open access
메뉴
open access
메뉴
E-ISSN : 2733-4538
Multiple brain imaging parameters have been used to study the pathophysiology of schizophrenia; however, the difficulties in data collection often limit the size of the sample. The purpose of this study was to compare the brain networks of schizophrenia patients and healthy controls using structural covariance analysis of datasets from multiple sites. We obtained a total sample of 652 patients and 415 healthy controls. When comparing schizophrenia patients and controls, 36 correlation coefficients between two ROIs exhibited significant group difference, including 23 out of the 68 brain regions defined in this study. The brain regions that demonstrated between-group differences in structural covariance were also associated with the symptom severity of schizophrenia and deficits in neurocognitive function in the patient group. Rather than focusing solely on brain deterioration and reduction to understand schizophrenia, the results of this study emphasize the need to consider the complex patterns of brain networks and explore how these structural relationships correlate with the clinical symptoms and cognitive impairment in schizophrenia patients.
For efficient screening and assessment of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in clinical and research settings, this study aimed to validate the Korean version of the Borderline Symptom List Short Version (K-BSL-23). We recruited 200 community sample adults with BPD tendencies in Study 1 and examined construct validity and internal reliability. In Study 2, we analyzed a receiver operating characteristic curve of the K-BSL-23 scores of 42 psychiatric outpatients with BPD and 45 non-diagnosed control groups to derive the sensitivity and specificity of each cut-off score. The K-BSL-23 score had a single-factor structure and excellent internal consistency. The K-BSL-23 score showed significant correlations with the borderline scale of the Korean Personality Disorders Test, showing concurrent validity, with emotional regulation difficulties, impulsivity, and depression supporting convergent validity. In addition, the K-BSL-23 score was correlated with adverse childhood experiences. Divergent validity of the K-BSL-23 score among cluster B personality disorders was tentative and requires further research. The supplementary scale, the K-BSL-S, showed high concurrent validity in measuring self-harm behaviors. A cut-off score of 14.5 validly distinguished the BPD patient group from the non-diagnosed control group. The K-BSL-23 score was shown to be a valid measure for BPD symptoms.
Depression is often assumed to be a heterogeneous condition that varies in symptom presentation. For instance, dual-diagnosed patients are more likely to experience changes in sleep and appetites along with apathy and anxious mood than those without substance use disorder (SUD) symptoms. If a substance worsens or relieves specific symptoms, symptom profiles may differ depending on the alcohol use status. The high prevalence of alcohol use disorders in the Korean population may greatly improve our understanding of its etiology. It is both timely and necessary to evaluate the BDI-II as a severity-rating tool across this population. This study compared the symptomatic presentation between patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) patients and comorbid alcohol abuse, and those without. However, the factor structure in a clinical sample of diagnosed patients has not yet been reported. Clinical interviews were conducted to screen for depression and other comorbid disorders. Measurement invariance was tested in Beck et al. (1996)’s SA-C model and Buckley et al. (2001)’s C-A-S model. Both models indicated a reasonable fit to the data; however, a two-factor model was selected for parsimony. The results indicated strict measurement invariance across groups, implying that the BDI-II could provide a consistent structure across patients with MDD regardless of alcohol use problems.