E-ISSN : 2733-4538
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by dysregulations in emotion, cognition, and behavior as well as disturbances in identity and interpersonal relationships. BPD shows a heterogeneous and chronic presentation, and a high comorbidity with major depressive disorder. This study used network analysis to identify the central symptoms affecting the chronicity of BPD, the bridge symptoms that may cause comorbid depressive symptoms, and the predictability of each symptom. Network analysis is a novel approach in understanding mental disorders, in that it delineates the core symptoms of a disorder as well as their inter-connectivity. We conducted a network analysis among 573 community samples using the Personality Assessment Inventory-Borderline Features Scale (PAI-BOR) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Results indicated that loneliness, mood shift, and intense mood were central symptoms of BPD. Being a happy person (reverse), self-harm behavior, feeling depressed and hopeless, and self-harm and suicidality were symptoms of both BPD and depressive episodes. The findings suggest that the central symptoms of BPD are related to emotion regulation issues, and that depressive episodes are associated with negative identity issues, affecting mood issues and suicidality. We further explained the results by previous theories and transdiagnostic formulations of BPD and discussed their psychotherapeutic implications.
This study examined the relationships among psychosocial variables related to social anxiety with concerns for offending others (Taijin Kyofusho Scale; TKS) compared to social anxiety disorder (SAD). For this purpose, 354 undergraduate students were asked to complete self-reporting questionnaires. The results were as follows. First, internalized shame, anger-in, projection, TKS, and SAD were significantly positively correlated. Second, while the relationship between internalized shame and TKS was sequentially mediated by anger-in and projection, the relationship between internalized shame and SAD was not. Interestingly, for the simple mediation effect in the relationship between internalized shame and TKS, projection showed a partial mediation effect, but anger-in had none. In the relationship between internalized shame and SAD, anger-in showed a partial mediation effect, but projection had none. Finally, future research directions, clinical implications, and the limitations of this study are discussed.
This study aimed to explore the effects of uncertainty on approach and avoidance behavior in socially anxious individuals, focusing on emotional facial expressions. A total of 409 male and female students completed surveys measuring their levels of social anxiety. The high and low social anxiety groups each comprised 30 participants. Two groups were assigned to uncertain and certain conditions, and the Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT) was administered to measure avoidance and approach to facial expressions. The high social anxiety group showed a lower negative AAT score than the low social anxiety group and a higher positive AAT score for anger expression under certain conditions than uncertain conditions. In addition, the levels of intolerance of uncertainty and social anxiety predicted the levels of avoidance tendency. This study suggests the importance of uncertainty in the study of social anxiety. Clinical implications, limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research are discussed.
This article is an introduction to the special section of the Korean Journal of Clinical Psychology on the Post-COVID-19 response of clinical psychologists. COVID-19 is pushing us to respond to dramatic changes in multiple aspects of necessary life. In particular, as Korean clinical psychologists, we bear a strong public responsibility as clinicians and researchers to cope efficiently and in a timely fashion in facing this rapidly evolving environment. In this context, the Special Issue of Clinical Psychologists' Response to Post-COVID-19 in the Korean Journal of Clinical Psychology was planned to contribute to an accurate summation of the current activities of Korean clinical psychologists and to offer suggestions for the future. The present special issue of the Korean Journal of Clinical Psychology includes six articles focusing on our communities, digital phenotyping and digital therapeutics, the psychological impact of COVID-19, effective crisis intervention, and disability-inclusive community resilience. The articles were drafted by experienced Korean clinical psychologists. In addition, the report of the Post-Corona19 Committee, "Post-Corona19 Roadmap of the Korean Clinical Psychology Association," provides an overview of the workings of the committee. It is expected that the current special issue will be a valuable resource within and outside the Korean Clinical Psychology Association and confirm our status as a crucial professional group during and following the COVID-19 pandemic period.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has hit every single aspect of our lives, the attention to “community” naturally has increased. By applying the lens of community psychology to the current phenomena we are experiencing, I hope we can understand how to make our commutities more successful in dealing with this unprecedented situation. While the scientific data in the psychology field is not available yet, I used the database of popular press media published in South Korea from January 20, 2020 to August 08, 2020 to estimate the public needs related to our communities. The data showed our conflicting boundaries of communities, vulnerable communities, and successful communities. Suggestions are made to clinical psychologists as practitioners, as researchers, and as citizens.
Social distancing as a measure to stop the spread of COVID-19 has drastically increased the need for technology-based mental health services. However, resources for the psychological assessment and treatment of the public are extremely limited. Over the past two decades, advances in information and communication technology (ICT) have facilitated technologybased- mental health services, which are deemed the most prominent alternative to traditional face-to-face service delivery amid the pandemic. Both digital phenotyping and digital therapeutics have recently been introduced and actively investigated. In this study, existing research in digital phenotyping and digital therapeutics for autism spectrum disorder was reviewed as a sample to clarify the status of its field applications. Although the development of digital phenotyping is in its early stages, digital therapeutics have been actively and successfully implemented in the treatment field. Given the increasing need for mental health services after the COVID-19 outbreak, change is no longer optional. Thus, preparation for a new technology- based assessment and treatment framework is necessary.
With the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, social distancing and constant vigilance against infection have become the “new norm”. Not surprisingly, multiple mental health problems arising during the pandemic are of increasing global concern. Telemedicine or mHealth is being more highlighted than ever during this major ongoing global health and economic crisis. This review aims to explore current mHealth approaches introduced in the scientific literature for mental illnesses including depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, trauma- and stressor-related disorders, bipolar and related disorders, schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders, eating disorders, sleep-wake disorders, and substance-related disorders. Implications for the choice of use, evaluation, and further development of mHealth interventions are also discussed to harness mHealth as an alternative or augment to traditional mental health services.
To investigate the impact on mental health of the prolonged COVID-19 outbreak, the current study investigated peritraumatic distress, preventive behaviors, and psychological distress (depression, anxiety symptoms, and suicidal risk) among 1,000 Koreans in May 2020 in comparison with the levels of psychological distress reported among 257 Koreans during the periods before COVID-19 in South Korea and with those reported in other countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results indicated that 27.3%, 34.2%, and 28.8% of the participants reported at least mild peritraumatic distress and depressive and anxiety symptoms, respectively. Of the participants, 23.6% were classified in the suicidal risk-positive group. Female participants and those in their 20s showed greater psychological distress than males or other age groups, respectively. Additionally, compared to the results reported from other countries, our results showed overall consistency in levels of psychological distress but relatively low anxiety symptoms and high depressive symptoms. Finally, our analysis indicates that psychological distress was exacerbated by job loss or decline in household incomes due to COVID-19.
This study aimed to examine the disaster psychology support system in Korea and the U.S. as well as crisis counseling programs in the U.S.. Further, it drew implications to suggest directions for the implementation of a Korean psychological support system in the aftermath of COVID-19. Thus, the activities of disaster intervention were analyzed, focusing on the telephone counseling provided by the COVID-19 Special Committee of the Korean Psychological Association. The main implications of this study are as follows. First, a telephone counseling system was promptly established based on rapid decisionmaking. Second, the organization formed a systemic relationship, such as the promotion of telephone counseling and case links, in connection with public systems such as the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Third, a standardized framework was prepared for crisis intervention by producing and distributing crisis intervention manuals. Fourth, in addition to issues related to COVID-19, the various difficulties of people exposed to disasters and the need to provide a wide range of psychological counseling services were confirmed. Fifth, systemic protection should be provided for counselors. Finally, suggestions based on the results and the implications of this study are discussed.
This exploratory study is part of the Resilience Equality Across Disability (READY) Project, which is aimed to establish disaster response guidelines for people with disabilities and seek factors enhancing disability inclusive community resilience Post– COVID-19. This preliminary work focused on the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic, exploring the February 2020 experiences of Daegu, which faced a devastating outbreak. A qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with four caregivers of people with disabilities was conducted. Analyses revealed seven categories, including 32 clusters of themes and 123 subthemes. The revealed categories were as follows: “Exclusion from accessing information and self-solutions,” “Collapse of people with disabilities and their families under social distancing,” “Responses and limitations in the private sector while lacking governmental responses during the early period of self-quarantine,” “Barriers to hospitalization of COVID-19 patients,” “Isolation from daily assistance while being hospitalized,” “Experience of the corona darkness and connection among people with disabilities and their caregivers,” and “Infectious disease disaster response policies in coherence with promoting disability rights.” Further, implications and suggestions were made concerning disability-inclusive disaster preparedness and response, learning from the strategies, achievements, and lessons from the community of people with disabilities.
This work is an overview of the workings of the Post–COVID-19 Committee of the 56th Korean Clinical Psychology Association, which was active from June 19th to October 26th, 2020. The Post–COVID-19 Committee was established from the desperate need for a systematic and sustainable development roadmap for the Korean Clinical Psychology Association in response to an era of transformation wherein the COVID-19 pandemic and technological revolution intertwine. For the fiveyear period from September 2020 to August 2025, the vision and core tasks of the Korean Clinical Psychology Association were derived, and the current situation of each of the core tasks was identified and action plans were suggested. It is hoped that this work will contribute as a foundation for the Korean Clinical Psychology Association to take a leap forward.