E-ISSN : 2733-4538
The purpose of this study was to examine the clinical utility of the Korean version of the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 6-18 (CBCL6-18) subscales for predicting Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) group from non-referred and non-ADHD psychiatric control groups. The ADHD inattentive type group included 43 (35 boys, 8 girls, age range 6-18, mean age 9.77 yrs) participants and the ADHD combined type group included 34 (31 boys, 3 girls, age range 7-14, mean age 9.12 yrs) participants. The non-referred group was demographically matched for sex and age (n=77, mean age 9.48) to each ADHD group. The non-ADHD psychiatric control group consisted of 26 boys and 16 girls (age range 7-16, mean age 12.07 yrs). An ANOVA, ROC curve analysis, and odds ratio analysis were performed on all the scales of CBCL6-18 data obtained on the participants. The overall results supported the efficiency and clinical utility of several scales of the CBCL6-18 in discriminating between ADHD and non-ADHD groups, and the DSM ADHD scale was the most successful. The clinical cutoff-score-criteria adopted for the CBCL6-18 were shown to be statistically valid, but lower cutoff score is more effective for discriminating the ADHD group from the non-referred group. The implications of using the CBCL6-18 in Korea as a clinical tool for diagnosing ADHD were discussed.
The purpose of this study was to standardize the Korean Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-Ⅱ (K-Vineland-II) and to test reliability and validity of the scales. Items of the K-Vineland-II and procedures of the standardization were determined on the basis of the results of two preliminary studies. The standardization sample (N=1602) was stratified with the demographic variables including gender, age, education, and region. Data were collected using one of two forms of the scales (the interview form and caregiver/parent rating form). In addition, one of the other tests such as K-WAIS-IV, K-WISC-IV, SMS, KPRC, BSID-II, or WHODAS 2.0 was conducted with the individual or caregiver. Statistical analysis proved good split-half reliability (r=.79 ∼ .97) and test-retest reliability (r=.89) of the K-Vineland-II. The result of the CFA supported the 4 domains and 12 subdomains structure of the scales. The scales were proved to discriminate the intellectual disability group from the normal group, and among three severity specifiers (mild, moderate, severe) of the intellectual disability. The results were discussed in terms of clinical utility of the scales, and further studies were suggested.
The purpose of this study was to examine the role of self-compassion during adaptive self-regulation for negative events. It has been suggested that self-compassion acts as a buffer for negative events. The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between self-compassion and the contingencies of self-worth, stability of self-esteem, and cognitive and emotional responses to negative events. Study 1 was designed to explore the relationships among self-compassion, self-esteem, the contingencies of self-worth, and the stability of self-esteem. Data were collected from 289 undergraduate students. The results showed that a higher self-compassion score was related to a lower contingency of self-worth scores and higher scores for stability of self-esteem. In addition, this effect was greater than in those with self-esteem. In Study 2, perceived failure was induced by an impossible task and changes in emotions, self-related cognition, and the heart rate before and after the impossible tasks were measured. The results showed that higher self-compassion was related to lower degrees of negative emotional changes. The degree of changes in self-related cognition was not associated with self-compassion. In addition, greater self-esteem was related to greater changes in negative emotions and self-related cognition. Last, the contribution of this study to an integrative understanding of the process of self-compassion as it affects mental health was discussed. Limitations and suggestions for future research were also presented.
The current study examined the short-term effects of a group positive psychology intervention (PPI) on psychological health in a Korean sample of university students. In addition, to shed light on the mechanism of changes in the PPI, this study proposed strengths use as a potential mediator of treatment changes on the basis of literature review. A group PPI consisted of 8 weekly 120-min sessions. Forty-four participants in the PPI group and 49 in a psychoeducation group completed the measures of psychological health and utilization of character strengths at pre-intervention, after session 4, and post-intervention. Compared to the participants in the psychoeducation group, those in the PPI group showed decreases in negative affect and depressive symptoms, as well as increases in positive affect, mental well-being, psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and strengths use. However, there was a weak change in perceived stress following a group PPI. Early increase in strengths use partially mediated the short-term effects of the PPI on positive affect, negative affect, depressive symptoms, mental well-being, and life satisfaction. In conclusion, these findings suggest that a group PPI can lead to improvements in psychological health of university students, which are mediated through changes in strengths use. Finally, implications and limitations of the current study, and directions for future research are discussed.
The purpose of this study is to develop the Parenting Anxiety Scale for mothers of preschool and school-aged children, and to examine the reliability and validity of this Scale. The preliminary study was conducted in order to develop content items for the Parenting Anxiety Scale. Eighty nine mothers, experiencing parenting anxiety were asked to report the difficulties with parenting their children. The content items selected based on the parental reports were analyzed by factorial procedure. The preliminary Parenting Anxiety factors were composed of Parenting Efficacy, Attachment, perfectionism, parent-child bonding, and social support system. -The preliminary items selected by the experts in parenting were reduced from 82 to 60 items. The first study was conducted to determine the factors of the Parenting Anxiety Scale. The 60 preliminary items were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, and five factors and final 26 items were selected for the Parenting Anxiety Scale, including parenting efficacy_(6 items), anxiety due to mother-child attachment_(5 items), worries about children_(5 items), anxiety regarding- social support_(4 items), and perfectionism_(6 items). The second study was conducted to determine the concurrent validity of the Parenting Anxiety Scale using confirmatory factor analysis. The internal consistency and factors of inter-item correlation of the Parenting Anxiety Scale demonstrated satisfactory reliability. The newly developed parenting anxiety showed a correlation with another related scales. In summary, these studies proved that the newly developed Parenting Anxiety Scale can be a reliable and valid scale for assessment of parenting anxiety.
The purpose of the current study was to examine conflict in the relationship between middle-aged parents and university student children. A total of 218 Korean middle-aged parents between 40 and 59 years of age and 291 university students participated. The main findings are as follows. First, the conflicts perceived by the middle-aged parents as conflicts in the relationship with their university students were children's self-care, parent-child relationship, and interpersonal relationship except parent-child. Second, the conflicts that the university students experience with their middle-aged parents were the relationship with parents, parents' demanding and interference, parents' lives, and other interpersonal relationships. Finally, gender differences are discussed.
This study conducted meta-analyses on the effectiveness of mindfulness-based therapy (MBT). Fifty-seven studies published in Korean journals until July, 2014 were included. The effectiveness was evaluated on 6 categories of 20 outcome variables (mindfulness, stress, psychopathology and mental health vulnerability, emotion, subjective well-being, and self-concepts) and 6 moderator variables (intervention type, characteristics of participants, and study design). Results indicated that MBT increased the level of mindfulness and decreased the level of psychological stress, depression and anxiety, and these effects were maintained over follow-up. MBT was also effective for reducing the severity of psychopathology, anger, impulsivity, and negative emotion and for enhancing self-esteem. Effect sizes differed according to moderators including intervention type and age and health status of participants. These results suggest that MBT conducted in Korea is an effective treatment for a variety of mental health and psychological functioning. Further implications for future research and interventions are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to construct a malingering discrimination indicator on K-WAIS-IV by experimental simulation design. This study included 4 groups; control group, clinical group (mild TBI), sophisticated malingering simulation group, and naive malingering simulation group. Data from 154 participants were analyzed using stepwise discrimination analysis setting K-WAIS-IV 10 core subtests as IV, 4 groups as DV. Then the cutoff score of discriminant function was calculated in controlling specificity as 95% using ROC analysis. Sensitivity, positive predictive power, negative predictive power, and classification accuracy were also calculated at the cutoff score. The results are follows; Digit span, Coding, Vocabulary, and Visual puzzle showed significant variances for 4 -group discrimination. Digit span subtest had the largest discrimination effect. The results suggest that the lower performances on Digit span, Coding, and Visual puzzle comparing on Vocabulary the higher malingering possibility. The purpose of this study is to construct, Korea based data, malingering discrimination indicators of K-WAIS-IV frequently used in Korea.
The current study was conducted to examine the applicability of the complete mental health model proposed by Keyes for explaining the relationship between mental health and suicidal behavior in the elderly. We examined the unique contribution of mental well-being to the prediction of suicidal behavior and the differences of categorical mental health diagnoses in terms of suicidal behavior. A total of 2,034 elderly people aged 65 years and over participated in this study. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that mental well-being was a significant predictor of suicidal behavior after controlling for education, living arrangement, poverty, physical illness, and depressive symptoms. In addition, education, poverty, physical illness, and depression each contributed significantly to suicidal behavior after controlling for all other relevant predictors, and depression was the strongest predictor of suicidal behavior. While poverty and depression were significant predictors of suicidal behavior in men, mental well-being, physical illness, and depression were significant predictors of suicidal behavior in women. Next, comparisons of three categorical mental health diagnoses based on mental well-being indicated that the languishing group was more vulnerable to suicidal behavior than the moderately mentally healthy group, who in turn was more vulnerable to suicidal behavior than the flourishing group. Comparisons of five categorical mental health diagnoses based on the combination of mental well-being and depression indicated that the languishing and depression group was the most vulnerable to suicidal behavior and the complete mental health group was the least vulnerable to suicidal behavior of all groups. In conclusion, these results suggest that mental well-being may act as a protective factor for alleviating suicidal behavior, and provide support for the applicability of the complete mental health model for explaining the relationship between mental health and suicidal behavior in the elderly.
Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is a widely used analytical tool for development of psychological scales. Although guidelines for proper use of EFA have been proposed by many experts, special considerations for the item level factor analysis have been less emphasized. The current study highlighted that certain features of Likert-type items, such as low reliability and different levels of skewness, should be considered in EFA for scale development. The author suggested that a more than 5-point response scale is required for the common practice of EFA for the Likert-type scale development and, if not applicable, extraction of polychoric correlations is desirable, rather than Pearson correlations. Great emphasis has been placed on the use of parallel analysis and principle axis factoring or unweighted least squares method on polychoric correlations with oblique rotation. Higher item to factor ratio and larger sample size in comparison with scale level factor analysis are also emphasized. An EFA on the 10 items of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was illustrated with the proposed practices using the R statistical program.
Results from the research question should be reliable and valid, and depend on the scientific design of the study. For results with high precision and no bias, the study should proceed carefully according to a detailed protocol at each stage, including study conducting, data analysis, interpretation, etc., throughout the study period. Statistical design is required to lead the scientific design. Since fallacies at the design stage cannot be completely overcome by statistical adjustment procedures during the study or after the end of the study, full consideration of the whole process is required before the start of the study. In this study, we introduce several key items required in design stage. Statistical problems to be considered are discussed with case examples.
The aim of this study was to compare the definition and assumptions of mediated and moderated effects frequently used in recent clinical research and to introduce a combination of the models verifying these two effects. Frist, difference of research questions and hypotheses, verification of each effect is attempted, is discussed through comparison of the models of these two effects. Differences in discussion of advance research for each research problem and hypothesis testing were also presented. Second, differences between conceptual models and statistical models of moderated and mediated effects were described to explain mistakes many clinical psychologists make in the process of verifying the models of these two effects. Third, considerations and methods used in performance of statistical significance tests for mediated and moderated effects are followed. Last, conditional process models, combining models verifying moderated effects and models verifying mediated effects, are presented. Under the framework of the conditional process models, integration of mediated moderational effects and moderated mediational effects is presented.