• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.112-119
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• 2011

Objectives : Obesity has been linked to various psychological problems as well as medical complications, especially among adolescents. Previous studies have suggested an association between body weight and depression or self-esteem ; however, there has been little evidence on self-perception of weight and mental health. The aim of this study was to examine the association of perceptional weight status with mental health in Korean adolescents. Methods : This study was based on data obtained from the third Korean National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (2005). The study sample consisted of 583 adolescents (268 boys, 315 girls) aged 12-18 years, who had completed the health survey, the health examination, and the nutritional survey. Participants were divided into two groups based on the actual or perceptional weight status: non-obese and obese. Questionnaires for stress, depressive mood, and suicidal thoughts were utilized as mental health indicators. Results : The agreement between actual and perceptional weight status was moderate (k value, 0.585 ; p<0.01). The influencing factors for the discrepancy between actual and perceptional weight status were body mass index of subjects and their parents' education. The obese group was likely to have higher stress levels and more experience of depressive mood or suicidal ideation in regard to both actual and perceptional weight status. A multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that girls who had perceived themselves as obese were more likely to have an experience of depressive mood than other girls (unadjusted OR, 4.98 ; adjusted OR, 5.15). Conclusion : An experience of depressive mood was significantly associated with the perception of weight status and not actual weight status in Korean female adolescents.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.63-68
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• 2023

Objectives: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had various effects on mankind, especially children and adolescents. Because children and adolescents spend a lot of time at school, COVID-19 has had a great impact on school mental health. In this study, we investigated the effect of prolonged COVID-19 on school mental health. Methods: We prepared self-report questionnaires for depression (Children's Depression Inventory, CDI), anxiety (Korean version of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children; Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, GAD-7), and post-traumatic stress (Primary Care Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, PC-PTSD) for administering to students aged between 7 and 18 years, recruited by a COVID-19 psychological prevention support group in the Gwangmyeong Mental Health Welfare Center for 2 years, in 2020 and 2021. Results: For children aged 7-12 years, there was no significant difference between the years 2020 and 2021 in the assessment of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. Conversely, for adolescents aged 13-18 years, there was a significant increase in the scale scores (CDI, PC-PTSD, and GAD-7). Conclusion: Prolonged COVID-19 might have had a significant impact on the mental health of adolescents who spent a lot of time at school. When comparing the years 2020 and 2021, middle and high school students were more affected by COVID-19 than elementary school students.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.76-81
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• 2009

Ovjectives: As the attention devoted to children's mental health increases, medical costs and burdens mount as well. In the present study, we evaluated the association between socioeconomic status(SES) and major child psychiatric symptoms. Methods: The subjects of this study were children of recruited from a mental health screening program in the Seoul Sungbuk mental health center over the course of 3 months. To establish the SES of each child, we collected data about each child's medical insurance, years of parental education, household income, family structure and housing. 149 children & parents completed questionnaires including the Childhood Depression Inventory(CDI) and the Korean Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale(K-ARS). Results: The mean K-ARS-P score was $12.1{\pm}11.1$ and the suspected prevalence of ADHD was 20.8%(n=31). The mean cm score was $12.9{\pm}7.9$, and the prevalence of suspected depression was 16.8%(25). Depressive symptoms and ADHD symptoms were both more severe than those observed in a previous epidemiologic study in Korea. Depressive symptoms were more closely associated with family SES status. Conclusion: SES status is one of the most important risk factors in the development of major child psychiatric symptoms. In our study we found that depressive symptoms in particular were most tightly associated with psychosocial factors. Evaluation of the risk factors, early screening and intervention for low SES children would be valuable mental health management tactics to implement in a community mental health system.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.700-708
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• 2009

Purpose: This study was done to test the validity and reliability of the Adolescent Mental Problem Questionnaire (AMPQ) for Korean high school students. Methods: The AMPQ was designed to assess adolescents', mental health status and problem behavior (Ahn, 2006). A methodological study design was used with exploratory factor analysis, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and a fitness of the modified model for validity. Also, Cronbach's alpha coefficients and alternative-form method for reliability were used. AMPQ was tested with a sample of 36,313 high school students. The participants consisted of 18,701 males and 17,612 females. Results: Seven factors were extracted through factor analysis: 'Psychiatric problems', 'Delinquency', 'Academic troubles', 'Family problems', 'Hazardous behavior', 'Harmful circumstance', 'Eating problems'. These factors explained 51.1% of the total variance. The fitness of the modified model was good ($X^2$=38,413.76, Goodness of Fit Index [GFI]=.94, Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index [AGFI]=.93, Comparative Fit Index [CFI]=.95, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation [RMSEA]=.05), and concurrent validity with Korea-Youth Self-Report [K-YSR] was .63. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the 31 items was .85. Conclusion: The results of present study suggest that the modified AMPQ instrument may be useful for efficiently assessing mental health status and problem behavior in late adolescent, high school students.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.228-234
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• 2017

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of aggressive behavior problems in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: Children and adolescents with ASD, aged 6-18 years, were included in this study. We divided them into two groups according to the presence or absence of aggressive behavior. They were assessed using three scales, the Korean-Child Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL), Behavior Problem Inventory, and Social Communication Questionnaire, which were completed by their parents, who conducted a continuous performance test to evaluate their attention function. The statistical analysis was done using the Mann-Whitney U-test between the two groups at a p-value of 0.05. Results: A total of 17 children participated in this study. Ten children (7 boys, $12.4{\pm}4.27years$) were included in the group with aggressive behavior problems and 7 children (6 boys, $13.8{\pm}3.53years$) in the group without aggressive behavior problems. There were no significant differences in the age, gender or intelligence quotient of the two groups. The children with aggressive behavior problems showed a trend of higher T-scores in the attention problems and anxiety/depressed subscale of the CBLC (p<0.1). Conclusion: The results suggest that aggressive behavior problems in children with ASD may be related to their attention problems, anxiety and depression.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.1-25
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• 2017

Objectives: There is higher rates of experience of suicide ideation and suicide attempt of adolescents in the Lima and Callao region compared with the results of the epidemiological study (2013) conducted by Peru National Institute of Mental Health and the Global School-based Student Health Survey (2010) which is was conducted among adolescents across all regions of Peru. Based on the PRECEDE model, this study analyzed the prevalence and the factor associated with the suicide attempt among the adolescent in a poor urban area in Peru. Methods: A stratified random sampling was used for the survey to select study participants from the 6 secondary schools based in Comas or Callao. The survey was conducted November 25th and December 4th in 2015 and a total of 738 individuals included in the analysis. In order to analyze factors influencing suicide attempt, comparison of predisposing factor, reinforcing factor, enabling factor, behavioral factor, environmental factor, psychological factors by suicide attempt and suicide risk group were identified through the chi-square test and hierarchical logistic regression. Results: Results showed that those who reported having less parental understanding, less time spent with parents, and 'almost none/none' for parental affection had more experience of suicide attempt and were more likely to sort into the high suicide risk group. Also, a greater proportion of those with the experience of suicide attempt had more experience of smoking and alcohol consumption, and experience of physical abuse and feeling insulted and depression in comparison to that of those without experience of suicide attempt. Variables that had a significant effect on suicide attempt included depression, subjective happiness, smoking experience, sexual intercourse, involvement in fight, parental affection, and gender (male). Conclusions: The results of the current study can serve as grounds for the necessity of acknowledging that adolescent suicide does not simply depend on a couple of factors, but arises from situations in which individual, home, school, social factors influence one another, and therefore adolescent suicide should be prevented and addressed through a multi-dimensional and integrated approach.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.168-173
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• 2017

Objectives: Adolescent depression is a complex disorder influenced by a variety of personal and familial factors. In this study, we compared the familial, cognitive, and behavioral characteristics of adolescents with and without diagnosed depression. Methods: Forty adolescents with depressive disorder were recruited from two psychiatric clinics, along with 46 healthy adolescents from a middle school and a high school. We then compared the participants' cognitive and behavioral characteristics and the child-rearing attitudes of their parents. Results: Compared to the healthy adolescents, the adolescents with depression exhibited lower self-esteem, higher emotional reappraisal, greater disruptive behavior, and lower attention. Furthermore, compared to the mothers of the healthy adolescents, the mothers of those with depression reported less affective, less autonomic, and more rejecting parenting attitudes towards their children. Conclusion: We found that attentional problems, negative parenting attitudes, negative self-cognition, and expressive suppression are all associated with adolescent depression. Parenting education and interventions appear to be needed to correct the negative cognitions of adolescents with depression.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.145-149
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• 2007

Objectives : This study characterized the extent to which youth depressive symptoms, parental alcohol problems, and parental drinking account for differences in alcohol-related problems among a large sample of adolescent females. Methods : The stratified sample consists of 2077 adolescent females from twelve female-only high schools located in a large metropolitan city in the Republic of Korea. Students completed a questionnaire about alcohol use and alcohol problems, their parents' alcohol problems, and a number of risk and protective factors. Data were analyzed using tobit regression analyses to better characterize the associations among variables. Results : Almost two-thirds of students who consume alcohol had experienced at least one to two alcohol-related problems in their lives and 54.6% reported at least one current symptom of depression, with nearly one-third reporting two depressive symptoms. Two-thirds of the students indicated that at least one parent had an alcohol-related problem, and that approximately 29% had experienced several problems. Results of tobit regression analyses indicate that youth alcohol-related problems are positively associated with depressive symptoms (p<0.01) and parent drinking problems (p<0.05). Parental drinking is no longer significant when the variable parental attention is added to the model. Decomposition of the tobit parameters shows that for every unit of increase in depressive symptoms and in parent drinking problems, the probability of a youth experiencing alcohol problems increases by 6% and 1%, respectively. For every unit of increase in parental attention, the probability of youth experiencing drinking problems decreases by 5%. Conclusions : This study presents evidence that alcohol-related problems and depressive symptoms are highly prevalent among adolescent females. Although a comprehensive public health approach is needed to address drinking and mental health problems, different interventions are needed to target factors associated with initiation of alcohol problems and those associated with increased alcohol problems among those who already began experiencing such problems.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.136-144
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• 2019

Early identification and intervention for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were reported to be important for outcomes or clinical courses. However, there have been a few robust evidences for effectiveness of early intervention until now. This review aims to identify the effectiveness of early intervention by investigating the randomized controlled trial (RCT) of early intervention for autism. There are some RCT studies using behavioral program. Although there are some significant findings, the outcome measurements and small sample size are the limitations. Further studies are needed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.33-48
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• 2009

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to find the strategies of mental health screening in school. Based on the literature review, we discuss the importance of screening students in schools for mental health problems. Methods: Data from the 2008 Korean Mental Health Screening in Schools(2008-KMHSS) are used to estimate the outline of this screening. We administered the questionnaire for satisfaction of 2008-KMHSS for students(N=1,280), parents(N=2,672), school nurses(N=75), teachers(N=685), district personnels(N=6), and mental health center staffs(N=37). Also we interviewed a part of them by telephone and e-mail. And we reviewed the tools and methods for screening students for emotional/behavioral problems. Results: Mental health screening in schools is a very important, yet worrisome, agenda that is in its very early stages. From the 2008 Korean Mental Health Screening in Schools, 9,588 students(12.9%) needed more evaluation in the first stage. Of these, 6,910(72.1%) completed the second stage screening. In this sample, 1,975(28.6%) utilized the mental health services in school or community. 38.3% of students and 43.7% of their parents notified the 2008-KMHSS. But only 12.1% of students and 10.9% of their parents dissatisfied with the screening. 9.9% of teachers and 22.7% of school nurses dissatisfied with the screening. Among them the school nurses were mostly dissatisfied, and they complained work burden from KMHSS. Mental health center staffs complained similar issues. The Children's Problem-behavior Screening Questionnaire(CPSQ) and Adolescents' Mental-health & Problem-behavior Screening Questionnaire(AMPQ) were compatible to screen students in schools for mental health problems in first stage. Conclusion: Mental health screening in schools needs careful planning and implementation. For successful mental health screening in schools, several elements need to be considered: careful planning, collaboration, staff training, and integrative mental health programs and services in community or schools.