Impact of the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic on Mental Health Among School Students in Korea During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objectives@#The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had various effects on mankind, especially children and adolescents.Because children and adolescents spend a lot of time at school, COVID-19 has had a great impact on school mental health. In this study, we investigated the effect of prolonged COVID-19 on school mental health. @*Methods@#We prepared self-report questionnaires for depression (Children’s Depression Inventory, CDI), anxiety (Korean version of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children; Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, GAD-7), and post-traumatic stress (Primary Care Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, PC-PTSD) for administering to students aged between 7 and 18 years, recruited by a COVID-19 psychological prevention support group in the Gwangmyeong Mental Health Welfare Center for 2 years, in 2020 and 2021. @*Results@#For children aged 7–12 years, there was no significant difference between the years 2020 and 2021 in the assessment of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. Conversely, for adolescents aged 13–18 years, there was a significant increase in the scale scores (CDI, PC-PTSD, and GAD-7). @*Conclusion@#Prolonged COVID-19 might have had a significant impact on the mental health of adolescents who spent a lot of time at school. When comparing the years 2020 and 2021, middle and high school students were more affected by COVID-19 than elementary school students.

Altered Functional Connectivity of the Nucleus Accumbens and Amygdala in Cyber Addiction: A Resting State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Objective@#Cyber addiction, which is more vulnerable in adolescents, is defined as the excessive use of computers and the Internet that causes serious psychological, social, and physical problems. In this study, we investigated the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in adolescents with cyber addiction. @*Methods@#We collected and analyzed resting-state functional neuroimaging data of 20 patients with cyber addiction, aged 13−18 years, and 27 healthy controls. Based on previous studies, the seed regions included the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, medial orbitofrontal cortex, lateral orbitofrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, insula, hippocampus, amygdala, nucleus accumbens, and the ventral tegmental area. Seed-to-voxel analyses were performed to investigate the differences between patients and healthy controls. A correlation analysis between rsFC and cyber addiction severity was also performed. @*Results@#Patients with cyber addiction showed the following characteristics: increased positive rsFC between the left insular−right middle temporal gyrus; increased positive rsFC between the right hippocampus−right precentral gyrus;increased positive rsFC between the right amygdala−right precentral gyrus and right parietal operculum cortex; increased negative rsFC between the left nucleus accumbens−right cerebellum crus II and right cerebellum VI. @*Conclusion@#Adolescents with cyber addiction show altered functional connectivity during the resting state. The findings of this study may help us better understand the neuropathology of cyber addiction in adolescents.

Impact of COVID-19-Related Stress and Depression in Public Sector Workers / 정신신체의학

Objectives@#：The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak is a global medical crisis imposing particular burden on public sector employees. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychiatric distress among public sector workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. @*Methods@#：We conducted a cross-sectional study with 531 public sector workers in Gwangmyung city who completed Korean versions of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Impact of Event Scale-Revised-Korean (IES-R-K). @*Results@#：The results revealed more than moderate levels of stress (85.2%), depressive symptoms (22.2%), and posttraumatic stress symptoms (38.8%). PSS total score was significantly correlated with PHQ-9, IES-R-K total scores as well as IES-R-K subscale scores. Total scores on the PSS, PHQ-9, and IES-R-K were all inversely correlated with age. @*Conclusions@#：COVID-19-related workers experience considerable stress and depressive symptoms, with self-rated stress correlating significantly with depression scores. Age may serve as a protective factor against oc-cupational stress and burnout. These findings highlight the need for adequate psychiatric screening and interven-tion for public sector workers.

Effects of Psychotropic Drugs on Seizure Threshold during Electroconvulsive Therapy

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the relationship between seizure threshold (ST) and psychotropic drugs in patients treated with ECT. METHODS: We examined clinical data from 43 patients. ST was titrated at each treatment session. We examined associations between ST and psychotropic drugs using multivariate correlation analyses. Data are presented as initial ST, the difference in ST between the first and 10th sessions (ΔST(10th)), and the mean difference in ST between the first and last sessions (mean ΔST(last)). RESULTS: Multivariate regression analyses showed associations between initial ST and the total chlorpromazine-equivalent dose of antipsychotics (β=0.363, p<0.05). The total fluoxetine-equivalent dose of antidepressants was associated with ΔST(10th) (β=0.486, p<0.01) and mean ΔST(last) (β=0.472, p<0.01). CONCLUSION: Our study elucidated possible effects of psychotropic drugs on ST shifts. Larger doses of antipsychotics were associated with higher initial ST, whereas higher doses of antidepressants were associated with stronger shifts in ST.