ISSN : 1229-0718
The present study explores the relationships between temperament, perceived maternal parenting behaviors, and attachment style in young adults with Borderline Personality Disorder(BPD) features. Subjects were 575 college students who completed the Personality Assessment Inventory-Borderline Features Scale(PAI-BOR), the Emotionality, Activity, Sociability Temperament Survey(Adult EAS), the Parenting Behavior Inventory(PBI), and the Adult Attachment Scale(AAS). The second purpose of this study was to investigate the degree to which we could predict temperament, perceived maternal parenting behaviors, and attachment style in young adults with BPD features. Out of the 575 college students, 30 young adults with BPD features were assigned to one group, and 30 young adults without BPD features were assigned to a control group. These 60 students were assessed for emotionality temperament, perceived maternal parenting behavior, and adult attachment style. The results showed that BPD features were closely related to emotionality temperament abuse, over-interference, inconsistency, or neglect in perceived maternal parenting behaviors during childhood and attachment anxiety. To find out how well temperament, perceived maternal parenting behavior, and attachment style could explain BPD features, we applied hierarchical multiple regression analysis and confirmed the explanation of each variable. Temperament was found to be the strongest factor in BPD features. Individuals with BPD features showed higher emotionality traits and higher levels of attachment anxiety than those in the control group. In addition, they perceived the nurturing behaviors of their mothers toward them to be inconsistent, irrational, and less affectionate than did those in the control group.
This study examined the relationships among stress, meaning in life, and happiness in elders. Happiness was measured by subjective and psychological well-being. Questionnaires measuring stress, meaning in life, subjective and psychological well-being were filled out by 160 elders. In correlation analysis, stress was significantly negatively correlated with subjective well-being but was not significantly correlated with psychological well-being. Meaning in life was significantly positively correlated with subjective and psychological well-being. In regression analysis, There was no interaction effects of stress and meaning in life on subjective and psychological well-being. Implications of these findings and limitations of the study were also discussed.
This study examined the relationships among perceived burdensomeness, hopelessness, depression, and suicidal ideation in adolescents(n=356) and elders(n=353), using path analysis. A multi-group analysis was also conducted to determine any differences in the structural relationships of these variables between adolescents and elders. Findings were as follows: Elders reported higher levels of all variables as compared to adolescents. Perceived burdensomeness directly leads to suicidal ideation, hopelessness, and depression, and it indirectly explains suicidal ideation by mediating hopelessness and depression. Path coefficients from perceived burdensomeness to hopelessness, from hopelessness to depression, and from hopelessness to suicidal ideation were found to be greater for elders, while the coefficient from depression to suicidal ideation was greater for adolescents. Perceived burdensomeness had an indirect effect on suicidal ideation through hopelessness or depression. Double-mediation effects of hopelessness and depression between perceived burdensomeness and suicidal ideation were also significant in both groups. Both universal and age-specific strategies for suicide prevention were discussed based on the results.
This study examined developmental changes in the ability to read emotional states through changes in facial expression. This included both changes in dimensions of emotion(comparing pleasantness and unpleasantness and awake and relaxed) and changes in the area exhibiting the facial expression(whole face, eye). Participants were children aged 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13, as well as university students. A total of 32 pictures depicting facial expressions with certain emotional states were shown to the participants, who were instructed to choose one suitable facial expression to match emotional story. The results were as follows: First, facial expression reading ability improves with age, and is fully developed only in adults. Second, participants were able to judge the expressions of whole faces better than the expressions of eyes, the pleasantness dimension more than the unpleasantness dimension, and the relaxed dimension more than the awake dimension. Third, ability to read the pleasantness/unpleasantness and awake/relaxed emotional states through facial expression increased between the age of 5 and 9 and developed by adulthood.
This study investigated the impact of psychosocial deprivation and subsequent social interventions for children without permanent parental care in relation to internalizing problems and diurnal cortisol regulation rhythm. The author hypothesized that psychosocial deprivation would impair regulation of the HPA axis and internalizing problems would moderate this relationship. To examine this hypothesis 4-to 11-year-old children placed in institutional care(n = 26), adopted early(n = 16), and adopted late(n = 9) were recruited. Children in institutional care exhibited more attenuated diurnal decrease in cortisol, indicative of HPA axis neuro-endocrine dysregulation than did early and late adopted children. Both early and late adopted children showed higher levels of internalizing problems. However, internalizing problems of adopted children was not correlated with diurnal cortisol rhythm. Internalizing problems were related to lower diurnal cortisol secretion in children in institutional.
This study investigated developmental changes in mindreading abilities and their relationship to cognitive abilities in adolescence and adulthood. Mindreading tasks, vocabulary tests of the K-WAIS, and Stroop tests of executive function were administered to 115 participants in five age groups (adolescents, young adults, middle-aged adults, older adults, and elderly adults). The mindreading scores of older adults and elderly adults had declined as compared with those of the adolescent group, but were not significantly different from those in the young adult and middle-aged adult groups. This suggests that mindreading abilities develop fully during adolescence and then decline beginning in adulthood, but remain relatively constant throughout adulthood. There were no significant group differences in vocabulary scores, but the Stroop test scores of the older and elderly adult groups were lower than those of the other groups. Vocabulary scores correlated positively with mindreading scores, and Stroop test scores correlated negatively with mindreading scores. Group differences in mindreading scores among 5 age groups approached the significance level after the vocabulary and Stroop tests scores were controlled.
The present study was conducted to develop a questionnaire to measure creative home environment and to explore the differences of various domains of creativity according to creative home environment. The questionnaire for creative home environment (measuring both psychological support and creative/intellectual stimulus) and Kaufman-Domains of Creativity Scale (K-DOCS) were administered to 463 university students. The students were asked to respond about both their current creative home environment and what they believed to be an important creative home environment. We examined the difference between students' current home environment and their perception of the important creative home environment. The results were as follows. Students in the high creative home environment group achieved higher scores than students in the low creative home environment group in the domains of Everyday, Scholarly, Writing and Music, and Artistic creativity. Valuing creative achievement at home was needed to promote a creative home environment. Finally, we discussed the meaning and limits of this study.
This study is a longitudinal investigation on the mental health of mothers and their infants depending on the degree of mothers' pre- and pos-tnatal depression for one year. The subjects were 467 mothers who were selected for the Childhood Asthma and Allergic Diseases Cohort Study (COCOA) in progress in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of four general hospitals in Seoul. The subjects were divided into four groups depending on the degree of their pre- and post-natal depression, and mental health of the mothers and their children was compared. Results are as follows:. First, 73mothers experienced prenatal depression (15.63%) and the incidence of postnatal depression was 82 out of 467 mothers (17.56%). Second, a significant difference (p < .01) was found between the groups in terms of prenatal(in the 36th weeks of pregnancy) anxiety. The group with the highest prenatal and postnatal depression experienced the highest prenatal anxiety, and the degree of satisfaction with life as measured during the sixth month of pregnancy was the highest in the group with the lowest levels of pre and postnatal depression. A significant difference in parenting stress was found between the groups, with; the group with higher prenatal and postnatal depression experiencing higher parenting stress. Third, no significant difference was found between the groups in terms of mental health(anxiety, marital satisfaction, and satisfaction with life) of mothers with 12-month-old children. However, a significant difference was found in terms of parenting stress. Fourth, the only instance in which a significant correlation(P < .05) was found between infants' mental health and degree of maternal depression, was in fine motor skills among 6-month-old infants. This study is the first longitudinal research in Korea that examines mental health of mothers and their infants by degree of mothers' pre and postnatal depression for one year. The clinical significance and the need for intervention in instances of postpartum depression, as well as suggestions for future research, were also discussed.