• Anxiety and mood
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2013

Objectives : Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is classified as an anxiety disorder. PTSD occurrence is known to be increased in middle-aged and older people, female, and individuals with a previous history of psychiatric disorders, lower education levels, low socioeconomic status, and severely injured patients. Anxiety symptoms are also related to later development of PTSD. In this study, we investigate the influences of injury severity and sociodemographic factors on severe anxiety in PTSD patients with no previous history of psychiatric disorders. Methods : Forty-one PTSD patients without previous history of psychiatric disorders were recruited from the psychiatric clinic at Chosun University Hospital. Subjects underwent psychiatric and physical examinations including the Injury Severity Score (ISS), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Korean-Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (K-WAIS). We defined severe anxiety as a BAI scores of 30 or more. Logistic regression analyses and multi-step model selection were applied to identify predictive factors for severe anxiety. Results : In univariate analysis, age, ISS, and socioeconomic status were found to be significant factors. Through multivariate logistic regression analyses and a stepwise model selection, we found the combination of age and ISS to be the best-fitted model for affecting severe anxiety in PTSD patients without a previous history of psychiatric disorders. Conclusion : Our findings suggest that the combination of age and ISS could develop severe anxiety in PTSD patients with no previous history of psychiatric disorders.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.86-95
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• 2021

Objectives: This study investigated associations between perceptions of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in workers at hospitals designated to treat COVID-19, as well as the difference in the magnitude of these associations by occupational type and previous Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) experience. Methods: The participants were workers at hospitals designated to treat COVID-19 who completed a questionnaire about their perceptions related to COVID-19, work experience during the previous MERS-CoV outbreak, and symptoms of PTSD ascertained by the PTSD Checklist for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Participants' characteristics were compared using the chi-square test. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to evaluate the associations between perceptions and the prevalence of PTSD, stratified by occupational type and previous MERS-CoV experience. Results: Non-medical personnel showed stronger associations with PTSD than medical personnel according to general fear (odds ratio [OR], 6.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.92 to 23.20), shortages of supplies (OR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.56), and issue-specific fear (OR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.59). Those with prior MERS-CoV quarantine experience were more prone to PTSD than those without such experience in terms of general fear (OR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.22 to 2.37), shortages of supplies (OR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.40), and issue-specific fear (OR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.06 to 1.38). Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, non-medical personnel tended to have higher odds of being categorized as having PTSD. Workers with prior MERS-CoV experience were more susceptible than those without such experience. These findings suggest the need for timely interventions to manage human resources for a sustainable quarantine system.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.56-65
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• 2012

Purpose: This study was done to evaluate the effects of cognitive behavioral therapy in a victimized community district and to determine if the program is an effective nursing intervention to reduce posttraumatic stress disorder symptom, depression and state anxiety. Methods: A nonequivalent control group design was used for the study. The participants, 32 elementary school students, were selected from grades 4, 5, 6 and each student was assigned to either the experimental (16) or control (16) group. Cognitive behavioral therapy was used as the experimental treatment from April 9 to May 28, 2009. The experimental group received cognitive behavior therapy intervention 8 times. Data analysis was done using ANCOVA with SPSS 17.0. Results: After the intervention, the experimental group showed significantly lower levels of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms than the control group. Conclusion: The findings from this study suggest that cognitive behavioral therapy is an effective nursing intervention to decrease the level of mental health problems of children in victimized district. Further research is required in order to identify the continuous effects of cognitive behavioral therapy.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.228-231
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• 2010

Posttraumatic syringomyelia may result from a variety of inherent conditions and traumatic events, or from some combination of these. Many hypotheses have arisen to explain this complex disorder, but no consensus has emerged. A 28-year-old man presented with progressive lower extremity weakness, spasticity, and decreased sensation below the T4 dermatome five years after an initial trauma. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a large, multi-septate syrinx cavity extending from C5 to L1, with a retropulsed bony fragment of L2. We performed an L2 corpectomy, L1-L3 interbody fusion using a mesh cage and screw fixation, and a wide decompression and release of the ventral portion of the spinal cord with an operating microscope. The patient showed complete resolution of his neurological symptoms, including the bilateral leg weakness and dysesthesia. Postoperative MRI confirmed the collapse of the syrinx and restoration of subarachnoid cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow. These findings indicate a good correlation between syrinx collapse and symptomatic improvement. This case showed that syringomyelia may develop through obstruction of the subarachnoid CSF space by a bony fracture and kyphotic deformity. Ventral decompression of the obstructed subarachnoid space, with restoration of spinal alignment, effectively treated the spinal canal encroachment and post-traumatic syringomyelia.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.94-100
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• 2019

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in anxiety and depression symptoms, comorbidity according to the patterns of temperament and character in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Methods : The temperament and character inventory (TCI), beck depression inventory (BDI) and beck anxiety inventory (BAI) were administered to 151 PTSD patients classified into four groups of adaptation, vulnerable temperament, immature personality and composite vulnerability according to the results of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). MANOVA and Chi-square tests were conducted to analyze differences in BDI, BAI, temperament and character scores and rate of comorbid disorders between the four groups. Results : The immature character and complex vulnerability group showed the higher rate of comorbid depression disorder. Anxiety and depression severity were significantly different among groups, especially depression severity had higher scores in the immature character and complex vulnerability groups and anxiety severity had higher scores in the complex vulnerability group than adaptive group. The immature character and complex vulnerability groups showed significantly lower score on the temperament scale of reward dependence and persistent. Conclusion : The results demonstrate the significance of adaptive characteristics on anxiety and depression symptoms regardless of vulnerable temperaments, and its consequent role in the management of character factors relative to intervention regarding PTSD.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.451-472
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to examine implicit associations of negative emotion (i.e. anxiety and depression) and self among a college students having experienced posttraumatic stress symptoms. The participants were 61 college students(male 16, female 45). They were classified into two groups, trauma group(n=35) and control group(n=26) according to scores of Korean version of Impact of Events Scale-Revised. Two groups were compared with regard to automatic self-anxious and self-depressive associations measured with the Implicit Association Test using both words and facial expression pictures, respectively. As results, trauma group showed more enhanced self-anxious association in the words conditions, and stronger self-anxious and self-depressive associations in the pictures conditions than control group, whereas there were no significant differences between two groups in explicit cognition and depression. These results suggest that traumatic experiences could influence self-concepts in the automatic process. Limitations of the current study and suggestions for future research were discussed.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.27-37
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• 2024

Objectives: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent mental health condition, and techniques using sensory stimulation in processing traumatic memories have gained attention. The Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is a psychotherapy that combines tapping on acupoints with exposure to cognitive reframing. This pilot study aimed to assess the feasibility of EFT as a treatment for PTSD by answering the following research questions: 1) What is the compliance and completion rate of patients with PTSD with regard to EFT protocol? Is the dropout rate reasonable? 2) Is the effect size of EFT protocol for PTSD sufficient to justify a future trial? Methods: Thirty participants diagnosed with PTSD were recruited. They received weekly EFT sessions for five weeks, in which they repeated a statement acknowledging the problem and accepting themselves while tapping the SI3 acupoint on the side of their hand. PTSD symptoms were evaluated using the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) before and after the intervention. Results: Of the 30 PTSD patients (mean age: 34.1 ± 9.1, 80% female), 96.7% showed over 80% compliance to the EFT sessions, and 86.7% completed the entire study process. The mean PCL-5 total score decreased significantly after the intervention, with a large effect size (change from baseline: -14.33 [95% CI: -19.79, -8.86], p < 0.0001, d = 1.06). Conclusion: The study suggests that EFT is a feasible treatment for PTSD, with high session compliance and low dropout rates. The effect size observed in this study supports the need for a larger trial in the future to further investigate EFT as a treatment for PTSD. However, the lack of a control group and the use of a self-rated questionnaire for PTSD symptoms are limitations of this study. The findings of this pilot study can be used to plan a future trial.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.169-181
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• 2011

Objectives: The Child Report of Post-traumatic Symptoms (CROPS) and the Parent Report of Post-traumatic Symptoms (PROPS) are screening measures for post-traumatic symptoms in children. The present study aimed to investigate the reliability and validity of the Korean versions of the CROPS and the PROPS. Methods: The Korean versions of the CROPS and the PROPS were administered to a sample of 304 children aged 6 to 15 years old. The internal reliability, test-retest reliability, factorial validity, predictive validity and concurrent validity were evaluated. Results: The reliability of the CROPS and the PROPS was shown to have excellent internal consistency and test-retest correlation. The single factor structure of the PROPS was good and that of the CROPS was borderline acceptable according to confirmatory factor analysis. Other validity measures such as the predictive validity and concurrent validity were also shown to be satisfactory. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the Korean versions of the CROPS and the PROPS were reliable measures with satisfactory psychometric qualities. Because it takes less than 5 minutes to fill out the CROPS and the PROPS, respectively they can be quick and easy screening scales for assessing post-traumatic symptoms in Korean children.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.561-572
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy(ACT) on Complex PTSD symptoms, acceptance and post-traumatic growth of college students with childhood emotional abuse. Four hundred and fifty students in university completed Acceptance and action Questionnaire(AAQ-II), Structured interview for disorders of extrem stress(SIDES), Korea version posttraumatic growth inventory(K-PTGI). 14 participants was selected from that result. 7 participants were assigned to the ACT group and the others were in the control group. ACT program was administered for 8 sessions twice a week for 2 month, approximately 100 minutes. There was no treatment in the control group. All participants completed post-test at the end of treatment and then follow-up test after 6 weeks. The results were that complex PTSD symptoms level in ACT group was significant decreased and acceptance and post-traumatic growth level in ACT group were significant increased than those in control group at the end of treatment and the follow-up period. Finally, the implications and the limitations of this study, and the suggestions for future study were also discussed.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.325-351
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• 2019

The present study examined patterns of co-occurrence between DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD) symptoms and posttraumatic growth(PTG) among Korean populations(n= 860). Latent profile analysis was used to identify subclasses and suggested that the 3-class model fit best: (1) Low PTSD/Mild PTG group (2) Low PTSD/High PTG group; (3) High PTSD/High PTG group. Class membership was predicted by demographic variables, social isolation, and frequency of traumatic experiences. Classes also differed with respect to self-destructive behaviors(binge eating, non-suicidal self-injury, and problem drinking). These findings contribute to future research about the coexisting patterns of PTSD and PTG, and to identify high-risk individuals who suffer from trauma-related problems in clinical practice.