Comparison of Stress, Depression and Suicidal Ideation between Nursing Students and Students of Other Majors / 한국간호교육학회지

PURPOSE: This study compares differences in stress, depression and suicidal ideation between nursing and students of other academic disciplines. METHODS: Nursing students (n=105) and students of other majors (n=148) were surveyed on the degree of personal stress, depression and suicidal ideation. Participants were recruited from three universities in cities S and C in Korea. Data were collected from May 1 to 20, 2013. Measurement tools were the Revised Life Stress Scale for College Students, Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale(CES-D), and Scale for Suicide Ideation(SSI). PASW Statistics 18 was used for descriptive analysis, homogeneity test(chi-square distribution) and ANCOVA. RESULTS: The level of stress among nursing students was lower than that of students in other majors. Among the subcategories of stress, however, stress among nursing students arising from the student-faculty relationship was higher than that of their non-nursing counterparts. Conversely, differences in the prevalence of depression were notsignificant between nursing students and non-nursing students. Ultimately, it was revealed that there exists a strong correlation among stress, depression and suicidal idea for nursing students. CONCLUSION: Developing stress and depression management programs for nursing students is highly recommended.

The Effects of Mental Fitness, Social Support and Psychological Distress on Suicidal Idea of People with Schizophrenia Using Community Mental Health Services / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to analyze the relationships of psychological distress, social support, mental fitness and suicidal idea among patients of chronic schizophrenia using community mental health services. METHODS: This study was conducted in patients who visited the mental health services in Daejeon from October to December 2011. In total, 395 chronic schizophrenic patients were evaluated using Mental Fitness Scale (MFS), Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). RESULTS: Results showed that 37% (n=146) of patients had suicidal ideas and 63% (n=249) of patients did not have suicidal ideas. The group that had suicidal ideas showed significantly lower scores on MFS, K10, and MSPSS than the group with no suicidal ideas (p=0.000). Logistic regression analysis showed a significantly lower score on MFS, K10 for the suicidal ideation group than the group with no suicidal ideas. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that health care providers should consider mental fitness and psychological distress, in order to prevent suicidal idea of schizophrenic patients.

Risk factors of antidepressant treatment emergent suicidal ideas or attempted suicide among patients with bipolar depression / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective To explore the risk factors of antidepressant treatment emergent suicidal ideas or attempted suicide among patients with bipolar depression. Methods Out of 623 patients with bipolar disorder visiting between June 2006 and June 2009,68 who was initially diagnosed as unipolar disorder and treated with antidepressants were retrospectively surveyed. Suicide and activation symptoms during the process of antidepressant treatment were estimated based on the cases record and semi-structural interviews. Unconditional bivariate logistic regression was conducted to analyze the potential risk factors. Results Of 68 patients,7 ( 10. 3% ) experienced antidepressant treatment emergent suicidal ideas and 4 ( 5.9% ) attempted suicide after 2 to 63 ( 17.45 ± 5.90 )days following the treatment. The antidepressant treatment emergent suicidal ideas or attempted suicide were related to the suicidal level before treatment (P= 0. 012, OR = 2. 072 ) and the combined use of benzodiazepine (P =0. 043, OR = 0.236). Clinical subtypes, gender, age, symptoms feature, types of antidepressant and antidepressanttreatment emergent activation symptoms had little impact on the antidepressant treatment emergent suicidal ideas orattempted suicide (P ＞ 0.05 ). Conclusion The antidepressant treatment emergent suicidal ideas or attempted suicide among patients with bipolar depression are positively related to the suicidal level before treatment while negatively associated with the combined use of benzodiazepine.

Suicide-Related Behaviors among the College Students / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the prevalence of suicide-related behaviors (suicidal ideation, plan and attempt) and the status of depression, anxiety and function in college students. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was completed to a sample of 880 students with the self-administered form of Korean version of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (K-MINI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). RESULTS: Estimated lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation was 39.2%, that of suicidal plan was 4.7% and that of suicidal attempt was 3.0%. Students with any suicide-related behaviors showed higher lifetime prevalence of major and minor depression, higher BDI and BAI scores, and poor interpersonal relationship, adaptation to college life and physical health compared to the students with no suicide-related behaviors. The average points of grades during their college life were not significantly different according to kinds of suicide-related behaviors they experienced (F=0.39, p=0.82). 96% of suicidal attempters did not use mental health services. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that a high proportion of college students experience suicide-related behaviors. The students who had experienced suicide-related behaviors showed higher depression and anxiety and poorer function compared to students with no suicide-related behaviors. Most of suicidal attempters, however, did not use mental health service. Establishing campus mental health system is necessary to early detect mental health problems and to prevent suicide of college students.

Psychosocial Factors Associated with Suicidal Idea among Korean Elderly

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze psychosocial factors associated with suicidal idea among Korean elderly. METHODS: The sociodemographic data and psychopathology were evaluated by questionnaire and psychiatric interview in community-dwelling elderly with age over 60 (N=100) and adults with age 30-49 (N=60). Suicidal idea was assessed by 9th item of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). To analyze factors associated with suicidal idea in Korean elderly, we assessed family function (Family Adaptation Partnership Growth Affection Resolve, APGAR), alcohol problem (Cut Annoyed Guilty Eye-Opener, CAGE), depressive symptoms (HAM-D, BDI), cognitive function (CDR, MMSE-K, GDS), and functional activities (ADL, I-ADL). RESULTS: 1) The frequency of suicidal idea of the elderly with age over 60 (20.0%) was significantly higher than that of adult with age 30-49 (6.7%)(p<0.05). 2) The factors associated with suicidal idea were major depressive disorder (OR=42.17, 95% C.I. : 2.62-679.03), physical illness (OR=27.01, 95% C.I. : 1.18-616.50), depressive symptoms (OR=12.18, 95% C.I. : 2.91-49.98), poor economic status (OR=7.18, 95% C.I. : 1.05-48.86). 3) The means of variables in the elderly with suicidal idea were ADL 6.4+/-1.1, HAM-D 17.8+/-7.7, BDI 30.0+/-9.5, APGAR 4.8+/-2.6, which were significantly higher than those of the elderly without suicidal idea (p<0.05, respectively). 4) The HAM-D score in the Korean elderly had statistically significant correlation with APGAR (gamma=0.376, p<0.01), BDI (gamma=0.808, p<0.01), ADL (gamma=0.316, p<0.01), GDS (gamma=0.282, p<0.01), CDR (gamma=0.258, p<0.01) and education level (gamma=-0.208, p<0.05). The BDI score had statistically significant correlation with APGAR (gamma=0.341, p<0.01), HAM-D (gamma=0.808, p<0.01), GDS (gamma=0.340, p<0.01), CDR (gamma=0.301, p<0.01), ADL (gamma=0.325, p<0.05) and I-ADL (gamma=0.206, p<0.05). CONCLUSION: These results suggested early detection, psychogeriatric intervention of the elderly with high risk factors and active treatment of medical illness could reduce suicidal idea among them.