• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.130-140
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• 2019

Purpose: The aim of this study is to explore levels of suicidal ideation and identify subgroups of high suicidal risk among the depressed elderly in Korea. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was adopted on secondary data from the 6th (1st year) Korean national health and nutrition examination survey (KNHANES). A total of 239 depressed elders aged 60 or over who participated in the KNHANES. The prevalence of suicidal ideation and its related factors, including sociodemographic, physical, psychological characteristics and quality of life (EQ-5D index) were examined. Descriptive statistics and a decision tree analysis were performed using the SPSS/WIN 23.0 and SPSS Modeler 14.2 programs. Results: Of the depressed elderly, 28.9% had suicidal ideation. Three groups with high suicidal ideation were identified. Predictive factors included perceived stress level, household income level, quality of life and restriction of activity. In the highest risk group were those depressed elderly with moderate and low levels of stress, less than .71 of EQ-5D index and restriction of activity, and 80.0% of these participants had suicidal ideation. The accuracy of the model was 80.8%, its sensitivity 85.9%, and its specificity 68.1%. Conclusion: Multi-dimensional intervention should be designed to decrease suicide among the depressed elderly, particularly focusing on subgroups with high risk factors. This research is expected to contribute itself to the policy design and solution building in the future as it suggests policy implications in preventing the suicide of the depressed elderly.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.436-443
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• 2022

Objectives: Previous studies have reported that self-neglect, which may be a sign of elder abuse, can result in suicide among older adults. The signs of self-neglect and its impact on the risk of suicide may differ by gender. Thus, this study explored the association between self-neglect and suicide risk in older Korean adults and examined the potential moderating effect of gender on this relationship. Methods: Data were collected from 356 Korean adults aged 65 or older through an online survey. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the research hypothesis. First, the associations between 4 sub-dimensions of self-neglect (i.e., daily life management issues, personal hygiene issues, financial management issues, and relational issues) and suicidal ideation were examined. Then, the moderating effect of gender on these relationships was investigated by including interaction terms. Results: Self-neglect was significantly associated with suicidal ideation in older adults. Aspects of self-neglect related to daily life management and relational factors were key predictors of suicidal ideation. Gender significantly moderated the effect of the relational dimension of self-neglect on suicidal ideation. The relational dimension of self-neglect was more strongly associated with suicidal ideation in older women than in older men. Conclusions: The findings suggest the importance of screening older adults with signs of self-neglect for suicide risk. Special attention should be paid to older women who experience relational issues as a high-risk group for suicidal ideation. Public programs and support systems should be established to improve daily life management and promote social relationships among older adults.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.139-155
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• 2006

Over the past two decades suicide terrorism has become an ever-widening phenomenon. When suicide terrorism was first introduced in the Middle East it seemed that this new phenomenon was invincible and that it might change the innate imbalance between terror groups and their rivalry governments. This did not in fact occur. Looking at history of terrorism, it can be seen that suicide attacks are in actuality a very old modus operandi. However, contemporary suicide terrorism differs from such historical tactics, just as the whole phenomenon of terrorism differs from ancient modes of warfare. Modern suicide terrorism is aimed at causing devastating physical damage. through which it inflicts profound fear and anxiety. Its goal is to produce a negative psychological effect on an entire population rather than just the victims of the actual attack. The relatively high number of casualties guaranteed in such attacks, which are usually carried out in crowded areas, ensures full media coverage. Thus, suicide terrorism, ranks with other spectacular modus operandi such as blowing up airplanes in mid air or the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction as a sure means to win maximum effect. For the purposes of this paper a suicide terror attack is defined as a politically motivated violent attack perpetrated by a self-aware individual (or individuals) who actively and purposely causes his own death through blowing himself up along with his chosen target. The perpetrator's ensured death is a precondition for the success of his mission. The greatest potential risk suicide terrorism may pose in future is if terrorists carry out operations combined with other spectacular tactics such as blowing up airplanes or the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Such a combination will increase immensely the death toll of a single terror attack and will have a shocking psychological effect on public moral. At this level suicide terrorism would constitute a genuine strategic threat and would probably be confronted as such. This study portrays a general overview of the modern history of suicide terror activity worldwide, focusing on its main characteristics and the various aims and motivations of the terror groups involved. In addition, This study provides an overview what is to be done to prevent such terrorist attacks.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.277-290
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• 2015

The main purpose of study is to identify relevance between nature and types of risk factors that delinquent teenagers are exposed and types of methodologies implemented to prevent committing school violence, domestic violence, and suicide or to help recovering from violent activities and suicide attempts. The results show that school dropout has much relevance in risk factors such as probation, lawbreaking, smoking, drinking, runaway, domestic violence victim, and suicidal attempt. Risk rate of school dropout for those teenagers who smoke and drink in the period of runaway is 2.76 times higher than those teenagers who do not smoke or drink. More specifically, drinking increases more risk of school dropout than smoking. Contribution of this study is to identify empirical evidence that calls for comprehensive risk management for delinquent teenagers encompassing home, school, and community rather than focusing on risk itself.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.387-396
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• 2006

Purpose: This cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of health risk behaviors by gender and grade and to examine the correlation between health risk behaviors and self-efficacy in early adolescents. Method: The sample of this study consisted of 1.693 early adolescents recruited from 7 middle schools in S-Gu, Seoul, Korea. Health risk behaviors were measured by the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBS). Self-Efficacy was assessed by General Self-Efficacy (GSE). Results: About a third of the subjects had experience in drinking behavior about 19.4% in cigarette smoking (including cases of just one or two puffs), 25.9% in physical fight, 29.1% in thought about killing themselves (suicide-related behavior), 1.5% in drug. More than a half (60.5%) experienced at least one health risk behavior. Female students were more likely to report drinking experience and suicide-related experience. Health risk behaviors were not significantly correlated with self-efficacy in early adolescents. Conclusions: Many early adolescents had experience in health risk behaviors in the past. The findings of this research suggest the necessity of intensive prevention programs in middle school to motivate and prepare students to avoid these behaviors. In addition, these results may help health professionals plan appropriate screening and counselling for health problems in early adolescents.

• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.325-334
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• 2015

Elderly suicide rates tend to be high in Korea. Suicide by the elderly is no longer a personal problem; consequently, further research on risk and regional factors is necessary. Disease mapping in epidemiology estimates spatial patterns for disease risk over a geographical region. In this study, we use a simultaneous conditional autoregressive model for spatial correlations between neighboring areas to estimate standard mortality ratios and mapping. The method is illustrated with cause of death data from 2006 and 2010 to analyze regional patterns of elderly suicide in Korea. By considering spatial correlations, the Bayesian spatial models, mean educational attainment and percentage of the elderly who live alone was the significant regional characteristic for elderly suicide. Gibbs sampling and grid method are used for computation.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.93-101
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• 2018

Purpose: The Korean government has tried to decrease the suicide death rate over the last decade. Suicide attempts, particularly non-fatal attempts, are the most powerful known risk factor for a completed suicide. An analysis of suicide attempt methods will help establish the effective preventive action of suicide. Fit prevention according to the method of suicide attempt may decrease the incidence of suicide death. Self-poisoning is suggested as a major method of both suicide attempts and suicide death. The aim of this study was to determine if a self-poisoning patient is a suitable target for the prevention of the suicide. Methods: This was retrospective analysis of a prospective cohort, which included patients who presented to the emergency department (ED) after a self-harm or suicide attempt from Jan 2013 to Dec 2017. The proportion of methods in suicide attempts, psychological consultation, and fatality according to the suicide attempt method were analyzed. The types of poison were also analyzed. Results: Poisoning was the most common method of suicide attempts (52.1%). The rate of psychological consultations were 18.8% for all patients and 29.1% for poison patients (p<0.001). The rate of mortality in poisoning was 0.6%. Psychological consultation was performed more frequently in admission cases than discharged cases. The most common materials of poisons was psychological medicines and sedatives that had been prescribed at clinics or hospital. Conclusion: Self-poisoning is a major method of suicide attempt with a high rate of psychiatric consultation, low mortality rate, versus others methods. The prevention of suicide death for suicide attempts may focus on self-poisoning, which is the major method of suicide attempts. A suitable aftercare program for self-poisoning may be an effective method for preventing suicide if an early diagnosis and management of psychiatric disorders through psychiatric consultation can be made, and early connection to social prevention program for non-fatal patients are possible.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.97-117
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• 2007

The goal of this study was to find out how prepared Korean high school teachers are to identify suicidal students and connect them to appropriate resources. This study surveyed 390 high school teachers in terms of their level of knowledge on youth suicide and their misconception on suicide. In addition, this study examined what kind of actions they usually take once they identify suicidal students. Results indicated that high school teachers in Korea did not have sufficient knowledge to identify suicidal students and they did not think they are capable of identifying those students. Although their misconception on youth suicide was not as pervasive as expected, some of the misconception were still problematic in relation to suicide intervention. Furthermore, their intervention strategies for suicidal students were quite limited, focusing on isolated individual efforts. It is critical to develop and implement teacher training programs for youth suicide prevention which address suicide risk factors, warning signs, crisis response, and referral procedures.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.30-38
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• 2024

Background: Although Korea ranks first in the suicide rate of elderly individuals, there is limited research on those who attempt suicide, with preventive measures largely based on population-based studies. We compared the demographic and clinical characteristics of elderly individuals who attempted suicide with those of younger adults who visited the emergency department after suicide attempts and identified the factors associated with lethality in the former group. Methods: Individuals who visited the emergency department after a suicide attempt from April 1, 2017, to January 31, 2020, were included. Participants were classified into two groups according to age (elderly, ≥65 years; adult, 18-64 years). Among the 779 adult patients, 123 were elderly. We conducted a chi-square test to compare the demographic and clinical features between these groups and a logistic regression analysis to identify the risk factors for lethality in the elderly group. Results: Most elderly participants were men, with no prior psychiatric history or suicide attempts, and had a higher prevalence of underlying medical conditions and attributed their attempts to physical illnesses. Being sober and planning suicide occurred more frequently in this group. In the elderly group, factors that increased the mortality rate were biological male sex (p<0.05), being accompanied by family members (p<0.05), and poisoning as a suicide method (p<0.01). Conclusion: Suicide attempts in elderly individuals have different characteristics from those in younger adults and are associated with physical illness. Suicides in the former group are unpredictable, deliberate, and fatal. Therefore, tailored prevention and intervention strategies addressing the characteristics of those who are elderly and attempt suicide are required.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.223-233
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors giving effects to juvenile's suicide thinking and search for the method to protect juveniles from the risk factors of suicide thinking and reinforce protective factors. For this purpose, juvenile's depression and stress degree were analyzed as the factors giving effects to juvenile's suicide thinking and the effect of social support, which was assumed as a protective factor from suicide thinking, was verified. Analysis results are as follows. First, juvenile's daily stress showed significant deference from suicide thinking. There was a significant positive correlation between juvenile's daily life stress and suicide thinking. Therefore, it was found that the juveniles who suffer from stress have a lot of suicide thinking. Second, juvenile's depression gave a significant effect to suicide thinking. There was a significant positive correlation between juvenile's depression and suicide thinking. it was proved that the juveniles who suffer from depression have a lot of suicide thinking. Third, There was a significant negative correlation between social support and suicide thinking. The more the juveniles get social support, the less they have suicide thinking. The study results above reveal that juvenile's suicide shall be approached from the preventive aspect, for preventing juvenile's suicide, social support which mitigates suicide thinking factors is very important. Therefore this study proposed social attention on the juvenile's suicide thinking, and formation social support system that reinforce social support. Moreover, for preventing the factors reinforcing suicide thinking, preventive approach, alternative program such as case management and group program, and integrated management inined with juvenile related organizations and specialists are required. At the same time school environment shall be improved and changed.