• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.253-267
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• 2016

Everybody dreams of a bright future. A future career determines the direction and quality of an individual's life. Achieving positive career development is one of the most crucial tasks during adolescence. In both national and personal perspectives, the vocational identity of science-gifted students provides some important points to discuss. The purpose of this study is to examine the vocational identity of science-gifted students. Participants included 103 science-gifted students who have received an acceptance letter from a science-gifted school. The modified VISA (Vocational Identity Status Assessment) model was used to analyze the vocational identities of gifted students with 'a letter to myself in the future'. The study found that vocational identity status of the science-gifted students was determined as Foreclosed and Searching Moratorium. The science-gifted students demonstrated more Commitment than Exploration and Reconsideration. They also showed higher levels in Career Identification, In-Narrow Exploration, and Career Flexibility. In addition, they shared common orientations in vocational identity such as strong enthusiasm, challenging limits, and responsibility towards humanity. We expect that this study will contribute to the social interest of science-gifted students in the area of career education. In order for science-gifted students to nurture their full potential with a deeper awareness of education, follow-up studies have to be conducted to provide greater and ideal career education.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.67-79
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• 2020

The purpose of the study were to analyze the patterns of adolescent suicide attempts, and to explore the effects of personal psychology (subjective depression, subjective stress), health status (BMI, subjective health perception), and subjective academic performance on the types of youth suicide attempts. For this research, data of 'The 15th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey' were analyzed employing a hierarchical logistic regression analysis. The findings are as follows. First, out of 1,731 youth suicide attempts 156 (9%) were impulsive and 1,575 (91%) were planned. Girls(67.3%) attempted suicide more than boys (32.5%), and middle school students (62%) attempted suicide more than high school students (38%). Second, the variables that significantly affect suicide attempt types were subjective depression, subjective stress, and subjective health perception, after controlling for gender, grade level, school type, and SES. The rate of planned suicide attempts was higher among those who experienced depression than among those who did not. In the case of subjective stress, adolescents who felt stressed were likely to commit planned suicide attempts. Those who attempted impulsive suicide showed 1.32 times higher subjective health perception scores than those who attempted planned suicide, indicating adolescents who perceived they were not healthy were more likely to attempt planned suicide. BMI and subjective academic performance did not have a significant effect on the types of youth suicide attempts. These findings suggested the necessity of systematic intervention in Home Economics classes or extra-curricular programs, to prevent potential youth suicide attempts.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.465-479
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• 2018

Purpose: This study examined the frequency of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption in Korean adolescents and the major factors influencing the excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, such as sociodemographic characteristics, health-related behaviors, psychological characteristics, and dietary habits. Methods: The analysis was performed using the data from the 2017 Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey. The subjects included in the analysis were 30,885 middle school students and 31,391 high school students, totaling 62,276. The frequency of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption was calculated by summing the consumption frequencies of soda, high caffeine or energy drinks, and sweet beverages over the last 7 days. The Rao-Scott chi-square test, reflecting information on the sampling design, was used to test the differences in the rate of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption according to each factor. Logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the factors influencing the excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Results: The rate of sweetened beverage consumption was higher in boys than in girls, in high school students than in middle school students, in students whose father's education level was lower, in those whose subjective academic performance was lower, and in those who smoked or consumed alcohol. In addition, the rate of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption was higher in those who experienced severe stress, suicidal ideation, sadness, or a sense of despair. The rate of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption was also high in those who skipped breakfast; who frequently consumed fast foods, ramen, or snacks; and who frequently ate meals at convenience stores, supermarkets, or school stores. Conclusion: The rate of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption in Korean adolescents is related to various factors, such as sociodemographic characteristics, health-related behaviors, psychological characteristics, and dietary habits.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.543-552
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• 2021

This study aimed to verify the effectiveness of a recently developed and applied art therapy program. The subjects of the study were twenty-two students at two middle schools in Busan, Korea. Before conducting the study, the parents' agreement was sought, after which the study program was explained to the participating students in private interviews. The twenty-two students were divided into two groups: an experimental group and a control group, with eleven students in each group. Ten sessions of ninety minutes each, twice a week, were conducted for the experimental group. The verification of the effectiveness was done through pre, post, and follow-up examinations. The results of the data analysis are as follows. First, the art therapy program appeared to help reduce suicidal thoughts among those who had them. Second, the art therapy program reduced the depression of adolescents in the study. Third, the art therapy program improved the self-esteem of the study's subjects. In addition, a follow-up examination showed that the effects of the program appear to last. This paper offers proposals for interventions in the suicidal thoughts of adolescents and the practical implication of the interventions and future research paths.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.735-744
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate the sweets preference, food frequency, dietary habits, and nutrition knowledge of middle school students who like sweets. A survey instrument consisted of a self-administered questionnaire, a food frequency questionnaire, and anthropometric measurements. Three hundreds thirty five students aged 13 to 15 years old were divided into two groups, Sweets Liking Group (SLG) and a control group based on the subjects' scores for dietary habits, sweets preference, and food frequency. For dietary habits, the score for meal regularity was significantly lower in the SLG group compared to the control (p<0.001). In addition, the SLG group was more likely to skip breakfast (p<0.001), eat inadequate amount of meals (p<0.001), and consume yellow-green vegetables less frequently (p<0.001) than the control. The subjects' nutrition knowledge was assessed using 20 questions representing five categories, including functions of nutrients, nutrition and health, food pyramid and food groups, healthful snacking and the right dietary attitude. The total scores for nutrition knowledge indicated that the SLG had a poorer nutrition knowledge for all five categories than the control (boys p<0.05, girls p<0.01). For food frequency, the SLG consumed more sweets but less grains, cereals, fishes, beans, vegetables, and milk and milk products than the control (p<0.001). Strong positive correlations appeared between sweets preference, sweets frequency, and sweets-related dietary habits; and all were negatively correlated to nutrition knowledge. Sweets frequency was negatively related to meal regularity, breakfast consumption, meal adequacy, and balanced meals. The findings suggest that nutrition education is necessary to improve the dietary pattern, especially sweets consumption, of Korean young adolescents.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.198-205
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• 2016

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: A healthy diet has been reported to be associated with physical development, cognition and academic performance, and personality during adolescence. This study was performed to investigate the relationships among milk consumption and academic performance, learning motivation and strategies, and personality among Korean adolescents. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The study was divided into two parts. The first part was a survey on the relationship between milk consumption and academic performance, in which intakes of milk and milk products and academic scores were examined in percentiles among 630 middle and high school students residing in small and medium-sized cities in 2009. The second part was a survey on the relationships between milk consumption and learning motivation and strategy as well as personality, in which milk consumption habits were collected and Learning Motivation and Strategy Test (L-MOST) for adolescents and Total Personality Inventory for Adolescents (TPI-A) were conducted in 262 high school students in 2011. RESULTS: In the 2009 survey, milk and milk product intakes of subjects were divided into a low intake group (LM: ${\leq}60.2g/day$), medium intake group (MM: 60.3-150.9 g/day), and high intake group (HM: ${\geq}151.0g/day$). Academic performance of each group was expressed as a percentile, and performance in Korean, social science, and mathematics was significantly higher in the HM group (P < 0.05). In the 2011 survey, the group with a higher frequency of everyday milk consumption showed significantly higher "learning strategy total," "testing technique," and "resources management technique" scores (P < 0.05) in all subjects. However, when subjects were divided by gender, milk intake frequency, learning strategy total, class participation technique, and testing technique showed significantly positive correlations (P < 0.05) in boys, whereas no correlation was observed in girls. Correlations between milk intake frequency and each item of the personality test were only detected in boys, and milk intake frequency showed positive correlations with "total agreeability", "organization", "responsibility", "conscientiousness", and "intellectual curiosity" (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Intakes of milk and milk products were correlated with academic performance (Korean, social science, and mathematics) in Korean adolescents. In male high school students, particularly, higher milk intake frequency was positively correlated with learning motivation and strategy as well as some items of the personality inventory.

• School Mathematics
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.633-652
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• 2015

The purpose of the present study is twofold: one is to understand secondary mathematics teachers' capacity to sort out given tasks based on Stein & Smith(1998)'s Cognitive Demands of Mathematical Task Framework; the second is to examine how the teachers assess the levels of cognitive demand indicated in students' reponses and how they modify the tasks to elicit the students' higher levels of cognitive activity. The analysis of 45 teachers' responses to the survey indicates that the teachers, in general, could select appropriate tasks for the given goal of the lessons but some made the decision merely by their appearances. Even though the teachers chose a particular level with different reasons amongst each other, most teachers could correctly evaluate the levels of cognitive demand of the students' responses. Finally, teachers could pose cognitively demanding tasks using various methods, but a number of them felt challenged in creating word problems that were realistic and aligned with curriculum.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.177-187
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• 2002

This study was done to determine the factors associated with childhood overweight in 721 sixth grade elementary school students, in Busan. The students' heights, weights, waist circumferences and triceps-skinfold thicknesses were measured using standard techniques. Other data were collected using a questionnaire that included information about physical activity, television watching, and the amount of exorcise taken during leisure times, family history of diseases related to obesity: social data including family income, parents'education and occupations, eating behaviors; parental weights and heights; and parental activity levels. Childhood overweight was defined as a body mass index at or above the 85th percentile for age and sex. The prevalence of overweight revealed no significant difference between sexes, (24.2% in boys and 22.03% in girls). The risk of childhood overweight was significantly greater if either the mother or the father were overweight. The odds ratio for childhood overweight associated with maternal overweight was 5.045 (94% CI : 3.262-7.801), and 2.727 (95% CI : 1.764-4.218) was the case for parental overweight. Children having a history of hear diseases had higher odds ratios than those who did not. The odds ratios for overweight associated with income were not different. However, a higher odds ratio for overweight was observed in children whose fathers had only an elementary or middle school education than those whore fathers had a high school or college education. Children whose fathers' occupations were service workers or shopkeepers (OR : 3.314, 95% C = 1.851-5.934) or had no occupation (OR = 3.756, 95% CI : 1.898-7.430) had a treater risk of overweight than those whose fathers'were professionals or once workers. The risk of overweight increased in children having more irregular meal times and faster eating times, rather than those having an intake pattern of high energy and sugar containing floods. The amount of exercise taken during leisure times, and daily physical activity showed no difference between overweight and non-overweight children. However, television watching time, especially on weekends, was greater in overweight children than in non-overweight children. Television watching time was positively correlated with BMI, triceps-skin(31d thickness, waist circumference and waist/height ratio. Therefore, television watching was found to be a useful predictor of overweight in children. Television watching in children was negatively related to paternal activity levels, and positively related to parental television watching time. In fact, fathers whose children were overweight were physically less active than fathers whose children were non-overweight. Parents appeared to be a strong influence on their children's physical activity levels. In conclusion, a low family social class, defined on the basis of the father's occupation or education, parental overweight, increased television watching, and unhealthy physical activity levels in parents were all considered risk factors for childhood overweight. Among these, television watching time and lack of physical activity were considered to be the most important risk factors that could be easily modified for the prevention of and intervention in, overweight in children.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.3139-3147
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• 2015

The aim of this study was to investigate the condition surrounding attempted suicide and related factors among middle and high school students in Korea. Methods : Data from 72,435 participants of 2013 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Based Survey were analyzed. Statistical analyses were conducted on weighted data using SPSS 21 software to account for the complex sampling designs. Results : Complex samples logistic regression analysis, school level, socioeconomic status, drinking alcohol, drug use, experience of school bullying were associated with an increased proportion of attempted suicide for boys and girls. Particularly, male students was associated with living type. Conclusion : The results of this study highlight the important of developing a program that focuses on enhancing suicidal prevention & respect life program with life skills program, to effectively reduce the likelihood of attempted suicide among adolescents in Korea.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.565-585
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• 2016

This study purpose was to explore whether career maturity and parents-children relationship related factors were differentiated by giftedness, gender and secondary school level (research question 1). In addition, this study focused on the effects of parents-children relationship related factors on career maturity with a comparison on gifted and regular students (research question 2). The sample included 213 gifted middle school and high school students who participated in the Korean gifted education center and 243 regular students. Multivariate analysis of variance was conducted for research question 1, and hierarchical regression analysis was conducted for research question 2. The results of this study showed that (1) gifted students showed a higher level of career maturity, achievement expectation (parents-children relationship), respect (parents-children relationship), discussion and leisure (activity with parents), sharing ordinary life and communication (activity with parents), career support of parents compared to regular students ; (2) Girls showed higher level only in sharing ordinary life and communication compared to boys ; (3) middle school students more highly perceived the parents' achievement expectation and control, respect for parents, activities with parents (discussion and leisure, sharing ordinary life and communication) compared to high school students ; (4) the career support of parents was the strongest predictor of career maturity, and discussion and leisure was also a significant factor predictor of career maturity. Based on these results, it was suggested for parents to support their children's career maturity of both gifted and regular students by increasing frequencies of various activities shared with their children such as discussion and leasure.