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While most disaster survivors recover from the emotional impact of the event over time, some develop long-term psychological problems. Based on extant findings, this study was conducted to identify the long-term psychological symptoms of Gyeongbuk area earthquake survivors and the predictors of such symptoms. Posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms approximately 1 year following the earthquake, along with demographic variables, disaster-related variables, and, most importantly, individual psychological characteristic variables, were measured with self-report questionnaires in a sample of 195 residents of Gyeongju and Pohang. The proportion of survivors at high risk for posttraumatic stress and depression were 13.85% and 25.64%, respectively. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that posttraumatic stress symptoms were significantly predicted by physical injury of self, perceived life threat of self, and catastrophizing tendency. For depressive symptoms, employment, prior psychological problems, social support, negative affectivity, other-blame, and catastrophizing tendency were identified as significant predictors. These results suggest the importance of psychological factors in predicting the long-term psychological symptoms of earthquake survivors. Furthermore, the findings highlight the need to examine such predictors when delivering prevention and intervention programs that target long-term psychological symptoms following a disaster such as an earthquake.
The present study examined whether positive future thinking would have a significant unique impact on suicidal ideation independently from negative future thinking, depression and hopelessness in depressed college students by using Future Thinking Task. Additionally, the relationships among the content, specificity, category variety of positive future thinking and suicidal ideation were examined. Sixty-four self-reported depressed college students completed the CES-D, Korean version of Beck's hopelessness Scale (K-BHS) and Suicidal Ideation Scale (SIQ) in advance. They were asked to generate future expectancies using a Future Thinking Task, and their capacity to describe positive future expectations specifically was also assessed. Positive future thinking was independently associated with suicidal ideation. In addition, low levels of interpersonal and high levels of intrapersonal future thinking were correlated with suicidal ideation. The specificity of positive future thinking was negatively correlated with suicidal ideation. The results were discussed in terms of theoretical and clinical implications.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of imagery processing on positive affect, behavioral motivation, and anhedonic symptoms. For this purpose, participants with anhedonic symptoms of depression were randomly assigned to one of two conditions, namely, an imagery processing condition (n=33) and a verbal processing condition (n=32). The experiment consisted of activity scheduling and practice designed to induce the pleasure experience regarding that activity in each processing mode. In both conditions, increases in positive affect and behavioral motivation, and a decrease in the level of anhedonic depression were observed. Participants in the imagery processing condition, however, reported greater enhancement in positive affect and anhedonic symptoms than did those in the verbal processing condition. Results indicate that boosting anticipatory pleasure for future events through mental imagery could alleviate anhedonic symptoms of depression, with increases in positive affect and behavioral motivation. In the final section, the implications and limitations of this study as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of sleep on depression among older adults and to determine which sleep variables best explain depression. The data for this study were from the fourth wave of the Korean Social Life, Health and Aging Project (KSHAP). A hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to determine whether sleep variables, such as sleep latency, sleep quality, and nightmares could predict depression after controlling for demographic and health status variables. The results indicated that, similar to the hypotheses, some sleep variables predict depression, even after controlling other variables (R2=.34, ΔR2=.07, F(20, 543)=14.05, p<.001). Specifically, breathing discomfort (β=.09, p<.05), nightmares (β=.10, p<.05), low sleep quality (β=.12, p<.01), and difficulty of concentration (β=.19, p<.001) predict depression significantly, and their correlations were also significant. These findings suggest that various sleep problems interact with each other. Therefore, increasing general sleep quality would aid in the prevention of depression among older adults by examining the sleep problems in detail.
The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of a gratitude intervention for reducing job seeking stress and improving mental health variables among undergraduate students. Moreover, to shed light on its mechanism of action, we proposed and examined meaning in life as a potential mediator of treatment efficacy, based on literature review. A gratitude intervention was provided to undergraduate students who suffered from job-seeking stress and had agreed to participate in the study. A comparison group was given psycho-education. Both participants in the gratitude intervention (n=17) and in the psychoeducation conditions (n=20) received four-session interventions corresponding to the purpose of each condition. Compared with the participants in the psycho-education condition, those in the gratitude intervention condition demonstrated a decrease in job-seeking anxiety, academic stress, depressive symptoms, and perceived stress, as well as an increase in life satisfaction, mental well-being, and happiness. Moreover, improvement in meaning in life partially mediated the efficacy of the gratitude intervention on perceived stress, life satisfaction, mental well-being, and happiness, and also fully mediated its efficacy on academic stress. These results suggest that gratitude intervention is an efficacious intervention for job-seeking stress and various mental health variables among undergraduate students, and that its efficacy may be mediated through increase in meaning in life. Finally, theoretical and practical implications and limitations of the study’s findings are discussed.
This study aimed to develop the Disability Scale (DS), a scale for assessing functional impairment in individuals with mental disorders, and to preliminarily explore the psychometric properties of the DS in university students. In the first part of the study, exploratory factor analysis on DS in the university student group (N=259) yielded five factors: “mood problems,” “interpersonal problems,” “self-care problems,” “academic and occupational problems,” and “health and family problems,” for both items on the past 2 weeks and items on the past 6 months. In the second part of the study, analyses of reliability and validity of the DS were performed. The DS showed sound internal consistency, 3-week test-retest reliability, and construct validity. In addition, DS scores were significantly higher in the clinical group with anxiety and depressive disorders (N=29), when compared with the university student group (N=286). The DS showed positive associations with the scales for assessing functional impairment and psychological symptoms including depression and anxiety. Confirmatory factor analyses on the five-factor model of the DS resulted in favorable goodness of fit indices for both items on the past 2 weeks and items on the past 6 months. Clinical implications and limitations of this study are also discussed.
This study validated the newly developed Social-Emotional, Evidence-based Developmental Strengths (SEEDS) Questionnaire. The SEEDS Questionnaire is the first questionnaire to comprehensively measure the social-emotional, evidence-based developmental strengths areas that have been found to be the most effective areas for reducing mental health problems in children and adolescents. A total of 1,033 Korean students in elementary through high school completed the SEEDS Questionnaire and validity measures. Factor analysis results supported the SEEDS Questionnaire 13-factor structure. The 3-factor higher-order Cognitive-Behavioral-Interpersonal model was also supported. Reliability and validity of all scale scores were also supported. The SEEDS subscales correlated significantly with externalizing and internalizing symptoms (including anxiety, depression, and anger) and with positive affect. These results highlight the role that the SEEDS Questionnaire may play in not only helping to reduce mental health problems, but also increasing well-being and positive engagement in children and adolescents’ lives. Study limitations and implications for enhancing support services in school and clinical settings via this new assessment are discussed.
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is defined as severe fear or anxiety in one or more social situations. Although knowing the specifiers of SAD could further improve our understanding of heterogeneity in the disorder, currently available psychometric instruments are insufficient to assess situationally defined social anxiety dimensions individually. Given this situation, the Social Anxiety Questionnaire (SAQ) has been developed to measure five anxiety-provoking situations for adults. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the SAQ. A total of 564 undergraduate students participated in this study. A total of 302 samples were used for exploratory factor analysis, and a total of 262 samples were used for confirmatory factor analysis. The mean age of the participants was 20.33 years, and measures of anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, and depression were analyzed. Exploratory factor analysis yielded five factors: (1) interactions with strangers, (2) speaking in public/talking with people in authority, (3) interactions with the opposite sex, (4) criticism and embarrassment, and (5) assertive expression of annoyance, disgust, or displeasure. Confirmatory factor analysis also supported the construct validity of the questionnaire. The Korean version of the SAQ showed good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, criterion validity, and convergent validity. To futher accurately understand social anxiety disorder, it is necessary to determine how the level of anxiety of each individual differs in various circumstances. In this respect, the Korean version of the SAQ is expected to be utilized as a useful tool for clinical research.
The Korean Version of Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (K-BDEFS) was designed to evaluate daily executive functioning in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The original Barkley Deficit in Executive Functioning Scale (BDEFS) and the K-BDEFS have demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity. This study examined the reliability and validity of the K-BDEFS Short-Form (K-BDEFS-SF) in South Korea. A total of 1,016 community-dwelling general adults in 4-four different areas in South Korea participated. The internal consistency and the item-total correlations were favorable. The Korean version of Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale, Korean version of the Beck Depression Inventory, Korean version of Beck Anxiety Inventory were used to assess the concurrent and discriminant validity. The K-BDEFS-SF demonstrated successful reliability and validity. A confirmatory factor analysis supported the five factor model of the K-BDEFS-SF as presented in the original version of the BDEFS-SF. Overall, this study supports the use of the K-BDEFS-SF to assess deficits in executive functioning in community-dwelling populations of Korean adults.
Distress is an unpleasant emotional experience that may interfere with the ability to cope effectively with cancer. Distress can range from normal emotional responses, such as sadness and fear, to psychopathological states that damage psychosocial functioning, such as depression, anxiety, panic, social withdrawal, and existential crisis. It is reported that approximately 35– 45% of cancer patients experience clinically significant levels of distress, and the distress continues after treatment. Currently, about 1.74 million cancer patients and survivors live in Korea. Over the past 10 years, the survival rate has increased by 1.3 times and will most likely continue to increase. Although interest in cancer patients’ psychological difficulties and awareness of the need for psychological interventions are increasing, rarely is distress management provided by clinical psychologists in integrative cancer care systems. This comprehensive review aimed to explore 1) the concept of distress in cancer patients, 2) the basic model and principles of distress management, 3) available distress screening and assessment tools, and 4) current status of distress management and its clinical applications in Korea. Further, we discussed the roles of clinical psychologists and researchers in oncological settings in optimizing distress management in cancer patients.
