Print Media Coverage of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Content Analysis of Three Major Korean Newspapers

The print media is still one of major sources for health-related information. To shed light on how the media accurately delivers information for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we searched the newspaper articles and analyzed their contents for accuracy in the description of symptoms, causes, and treatment of PTSD. The articles featuring PSTD were searched from the very first available to 2010 at on-line search systems of three major Korean newspapers. A total of 123 articles appeared and the first article appeared in 1984. The number of articles steadily increased till the early 2000s but we found the robust increase in the late 2000s. Among the mentioned symptoms of PTSD: re-experience (39%) was most common, followed by avoidance or numbing (28%) and hyperarousal (22%). Of the 29 articles mentioning treatment of PTSD, 13 mentioned psychotherapy only and 11 mentioned both psychotherapy and medication equally. However, the psychotherapies mentioned were non-specific and only five articles mentioned any empirically supported therapies. The number of articles on PTSD in Korean newspapers has continually increased during the last three decades. However, the quality of information on the treatment of PTSD was questionable.

Factorial Validity and Psychometric Properties of the Korean Version of the Children's Response to Traumatic Events Scale-Revised in Recently Traumatized School Children / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children is prevalent and often persists for many years after the trauma. Therefore, screening and early detection using psychometrically sound instruments is a pivotal element of appropriate management. This study tested the reliability and validity of a Korean version of the Child Reaction to Traumatic Events Scale-Revised (K-CRTES-R) in a sample of recently traumatized school children. METHODS: The K-CRTES was administered to a total of 464 school children aged ten to twelve who had witnessed or had been confronted with a tragic accident involving three deaths. Internal consistency, two week test-retest reliability, and construct validity were assessed. A non-random portion of participants also completed the State Anxiety Inventory and the Subjective Unit of Distress Scale for testing convergent validity. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted for a random half of participants (n=232), and, for the remaining half, we tested the model fit by performance of confirmatory factor analysis. RESULTS: Two week test-retest reliability was high (r=0.85), and internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach alpha=0.92). The total score for the K-CRTES-R showed significant correlation with state anxiety and subjective level of anxiety, thus confirming its convergent validity. In addition, the K-CRTES-R distinguished between direct exposure and indirect confrontation, demonstrating the discriminant validity of the scale. In addition, we confirmed the factorial validity by identifying a two-factor structure (intrusion-hyperarousal and avoidance) that explained 56% of the total variance. This two factor solution and other previously suggested PTSD models showed fit indices that were within an acceptable range. CONCLUSION: Findings of our study indicate that the K-CRTES-R is a good measure of reliability and validity that can be used to assess the impact of trauma in Korean speaking children.