• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.203-212
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• 1999

Objectives : "Alexithymia" mean literally "no word for mood(or emotion)". It is not only a marked constriction in emotional functioning but a deficit in their cognitive processing. We designed this study to investigate the level of alexithymia, psychopathology and personality factors of patients with somatoform disorder and with diabetes mellitus. Methods : The subjects were consisted of patients with somatoform disorder(N=20), patients with diabetes mellitus(N=20), and normal control(N=20). The level of alexithymia, psychopathology and personality factors were assessed by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale(TAS), the Symptom Checklist 90-Revision(SCL 90-R), and the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire(16-PF). And we compared demographic characteristics, psychopathology and personality factors among three groups, and assessed the relationship between alexithymia and psychopathology, and between alexithymia and personality factors. Results : The results were as follows. 1) Patients with somatoform disorder showed significantly higher TAS scores compared to patients with diabetes mellitus and the normal control group. 2) Patients With somatoform disorder showed significantly higher scores of somatization, anxiety scales than patients with diabetes mellitus and the normal control group, and showed significantly higher scores of obsessive-compulsive, depression, phobic anxiety, psychoticism scales than the normal control group by the SCL-90-R. 3) The normal control group showed high intelligence scores only as compared to patients with somatoform disorder by the 16-PF. 4) A significant relationship was found between TAS scores and psychopathology in patients with somatoform disorder. 5) All three groups did not shown any correlation between TAS and 16-PF. Conclusion : Patients with somatoform disorder showed higher TAS scores and more multiple psychopathology than patients with diabetes mellitus and the normal controls. A significant relationship was found between TAS scores and psychopathology in patients with somatoform disorder. We suggest that the therapeutic approach to patients with somatoform disorder to express emotions and manage psychopathology, and that the treatment methods of patients with diabetes mellitus aims to improve firstly physical conditions are more helpful.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.6-11
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• 2013

Objectives There are only a limited number of studies on instruments assessing fatigue in university students, although fatigue exerts negative influences on their health and academic performances and fatigue-related complaints are more frequently reported in young adults than middle-aged adults. The aim of this study was to validate the 9-item Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) among university students including both undergraduate and graduate students in South Korea. Methods A total of 176 university students completed a battery of self-report questionnaires, including the FSS, the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 version 2 (MOS-SF36v2), and the Inclusion of Community in the Self Scale (ICS). The data were collected from February of 2012 to June of 2012. The reliability, convergent validity, divergent validity, and exploratory factor analyses were conducted to assess psychometric properties of the FSS. Results The mean FSS score was 3.20 (standard deviation = 1.43). The FSS demonstrated an excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ = 0.93) and item-total correlations ranged from 0.56 to 0.90. Correlations of the FSS with the BFI (r = 0.71, p < 0.01), BDI-II (r = 0.54, p < 0.01), BAI (r = 0.46, p < 0.01), MOS-SF36v2 physical component summary (r = -0.28, p < 0.01), MOS-SF36v2 mental component summary (r = -0.55, p < 0.01), and ICS (Spearman's rho = -0.07, p = 0.33) showed acceptable convergent and divergent validity. Exploratory factor analysis defined one underlying factor (eigenvalue = 5.67) that explained 93.50% of the total variance. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate reliability and validity of the FSS in university students. The FSS exhibits good psychometric properties for evaluation of fatigue among university students in South Korea. Since the FSS is easy to administer, score, and interpret, it could be a useful tool in research and practice for assessing fatigue among university students.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.1-17
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• 2007

Huge growth in developmental level, new accomplishment, and The period of adolescents is not only the transition stage but also improvement of academic level. In this level of stage, adolescents have difficulties in development, so they show psychological abnormality such as stress and depression. They could develop mental disorder such as depression or anxiety if they do not overcome the abnormality. According to the situation of the insufficiency of the decent program for adolescents' mental health in the current society, we are strongly requested to develop the psycho-therapeutic program for them. Therefore, in this study, we examined the effect of the musical activities as blues music structure on the improvement of the Self-Efficacy in the female middle school students who have depressive tendencies as well as what they experienced through the activities. The 3 participants were selected out of 70 students in the first year at the "D" middle school in Seoul by being tested with Child Depression Inventory(CDI) and Self-Efficacy Scale(SES). The musical activities were built with 3 steps. Of which, the first one was the introduction to each other, the formation of rapport, and induction of their interests to the musical activities through blues. The second one was letting participants learn the blues music structure by practice and play assigned music(including improvisation) during later 5 sessions with different difficulties at each session. The third one was giving them opportunities to play a music out of the acquired ones during the session or creative music by their own, which results in maximizing musical activities and an acquired experience. As a result, first of all, the scores of CDI test of 3 participants in 10 time sessions showed slight changes, suggesting the negative correlation between CDI and SES even though changes were not big differences. Secondly, the scores of SES test of 3 subjects in 10 time sessions were all changed and especially preference for tasking was significant. Thirdly, the scores of SES for musical playing test of 3 participants in 10 time sessions were all changed and especially preference for musical tasking was significant shown. Finally, according to answers of 3 participants in 10 time sessions for the after questionnaire on musical activities, participants experienced affirmative self-confidence and positive emotion. Taken together, it was suggested that musical activities using blues music structure could be promising therapeutic intervention method.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.299-315
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• 1993

Koreans are one of the fastest growing immigrant groups in America. Stress responses and stressors among this large cultural minority has been rarely been studied by nursing researchers. Adjusting to life in foreign country produces a great deal of stress. Differences in culture, language, expectations and social behavior can lead to misunderstandings between health care providers and clients. These misunderstandings are not well accounted for in health assessment. This study investigated the relationship between life events or / and daily activities as a stressor and the symptoms of stress among a sample of Korean immigrants in America. The symptoms of stress scale (SOS) was used to identify stress responses and open-ended questions were used to identify life events and daily activities considered by the respondents to be stressful. A simple random sample of 283 subjects was selected from the Directory of the Korean Society of Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Seattle. Demographically, the subjects ranged in age from 20 to 69 years, and the percentage of women and men was approximately 50% each. Almost ninety percent of the subjects were highly educated, 17% owners of business, 19% white collar professionals, 14% employed in sales or as skilled /unskilled labor, 27% as housewives and students and 3％ had no occupation. The total group SOS mean was 0.8042 ; the SOS men for man was 0.7371, and for women was 0.8713. The stress response of this subject group was high, -the stress response of women higher than that for men. In an earlier study(June, 1992) with another sample, the total mean SOS score was similar to this one. The main stressful life events or / and daily activities were, in order, economic problems (N=97), interpersonal problems (N=68), children care problems (N=258), health problems (N=49), communication problems (N=42), family problems (N=38), worry about future career (N=36), and religious problems (N=25). There was a significant difference in the SOS means between the group that expressed life events or / and daily activities to be stressful and the group that did not. Interpersonal relationships and economic and family problems were stressors for those who complained about peripheral manifestations. cardiopulmonary symptoms, central-neurological symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, muscle ten-sion, habitual patterns, depression, anxiety, emotional irritability and cognitive disorganization. In summary, interpersonal relationships and economic and family problems influenced stress response manifestations. Income, the number of people in the family, the year of immigration. the level of education, and marital status were related to physiological and psychosocial stress responses.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.240-251
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• 2000

This study was a preliminary study on the adolescent psychiatric patients that show the characteristics of peer group neglect or rejection. We divided the adolescent psychiatric patients(n=25) into neglect-reject group(n=15) and non-neglect group(n=10). Each patient answered 8 scales and several questions about general relationships with friends. And, both the score of each 8 scales and answer about qusetions were examined. Lastly, records of 5 cases from neglect-reject group were analyzed. The depression dimension score of SCL-90-R, anxiety dimension score of SCL-9O-R, paranoid dimension score of SCL-90-R, interaction anxiousness scale(IAS) score were significantly different between 2 groups. On the result of case analysis about 5 patients of neglect-reject group, the adolescent psychiatric patients had a tendency to be rejected or neglected in case of having developmental problems(for example, language development or cognitive impairment).

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.31-39
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to how the music therapy effects to older person's self-esteem feeling and a emotional mood improvement after reminiscence therapy through songs. The object of this research were 10 old men and women, age of 67 to 90 with dementia, and mental and physical dysfunction, but can be self-walking and the stool was made up in social welfare center in the Yuseong-gu, Daejeon-city, The experiment of the research was done from June 18th until July 18th, week 2 each 50 minutes the total 12 times. This study was an experiment, the treatment of a same group before and after treatment. Before the first session I check the self-esteem and emotional mood. And after the final 12th session, post-therapy examination was conducted the same tests. The tools of Self-esteem test is the self-esteem scale developed by Rosenberg(1965) and Jun Byung-se(1974), which was translated. Emotional state check tools developed by MoNair(1992), which was translated by Yun Jae-ryang, and it can also apply to the Korean older person has been modified by Shin yon-hee. The results of changing mood state to 3 factors are as follows: The score of anxiety-depression factor changes from 50.42($\pm$14.15) to 35.10($\pm$10.60), and this is statistically significant.(p<.05). The score of anger factor changes from 11.20($\pm$4.39) to 6.90($\pm$2.51), and this is statistically significant.(p<.01). The score of vitality factor Changes from 30.00($\pm$4.27) to 23.90($\pm$5.09), and this is Statistically significant.(p<.05). For this research, I selected older person's favorite songs which have a positive lyrics and bright melody. And This has significance in terms give positive effects to older person's emotion which influence on their self-esteem and better mood positively. In the clinical treatment for the elderly to improve the positive sentiment and give practical assistance on the basis of this research is done to the future, And I look forward to the future development of a variety of music therapy.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.65-77
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• 2008

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine factors associated with the self-rated health status of the elderly and whether these factors were different from younger adults. Methods: An interview survey was conducted on non-institutionalized adults in Wonju City, Korea. Determinants of self-rated health status were identified and compared between individuals aged 19 to 64 years and those aged 65 years and over, using an ordered logistic regression conducted separately on these two groups. Participants were 1,685 younger adults and 188 elderly people. Self-rated health status was measured along a continuous scale from 0 to 100 (0 for the worst and 100 for the best they could imagine) and then binned into 11 categories. Results: Self-rated health status of the elderly in Wonju was associated with household income, education, bereavement, adequate sleep, daily and social life being affected by poor health status, mobility, and anxiety and depression. Household income, adequate sleep, and participation in social activities were significant only in the elderly, while some factors associated with the self-rated health status of younger adults, such as rural dwelling, regular exercise, living alone, and skipping breakfast were not significant in the elderly. Conclusion: In order to improve the health of the elderly in Wonju City, it would be necessary to develop programs addressing those specific needs of the elderly and to integrate them effectively in the Healthy City projects.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.129-140
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• 2020

Purpose: Although the importance of life satisfaction in patients with chronic diseases has been emphasized, limited studies have been performed on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among elderly patients with chronic diseases. This study examined the HRQoL among Korean patients with diabetes aged 65 years or older. Methods: This study used data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2008-2016. The analysis included data of 2,353 elderly patients with diabetes aged 65 years or older who were aware that they had type 2 diabetes. Each participant was categorized into one of three age groups (65-69 years, 70-74 years, and ≥ 75 years). The EuroQol-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) scale was computed to estimate the HRQoL. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to compare the demographic characteristics, lifestyle characteristics, nutrient intake, and EQ-5D scores between the age groups. Results: The intake levels of most nutrients were similar in the three age groups, but the total energy intake levels were significantly lower, and the sodium intake levels were significantly higher in the older age groups (p < 0.001). In addition, all items of the EQ-5D index, except for anxiety/depression, tended to decrease with age. In particular, the oldest age group (≥ 75 years) showed significantly lower levels on most items and the EQ-5D index than those in the other age groups (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Elderly patients with type 2 diabetes may have low levels of life satisfaction, which worsens with increasing age. Therefore, it is important to develop and manage personalized guidelines and medical systems so that elderly patients have a higher quality of life for the remainder of their lives. The results of this study are expected to be used as basic data for the systematic management of diabetes in elderly Korean patients.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.48-54
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• 2002

Objectives : Aims of the study were to investigate the physical and mental symptom profiles related with perceived life stress in normal populations. Methods: The study subjects were 186 subjects who visited the Health Promotion Center at National Health Insurance Corporation Ilsan Hospital between July and December, 2000. We measured Life Stress Assessment Scale (LSAS), SCL-90-R (Symptom Check List-90 Revised), and Physical Health Check Questionnaires to evaluate perceived life stress for one year, and physical and mental symptoms. The physical markers related with stress were also measured. According to LSAS scores, we selected two groups from all subjects : Group I (LSAS score with lower 25 percentile) and Group II (LSAS score with higher 75 percentile). Each number of subjects was 46 in Group I and 47 in Group II. We analyzed stasistical significances of study variables between Group I and II. Results : Group II subjects showed higher scores in all subscales of SCL-90-R compared to Group I subjects. Comparing to Group I, Group II subjects complained more physiological symptoms related with anxiety and depression. But there were no statistical differences in the physical markers related stress between two groups. Conclusion: We found that past year-life stress caused various mental and physical symptoms, which didn't develop any physical illness related life stress in normal populations yet.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.644-652
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to analyze the EEG according to the elderly's tendency to be addicted to smartphone games. We compared the effects of smartphone addiction on mental health such as brain waves, sleep problems and depression through comparative analysis of asymmetry and connectivity in quantitative EEG results. The study participants were two elderly people who were addicted to smartphone game and one elderly person who did not use smartphone (Ed- to confirm: only 3 participants?!). The participant's addiction tendency of smartphone was measured by using the smartphone addiction scale and EEG (QEEG) was used for EEG analysis. The results are as follows. First, the brain waves of elderly people and smartphone non-user elderly who showed symptoms of immersion and smartphone game showed a difference in asymmetry in both opening and closing anisles. Second, there were significant differences in the openness and the anxiety of the elderly who were immersed in the mobile phone and the elderly who did not use the smartphone. Through this, it is also meaningful to explore the relationship between senile cognitive impairment and smartphone use by exploring the effect of smartphone game use on brain cognitive function through comparison of EEG analysis.