This study examined the reliability and validity of the Death Implicit Association Test (D-IAT) for suicide risk assessment. It was conducted from September to mid-December of 2020, targeting 179 adults aged over 19 years. D-IAT and suicide-related measures were administered. D-IAT was re-administered after 2 weeks and suicide risk was reassessed after 4 weeks. All procedures were conducted online. The split-half reliability of D-IAT was .73. The test-retest reliability over two weeks showed r value of .30. Convergent validity was partly supported by results showing that the D-IAT was positively correlated with depression (r=.21) and negatively correlated with reasons for living (r=-.15). There was no significant difference between D-IAT groups according to the existence of lifelong suicidal thoughts, attempts, or recent suicidal thoughts. Thus, known-group validity was not supported. Predictive validity was partially supported by results showing that D-IAT significantly predicted the presence or absence of desire for self-harm in suicide risk after one month. Moreover, D-IAT predicted wish for death at a marginally significant level. Current results suggest that psychometric properties of D-IAT are rather limited as a tool for suicide risk assessment. Further research on this is warranted.
This study aimed to develop and validate the short form of the Life Stress Scale for Cadets to increase effectiveness and efficiency. The Life Stress Scale for Cadets, which consists of 74 items, was administered to 1,080 cadets. Based on statistical characteristics, the short-form scale is composed of 17 items, which represent constructs in the four areas of relationships, personal affairs, occupation, and environment. Next, the short-form scale, the Perceived Stress Scale, the Depression Scale, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Satisfaction with Life Scale were administered to 1,054 cadets. Then, we randomly divided the cadets into two groups. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted for group 1 (514 cadets). As a result, 17 items were classified into the organizational environment (8 items), the burden of tasks (3 items), worries of evaluation (3 items), and interpersonal conflicts (3 items). The level of internal consistency was mostly acceptable. After designing a CFA model, confirmatory factor analysis was performed for group 2 (540 cadets). The level of goodness of fit of the model was satisfactory. Furthermore, the total scores and each subfactor score of the short form scale were associated with perceived stress, depression, anxiety, and life satisfaction. The short-form scale in this study showed high reliability and validity and will be useful in conducting evaluations, research, and intervention for cadets' stress as military trainees.
The objective of the present study was to investigated the sequential mediating effect of Inverse Reasoning and Inferential Confusion on the relationship between Trait Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms using the Inference Based Approach (IBA) for explaining Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. A total of 158 male and female university students and graduate students participated in this study. Data were collected using State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait (STAI-T), Padua Inventory-Washington State University Revision (PI-WSUR), Inferential Confusion Questionnaire (ICQ), and Inverse Reasoning Task (IRT). Results of this study are as follows. First, there were significant positive correlations among Trait Anxiety, Inverse Reasoning, Inferential Confusion, and Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms. Second, Inverse Reasoning and Inferential Confusion sequentially mediated the relationship between Trait Anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms. The higher the level of Trait Anxiety, the higher the likelihood of using maladaptive cognition such as Inverse Reasoning and Inferential Confusion, leading to Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms. Limitations and implications of this study with suggestions for follow-up studies were also discussed.
The objecitve of this study was to investigate whether social anxiety could facilitate the discrimination between smiles and sneers by applying point of subjective equality (PSE) and signal detection theory (SDT). A total of 85 undergraduate and graduate participants completed self-report measures about social anxiety and depression symptoms. Thereafter, they participated in emotion recognition tasks through a computer-based experiment. Facial emotion stimuli were composed of smiling and sneering faces at different ratios (2:8, 3:7, 4:6, 5:5, 6:4, 7:3, and 8:2). Participants in each trial performed two alternative forced choice tasks where they had to categorized one facial stimulus as “smile” or “sneer”. We estimated PSEs by fitting the curve into the cumulative normal distribution function. By applying signal detection theory, we also examined sensitivity (d’) and response criterion (c) for each expression. Results indicated that levels of participants’ social anxiety were positively correlated with their PSEs but negatively correlated with response criterion. These results suggest that individuals with higher social anxiety are more likely judge smiles as sneers. However, these relations were not significant when depression levels were controlled, suggesting that such tendency might be a trait shared with depression rather than a unique characteristic of social anxiety.
The purpose of this study was to use an aging anxiety scale for Korean middle-aged adults to determine whether existing known factors could affect their aging anxiety and to see how the pattern of the aging anxiety in Korean middle-aged might vary depending on gender. An online survey was conducted with the middle-aged aging anxiety scale, the aging knowledge scale, the elderly contact experience scale, the age stereotypes scale, and the death anxiety scale for 246 middle-aged men and women aged 40 to 59 years. As a result of the analysis, based on the total aging anxiety score, aging anxiety of women was significantly higher than that of men. In addition, it was found that women's aging anxiety was significantly higher than men's for the following sub-factors of aging anxiety: 'loss of economic power', 'loss of physical health', and 'loss of attractiveness'. In addition, gender, perceived health conditions, and death anxiety significantly predicted aging anxiety. However, knowledge of aging, experience of contact with the elderly (frequency and quality), and stereotypes of the elderly did not affect aging anxiety. Based on these results, clinical implications, limitations, and suggestions for further research were discussed.
This study attempted to verify the moderating effect of gender in the relationship between exposure to a gambling risk environment and gambling problem in adolescents. To this end, data were collected from Internet panels of youth aged 13-19, and surveys were conducted twice at intervals of one year to determine the causal relationship between the variables. The study subjects were adolescents who responded, "I participated in legal gambling or illegal online gambling and gambling in online poker/Hwa-Too games that only allowed adults in the past six months." A total of 551 subjects participated in both the first and second surveys. The study participants were 50.6% males and 49.4% females. To verify the research hypothesis, Hayes' PROCESS macro 3.5 was used. The results of the study showed that exposure to the gambling risk environment measured at the first time point and gambling problems measured at the second time point were significantly positively correlated, indicating that exposure to a gambling risk environment had an effect on the development of gambling problems. In addition, it was found that the moderating effect of gender was significant, and the degree to which exposure to a gambling risk environment predicted a gambling problem was higher in female adolescents than male adolescents. The results of this study suggest that female adolescents have a higher risk of developing gambling problems than male adolescents when they are equally exposed to gambling risk environments. Finally, we discussed how the results of this study can be used in gambling addiction prevention and intervention.
This study investigated effects of body image interpretation bias modification training on body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms. Female participants in their 20s with a high level of body dissatisfaction were selected and randomly assigned to a training group(n=20), and a control group(n=19). The training group received training and feedback on body image interpretation while the control group performed an active placebo program. Participants received four online-sessions over two weeks. Body image interpretation bias, body dissatisfaction, and abnormal eating behavior were measured at baseline, after two sessions, post-training, and at follow-up. And Eating disorder symptoms were measured at baseline, post-training, and follow-up. Results from RM-ANOVA indicated that the training group had significantly increased positive interpretation bias, and decreased negative interpretation bias, levels of body dissatisfaction and abnormal eating behavior compared to the control group. Bonferroni results showed that the effect of training on positive interpretation bias and body dissatisfaction appeared in both two sessions. Such effect was maintained until follow-up. The effect of training on abnormal eating behavior began to appear during the follow-up. In the case of eating disorder symptoms, the interaction between the time of measurement and groups was not significant. These findings suggest that body image interpretation bias modification training is likely to be effective in reducing negative interpretation bias, body dissatisfaction, and abnormal eating behavior. It is also effective in increasing positive interpretation bias.
This study examined the effect of positive affect induced by savoring on the formation of nocebo in case of somatization tendency when provided with side effect information. To this end, 390 adults among those with the top 30% of BSI-18 somatization scores were selected. They were considered to have a somatization tendency. Those who met the screening criteria were randomly assigned to either a positive affect group or a neutral affect group to perform affect-induced writing tasks. All participants then conducted a procedure called Sham tDCS. They were informed about side effects such as headaches. Finally, a simple fake cognitive performance task was performed to maintain the cover story. In the final analysis, using data from 52 successfully controlled participants, the positive affect group reported less frequent headaches than the neutral affect group. There was no significant difference in the incidence or the strength of headaches. This study sought an in-depth understanding of the nocebo known to contribute to somatization tendency's medication and treatment non-adherence. It provided basic data for the development of efficient intervention. Based on these findings, implications, limitations, and follow-up studies of this study were discussed.
The purpose of this study was to examine mediating effects of fear of negative evaluation and social self-efficacy on the relationship among public self-consciousness, perceived control, and social anxiety and verify the moderating effect of perceived control on the relationship between public self-consciousness and social anxiety. Data of 301 Korean adults aged 18-39 years were analyzed. Findings are summarized as follows. Both fear of negative evaluation and social self-efficacy had significant mediating effects on the relationship between public self-consciousness and social anxiety (emotional, behavioral, and physical). In addition, perceived control (emotion control, control of helplessness) had a significant moderating effect on the relationship between public self-consciousness and social anxiety. Specifically, at a lower level of emotional control, social anxiety (physical symptoms) increased at a higher rate from a lower public self-consciousness condition to a higher public self-consciousness condition. In addition, at a lower level of control of helplessness, emotional social anxiety (social fear) increased at a higher rate from a lower public self-consciousness condition to a higher public self-consciousness condition. These research results suggest that increasing a sense of control over social situations and internal emotions can alleviate social anxiety in both physical and emotional aspects.
The aim of This study was to explore how psychological characteristics of participants in the health promotion camp training program were related to health behavior and program commitment. Subjects were 289 participants (88 males and 201 females) in the health promotion camp training program with an average of ages of 60.65 (SD=15.07) years. Psychological characteristics included in this study were variables from Theory of Planned Behavior, Big-5 personality, gratitude, optimistic bias, present bias, emotional stress traits, and coping. Results revealed that attitude toward health behavior, perceived behavioral control, gratitude, and active forgetting were determinants for practicing health behavior, whereas intention of health behavior, gratitude, active forgetting, and anger trait were determinants for program commitment. These findings suggest useful information for organizing or efficiently managing health promotion programs or planning further researches.