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IntroductionAlthough a plethora of studies have delineated the relationship between childhood trauma and onset, symptom severity, and course of depression and anxiety disorders, there has been little evidence that childhood trauma may lead to interpersonal problems among adult patients with depression and anxiety disorders. Given the lack of prior research in this area, we aimed to investigate characteristics of interpersonal problems in adult patients who had suffered various types of abuse and neglect in childhood.MethodsA total of 325 outpatients diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorders completed questionnaires on socio-demographic variables, different forms of childhood trauma, and current interpersonal problems. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) was used to measure five different forms of childhood trauma (emotional abuse, emotional neglect, physical abuse, physical neglect, and sexual abuse) and the short form of the Korean-Inventory of Interpersonal Problems Circumplex Scale (KIIP-SC) was used to assess current interpersonal problems. We dichotomized patients into two groups (abused and non-abused groups) based on CTQ score and investigated the relationship of five different types of childhood trauma and interpersonal problems in adult patients with depression and anxiety disorders using multiple regression analysis.ResultDifferent types of childhood abuse and neglect appeared to have a significant influence on distinct symptom dimensions such as depression, state-trait anxiety, and anxiety sensitivity. In the final regression model, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and sexual abuse during childhood were significantly associated with general interpersonal distress and several specific areas of interpersonal problems in adulthood. No association was found between childhood physical neglect and current general interpersonal distress.ConclusionChildhood emotional trauma has more influence on interpersonal problems in adult patients with depression and anxiety disorders than childhood physical trauma. A history of childhood physical abuse is related to dominant interpersonal patterns rather than submissive interpersonal patterns in adulthood. These findings provide preliminary evidence that childhood trauma might substantially contribute to interpersonal problems in adulthood.

ObjectivesZZThe aim of this study was to examine the effect of depression, impulsivity, and resilience on smartphone addiction in university students.MethodsZZA total of 322 students from two universities in Seoul were enrolled in this study. Participants were divided into a risk user group and normal user group according to results using the Korean smartphone addiction scale. We additionally surveyed smartphone use patterns of the participants. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), and Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RS) were also used for measurement of the participants' severity of depression, impulsivity, and resilience.ResultsZZThe risk user group spent more time using a smartphone on weekdays than the normal user group. The risk user group showed significantly higher scores on BDI, BIS than the normal user group. The risk user group showed significantly lower scores on CD-RS than the normal user group. Results of multiple regression analysis showed that impulsivity was a significant factor affecting smartphone addiction in university students.ConclusionZZThese results suggest that smartphone addiction is influenced by impulsivity. Students with high impulsivity may be vulnerable to smartphone addiction. Further research regarding the underlying mechanisms of these associations is needed.J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc 2014;53(4):214-220 KEY WORDSZZ Smartphone · Addiction · Impulsivity · Depression · Resilience.

Suicide attempters have been found to be impaired in decision-making; however, their specific biases in evaluating uncertain outcomes remain unclear. Here we tested the hypothesis that suicidal behavior is associated with heightened aversion to risk and loss, which might produce negative predictions about uncertain future events. Forty-five depressed patients with a suicide attempt history, 47 nonsuicidal depressed patients, and 75 healthy controls participated in monetary decision-making tasks assessing risk and loss aversion. Suicide attempters compared with the other groups exhibited greater aversion to both risk and loss during gambles involving potential loss. Risk and loss aversion correlated with each other in the depressed patients, suggesting that a common pathophysiological mechanism underlies these biases. In addition, emotion regulation via suppression, a detrimental emotional control strategy, was positively correlated with loss aversion in the depressed patients, also implicating impairment in regulatory processes. A preliminary fMRI study also found disrupted neural responses to potential gains and losses in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, insula cortex, and left amygdala, brain regions involved in valuation, emotion reactivity, and emotion regulation. The findings thus implicate heightened negative valuation in decision-making under risk, and impaired emotion regulation in depressed patients with a history of suicide attempts.

ObjectiveThis study examined the overall mental health consequences of the bereaved parents after the Sewol ferry accident.MethodsEighty-four bereaved parents participated in the study. Self-report scales assessing the severity of psychiatric symptoms and other related psychosomatic problems were used at 18 months following the accident. Univariate descriptive statistics and regression analyses were performed to report the prevalence, severity, and correlates of psychiatric symptoms.Results94% of the participants appeared to suffer from complicated grief based on scores on the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG). Half of the participants were categorized as having severe depression and 70.2% reported clinically significant post-traumatic symptoms according to scores on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and PTSD Check List-5 (PCL-5). No significant differences by gender were observed in the severity of psychiatric symptoms. A higher educational level was associated with more severe psychiatric symptoms in fathers.ConclusionThe loss of a child due to a disaster caused by human error may continue to have a substantial impact on parental mental health at 18 months after the event. A longitudinal study following parents' mental health state would be necessary to investigate the long-term effects of the traumatic experience in the future.

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Background: The present study aimed to develop a brief tool for assessing individual's positive resource in clinical setting. The Positive Resources Test is a self-report questionnaire that measures 5 multi-dementional positive resources and comprises of 23 items, each rated on a 5-point scale. Methods: Literature searching and delphi survey were performed for making preliminary items, consulting and selecting final items. In order to test validity and reliability of the finally selected 23 items, data were collected from 546 adults. The measures included a variety of positive psychological scales. Results: The result of exploratory factor analysis of Positive Resources Test suggested 5 factor structures. The Positive Resources Test was shown to have acceptable psychometric porperties, including acceptable internal consistency reliabilities, factorial validity, and high convergent correlations. Conclusions: Although there is room for improvement for some facet scales, the Positive Resources Test appears to be useful tool for assessing individual's positive resources.

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