• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.232-241
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• 1997

The psychological problems following the experiences of school-violence could be more important than the physical problems. Victims could suffer from fear, depression, anger, lowered self-esteem, suicidal thought, and personality changes. To study the risk factors for school violence and the psychiatric problems after the experiences to school-violence provide us important informations to prevent and solve the problems of school violence. We examined clinical characteristics and psychosocial backgrounds of 13 adolescents who visited the psychiatric clinic after exposures to school violence from September, 1996 to May, 1997. The clinical data included intensity, motivations, durations, and methods of violence, psychiatric symptoms following exposure, findings of psychological test, and treatment course. The socioeconomic data included developmental characteristics of subjects, family characteristics, school life, and peer relationships. Of the 13 adolescents who experienced exposure to violence, 8 have experienced chronic psychiatric disturbances, 5 experienced transient psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression, suicidal attempt who eventually returned to home and school life. Of the 8 adolescents who experienced chronic psychiatric disturbances, 4 experienced PTSD and depression lasting 3-6 months more, otherwise 4 showed converted features, such as aggressive behavioral disorder or perpetrator by strong compensatory effects after psychological shock. The subjects who have experienced chronic psychiatric disturbance have clinical characteristics such as physical or emotional abuse, physical illness or handicap, defects of ego functionings, and lack of family support. In summary, victims by school-violence manifested serious psychiatric disturbances, and they had clinically significant risk factors and some of them became perpetrators of school-violence.