• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.133-142
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the effects of suicide reports by mass media and social support on suicide ideation for college students. Methods: Participants are 350 undergraduate students in one university. This study uses three questionnaires: Perception and Attitude toward Suicide Reports, Social Support, and Suicidal Ideation. The SPSS/WIN 12.0 program is used to analyze the data. In particular, the participants' biographical data are analyzed into frequency and percentage. The degrees of suicide reports, social support, and suicide ideation are calculated into Mean and SD. Moreover, the suicide ideation by suicide report and social support are analyzed by the two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: This study reveals that college students have an average of 30 minutes to one hour news time a day (38.9%) and have at least one suicide report in a month (30.3%). 79.7% participants believe that the suicide report of mass media results in the cause of the copycat suicide. In terms of suicide report and suicide ideation, the types of mass media (F (4,340)=2.41, p<.05) and suicidal urge (F (1,340)=31.23, p<.01), respectively, have significant influences on suicide ideation. On the other hand, the social support and suicide ideation, whether college students have their mentors (F (1,328)=13.26, p<.001) and/or careres (F (1,328)=26.84, p<.001) have significant influences on suicide ideation. Conclusion: College students have higher suicide ideation at news by internet site rather than by radio, TV, and so on. Moreover, college students who have a suicide feeling in the last one year, have more suicide ideation than who have not. On the other hand, college students who have a mentor and carer tend to have less suicide ideation.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.143-149
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• 2009

Purpose: Suicide attempts are known to be influenced by mass media reports. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of mass media reporting celebrity suicides on an increase of intentional carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning and suicide attempts. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of the consecutive patients who presented with suicide attempts to the Emergency Department of Ajou University Hospital during a 24 month period. We obtained the demographic data, any past history of suicide attempt and the methods of suicide attempts from the medical records of the suicide attempters. Time series analysis was conducted for evaluating the influence of mass media reporting of celebrity suicide on the suicide rates. Results: We finally enrolled 770 patients during the study period. The total number of suicide attempts by CO poisoning was 18 and the average number of suicide attempts by CO was $0.33{\pm}0.73$ per week. All of the suicide attempts by CO poisoning occurred after a celebrity committed suicide using CO from burning charcoal. Conclusion: This study showed that celebrity suicide by CO poisoning resulted in the Werther effect, which made the rate of intended CO poisoning increase, and the study provided further evidence for the need to actively restrain mass media reporting of suicide to decrease the Werther effect.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.429-444
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• 2011

The objective of this study was to identify the risk factor and protection factor related to suicide ideation in each life course based on an ecological-system perspective. A questionnaire was carried out for 393 adolescents, 473 adults and 376 aged men living nationwide. The results are as follows. First, the suicide ideation was low with 1.78 points in the full mark of 5 points. Second, the difference in suicide ideation, depression, hopelessness, stress in the organic system variables, family solidarity in the micro system variables, intermediate system variables, residence, the existence/inexistence of counselling center and the influence of mass media in mezo system variables in each life course were significant. Third, the relative influence of organic system variables on the suicide ideation were largest in all life courses. Further, the depression and the influence of mass media in all life courses were a risk factor of suicide ideation and stress was also a risk factor of suicide ideation in the case of adolescents and the aged. When examining protection factors of suicide ideation, family solidarity, minute as it is, works as the protection factor of suicide ideation in the case of adolescents. For the adults, living in a metropolis was a protection factor from suicide ideation. For the aged, family solidarity, family history of suicide and adult children's attention to their friends and neighbors (intermediate system variable) were protection factors from suicide ideation. I suggested that policy, service, counseling and educational program proper to each life course were necessary to lower risk factors of suicide ideation and to improve protection factors.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.251-260
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to determine the association of the Body Shape Index (ABSI) with suicide ideation and suicide attempts by controlling the body mass index (BMI), as well as general characteristics that may affect suicide. The study has used The Sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2013 to 2015. A total of 13,155 participants were studied, excluding those who had no information on variables that could affect suicidal ideations and suicidal attempts. The chi-squared test and the multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed. The results of the analysis showed that those who had obesity in BMI were more likely to commit suicide and suicide than those who were in 'standard' in BMI. In ABSI, Q3 group was more likely to commit suicide than Q1 group. The number of suicide attempt was significantly higher in the group with Q3 in ABSI than in Q1 group (3.623 times (95% CI 1.027-12.772)). The results of this study suggest that a higher ABSI compared to BMI means that it is possible to make a more extreme choice of suicide attempt rather than suicide ideation.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.271-284
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• 2019

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the process from occurrence of a hospital nurse's suicide to workers' compensation approval, responses of the parties involved, issues debated during approval deliberations, and significant policy changes resulting from the incident. Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews with involved parties and collected various documents, including newspaper articles, forum proceedings, and the agency report on determination of workers' compensation. Content analysis was performed on the collected data. Results: A Joint Task Force continuously reported its progress and findings through mass media such as newspaper, radio, and TV. These activities exerted pressure on a government agency to conduct an occupational disease review and significantly impacted the workers' compensation approval. The agency recognized associations between the hospital's inadequate nurse training and the suicide but did not confirm the excessive overtime and workplace harassment experienced by the nurse as causes of the suicide. This case's media coverage and impact resulted in a law prohibiting workplace harassment and a hospital system dedicating at least one nurse to training activities. Conclusions: This incident had a significant social impact as the first case of workers' compensation approval for a hospital nurse's suicide. However, the case produced no structural changes in nurses' working conditions such as heavy workloads.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.227-234
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• 1999

An association of low total cholesterol in blood with psychiatric diseases and suicidal behavior has been suggested. As part of an attempt to further explore this relationship, we examine first, whether serum cholesterol levels in psychiatric patients with suicidal attempt would be lower than in non-suicidal psychiatric inpatients or normal controls, second, whether such significant difference of cholesterol levels would be present when the diagnostic groups are analyzed separately, third, whether low cholesterol level would be associated with a history of serious suicidal attempts, and finally, whether low cholesterol level in suicide attempters is a state or a trait marker. We determined the serum cholesterol levels in 231 patients admitted to an emergency room following an suicidal attempt, in the same numbers of age-, sex- and diagnosis- matched non-suicidal psychiatric controls, and in the same numbers of age-, sex matched normal controls. The seriousness of an attempt was divided into 5 grades according to the degree of the resulting medical injury. Total cholesterol levels in suicide attempters were significantly lower compared with both psychiatric and normal controls, when sex, age, and nutritional status (i.e., body mass index) were controlled for. This significant relationship was observed in major depressive disorders and personality disorders, but not in schizophrenia and bipolar type I disorders. The severity of suicide by a lowering of blood cholesterol was related to the magnitude of the cholesterol reduction. After treatment of their psychiatric ailments, the cholesterol levels in suicide attempters were significantly increased. This result suggests that low cholesterol level in psychiatric patients might be a potential biological marker of suicide risk. It is hypothesized that low cholesterol levels is associated with the suicide by modifying the serotonin metabolism, the production of interleukin-2 and melatonin metabolism in psychiatric patients.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.617-647
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to identify the predictors of suicidal ideation of rural residents. This study was based on predictors of suicidal ideation of urban residents. The participants were adolescents, adults, and seniors sampled from 10 provinces all over the country, from May to Aug, 2010. The data for the study were analysed as decision tree analysis. The major results of the study were as follows. First, a main predictor of suicidal ideation for rural residents was high depression. Unlike rural residents, urban residents reporting high depression and influence of mass media showed high suicidal ideation. Second, interaction of depression and family solidarity was important predictor of suicide ideation both rural and urban residents, but a condition that effects the situation differed between rural and urban residents. Rural residents reporting high depression and high family solidarity showed high suicidal ideation, urban residents reporting low depression and high family solidarity showed low suicidal ideation. Stress was also operate differently. Rural residents reporting moderate depression, low family solidarity and high stress showed high suicidal ideation, but stress of urban resident was not a important predictors of suicidal ideation. And rural residents reporting low depression and low stress showed the lowest level of suicidal ideation, urban residents reporting low family solidarity and low depression showed the lowest level of suicidal ideation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.113-125
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• 2023

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop a model for predicting mental health risk among adolescents based on health behavior information by employing a hybrid machine learning method. Methods: The study analyzed data of 51,850 domestic middle and high school students from 2022 Youth Health Behavior Survey conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Firstly, mental health risk levels (stress perception, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, suicide plans, experiences of sadness and despair, loneliness, and generalized anxiety disorder) were classified using the k-mean unsupervised learning technique. Secondly, demographic factors (family economic status, gender, age), academic performance, physical health (body mass index, moderate-intensity exercise, subjective health perception, oral health perception), daily life habits (sleep time, wake-up time, smartphone use time, difficulty recovering from fatigue), eating habits (consumption of high-caffeine drinks, sweet drinks, late-night snacks), violence victimization, and deviance (drinking, smoking experience) data were input to develop a random forest model predicting mental health risk, using logistic and XGBoosting. The model and its prediction performance were compared. Results: First, the subjects were classified into two mental health groups using k-mean unsupervised learning, with the high mental health risk group constituting 26.45% of the total sample (13,712 adolescents). This mental health risk group included most of the adolescents who had made suicide plans (95.1%) or attempted suicide (96.7%). Second, the predictive performance of the random forest model for classifying mental health risk groups significantly outperformed that of the reference model (AUC=.94). Predictors of high importance were 'difficulty recovering from daytime fatigue' and 'subjective health perception'. Conclusion: Based on an understanding of adolescent health behavior information, it is possible to predict the mental health risk levels of adolescents and make interventions in advance.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.94-104
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• 2015

Objectives: Mental health disorders and suicide are an important and growing public health concern in Korea. Evidence has shown that both globally and in Korea, obesity is associated with an increased risk of developing some psychiatric disorders. Therefore, we examined the association between distorted body weight perception (BWP) and suicidal ideation. Methods: Data were obtained from the 2007-2012 Korea National Health and Nutritional Evaluation Survey (KNHANES), an annual cross-sectional nationwide survey that included 14 276 men and 19 428 women. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate the associations between nine BWP categories, which combined body image (BI) and body mass index (BMI) categories, and suicidal ideation. Moreover, the fitness of our models was verified using the Akaike information criterion. Results: Consistent with previous studies, suicidal ideation was associated with marital status, household income, education level, and perceived health status in both genders. Only women were significantly more likely to have distorted BWP; there was no relationship among men. In category B1 (low BMI and normal BI), women (odds ratio [OR], 2.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.48 to 3.42) were more likely to express suicidal ideation than women in category B2 (normal BMI and normal BI) were. Women in overweight BWP category C2 (normal BMI and fat BI) also had an increased OR for suicidal ideation (OR, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.48 to 3.42). Those in normal BWP categories were not likely to have suicidal ideation. Among women in the underweight BWP categories, only the OR for those in category A2 (normal BMI and thin BI) was significant (OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.59). Conclusions: Distorted BWP should be considered an important factor in the prevention of suicide and for the improvement of mental health among Korean adults, especially Korean women with distorted BWPs.