The Psychological Problems of North Korean Adolescent Refugees Living in South Korea

OBJECTIVE: As the number of North Korean adolescent refugees drastically increased in South Korea, there is a growing interest in them. Our study was conducted to evaluate the mental health of the North Korean adolescent refugees residing in South Korea. METHODS: The subjects of this study were 102 North Korean adolescent refugees in Hangyeore middle and high School, the public educational institution for the North Korean adolescent refugees residing in South Korea, and 766 general adolescents in the same region. The Korean version of Child Behavior Check List (K-CBCL) standardized in South Korea was employed as the mental health evaluation tool. RESULTS: The adolescent refugees group showed a significantly different score with that of the normal control group in the K-CBCL subscales for sociality (t=29.67, p=0.000), academic performance (t=17.79, p=0.000), total social function (t=35.52, p=0.000), social withdrawal (t=18.01, p=0.000), somatic symptoms (t=28.85, p=0.000), depression/anxiety (t=13.08, p=0.000), thought problems (t=6.24, p=0.013), attention problems (t=4.14, p=0.042), internalized problems (t=26.54, p=0.000) and total problems (t=5.23, p=0.022). CONCLUSION: The mental health of the North Korean adolescent refugees was severe particularly in internalized problems when compared with that of the general adolescents in South Korea. This result indicates the need for interest in not only the behavior of the North Korean adolescent refugees but also their emotional problem.

A study on the psychosocial behavior of the disabled children in Loni, Maharashtra.

Objectives:To find out the changes in psychosocial behavior of the disabled children. Materials and Methods: The study area comprises of villages under rural field practice area of Rural Medical College, Loni. 7300 children of the age group of 0-14 years from the total population of 20,533 were studied by community based cross- sectional study. House to house survey was conducted to identify disabled children using a pre-tested questionnaire by interview technique. Child behavior check list (CBCL) which was developed by T.M. Atenbach was the tool used to assess the comprehensive, multi informant evaluation of child's behavior. Results: The overall prevalence rate of disabilities in children was 2.25%. Psychosocial behavioral changes were observed more in children with multiple and miscellaneous disability which includes cerebral palsy and was followed by mental retardation, locomotor disability, visual impairment and least among the children with hearing and speech impairment. Psychosocial behavioral changes among the children with disabilities were statistically significant. Conclusion: The result of the study necessitates organizing counseling to disabled children and parents, community based rehabilitation program and integration of disabled into the main stream education to reduce the psychosocial behavioral changes.