• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.77-90
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• 1995

The Purposes of this study were to examine plasma homovanillic acid(pHVA) levels and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid(pHIAA) levels in schizophrenics during haloperidol treatment, and to assess the association of pHVA and pHIM levels with their psychopathology and treatment responses. Fourteen patients entered the study and pHVA, pHIAA levels were measured at baseline, first week, second week and fourth week during treatment. Also, plasma haloperidol levels were measured at first week, second week and fourth week. Psychopathology was evaluated with Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale(BPRS) at baseline, 1st week, 2nd week and 4th week. 1) There were significant differences on the duration of illness and total BPRS scores at baseline between higher pHVA group(baseline pHVA level >7.72ng/mL) and lower pHVA group(baseline pHVA level <7.72ng/mL). 2) There was no significant difference on the duration of illness between higher pHIM group(baseline pHIAA level >3.18ng/mL). and lower pHIAA group(baseline pHIAA level <3.18ng/mL). 3) The Means of pHVA levels at 1 st week and 2nd week after treatment decreased significantly in the higher pHVA group and did not change in the lower pHVA group. 4) In the higher pHIAA group, the mean of pHIAA levels at 4th week after treatment decreased significantly, but did not change in the lower pHIAA group. 5) Between the higher pHIVA group and lower pHVA group, the response rates(percentile improvement) after treatment were not different from each other, but there was significant difference on the response rate between the lower pHIAA group and higher pHIM group at 2nd week. 6) There was significant correlation between total BPRS scores and pHVA levels in the higher pHVA group during treatment. The results suggest that repeated measurement of pHVA levels and pHIAA levels following antipsychotic treatment have prognostic significance for response. Also, shcizophrenics whose have relatively nigh levels of pHVA, or relatively low levels of pHIAA before treatment will show a favorable early responses to antipsychotics.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6579-6584
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• 2013

Background: With effective early treatments, many breast cancer patients suffer from psychological distress due to adverse effects and lifelong physical disfigurement. Our study aimed to evaluate the psychopathological profile of breast cancer patients in comparison with healthy women and explored demographic correlates. Method: We consecutively enrolled breast cancer patients who came to the hospital for follow-up or rehabilitation care after primary treatment, and healthy female relatives or friends of inpatients in the Cancer Institute of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences between August 30, 2010 and January 1, 2012. Psychopathological profile was assessed based on the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) for patients and controls. We compared demographics such as age, ethnicity, education, marriage, and occupation, and incorporated these data plus cancer status for the association with the general SCL-90-R index and scores for 9 major symptom dimensions in multiple regression analysis. Results: We surveyed a total of 291 female breast cancer patients and 531 healthy women. The average age was $55.1{\pm}6.40$ years for breast cancer patients and $43.1{\pm}12.8$ for healthy controls (P<0.01). The mean survival was 5.20 years for cancer patients (range, 0.60-9.90 years). There were statistically significant differences in education, marriage, and occupation between the two groups (P<0.01). General index ($1.45{\pm}0.45$ versus $1.32{\pm}0.37$) and 8 dimension scores (excluding anxiety) on SCL-90-R were significantly higher in patients (P<0.05). Multiple regression analysis showed that the breast cancer status was positively correlated with general SCL-90-R index and 6 dimension scores (excluding the anxiety, phobic anxiety and paranoid ideation dimensions) (P<0.05). Regression coefficients ranged from 0.10 (depression) to 0.19 (somatization). Higher interpersonal sensitivity was noticed in single women compared to married women. Conclusions: Chinese patients with breast cancer demonstrate greater psychopathology compared to healthy controls. The breast cancer status is an independent contributing factor to the general psychopathological profile. Breast cancer patients should be given particular counseling and care to alleviate their psychological distress.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.76-86
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• 1991

Plasma $dopamine-{\beta}-hydroxylase(DBH)$ activity was measured in 37 autistic disorders, 26 atypical pervasive developmental disorders and 23 controls, to elucidate the biological etiology in pervasive developmental disorders. The results are summarized as follows : 1) In the autistic group, the mean plasma DBH activity was significantly elevated compared to the atypical and control groups. The mean plasma DBH activity was also significantly elevated in pervasive developmental disorders(autistic disorder+atypical developmental disorder) compared to control group. 2) In the atypical and control groups, the DBH activity significantly increased with age, but in the autistic group, the DBH activity was not significantly correlated with age. 3) No significant correlation was found between the DBH activity and the severity of psychopathology. These findings support the hypothesis of a possible involvement of brain catecholamine dysfunction in the production of autistic symptoms, and this dysfunction might be due to the abnormal ontogenetic process of DBH activity in autistic disorders.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 2007

Objectives : The research is designed in order to know how much Traumatic Symptom Checklist fur Children(TSCC) is effective in the case of child abuses, especially in the estimation of the psychopathology of child sexual abuse. Methods : A sample includes a group of thirty children of 4th, 5th and 6th grade whose sexual abuse have confirmed and also a group of thirty four normal kids who have no abuse. Along with TSCC, Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) and Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) were used to children and child behavior checklist (K-CBCL), sexual behaviors (CSBI), and Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorder and Schizophrenia-Present and Lifetime version (K-SADS-PL) record sheets were used to kids' parents. Results : In case of the sexual abuse group, the most meaningful difference from the analyzed result is shown at sexual concerns scale which is one of the clinical scale in TSCC (p<.01). Also, the sexual abuse group has the meaningful higher score than the general group's one in the stress scale after the other anxiety, depression, anger and dissociation (p<.01). Conclusion : The scale of TSCC has relatively shown the characteristic symptom and severity which were gained from the children who have experienced trauma, especially sexual abuse.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.211-218
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• 2012

Objectives Body image distortion is found in eating disorder and obesity and there are some evidence that schizophrenia is associated with body image distortion. This study sought to find whether schizophrenic patients report more body image distortion than healthy individuals and whether it is related with symptomatology. Methods A total of 88 inpatients with schizophrenia and 88 healthy controls were recruited. Weight, height, and body image accuracy were assessed in all participants, and assessment of mood, psychotic symptom severity and self-esteem, and personal and social performance scale were conducted. Results The patients with schizophrenia had higher Body Mass Index (p < 0. 001) and underestimated their body size more than controls (26.14% vs. 5.13%, p < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis showed that lower depressive symptoms and higher scores of general psychopathology predicted underestimation of body size. Conclusion Weight gain and metabolic syndrome are common adverse events of pharmacological treatment of schizophrenia. Thus, underestimation of body size among patients with schizophrenia may interfere with effort to lose weight or seek weight reduction programs. Clinicians need to consider possible unterestimation of underestimation of body size in patients whose general symptomatology is severe.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.574-576
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• 2006

An otherwise healthy, 8-year-old girl presented with vague abdominal pain, vomiting, and a tensely distended abdomen. Abdominal ultrasonography and computed tomography demonstrated a huge amount of jejunal material, about 10 cm long, resulting in near obstruction of the jejunum. The material was removed surgically and a postoperative pathologic report confirmed that it was a trichobezoar. A postoperative consultation with a pediatric psychologist revealed neither abnormal behavioral tendencies nor overt psychopathology. After removing the trichobezoar from the jejunum, her health improved completely. We report a rare case of a huge jejunal trichobezoar in a normally developed child with no psychological problems.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.15-24
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• 2017

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate how the psychological and mental tendencies manifested in the Sasang Constitution are reflected in an objective personality test, MMPI-2. Methods: The survey was conducted on 101 Korean medical students to investigate the relationship between the Sasang Constitution and MMPI-2. Results: Soeumin showed higher scores in the Hs, Pt, RC1 and RC3 than Taeumin and showed higher scores in the D, Si, RC2, R, MAC-R and INTR than Soyangin. Soeumin showed higher scores in the ANX, OBS, and HEA and showed lower scores in the Es and GM than other Constitutions. Soyangin showed the higher scores in the AGGR than Soeumin and showed the higher scores in the RC9 than other Constitutions. Soyangin showed the lower scores in the SOD and Taeumin showed the lower scores in the ASP than other Constitution (p<.05). Conclusions: MMPI-2 contains items that distinguish the characteristics of Soeumin, Soyangin, and Taeumin and it is therefore useful to employ it to obtain basic data for analyzing oriental psychopathology.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.56-62
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• 1991

The author reported treatment experiences of 4 cases with test anxiety. The first one was a 15 year old boy with problem of mild attention deficit which caused test anxiety and academic underachievement around the 8th grade in middle school. The second and the third cases were brother and sister. The test anxiety was caused basically due to the problem of mother child relationship. their mother expected too much of her son and always urged him to study and never left him alone. The mothers practically gave up her whole life to devote to oversee her son's academic achievement and her daughter experienced affectional deprivation. The fourth case, a 16 year old boy, was a borderline personality disorder with extreme anger and hostility toward his parents who controled him too much. Different therapeutic approaches appropriate for different cases were described and the relationship between test anxiety and various psychopathology was discussed.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.46
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• pp.210-235
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• 2001

This study purposed to standardize the Korean versions of the General Health Questionnaire, especially KGHQ-20 and KGHQ-30, through the evaluation of their reliability and validity. The two KGHQs, along with several other scales that measure psychological symptoms, were administered to 916 students and 102 chronically mentally ill patients at mental health hospitals in Korea. Both of the KGHQs were found to have high reliability based on test-retest correlation coefficients, internal consistency (Chronbach's ${\alpha}$) as scales, and item-total correlations for most of the items. The two KGHQ scores were shown to have high validity based on three methods of analysis; first, both KGHQ scores had highly significant correlations with most of other measures for psychopathology, such as SCL-90, CES-D, SDS, BAI, STAI; second, there were significant differences of the two KGHQ scores between the group of mentally healthy students and the group of chronically mentally ill patients; the validity of the KGHQ-30 was also derived from high sensitivity and specificity, which helped identify the best cut-off points: 15/16 for the KGHQ-30. The cut-off point for the KGHQ-20 was determined at 12/13 based on the mean scores and standard deviations of other scales as well as of the KGHQ-20.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.13-22
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• 1995

To provide the physician with adequate information to diagnose and treat sleepwalking and sleep terrors, the author reviewed clinical features, epidemiology, causative and precipitating factors, polysomnography, diagnosis, differential diagnosis, and treatment for these disorders. Sleepwalking and sleep terrors have been defined as disorders of arousal that occur early in the night and have their onset during stage 3 or 4 sleep. In both disorders, patients are difficult to arouse, and complete amnesia or minimal recall of the episode is frequent. Genetic, developmental, and psychological factors have been identified as causes of both sleepwalking and sleep terrors. Sleepwalking and sleep terrors typically begin in childhood or early adolescence and are usually outgrown by the end of adolescence. When sleepwalking or sleep terrors have a post-pubertal onset or continue to adulthood, psychopathology is a more significant causative factors. The behavior that occur from deep slow-wave sleep can be painful or dangerous to the individual and/or disturbing to those close to that individual. The assessment of patients suspected of having these conditions requires a thorough medical and sleep history. The most important consideration in managing patients with sleepwalking or sleep terrors episodes is protection from injury.