The purpose of this study was to investigate the gambling factors related with the gambling problem level of adolescents to provide basic information for the prevention of adolescent gambling problems. The data was drawn from the 2015 Survey on Youth Gambling Problems of the Korea Center on Gambling Problems for Korean students in grades 7–11 (ages 13–17 years) and included 14,011 study subjects (average age 14.9 years, 52.5% male). The lifetime gambling behavior experience was 42.1%, and 24.2% had a gambling behavior experience within the past three months. The past three-month prevalence of problem gambling was 1.1%. The gambling factors related with the level of adolescent problem gambling include the presence of nearby gambling facilities, having personal relationships with people that gamble, a higher number of experienced gambling behaviors, male adolescents, and a greater amount of time spent gambling. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first report to identify gambling factors related with the level of adolescent problem gambling in Korean adolescents using national data. These findings suggest that gambling prevention efforts must consider not only access to individual adolescents as early intervention, but also environmental strategies such as accessibility regulations and alternative activities.

BackgroundWeb‐based alcohol screenings and brief interventions have been shown to be effective methods for changing drinking behavior. This study evaluated the efficacy of the online‐based Brief Empowerment Program for Alcohol‐Use Monitor (on‐BEAM), a brief intervention applying personalized normative feedback (PNF) and components of motivational interviewing (MI) techniques.MethodsA community‐based, double‐blind, parallel‐group randomized controlled trial with individual randomization was conducted in Korea (registered at Clinical Research Information Service—KCT0003050). An e‐mail about participating in a survey on drinking behavior was sent to 5,684 individuals, aged 20 to 40, that were registered as part of a research panel. Male and female participants with AUDIT‐C scores of ≥4 and ≥3, respectively, were randomly assigned to either an intervention (received a drinking behavior assessment and the results with normative feedback) or control group (assessment and results without normative feedback). To evaluate the effects of the intervention with 2 sessions over the course of a month, a follow‐up assessment was performed online 4 weeks after completion of the intervention. The main outcome was the number of standard drinks consumed during the past week measured using the timeline followback method. The rate ratios (RRs) were calculated to test the effects of the intervention.ResultsIn total, 1,496 participants were randomized and 93% of them followed up. The intervention group reported consuming less alcohol during the past week (RR = 0.13; p = 0.012) than the control group. Additionally, the intervention group had fewer binge drinkers (RR = 0.69; p < 0.001) and a lower AUDIT‐C score (RR = 0.59; p = 0.009) than the control group.ConclusionsThe web‐based intervention, on‐BEAM, which applies PNF and MI components related to high‐risk drinking reduced the amount of alcohol consumption in our study population. Further research is needed to determine the duration of on‐BEAM's effects and evaluate its effectiveness in the real world.

This cross-sectional descriptive study identified risk factors and predictors related to the perpetration of and potential for cyberbullying among adolescents, respectively. The analysis included a zero-inflated negative binomial regression model. Data were assessed from 2590 middle-school student panels obtained during the first wave of the Korean Child and Youth Panel Survey 2018. Of these respondents, 63.7% said they had not experienced the perpetration of cyberbullying. However, a subsequent count model analysis showed that several factors were significantly associated with cyberbullying, including offline delinquency, aggression, smartphone dependency, and smartphone usage on weekends (either 1–3 h or over 3 h). A logit model analysis also showed several predictive factors that increased the likelihood of cyberbullying, including gender (boys), offline delinquency, aggression, smartphone usage during weekdays (1–3 h), computer usage during weekends (1–3 h), and negative parenting. These identified risks and predictors should be useful for interventions designed to prevent the perpetration of cyberbullying among middle school students.

Purpose: The number of Korean adolescents engaging in gambling is increasing, especially among out-of-school adolescents. This study aimed to identify patterns of gambling activities and factors related to specific subgroups of out-of-school adolescent gambling activities.Methods: This descriptive study analyzed secondary data from the 2015 Korea Youth Gambling Problem Survey, including 1,200 out-of-school adolescents. Latent class analysis was conducted to identify patterns of gambling activities. The factors related to gambling subgroups were verified with multinomial logistic regression.Results: Three latent classes of gambling activities were identified: rarely gambling (RG), immediate gain gambling (IGG), and broad gambling (BG). These subgroups differed significantly in terms of gender, age at and type of first gambling experience, number and type of gambling activities, gambling frequency, time and money spent on gambling, problem gambling severity, and motivation for gambling. Compared to the RG subgroup, both the IGG and BG subgroups were strongly associated with an older age at the first gambling experience.Conclusion: Out-of-school adolescents who first gambled at an older age and who gambled mainly in order to gain money immediately were at risk of problem gambling. Developing strategies for early screening and referral to professionals is necessary to prevent gambling problems from worsening.

Gambling frequently occur among adolescent, and the subtypes of gambling did not reveal homogeneous characteristics. In order to prevent adolescent gambling problems, it is a necessary to develop tailored prevention intervention in the nursing field, which is appropriate to the characteristics of adolescent gambling group and can help with early identification.

This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of motivational interviewing (MI) with cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) on behavioral changes of heavy drinkers. This study used embedded mixed methods that integrate sequential qualitative interviews with quantitative evaluation. Of a total of 47 participants, 24 belonged to an intervention group, which participated in the MI with CBT on behavioral changes once a week, 25–30 min on average, for 8 weeks. A total of 23 participants were assigned to a control group, which received a 7-page booklet containing information about alcohol. A t-test, generalized linear model, and qualitative analysis were used to evaluate the effects of MI with CBT. The interview data (n = 13) were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. There was a statistically significant change in participants’ beliefs concerning the immediate effects of drinking (F = 3.827, p = 0.025). Additionally, the intervention group had a significantly higher drinking refusal self-efficacy than the control group (F = 4.426, p = 0.015). Four themes emerged from the analysis of qualitative data: reduction of benefits of drinking, changes in thoughts about costs of drinking, changes in drinking behavior, and achieving self-efficacy. The MI with CBT significantly promoted awareness of problem-drinking behaviors among heavy drinkers and increased their self-efficacy, improving their ability to make positive behavioral changes for themselves. Since this intervention is simple and easy to apply, it will be useful for problem drinking-prevention strategies in the public health sector. Therefore, efforts to disseminate these strategies will be worthwhile from sustainable perspectives.

This study was to investigate affecting factors of intention to responsible drinking in problem drinkers. The secondary data from the 2010 KARF Drinking Patterns and Alcohol Problems Survey were used. The subjects were 343 problem drinkers who scored more than 12 points in Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) from the data. Stage of Change used as the measurement for intention to responsible drinking. Other instruments were the Decisional Balance (DB), Drinking Refusal Self Efficacy (DRSE). The results showed that 66.2 % of all the subjects were the lowest intention to responsible drinking as classified in pre-contemplation stage. Intention to responsible drinking showed significant differences according to DB, DRSE, perceived amount of peer drinker, depression, AUDIT score and exercise. Compared to the preparation stage, positive Pros (OR: 1.145 p=.002) and DRSE (OR: 1.139, p=.001) were significant predictors of intention to responsible drinking in pre-contemplation stage. While compared to the preparation stage, DRSE (OR: 1.163, p＜.001) and perceive amount of peer drinker (OR: 0.386, p=.001) were significantly predicted the intention to responsible drinking in contemplation stage. This study was identified not only DRSE, Pros but also perceived amount of peer drinker as main factors of problem drinker's intention to responsible drinking. This study suggested that more efforts to improve the problem drinkers intention to drinking refusal and to change the belief of drinking. Also, the development of an instrument is needed to measure social norms for drinking.

With the rapidly aging population, taxi drivers are aging at a fast pace, and competition in the taxi industry is intensifying due to the emergence of various transportation platforms. A descriptive secondary data study was conducted (on a total of 936 subjects) to determine the factors affecting the deterioration of taxi drivers’ physical health status (PHS) according to their age group. The increased incidence of chronic diseases and cognitive decline among taxi drivers aged 55–64 years had the greatest influence on the deterioration of their PHS. Driver obesity was more likely to be related to deterioration of the PHS in the drivers aged 55–64 years (OR: 2.459, <0.001) and 35–54 years (OR: 2.133, <0.001). Among the financial factors, a driver’s income and their number of dependent family members were correlated with the deterioration of the PHS for drivers aged 55 years or over. Therefore, chronic diseases, obesity and cognitive decline were related with deterioration of the physical health status. This suggests that attention should be paid to healthcare policies not only for the elderly aged over 65 years but also those aged 50 to 64 years, i.e., middle-aged people at the beginning of the transition to old age.