger modulation to the control group. In both the groups, the state of anger and anger expression were measured immediately before and after the treatment, and 24 hours after the experimental session, anger rumination was evaluated. The treatment group showed higher present-moment awareness, increased self-compassion towards acquaintances and general people than the control group. As the main outcome, the treatment group showed improvement in anger control and the reduction in the state of anger. In addition to the increased modulation of present anger, anger memory rumination and cause rumination were also blocked more effectively in the treatment group than in the control group. The results revealed that mindfulness-compassion meditation improved the functional expression of anger and discontinued the chain of anger rumination through changes in mindfulness and self-compassion. In the present study, we have also discussed the implications and limitations of this study and the possible future research issues.
This study explored the natural groups based on Korean adult's character strengths using cluster analysis and examined the differences in happiness, depression, and demographic variables among the groups. The combinations of six virtues drawn from 827 adults over 20 years old formed five clusters. The 'Willing' group with high willing strengths showed the highest scores on satisfaction with life, happiness and ages and the lowest scores on depression. The 'Social' group with high temperance and justice showed the lowest scores on satisfaction with life and happiness and significantly high scores on depression. This group had the highest ratio of male, married, no religion, and full-time workers. The 'Intelligent' group with high knowledge showed the highest scores on depression and had the highest ratio of young, unmarried, and student. The 'Interpersonal' group with high interpersonal strengths showed the significantly low score on happiness and had the highest ratio of female and part-time workers. The 'Transcendent' group with high transcendence showed the mean scores on satisfaction with life, happiness, and depression. This group had the highest ratio of old people, Christians, and homemakers. The current study is considered as significant as it empirically identified the natural clusters based on the strengths of the adult Koreans and is believed to be useful for the intervention of adult's psychological health promotion. Finally, the limitations of the present study and suggestions for future research are discussed in the present study.
This study administered (a)Change Detection Task, which consists of criminal words and neutral words, and (b)Comparison Blindness Task with three types of pictures(Risk+Risk Change, Risk+Neutral Stimulus, Neutral Stimulus+ Neutral Stimulus Change) to find the effect of anxiety levels and risk perception on attentional bias, compared with a control group, and conducted Comparison Blindness Task by presenting pictures as an alternative of words to supplement limits of Change Detection Task. Also, BAI and DOSPER were conducted among 432 undergraduate students and more than 20% of DOSPER scores was classified as the Risk Perception Group, out of which participants with more than 22 BAI scores were selected as a group with a high level of both anxiety and risk perception. The Anxiety&Risk Perception Group(n=21), Risk Perception Group(n=21), and Control Group(n=21) conducted Change Detection Task. Thereafter, there is not a significant difference between the Anxiety&Risk Perception Group and the Risk Perception Group, while the main effect among three groups is significant. However, the interaction between emotional conditions and words stimuli is significant and responses to criminal words are faster in case of positive emotion. These results indicated that as information increases, decision ability decreases by the effect of emotion, and the Anxiety & Risk Perception Group responded slowly in the condition of negative emotion and did not display any significant difference from the Risk Perception Group. In Experiment 2, attentional bias was tested through three types of pictures in Comparison Blindness Task. However, there was no significant difference in response time between the Anxiety+Risk Perception Group and the Risk Perception Group because of avoidant responses to anxiety. In the aspect of different conditions of picture stimuli types, the results showed response time was fast in Risk+Risk Change, Risk+Neutral Stimulus Change, Neutral+Neutral Stimulus Change in order. Finally, through response time analysis, results demonstrated the group with anxiety tendencies and the Risk Perception Group had attentional bias to risky stimuli and these attentional characteristics distinguished those groups from the control.
The purpose of this study was to validate the Korean version of Balanced Time Perspective Scale (K-BTPS) involving undergraduate students. Typically, 663 college students (M=21.53) were recruited from several universities in Seoul, South Korea. The study sample included 271 men (32.73%) and 446 women (67.27%), randomly divided data into two groups for analysis. Data from Sample 1 (N=232) was analyzed for EFA (Explanatory Factor Analysis) and data from Sample 2 (N=431) was analyzed for CFA (Confirmatory Factor Analysis). The results were as follows; First, the two-factor structure of K-BTPS was applicable for use on Korean college students. Second, the K-BTPS showed moderate reliability with scales of happiness (OHQ), life satisfaction (SWLS), self-esteem (RSES) and with two subscales (ZTPI) of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory. Third, the K-BTPS showed a good test-retest reliability with respect to two-week intervals. Forth, based on the mean of K-BTPS score, participants were allocated to four sub-groups as time restrictive, futurist, reminisces, and time expansive category and the relevance between balanced time perspective and other related variables were discussed. Finally, the implications and limitations of this study and suggestions for future studies are discussed in the present work.
The purpose of the present study was to develop the Korean version of Saving Inventory –Revised(K-SI-R) and validate K-SI-R. In Study 1, Frost et al‘s(2004) Saving Inventory-Revised was translated into Korean language. Factor analysis for the data of 190 university students showed three factors: Difficulty discarding, Clutter, and Acquisition Problems. Internal consistency (Cronbach’s α=.91) and test–retest reliability(r=.86) of K-SI-R were good. The correlations between K-SI-R and the other relevant measures such as Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised-Korean, and Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule were revealed as expected, and the validity of K-SI-R was found to be appropriate. In Study 2, three factors were identified based on confirmatory factor analysis employing 388 participants. In addition, hoarding tendency measured by K-SI-R exhibited significant correlations with obsessive beliefs (OBQ-44) and indecisiveness (FIS) as in previous studies. Finally, the implications and limitations of this study are discussed in the present work with possible suggestions for future research.
This study attempted to examine the mediating effect of mentalization and intentional rumination on the relationship between attachment and post-traumatic growth. The present study, 469 samples with a level above normal distress were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 22.0. The results revealed that attachment anxiety and attachment avoidant had a negative relationship with mentalization, and mentalization had a positive relationship with intentional rumination and post-traumatic growth. While attachment avoidant had a negative relationship with intentional rumination and post-traumatic growth, attachment anxiety exhibited no significant relationship with them. In addition, attachment avoidant had an indirect effect on post-traumatic growth through mentalization and intentional rumination in sequence. Mentalization fully mediated the relationship between attachment avoidant and intentional rumination. Attachment anxiety not only had a direct effect but also an indirect effect on intentional rumination. Moreover, the direction of the effects was the opposite and their sizes were almost the same. Thus, the complete effect on intentional rumination was not significant, and neither was the indirect effect on post-traumatic growth. Finally, attachment avoidant and attachment anxiety also exihibited a direct effect on post-traumatic growth.
Social anxiety and abnormal eating behavior are highly comorbid. Previous studies indicate a strong link between them, but the underlying mechanism behind the link remains unclear. The present study examined the relationship between social anxiety (SA) and abnormal eating behavior (AEB) with focus on the possible mediating role of dichotomous thinking (DT) and ruminative thought (RT). The participants were 187 female students at Cyber University who had completed online self-report questionnaires for the Korean version of Eating Attitude Test-26, Social Phobia Scale, Dichotomous Thinking Index-35, and Ruminative Thought Style Questionnaire. Our results indicate that DT and RT mediated the relationship between SA and AEB both, respectively and sequentially. The findings demonstrate that DT and RT are the cognitive mechanisms through which SA goes over to AEB. It is suggested that SA heightens the tendency to decide situations in either black or white way, which supplies the rich materials for ruminative thought that culminates in a worsening of AEB. In the present study, the limitations and implications for future work are also discussed.
This study examined the effect of intrusive rumination on posttraumatic growth based on the consideration of emotion regulation, and deliberate rumination as mediating variable, along with an examination of various variables affecting the trauma experienced by adults in Korean society. For this study, questionnaires on traumatic experience, posttraumatic growth, event-related rumination, and emotion regulation strategy were administered to 401 adults in the whole country. The data were analyzed through reliability analysis, descriptive statistics analysis, correlation analysis, factor analysis, measurement model analysis, and structural mode analysis using SPSS 21.0, AMOS 21.0. To verify the research model, Structural Equation Modeling(SEM) was used. In addition, Bootstrapping method was used to examine the indirect effect of emotion regulation strategy and deliberate rumination. The major results are as follows: First, emotion regulation strategy have indirectly affected intrusive rumination and posttraumatic growth. Second, deliberate rumination have indirectly affected intrusive rumination and posttraumatic growth. Third, multiple indirect effects of emotional regulation strategy, and deliberate thoughts between intrusive rumination and posttraumatic growth were found to be significant. In the present study, few suggestions and limitations, and future study directions are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of motivation for a cold pressor task on the pain responses (tolerance, intensity, unpleasantness) in the state of ego depletion. This study was carried out employing 78 healthy female students attending the university in Daejeon, Republic of Korea. The results revealed a significant interaction between ego depletion and motivation for pain tolerance. Specifically, under conditions of high ego depletion, pain tolerance was significantly higher in the highly-motivated group than in the low-motivated group. The difference in pain tolerance was not significant regardless of the motivation group in the low ego depletion condition. The main effect of motivation on pain intensity was significant, indicating that the highly-motivated group reported a greater intensity of pain than the low-motivated group. On the other hand, the main effects of ego depletion and the interaction between ego depletion and motivation were not significant. For pain unpleasantness, the main effects of ego depletion and motivation and the interaction between ego depletion and motivation were not significant. These results suggest that the motivational context may play an important role in pain responses.