• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.3-7
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• 2002

Genes involved in the serotonin system are good candidates for the pathogenesis of mood disorder and mood-related disorders, such as eating disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, alcoholism, and suicide. Serotonin type 2A(5-HT2A) receptor gene promoter polymorphism(-1438A/G) has been reported. In this article, authors reviewed the literatures regarding association studies between -1438A/G and mood disorder and mood-related disorders. There are controversial results with limited data to date. Further researches on the -1438A/G in psychiatric disorders are required.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.155-161
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• 1997

Serotonin has been implicated in the etiology of many disease states and may be particularly important mental illness, such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, sleep disorders, suicide, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders, migraine and others. Many currently used treatments of these disorders are thought to act by modulating serotonergic function. The identification of many serotonin subtypes, most of which have been shown to have functional activity and differential distribution, has stimulated considerable effort into synthesizing selective ligands(drugs) to help understand their significance. This should understand the role of serotonin in mental disorders and these new drugs can be studied alone and in combination with other treatments in order to clarify the parameters of drug use for the clinical effect.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.46 no.sup1
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• pp.12-21
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• 2013

Several epidemiological studies have shown that exercise (EX) and physical activity (PA) can prevent or delay the onset of different mental disorders, and have therapeutic benefits when used as sole or adjunct treatment in mental disorders. This review summarizes studies that used EX interventions in patients with anxiety, affective, eating, and substance use disorders, as well as schizophrenia and dementia/mild cognitive impairment. Despite several decades of clinical evidence with EX interventions, controlled studies are sparse in most disorder groups. Preliminary evidence suggests that PA/EX can induce improvements in physical, subjective and disorder-specific clinical outcomes. Potential mechanisms of action are discussed, as well as implications for psychiatric research and practice.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.576-584
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• 2013

Increasing numbers of Korean adults, especially women, are adopting vegetarian diets for various reasons. In this study, the characteristics of vegetarianism among females residing in Seoul were examined. In addition, the dietary habits and eating behaviors between vegetarians and non-vegetarians were investigated. A total of 148 females (73 vegetarians, 75 non-vegetarians) were recruited and questionnaires regarding their demographic characteristics and eating habits were completed. The eating behavior and daily intake of food groups was assessed using the three factor eating questionnaire-R18 (TFEQ-R18) and food frequency questionnaire, respectively. The ages, BMI, education, and religious affiliation were not significantly different between the two groups. More than 30% of vegetarians had followed a vegetarian diet for longer than 24 months. The most common motivations for vegetarianism in study participants were 'health or weight control' (46.6%) followed by 'environmental concerns or animal welfare' (24.7%). Vegetarians had a lower intake of cereals, Kimchi, and soda, but a higher intake of potatoes and sweet potatoes, vegetables, mushrooms, seaweed, and fruits compared to non-vegetarians. Significant differences in eating behavior scores were also found between the two groups; in particular, vegetarians reported higher levels of restrained eating and emotional eating than non-vegetarians. Scores of uncontrolled eating, however, were not significantly different between the two groups. In conclusion, these results suggest that while vegetarianism is associated with healthy dietary habits, it is associated with restrained eating behaviors which may increase the risk of eating disorders in women.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.199-212
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• 2002

Stress not only brings disorders in social, family life but brings also changes in eating behaviors so that the imbalance of food intake is induced. Our study was carried out to find out the association between the degree of stress and eating behaviors for the subjects of 262 female college students in the Suwon area. The study instrument was a structured questionnaire composed with questions about demographic data, food preferences, questions related to life styles, and health. All of the collected data was analyzed by the degree of stress score, grouping into high(25〈) and low stress group(〈=25). High stress group showed unhealthy lifestyles, higher percentage of irregular menstruation, smoking, dizziness, higher amount of alcohol consumption. They also showed higher preference rate of spicy foods including hot foods, oil based foods and showed percentage of removing visible fat when eating meats. They more wanted to control weight and prefers snacking compared to low stress group. These results show that stress changes in eating behaviors in a way of unhealthy life styles.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.724-741
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• 2007

This study was carried out to investigate the body weight controls and eating disorders of university students in Gunsan. The subject of the present study included 229 male students (53.8%) and 197 female students (46.2%), totalling 426 students from Kunsan University. The subjects consisted of 56 underweight (13.1%), 265 with normal weight (62.2%), and 105 overweight (24.6%). Especially, in females, 20.8% of them were underweight, which is 6.6% higher than males, showing a significant difference (p<0.001). Regarding body image, 21.8% of the males thought they were fat, while 40.6% of the females thought they were fat. Regarding the perceived body type, shown in the difference between their own size and the ideal size, males recorded 0.03, while females recorded 1.75, showing a major significant difference (p<0.001). Regarding body satisfaction, 33.2% of the males were unsatisfied, while 52.8% of the females were unsatisfied (p<0.001). The social expectations of the male subjects' sizes and weights recorded 2.04, while that of females recorded -2.51, showing that people's opinions expected the female subjects' bodies to be thinner (p<0.001). Additionally, the social expectation of the subjects' weight control recorded an average of 15.22 (13.92 for males, 16.73 for females), showing that the female subjects' felt that people's opinions wished them to lose their weight (p<0.001). Regarding the recognition on weight control, interested males were 49.4%, while interested females were 86.8%, showing the females superior rate (p<0.001). The beliefs in relation to weight control recorded an average of 62.01, with the score of females of 67.89 being significantly higher than that of males which was 56.96. The subjects showed a relatively positive response towards weight control (p<0.001). EAT-26 score was employed to determine the eating attitudes in relation to gender. Here, the final score of males was 15.46, which was significantly lower than that of females, which was 22.21 (p<0.001). Furthermore, regarding the score of eating attitudes in relation to obesity index, the eating disorder scale scores on the questions related to bulimia and diets to lose weight as weight increases were high. However, the eating disorder scale score on oral control, which actually controls food, was low. To control the expansion of excessive weight control attempts and their side effects, the recognition of the students' body types needs to be corrected, and nutrition education programs on eating habits and eating disorders to foster proper weight loss are deemed necessary.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.25 no.3 s.87
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• pp.77-87
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• 2007

This study purports to understand the direct and indirect effects between eating disorder behavior of female adolescents and their body-related variables(concerning the degree of diet regime, weight control, body satisfaction, and obesity), self-esteem and internal control, by checking three sub-categorized behavior of eating disorders of diet behavior, bulimia behavior, and eating control behavior. The sample group used for the study consisted of 190 female high school students and 292 female university students; measurement devices used for the study were those of body-related variables, self esteem and internal control, and eating disorder behavior; and data analysis was performed using ${\chi}2$, t-test, Pearson's correlation, regression analysis and path analysis. The results are as follows. First, there is a significant difference between university students and high school students regarding their body satisfaction, weight control experience, and self esteem. University students are more satisfied with their body, have higher self esteem, and control their weight better than high school students. Second, diet behavior shows a correlation with the degree of diet interest, weight control experience, and body satisfaction. Body satisfaction and internal control proved to be correlated with bulimia behavior, while weight control experience, obesity, and self esteem were correlated with eating control behavior. Third, the variables that showed a direct influence on diet behavior as an eating disorder are diet interest, weight control experience, body satisfaction and obesity, in that the explanatory power of the variables is 60.7% with the highest mark on obesity. The variables that showed effects on bulimia are body satisfaction and internal control with an explanatory power of 2.8%. Indirect variables effecting bulimia include objects, diet interest, body satisfaction, and self esteem. The variable with a direct influence on eating control behavior was self esteem with and explanatory power of 4%, whereas the variables of objects, diet interest, body satisfaction, weight control experience, and internal control were all indirectly correlated with eating control behavior.

• Mood & Emotion
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.169-177
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• 2018

Objectives : Despite the lack of domestic research, eating alone has been reported to be related to depression. We investigated correlation between eating alone, and depression, among women age 65 and older. Methods : Among women registered in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data, 1,119 elderly in 2014, and 1,189 in 2016, were analyzed. Eating alone and the degree of depression were assessed, using a questionnaire and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 respectively. The relationship between eating alone and depression, was analyzed using multilevel logistic regression. Results : In 2014 data, eating alone had significant effect on depression, as the explanatory power is increased to 30.4% in a 'three meals eating alone a day' group (${\beta}=0.128$, p<0.05), when the eating alone parameter is added to demographic factors and health characteristics. In 2016, exploitation of 'the frequency of eating alone' variable led to increment of explanatory power to 22.3%, that was not statistically significant. Conclusion : The result of this study suggests that eating alone among women age 65 and older, was a risk factor of depression in 2014, and is becoming a new life pattern as a social and cultural phenomenon in 2016.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.489-497
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• 2002

This study was conducted to determine if Mehrabian's eating-related characteristics questionnaire could be effectively applied in predicting obesity and eating disorders among Korean college students by examining the correlations between eating-related characteristics and anthropometry, nutrient intakes, psychological aspects of depression, and personality dimensions. The data were collected from 151 female students in classes of nutrition or psychology in Kyungnam University. Measurements of height, weight and triceps skinfold thickness (TSf) were made by well-trained interviewers, and BMI was calculated. Daily nutrient intakes were obtained from the self-reported three-day dietary records for the kinds and the amounts of foods consumed by the student subjects. The students were also asked to complete three questionnaires : Mehrabian's eating-related characteristics questionnaire, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and the Berk Depression Inventory. The results of the study were as follows : 1) Reliability of factored homogeneous item dimensions (FHIDS) of the translated version of the eating-related characteristics questionnaire showed a similar profile compared with the original. Moreover, the loading values of Cronbach-$\alpha$ for some FHIDs, which were excluded in order to constitute primary-level factors (for example, 'predisposition to obesity' etc) with a high reliability, were much lower than Mehrabian's. Therefore the eating-related characteristics questionnaire could be effectively used for Korean students for predicting predisposition to obesity and eating disorders. 2) With regard to the relationship between anthropometric indices and eating-related characteristics, BMI measurements showed a high and a positive correlation with 'predisposition to obesity' and 'uncontrollable urges to eat', and a negative correlation with a 'predisposition to anorexia'. The heavier body weight and the more fat mass that the subjects had, the higher the probability that the subjects were overeating. 3) The intakes of some minerals (Fe, K, Na) and Vitamin C showed significantly negative correlations with a 'predisposition to obesity' and a 'predisposition to anorexia'. But the intakes of vitamin B$_2$, niacin, and retinol were positively correlated with'uncontrollable urges to eat'. 4) Among personality dimensions, neuroticism had a positive correlation with a 'predisposition to obesity', 'uncontrollable urges to eat', and 'predisposition to anorexia'. 5) Neuroticism was negatively correlated with intakes of calories, carbohydrates, K, Fe, Vitamin C, etc. On the contrary, all personality dimensions were positively correlated with intakes of retinol. In conclusion, the translated version of Mehrabian's eating-related characteristics questionnaire appears to be effective for nutritional or psychological assessments of any predisposition to eating disorders among Korean college students.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2018

Objective : To determine the association between occupational stress and disordered eating problem in Korean female employees. Methods : We studied 1,452 female employees who attended mental health screenings. Using the Korean Occupational Stress Scale-Short Form (KOSS-SF) and 26-item Korean version of Eating Attitude Test, occupational stress and disordered eating problem were evaluated, respectively. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of those with disordered eating problem were examined. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine which subscale of KOSS-SF was associated with disordered eating problem. Results : Disordered eating problem was associated with interpersonal conflict [odds ratio (OR) 1.882, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.138-3.112] among various kinds of job stresses. Lack of reward (OR 7.164, 95% CI 1.139-45.043) and insufficient job control (OR 1.953, 95% CI 1.119-3.411) were associated with disordered eating problem in the underweight and normal weight group, respectively. Conclusion : There is an association between occupational stress and disordered eating problem among Korean female employees.