Given that chronic physical illness (CPI) is a major risk factor of suicide, the screening/assessment of suicide risk in patients with CPI with reliable and valid tools is crucial. This study performed a systematic review of screening/assessment tools and evaluated their psychometric properties. A literature search was conducted using four databases, and the main search terms were “suicide,” “assess,” “psychometric,” and “chronic disease.” Twenty studies met the selection criteria, and 11 measures were identified. The Schedule of Attitudes Toward Hastened Death (SAHD) is the most frequently used measure, and it was developed to assess the suicide risk in CPI patients and was validated in several languages. The SAHD and its abbreviated versions showed good psychometric properties. The 15-item version of the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire and Reasons for Living Inventory showed good psychometric properties. Results suggest the need for suicide risk measures that consider the characteristics of suicide risk specific to CPI as well as further verification of the psychometric properties and clinical applicability of the existing measures for patients with CPI.
The purpose of this study was to understand the Buddhist concept of the anatta (non-self) and to reveal the meaning and essence of the experience. The subjects were seven Buddhism-related experts studying Buddhism and practicing meditation for more than 10 years each. Data collection was conducted through in-depth interviews October - November 2019. Based on the analysis results using the phenomenological method of Giorgi, nine sub-components and four components were derived. The components were <Understanding the non-substantiality of existence>, <Living an unconstrained life>, <The process of gaining a deep understanding and the shift from knowledge to wisdom>, and <The moment when only awareness exists>. Insight into the anatta was summarized as (1) attaining wisdom of the anatta, (2) living an anatta-related life, and (3) engaging in an anatta-related experience. These results suggest that insight into the anatta has been understood holistically from a cognitive, emotional/behavioral, and training perspective. Next, when we examined the relationship between psychological therapy and three meanings of insight into the anatta summarized above, each meaning correspond to the principle (mechanism), goals, and technique of psychotherapy. Finally, the limitations and implications of this study are presented.
The purpose of this study was to better understand the Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) which is a critical clinical issue but has low treatment frequency because of its psychopathological characteristics. We anticipated that negative affects mediates the effects of daily stress to NSSI, and self-compassion moderates those paths. A total of 304 young adults (age 19-29) completed the online survey regarding recent NSSI frequency, stress, depression, anger, and self-compassion. The mediation and moderated mediation analysis was investigated with the process macro. As a result, depression and anger fully mediated the effect of daily stress to NSSI frequency and severity. Also, self-compassion significantly moderated the path between the negative affects and the NSSI frequency. Consequently, the daily stress and negative affects functions principal risk factors, and oppositely, self-compassion as the protective factor especially for repetitive NSSI. Last, the limitations and future suggestions are presented.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Emotion-Mindfulness meditation on functional dyspepsia-prone female university students. A total of 30 female university students with functional dyspepcia symptoms were recruited. Of the total, 16 were in the experimental group and 14 were in the comparative group after random assignments and elimination. In the experimental group, the Emotion-Mindfulness meditation program was completed in six sessions twice weekly over three weeks. In the comparative group, the stress management program was completed as with the experimental group. The measurement tools used in this study were the Nepean Dyspepsia Index-Korean version, Stress Response Index, Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-16, and Heart Rate Variability measure. The analysis results are as follow: The experimental group’s NDI-K, SRI, CES-D, STAI-T significantly decreased compared to the comparative group. The experimental group’s NDI-K, SRI, STAI-T significantly decreased compared to the comparative group at three-weeks followup. But that result does not mean that the mindfulness effect resulted in significant change. This result implies that Emotion-Mindfulness meditation can generate a positive effect on gastrointestinal symptoms, stress, depression, and anxiety of functional dyspepsia-prone female university students. Last, implications of this study and limitations are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of coping flexibility in the relationship of stress and anger, and examine if growth writing improves coping flexibility and anger. In study 1, the moderation effect of coping flexibility in the relationship between stress and anger was examined in a sample of 339 college students. As a result, the moderating effect of coping flexibility in the relationship between stress and trait anger was significant, even after controlling the effects of five single coping strategies. In study 2, 48 college students were randomly assigned to the growth writing group and the expressive writing group to conduct three sessions of writing. The results of study 2 are as follows: First, the growth writing group showed increased coping flexibility and decreased trait-anger in the post-test and the follow-up test. Second, the growth writing group showed more increase in coping flexibility in the post-test and more decrease in trait-anger in the follow-up test compared to the expressive writing group. Third, in the growth writing group, the degree of increase in coping flexibility had a significant correlation to the degree of decrease in trait-anger. The implications and limitations of this study, and suggestions for future studies are discussed.
Attentional bias is a selective attention to specific information in the environment and can be classified into two types: engagement and disengagement. It has been reported that these two types of attentional bias impact the development and maintenance of chronic pain. The purpose of this study was to investigate if the type of attentional bias in patients with chronic pain has a differential impact on their daily function. We recruited 33 patients with chronic pain in the Oriental medical clinic. The subjects completed a questionnaire and then performed an engagement-disengagement task involving pain-related and neutral word pairs and eye tracker. They completed the online diary for 14 days from the day following the task. The data were analyzed by the HLM statistical program. The results of the analysis showed that when the subjects’ engagement with pain-related words was slow, the greater the intensity of pain, the greater the avoidance of daily activities. Also, when the subjects’ disengagement from pain-related words was rapid, the greater the intensity of pain, the greater the avoidance of daily activities. Additionally, when the subjects’ attentional maintenance in pain-related words was longer than in the neutral words, the greater the intensity of pain, the greater the distractibility of daily activities. This study revealed that the type of attentional bias in chronic pain patients has different impacts on their daily function. These findings suggest that patients with chronic pain who slowly engage with or quickly disengage from pain-related words may have difficulties in different areas of their daily function.
This study reviewed and analyzed the characteristics and overall effect size (ES) of psychosocial interventions for stroke patients. The systematic review included 61 articles published in domestic and international journals up to October 2019, and the meta-analysis analyzed data from 37 articles. The subgroup analysis was conducted to determine the study characteristics (i.e., intervention type, format, and setting, control group, outcome, study design, and level of risk of bias) influencing the intervention effect. The psychosocial interventions for stroke patients were mainly provided in the form of psychotherapy, psychosocial education, supportive therapy, or combined therapy in inpatient or outpatient settings. The interventions were provided in individual or group format focusing on depression, anxiety, quality of life, and self-efficacy. The result of the meta-analysis observed low ES (g = 0.40; 95% CI, 0.31-0.50), and that ES varied depending on the intervention types and settings. The psychotherapy was more effective than other types, and a larger ES was observed in interventions provided in an inpatient setting than outpatient or home settings. The estimated ESs were corrected using the trim-fill method because of possible publication bias, but it remained significant, suggesting that psychosocial interventions are effective in improving distress in stroke patients.
This study verified a theory of planned behavior (TPB) model to predict the adherence of health behavior and identified the role of the optimistic bias or delay discounting in that model. Subjects were 357 Korean male and female adults whose ages ranged from 18 to 76. The TPB factors and their optimistic bias were measured by modified items used in the previous studies, and some items were developed to measure delay discounting. An alternative TPB model, including a direct path from attitude to behavior and a direct path from the perceived behavioral control to behavior was validated for the adherence of health behavior. This model was found to be moderated by optimistic bias and delay discounting each. Findings of this study should provide useful information and knowledge for future research and for medical or health professionals who wanting to improve the adherence of health behavior of people.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the path of college students’ parent-child communication to interpersonal competency through self-esteem and emotional intelligence. To this end, a questionnaire was surveyed with a total of 468 college students attending a university in Gyeonggi-do, and a total of 438 data(127 male and 311 female) were used for the final analysis. The main research results are as follow. First, parent-child communication predicted self-esteem and emotional intelligence statically, and the higher the level of self-esteem and emotional intelligence, the higher the level of interpersonal competence. Second, self-esteem and emotional intelligence mediate the relationship between the parent-child communication and interpersonal competence verifying the relationship between each variable by setting a research model and an alternative model(competition model). These results, confirmed that communication within the home is crucial for the formation of a positive and smooth interpersonal relationship, to develop and improve self-esteem and emotional intelligence, which impact interpersonal competence, it was found that healthy parent-child communication must precede. Based on the purpose and results of this study, the implications of this study and the direction of future studies are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to derive valid items for measuring exclusion experiences from human relations and social systems, for adolescents and adults, and based on this, to determine how each exclusion experience impacts psychological pain. The exploratory factor analysis found that exclusions from friends, siblings, mothers, co-workers, fathers, and lovers are valid items to measure the relationship-induced exclusion. It was also found that exclusions from government, politics, companies, economy, society, and education are valid items to measure the system-induced exclusion. Results showed that adolescents and adults perceive that they are more excluded from the social system than from human relations. It was also found that not only relationship-induced exclusion but also system-induced exclusion can cause psychological pain such as depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Finally, it is discussed that to alleviate psychological pain, it is necessary to consider human relations as well as the system of society in which individuals live.