• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.86-90
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• 2013

Objectives The aim of this study was to find out the psychological changes associated with internet addiction between before and after the military drill among the young male army recruits. Methods All 1091 participants were army recruits aged from 19 to 22 years who participated in the 5-week military drill. They were assessed with some self-reported questionnaires [Sociodemographic questionnaires, Young's Internet Addiction Scale (IAS), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), the Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Self-Rated Scale (ASRS)]. They were divided into two groups, One is the internet addiction tendency group and the other is non-addiction group according to the IAS score. And the severity of the internet addiction tendency, depression, anxiety and impulsiveness were evaluated by the IAS, the STAI, the BDI, the BIS, the ASRS before and after military drill. Results The result of the paired t-test shows that the IAS, the STAI, the BDI, the BIS, the ASRS scores decreased after military drill in both non-addiction group and internet addiction tendency group. The result of the repeated measures ANOVA shows that there is an interaction effect between the changes of ASRS-hyperactivity (F = 23.437, p < 0.001), ASRS-impulsiveness (F = 4.896, p = 0.027), BIS-total (F = 4.057, p = 0.044), BIS-motor impulsiveness (F = 13.609, p < 0.001) scores and groups. The result of the generalized estimating equation shows that internet addiction tendency is associated with ASRS-inattention (${\beta}=0.075$, p < 0.001), ASRS-hyperactivity (${\beta}=0.092$, p = 0.002), STAI-trait anxiety (${\beta}=0.046$, p < 0.001), BIS-motor impulsiveness (${\beta}=0.119$, p = 0.028). Conclusions The results show that psychopathologies such as internet addiction tendency, depression, anxiety, impulsiveness may improve after military drill regardless of the groups. Internet addiction tendency may be related to the ASRS-inattention, ASRS-hyperactivity, STAI-trait anxiety, motor-impulsiveness. So these findings may be considered in the treatment of internet addiction in terms of the impulsiveness control.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.85-89
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• 2019

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to quantitatively assess the degree of myasthenia gravis (MG) affecting mental health through the results of multiphasic military personality inventory in late adolescence. Methods : We collected and analyzed the results of the military personality inventory for healthy controls and MG patients among the 19-year-old men who visited the Military Manpower Administration from February 2007 to January 2010. Military personality inventory invented for Korean military test has similar system to Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory. Results : Among validity scales, each score of faking good, faking bad and infrequency subscales showed no difference between healthy control and MG groups, respectively (t=-0.51, p=0.607 ; t=0.11, p=0.913 ; t=1.41, p=0.158). Among neurosis scales, the score of somatization subscale was higher (t=2.29, p=0.023) in MG group. Among psychopath scales, the score of schizophrenia subscale was lower in MG group (t=-2.38, p=0.018). Conclusions : According to MPI results, we can confirm that MG patients in late adolescence may be more concerned with their somatic symptoms than the control group, and that they may be more likely to abide by the regulation and be conventional in their behavior than the control group.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.32-40
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• 2020

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate the cognitive performance of major depressive disorder (MDD) in military service/conscription personnel who visited the psychiatric clinic for a medical certificate to consider the situation from the perspective of Korea's unique compulsory military system. We used the Korean Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (K-WAIS-IV) as the test for verifying the suitable level of cognitive functioning for military service and as the embedded measure with reflecting suboptimal effort. Methods : The study was conducted on 56 (28 males, age 19-34) in/out-patients admitted to the psychiatry department and diagnosed with MDD (DSM-IV). All participants completed a structured clinical interview (MINI-Plus), as well as self-report questionnaires related to demographics and severity of clinical symptoms. K-WAIS-IV was administered to each subject to assess cognitive characteristics. Results : Military group showed significantly lower processing speed index (PSI) score including subtests of symbol search (SS) and coding (CD) score, compared to the control group. There was no other significant differences in the Full Scale IQ (FSIQ), Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI), Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI), Working Memory Index (WMI) scores including sub-tests comprised of the above indices, and Reliable Digit Span (RDS), Enhanced-RDS-Revised (E-RDS-R) between the study and control groups. Conclusion : This study was the first effort to verify the characteristics of Korea's military group with MDD and suggest the applicability of PSI and processing speed of K-WAIS-IV as an embedded performance index to test sub-optimal effort or low motivation beyond the purpose of testing cognitive deficits.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.33-45
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• 2017

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine psychological characteristics of patients who visited psychiatric clinic for medical certificate for military service using MMPI-2-RF. We compared target group with general psychiatric patients with same age range. Methods : A total of 165 male patients for medical certificate and 154 general psychiatric patients were collected from the Department of Psychiatry of three university hospitals. There were significant differences of age and educational level between two groups. We used independent t-test, ANCOVA, ${\chi}^2$ test to examine differences between two groups. Results : Medical certificate group scored higher on the validity scales, the Higher-Order(H-O) scales, the Restructured Clinical(RC) Scales, the Specific Problems(SP) Scales, and the Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY-5) Scales. Especially, EID, RC7, HLP, SFD, SAV, SHY, DSF, and INTR-r showed significant differences between two groups on all three statistical tests. Conclusions : The present study showed that psychiatric patients who received psychological evaluation for military service have significantly higher emotional distress, helplessness, lower self-confidence, and lower quality of interpersonal relationships. And the difference of validity scales between two groups could be related with psychological burden of compulsory military service in the study sample which causes elevation on scales of infrequent responses. MMPI-2-RF would be helpful instrument to assess these emotional and psychological characteristics.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.30-36
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• 2014

Objective : This study was aimed to discover the correlation between those getting tattoos and their psychopathology relating to their delinquent behavior and emotional problems. Methods : Data for this study was collected from 19-year-old men who were receiving a physical examination for conscription at the Military Manpower Administration. 400 data sheets were collected among them. All of the subjects were evaluated on the following measures : sociodemographic variants, Juvenile delinquency scale, State-trait anger expression inventory, Beck depression inventory, State-trait anxiety inventory, and Positive affect and negative affect schedule. Results : In comparison with those without tattoos, those with a tattoo scored higher in the scales that were related to delinquency, anger, depression, and negative emotion. Furthermore, there were positive correlations between the number of tattoos and the scores for the Juvenile delinquent tendency and behavior scale as well as on the, State-trait anxiety scale. Conclusion : Those with tattoos had experienced anger, anxiety and depression more strongly in comparison with those without tattoos. These results recommend that tattooed males should be evaluated more on their regarding psychopathology compared to those without tattoos.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.143-154
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• 2020

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine cognitive and psychological characteristics of patients with military service suitability issues compared to the general psychiatric outpatients. Methods : 108 patients who visited psychiatric clinic center due to military service suitability issues and 80 general psychiatric patients were recruited from the Department of Psychiatry of university hospital. ANCOVA and chi-equare test were used to examine differences between two groups. Furthermore, we utilized paired t-test to compare the scrore within military group depending on when they performed the psychological assessment. Results : There were no significant differences between military group and general outpatient group in WAIS-IV scores. However, military group scored remarkably higher than control group on validity scales, F-r and Fp-r whereas they scored lower on validity scale, K-r. Furthermore, military group showed significantly higher on BDI and MMPI-2-RF, EID, RCd, RC2, RC3, COG, HLP, SFD, NFC, STW, SAVE, SHY, DSF, NEGE-r, INTR-r. As a result of comparison within the military group following the periods of assessment, military group did not show the significant differences on the overall scales of MMPI-2-RF. Conclusions : The present study showed that military group tends to report their psychological distress more exaggeratedly. In addition, they had significantly elevated not only emotional distress such as depression and anxiety but interpersonal problem. The implications and limitations were discussed along with some suggestions for the future studies.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.115-118
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• 2010

Objective : The purpose of this study was to survey the degree to which people use the Internet prior to joining the army and mental health. Methods : The author assessed Internet addiction and mental health using an Internet addiction diagnostic scale for soldiers and the Symptoms Check-list-90. A total of 508 subjects were included in the final analysis. Collected data were analyzed by independent t-test. Results : The Internet addiction risk group (n=19, 3.7%) had significantly higher mean scores for obsessive-compulsion (t=-2.43, p=0.02) and interpersonal-sensitivity subscales (t=-2.30, p=0.03) than the control group. Conclusion : Internet addiction was related to soldiers' mental health. An assessment focused on internet use would be useful in the evaluation of a person potential adaptation to the military.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.131-136
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• 2010

Objectives : In this study, we aimed to elucidate the demographic and psychological characteristics of maladaptive soldiers in the Republic of Korean Army. Methods : Study participants included 110 male conscripts who had participated in the Green camp, which was a form of group psychosocial treatment program for maladaptive soldiers. All participants were interviewed and diagnosed by a psychiatrist, and classified into two groups according to whether they left or rejoined the army. We analyzed the differences between these two groups in terms of demographic features, psychiatric diagnosis and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) subscores. Results : Compared with soldiers who rejoined their units, those who left military service exhibited significantly lower educational level (p=0.041) and a higher rate in psychiatric treatment prior to enlistment (p=0.011). Among the 106 subjects, 63 (59.4%) and 23 (21.7%) were diagnosed with personality disorder and adjustment disorder, respectively. Further, those who left military service were diagnosed more frequently with mood disorder (p=0.001) and schizophrenia (p=0.014) than those who rejoined their units. Additionally, the MMPI scores of soldiers who left military service were significantly higher on the psychasthenia (p=0.028) and schizophrenia (p=0.039) scales than those of soldiers who rejoined their units. Conclusion : Most of the maladaptive soldiers were diagnosed with mental disorders. The results of this study suggest that systematic, consistent psychiatric evaluation and intervention for maladaptive male conscripts is crucial in the Republic of Korean army.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.68-76
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• 2019

Objective : The goal of this study was to investigate the characteristics of early maladaptive schemas (EMSs), and associated neurocognitive functions as seen in visitors for military designation process. Methods : This retrospective study included 111 males aged 18 to 24 years among three groups: 41 visitors for military designation process (VMD), 21 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and 49 healthy subjects. We collected the results of the Young Schema Questionnaire, Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, three neurocognitive tests as well as their clinicodemographic data. We analyzed the differences in EMSs between these three groups, and the correlations among the identified EMSs and neurocognitive performances within the VMD group. Results : Compared with both the OCD and healthy groups, the evaluation of the VMD group showed significantly higher scores in mistrust/abuse (F=6.4, p=0.002), vulnerability to harm (F=6.6, p<0.0001) and negativity/pessimism schema (F=7.3, p<0.0001), even when controlling for depression scores and levels of education. These three schemas also exhibited significant negative correlations with the score of Stroop test with r ranging from -0.34 to -0.44. Conclusion : These findings suggest that people who are likely to have difficulties adjusting to living in a military life may have psychological vulnerabilities related to certain EMSs. Further studies are warranted to test the clinical potentials of these findings, such as a treatment target and a predictor factor.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.196-202
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• 2022

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to quantitatively assess the degree of Graves' Disease affecting mental health through the results of multiphasic military personality inventory (MPI) in 19-year-old men. Methods : We collected and analyzed the results of the MPI for 592 healthy subjects and 148 Graves' disease patients among the 19-year-old men who visited the Military Manpower Administration from February 2008 to January 2010. Results : Among demographic characteristics, both Graves' disease and control group are 19-year-old men. Educational level, socioeconomic status, parental relationship, and BMI were not statistically different between the two groups (χ²=0.089, p=0.766; χ²=5.090, p=0.278; χ²=5.988, p=0.112 ; t=-0.635, p=0.526). In the MPI, among validity scales, the score of the faking-good subscale was significantly lower in the Graves' group (t=3.507, p<0.001), but in the faking-bad and infrequency subscales scores were not significantly different between two groups (t=-1.700, p=0.090; t=-0.519, p=0.604). Among the neurosis scale, anxiety, depression, somatization, and personality disorder subscale scores were all significantly higher in Graves' disease group (t=-3.323, p<0.001; t=-4.210, p<0.001; t=-6.202, p<0.001; t=-2.872, p<0.01). Among the psychopath scale, each score of schizophrenia and paranoia subscales were not statistically different between the two groups (t=-0.158, p=0.874; t=-0.846, p=0.398). Conclusions : According to MPI result, we can confirm that Graves' disease patients in 19-year-old-men may appear features such as anxiety, depression, somatization and personality tendency (introversion or impulsivity) than the control group.