Predicting Behavior Problems in Korean Preschoolers: Interactions of the Gene and Maternal Negative Affectivity.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether maternal negative affectivity (MNA) moderates the effect of genetic polymorphism of on behavior problems in children.

Methods: Study participants comprised 143 preschoolers and their mothers from South Korea. The Childhood Behavior Checklist and Emotionality, Activity, and Sociability adult scale were used to measure child behavior and maternal affectivity.

A 7-year follow-up study on the mental health of North Korean defectors in South Korea.

This study was conducted to describe the relationship of past trauma and current stress on the mental health of North Korean (NK) defectors living in South Korea 7 years after a baseline assessment. Of the 200 who participated in the initial study, 106 participated in follow-up. Previous data regarding past traumatic events experienced in North Korea and during defection, past posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and their current stress levels were correlated with the participants' current mental health status including depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

Differences in temperament and character dimensions of personality between patients with Hwa-byung, an anger syndrome, and patients with major depressive disorder.

Objective: This study examined differences in temperament and character dimensions of personality between patients with Hwa-byung (HB) and those with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Method: Of 144 participants, 96 completed the Korean version of the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised Short (TCI-RS) and the Hwa-byung Scale. We diagnosed participants according to the DSM-IV and the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Hwa-byung.

Posttraumatic stress disorder in former 'comfort women'.

Objective: This study investigated the mental health of former 'comfort women' who serviced the Japanese Imperial Military during the Second World War.

Method: We evaluated 26 former comfort women's life histories, cognitive functioning, DSM-IV diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, paranoid state, anger, and Rorschach test results, and compared the data with those of 24 healthy women.

Results: Cognitive functioning was not significantly different between former comfort women and the comparison group.

No evidence of an association between A218C polymorphism of the tryptophan hydroxylase 1 gene and aggression in schizophrenia in a Korean population.

Purpose: We investigated the association between the tryptohan hydroxylase 1 (TPH1) gene and aggression in schizophrenia in a Korean population.

Materials And Methods: The sample included 61 aggressive patients as well as 104 non-aggressive patients from psychiatric hospitals and 335 healthy volunteers in Korea. Blood samples were collected from all participants for TPH1 A218C genotyping.

Symptoms to use for diagnostic criteria of hwa-byung, an anger syndrome.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the characteristic symptoms which can be used for the diagnosis of hwa-byung, a culture-related anger syndrome in Korea.

Methods: The symptoms of the Hwa-byung Scale were correlated with the Korean versions of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (K-HDRS) and the State and Trait Anger Inventory (K-STAXI) in 89 patients, who were diagnosed as having major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders, or adjustment disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV) criteria and who had self-labeled hwa-byung. Also, the symptoms of the Hwa-byung Scale were correlated with each other.

Testing women's propensities to leave their abusive husbands using structural equation modeling.

Background: Many Korean women are just beginning to recognize that what they considered to be normal treatment is actually domestic violence. Many are becoming more intolerant of the abuse and more likely to desire to leave an abusive relationship.

Objective: The aim of this study was to test, using the framework of sociostructural and psychological-relational power (PRP), a model of Korean women's propensities to leave their abusive husbands.

The anger syndrome hwa-byung and its comorbidity.

Background: The aim of this study was to identify patients with hwa-byung (HB), a Korean culture-related anger syndrome, and to compare the comorbidities of HB with those of other psychiatric disorders.

Methods: The study participants included 280 patients with depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders, adjustment disorders, or self-labeled hwa-byung. For all patients, the DSM-IV diagnosis was made using the Korean version of the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV Diagnosis (SCID-1).

Mental health and quality of life of North Korean defectors living in Japan.

The aim of this study was to clarify the effect of migration of North Korean defectors to different host countries on the mental health and quality of life of the migrants by comparing three subject groups: North Korean defectors living in Japan, a group of Japanese workers living in Japan (for comparison), and North Korean defectors living in South Korea. The North Korean defectors living in Japan scored significantly higher on the Beck Depression Inventory, and also scored lower across all domains of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment than the other two groups. However, no significant difference in the overall quality of life score was observed between the North Korean defectors living in Japan and the Japanese workers, while the North Korean defectors living in South Korea scored significantly higher as compared to both.

Association between the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) and anger-related traits in Korean schizophrenic patients.

Background: The serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) short allele confers a general sensitivity to environmental stimuli, and anger is suspected to have a direct influence on aggressive behavior in schizophrenia. In the present study, we investigated whether the 5-HTTLPR gene was associated with aggression and/or anger-related traits in schizophrenia.

Methods: A total of 103 schizophrenic patients, including 46 aggressive and 57 nonaggressive patients, were recruited from psychiatric hospitals in Korea.

Aggressive behavior model in schizophrenic patients.

This study aimed to determine the optimal model for explaining the aggressive behavior of schizophrenic patients in relation to certain behavioral variables including anger, schizophrenic symptoms, and cognitive function. Schizophrenic patients were evaluated with the Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS) for aggressive behaviors, with irritability and resentment; with the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI) for anger; with the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the Grooved Pegboard Test for cognitive function; and with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for schizophrenic symptoms. The structural equation model (SEM) in AMOS 7 for the score of "aggressive behavior in the last week" in the MOAS, was used for statistical analysis.

Catechol-O-methyltransferase Val158Met polymorphism in relation to aggressive schizophrenia in a Korean population.

We examined the association between the Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphism and aggressive schizophrenia. The sample included 61 aggressive schizophrenic patients as well as 104 non-aggressive patients from psychiatric hospitals and 415 healthy volunteers in South Korea. In the case-control comparisons, there was no significant association between the aggressive schizophrenic patients and the COMT Val158Met polymorphism.

Clinical correlates of hwa-byung and a proposal for a new anger disorder.

This paper reviewed the studies on hwa-byung (HB), which literally means anger disorder and this is known as the culture-related chronic anger syndrome of Koreans. Based on these studies and a review of the literature on the anger syndromes of other cultures, I have proposed a new anger disorder. The rationale for this proposition is first that the clinical correlates of HB, including the epidemiological data, the etiological factors, the symptoms and the clinical course, are unique and different from those of the depressive disorders, which have been postulated to be similar to HB.

Divided countries, divided mind 1: psycho-social issues in adaptation problems of north korean defectors.

A review of studies on the adaptation problems of North Korean defectors in South Korean society and studies of people's adaptation to political and cultural changes in other countries suggests that similar adaptation problems may occur in the process of and after unification. Defectors have various adaptation problems and some of them have psychiatric disorders such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The reasons for this were revealed to be the difference in the culture and personality between South and North Korea, which have developed for the last 60 years without any communication with each other, in spite of their common racial and cultural heritage.

Construct validity of the Korean Women's Abuse Intolerance Scale.

Background: Domestic violence against married women has persisted throughout Korean history. However, very little empirical research has been conducted in Korea about domestic violence, its causes, or women's responses.

Objective: To develop and test psychometrically the Korean Women's Abuse Intolerance Scale (KWAIS) to measure women's propensity or desire to leave abusive husbands in Korea.

Correlation between traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder among North Korean defectors in South Korea.

The number of North Korean defectors entering South Korea has been increasing rapidly since 1994. Two hundred North Korean defectors in South Korea were studied to identify their experiences of traumatic events in North Korea and during defection, and the correlation with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Researchers conducted face-to-face interviews and assisted defectors in performing a self-report assessment of this survey.

Development of a structural model explaining medication compliance of persons with schizophrenia.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a structural model explaining medication compliance of schizophrenia. From a review of the literature, a hypothetical model was developed based on the conceptual framework of the Health Belief Model with medication knowledge, symptom severity and social support as the exogenous variables, and perceived benefits, perceived barriers, substance use and medication compliance as the endogenous variables. Data was collected at various mental health facilities, including psychiatric outpatient clinics of general hospitals and community mental health centers, between March and May, 2001.

Differences in beta-adrenergic receptor sensitivity between women and men with panic disorder.

This study was conducted on patients with panic disorder (PD) to examine the gender differences in the pathophysiology of PD by evaluating and comparing the value of CD(25)/wt, the chronotropic 25 dose of isoproterenol (CD(25)) divided by the body weight, which reflects the in vivo index of beta-adrenergic receptor sensitivity. This study included a total of 70 subjects, including 35 patients with PD (female: 13, male: 22) along with 35 healthy control subjects (female: 13, male: 22). There were significant differences in the mean value of CD(25)/wt (0.

Effects of ginseng saponin administered intraperitoneally on the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis in mice.

Intraperitoneal injection of ginseng total saponin (GTS; 5 and 20 mg/kg) raised plasma corticosterone levels in mice. However, interestingly, pretreatment of animals with the same doses of GTS (5 and 20 mg/kg) significantly attenuated the immobilization stress-induced increase in plasma corticosterone levels. Of the ginsenosides Rb(1), Rb(2), Rc, Rd, Re, Rf, Rg(1), 20(S)-Rg(3), and 20(R)-Rg(3) injected intraperitoneally at doses of 0.