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Criteria for well-being and spirituality are culturally bound. In this article, therefore, the notions of well-being and spirituality were reconsidered from a Korean perspective. Two major conceptual approaches that pertain to "subjective well-being" research in social psychology provide the methodological framework for this study. While "bottom-up" approaches focus on how external events and situations influence happiness, "top-down" approaches center on diverse variables within an individual and his or her culture. Noting the cultural differences between American and Korean self-construals (i.e., independence vs. interdependence), the author argues that Koreans need to construct "topdown" approaches to both well-being and spirituality. Reviewing Robert Emmon's concept of "spiritual intelligence," the author also suggests an integrative model for spirituality and well-being in Korea.

Background Commercial vehicle accidents are the leading cause of occupational fatalities and an increased risk of traffic accidents is associated with excessive fatigue, other health problems as well as poor sleep during work. This study explores individual and occupational factors associated with different levels of daytime sleepiness and identifies their association with driving risk among occupational drivers working at construction sites. Methods This cross-sectional and correlational study adopted a self-reported questionnaire of Korean construction drivers (N = 492). The data were collected from October 2018 to February 2019 using a battery of six validated instruments about participants’ sociodemographic, health-related, and occupational characteristics. One-way ANOVA and multinomial logistic regression were conducted using IBM SPSS WIN/VER 25.0, with a two-tailed alpha of .05. Results Based on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, “moderate” (31.7%) and “severe” (10.2%) daytime sleepiness groups were identified. There were significant differences in break time, driving fatigue, depressive symptom, subjective sleep quality, physical and mental health, and driving risk among the three groups (all p-values < .001). Driving fatigue (Adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] = 1.08, 1.17), depressive symptoms (aOR = 0.91, 0.98), subjective sleep quality (aOR = 1.18 in moderate only), and driving over the speed limit (aOR = 1.43, 2.25) were significant factors for determining “moderate” and “severe” daytime sleepiness groups, respectively. Conclusion A significant number of construction drivers experience excessive daytime sleepiness; thus it is important to reduce the negative impact of driving fatigue and other factors on daytime sleepiness. Our study findings suggest that occupational health care providers should pay attention to development and implementation of health management interventions to reduce driving fatigue that incorporate the drivers’ physical, mental, and occupational factors. Professional organizations need to establish internal regulations and public policies to promote health and safety among occupational drivers who specifically work at construction sites.

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This study aimed to compare the psychological symptoms of humidifier disinfectant survivors to the general population and explore socio-demographic factors influencing survivors’ psychological symptoms. A one-way Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) and a series of two-way MANCOVA were conducted with a sample of 228 humidifier disinfectant survivors and 228 controls. The results demonstrated that the survivor group displayed higher anxious/depressed symptoms, withdrawn symptoms, somatic complaints, thought problems, attention problems, aggressive behavior and rule-breaking behavior than the general group. Moreover, among the socio-demographic factors, the two-way interaction effects of group × family economic status and group × number of friends were found to be statistically significant. The limitations and implications of this study are discussed.

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People with intellectual disabilities (ID) age faster and have a higher prevalence of degenerative diseases. The aim of this study was to identify the patterns/ causes of death among people with ID. We conducted a nationwide, retrospective, cross-sectional study of people with ID in South Korea. The database was compiled by merging data of people registered with ID, based on the 2015–2019 Standards from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, with the cause of death data published by the Korea National Statistical Office. The International Classification of Diseases-10 (ICD-10) was used to categorize causes of death. The mortality and standardized mortality rates were calculated and major causes of death were analyzed. As of 2019, the mortality rate of people with ID in South Korea was 784.6. The rate showed an irregular pattern, increasing or decreasing year by year (increasing from 725 in 2015 to 834 in 2018). The mortality rate of people with ID was approximately 1.4 times higher than the general population; the standardized mortality rate was 3.2 times higher. The main causes of death (48%) in people with ID were, in order of prevalence, circulatory diseases (cerebrovascular disease), neoplasms (malignant neoplasms of the digestive system), and diseases of the respiratory system (pneumonia). The leading causes of death (>60%) in the general population were, in order of prevalence, neoplasms, diseases of the circulatory system, and respiratory system diseases. An accurate understanding of the causes of death of people with ID is important to promote the development and application of health promotion programs and management thereof.

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