• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.17-27
• /
• 2021

Objectives: Deliberate self-poisoning (DSP) is the most common suicide method and can be life-threatening. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors related to the lethality of DSP and the characteristics of the adolescent group. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on patients who had visited an academic hospital's regional emergency medical center between 2015 and 2018. The data reviewed through their medical records included sociodemographic factors, clinical variables, and psychiatric treatment. Four groups (Q1-Q4) were categorized by descriptive analysis using the risk-rescue rating scale. Results: A total of 491 patients were enrolled in this study. This study showed that high lethality had statistically significant associations with male sex, older age, admitting suicidal intentions, and the use of herbicides for suicide. Logistic regression analyses showed a significant association between high-lethality and female [odds ratio (OR)=0.50, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.30-0.81, p=0.01], non-psychiatric drugs (over-the-counter drug: OR=2.49, 95% CI=1.08-5.74, p=0.03; herbicide: OR=8.65, 95% CI=3.91-19.13, p<0.01), and denial of suicide intent (OR=0.28, 95% CI=0.15-0.55, p<0.01). Conclusion: This study showed the clinical factors associated with the high lethality of DSP and suggested that efforts were needed to care for and thoroughly examine patients with DSP.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.59-67
• /
• 2021

Purpose : This study examined the factors related to sexual intercourse among adolescents in South Korea. Methods : The study sample was comprised of 65,528 middle and high school students aged 12 to 18 years in 2016. For this study, using the data from the 12th Korea youth risk behavior web-based survey, a chi-squared test, and hierarchical logistic regression analysis we reconducted with the SPSS 22.0 program considering personal, family, school, and regional characteristics. Results : The proportion of adolescents who had sexual intercourse was 6.0 % of boys and 2.7 % of girls, and 6.3 % of high school students and 2.4 % of middle school students. The statistically significant related factors of sexual intercourse were gender, grade, attempted suicide, ever drinking, ever smoking, habitual or purposeful drug use, weekly allowance, and coed school in the final model 4. Adolescents with suicide attempts had 2.49 times more sexual intercourse than adolescents with no experience of suicide attempts. Compared to adolescents without alcohol, smoking, and habitual drug use, those who have experienced alcohol, smoking, habitual or purposeful drug use were 2.22 times, 3.76 times, and 3.39 times more likely to have had sexual intercourse, respectively. Adolescents with a weekly allowance of more than 100,000 won per week and adolescents in coed schools were 2.84 times and 1.40 times more likely to have had sexual intercourse, respectively. Conclusion : Multi-level interventions should be considered in school sexual education programs while considering the substantiality of sex education and the actual adolescents' needs. In addition, sexual health interventions in cyberspace for high-risk groups may be needed to consider the emotional and mental characteristics, given the factors related to sexual intercourse in adolescents.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.221-230
• /
• 2020

Background: The purpose of this study is to identify the factors affecting the depressive mood experience of adults in their 20s. Methods: This study is a descriptive survey that conducted a secondary analysis using data from the 2017 Community Health Survey, which is conducted annually in Korea. The study targets 21,324 adults in their 20s. Data analysis was conducted after creating a composite sample plan file that reflected layering variables, colony variables, and weights. Results: Factors affecting the depressive mood experience were suicide thought experience, subjective stress level, gender, monthly household income, smoking status, subjective health level, breakfast status, participation in social activities, and whether the Internet, games, and smartphone interfered with daily life (p<0.05). Conclusion: It is necessary to establish and realize a system that enables early detection and support of depression and suicide high-risk groups at the individual, home, community, and national levels.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and risk factors of suicidal ideation among middle class Korean. Methods: Cross sectional study was designed for secondary data analysis. From the 8th Korea Health Panel survey (2008~2013), a total of 6,037 data was drawn and analyzed by developmental stage using descriptive statistics including frequency, percentage, $x^2$ test, and logistic regression analysis. Results: Across all age groups, high physical-mental stress, frustration, anxiety about the future and low self-perceived health status or social class were found to be the risk factors of suicidal ideation. Peer-compared subjective health status and frustration significantly influenced the adolescents. The young adults'suicidal ideation was mainly influenced by physical and mental stress, frustration and absence of economic activity. For the middle-aged, physical and mental stress, frustration, future anxiety, low peer-compared subjective health status were found to be the major influencing factors. The predominant risk factors for the elderly were frustration and low peer-compared subjective health status. Conclusion: Making comparisons to others significantly influence suicidal ideation throughout all life cycles. Improvement of mental health and suicide prevention can be enhanced by avoiding negative comparison to others.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.163-170
• /
• 2014

Objectives : This study was conducted in order to develop the Korean version of the Reasons for Living Inventory for Adolescents (KRFL-A) and to investigate the reliability and validity of the KRFL-A. Methods : The KRFL-A, Scale for Suicidal Ideation (SSI), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) and Adolescent Suicide Questionnaire (ASQ) were administered to 720 first grade high school students. We examined the test-retest reliability, internal consistency of KRFL-A, and performed factor analysis. We also evaluated the correlation between KRFL-A and other scales, and the discrimination validity of KRFL-A between suicide attempt and non-attempt groups. Results : Test-retest reliability, item-total correlation and internal consistency were all reliable. From factor analysis, three factors were extracted. The KRFL-A showed negative correlation with SSI and BHS scales. In addition, it could discriminate the suicide attempter group from the non-attempter group. Conclusion : The Korean version of the Reasons for Living Inventory was found to be reliable and valid for use in assessing the risk of suicide in adolescents.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.69-76
• /
• 2019

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and clinical characteristics of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), and its association with suicide attempts among clinically depressed adolescents in Korea. Methods : In total, 113 depressed adolescents aged 12-18 years in South Korea were enrolled in this study. We assessed sociodemographic and clinical characteristics including suicidality and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) using various self-reported scales and semi-structured interview for diagnosis of psychiatric disorders. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the subjects were compared between NSSI and non-NSSI groups. We examined significant predictors of suicide attempts using logistic regression analysis. Results : Among 113 depressed participants, 48 (42.1%) adolescents were classified into the NSSI group. In the NSSI group, there were significantly more females, showed higher depression, higher state-anxiety, and more suicide ideation. The most predictive factors of suicide attempts were history of NSSI, observed suicide/NSSI behaviors of their family or friends, and total state anxiety score. Conclusions : NSSI is more common problem among clinically depressed adolescents and history of NSSI is a significant predictor of present suicide attempts. To include the assessment of NSSI for clinically depressed adolescent may be crucial for intervention programs for high risk adolescents of suicide in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.13-22
• /
• 2021

Objectives Despite growing attention to anxiety in bipolar disorder (BD), little research has assessed anxiety symptoms in the course of BD. The current prospective follow-up study examines the influence of subjectively and objectively measured anxiety symptoms on the course of BD. Methods A total of 49 patients with BD were followed-up prospectively for average of one year at an average of four months interval. The Korean version of the Beck Anxiety Inventory (K-BAI), the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, heart rate variability (HRV) were used to measure anxiety subjectively, objectively and physiologically. Participants were divided into high and low anxiety groups based on their K-BAI scores. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to compare the recurrence of mood episode, suicide attempt, emergency room visit, and psychiatric hospitalization between two groups. Mediators were investigated with Cox proportional hazards models. Results Compared to the low anxiety group, the high anxiety group reported significantly higher impulsiveness (p = 0.016) and lower high frequency component on HRV (p = 0.007) after controlling for severity of BD. Regarding survival analysis, the high anxiety group showed hastened depressive episode recurrence (p = 0.048) and suicidal ideation was the mediator of the hazard ratio (HR) 1.089 (p = 0.029) in the Cox model. Moreover, the high anxiety group showed a tendency of accelerated suicide attempt (p = 0.12) and impulsivity was the risk factor of suicide attempt (HR = 1.089, p = 0.036). Conclusions This interim analysis of prospective study suggests that high anxiety level in BD may anticipate unfavorable course. Further studies are needed to understand the multifactorial mechanism of anxious bipolar patients.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.97-114
• /
• 1996

Recently, attention for health promotion is rising. Alcohol is widely consumed among adults. About 1/3 of people 15 years of older enjoy drinking alcohol. Some 80% of them drink a half or more bottle of soju each time. Regular excessive drinking of alcohol may cause various problems. WHO(1990) reported that social problems such as divorce, unemployment, and financial difficulties ; psychological problems such as melancholy, suicide, and drug abuse ; physical problems such as cirrhosis, lung cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, and sterilization. The patients with liver disease are estimated to be 628,000. Approximately, 12,000 persons are dying by chronic liver disease and cirrhosis each year. Among the people of 15 years or older, persons dependent on alcohol are estimated to be 1,480,000. This study suggests policies to reduce the consumption of alcohol for planning for health promotion. Limitations of sites and times of sales and designation of sellers, designation of sites prohibiting drinking, limitation of alcohol sales promotion, and restrictions on advertisement can be inaugurated. Increase of price through the raise of tax and taxation of promotion cost. Education of high risk groups such as soldiers, pregnant women, and the youth can be introduced. Provision of alternative socialization programs instead of drinking. Some approaches on target groups were suggested.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.37-46
• /
• 2012

Objectives: This study was performed to consider the association between Internet using time for non-educational purposes and adolescent health, and to examine how health status differs between Internet users and non-users. Methods: We analyzed 2009 data from the Korea Adolescent Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey, conducted on a nationally representative sample of students in grades 7 to 12. A total of 75 066 adolescents were categorized into four groups according to their Internet using time excluding using for educational purposes: non-Internet users (NIUs), occasional Internet users (OIUs) (<1 h/d), moderate Internet users (MIUs) (${\geq}1$ and <2 h/d), and heavy Internet users (HIUs) (${\geq}2$ h/d). Health factors included eight health risk behavior indices, four mental health indices and six physical health indices. Results: The distribution of Internet use was as follows: NIUs 17.4%, OIUs 68.1%, MIUs 12.7%, and HIUs 1.7%. In multivariate analysis, using OIUs as a reference, U- or J-shaped associations were observed for five health risk behavior indices (current smoking, current drinking, drug abuse, sexual intercourse, sedentary behavior on weekdays) and four mental health indices (stressed, depressed, suicidal ideation, attempted suicide) in both genders. After removing confounding effects, including age, region, school type, subjective school record, subjective economic status, presence of parents, living with family, and sedentary behavior, these associations were still observed. Conclusions: Health professionals should consider both Internet non-users (for non-educational purposes) and heavy users to be high-risk groups in terms of health status. Also, more well-designed studies are needed to clarify what factors are working in these nonlinear associations.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.90-95
• /
• 2006

Asian Americans is a minority population contributing approximately 4% to the total population of the United States, however it is one of the fastest growing populations. Although Asian Americans as a group have socioeconomic profiles that are similar to white Americans, significant variations exists within and across Asian ethnic groups. The top ten leading causes of death for Asian Americans includes cancer, heart diseases, stroke, unintentional injuries, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, chronic lower respiratory disease, suicide, nephritis, and septicemia. The prevalence of obesity is lower among Asian Americans, however this should be taken with considerations specific to Asians. High salt and low calcium consumption seem to be dietary risk factors for Asian Americans, although dietary patterns are changing with acculturation. Factors affecting dietary patterns are discussed in this paper. A proactive nutrition education approach for Asian Americans should be promoting maintaining 'healthy' aspects of ethnic diets and adopting 'healthy' American diets. Collaboration with nutrition educators in Asian countries would be helpful to overcome limited resources available for researching and developing nutrition education messages and materials for Asian Americans. (J Community Nutrition 8(2): 90-95, 2006)