A Preliminary Study of Childhood Trauma and Patterns of Psychotropic Medication Use in Patients with Schizophrenia

OBJECTIVES: Experience of early childhood abuse elevates the risk of developing schizophrenia in later period of life, incidence of psychiatric comorbidity, symptomatic severity and complexity. In this context, we hypothesized that the pattern of psychotropic medication used would reflect this; those with childhood trauma will received more types and higher doses of psychotropic medication. METHODS: From our database of 102 outpatients diagnosed with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) schizophrenia, we analyzed experiences of childhood trauma measured by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form and types and dose of prescribed psychotropic medication. RESULTS: We found significant positive correlations between child sexual abuse and the number of psychotropic medications (p = 0.029) and between child emotional neglect and the number of psychotropic medications other than antipsychotics (p = 0.045). CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary study suggests that the pattern of psychotropic use may be affected by types of childhood trauma. Further studies will have to shed light on mediating factors such as symptoms or comorbid conditions that lead to prescription of certain psychotropic class.

Analysis of consumption frequencies of vegetables and fruits in Korean adolescents based on Korea youth risk behavior web-based survey (2006, 2011)

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study analyzed factors affecting consumption frequencies of vegetables and fruits in Korean adolescents. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Consumption frequencies of vegetables and fruits, general characteristics, meal, health, and other variables were analyzed for a total of 147,047 adolescents who participated in the KYRBWS (Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey) conducted in 2006 and 2011 by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. RESULTS: Consumption frequencies of vegetables and fruits more than once a day significantly decreased in 2011 compared to 2006 based on Chi-square test conducted for every factor employed in the study. Analysis of factors showed that consumption frequencies of vegetables and fruits were reduced in both study years as subjective income decreased, whereas intake frequencies increased with mother's education level and reduction of adolescent stress level. CONCLUSIONS: In general, consumption frequencies of vegetables and fruits decreased in 2011 compared to those in 2006. Thus, future research needs to improve dietary guidelines for nutrition education in order for students to recognize the importance of food consumption and necessity of increasing daily serving sizes of vegetables and fruits for their balanced consumption.

Factors Related to Eating Breakfast of Middle and High School Students in Seoul / 대한지역사회영양학회지

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors related to eating breakfast for middle and high school students in Seoul using the Theory of Planned Behavior. Out of 2,280 questionnaires distributed to 22 schools, 2,060 were returned (90.4% response rate) and 1,899 were analyzed (83.3% analysis rate). Gender, self-perceived household income level and mother's working status were examined as demographic factors. "Attitude", "Subjective norm", "Perceived difficulty in access to breakfast", "Perceived time restriction" and "Self restriction to breakfast" were extracted as psychosocial factors as the results of factor analysis and reliability test using 17 items. In case of middle school students, boys were more likely to skip breakfast than girls. The students perceiving their household income level "low or middle low" were more likely to skip breakfast than those who perceived their household income level "high or middle high". The students whose mother had a job tended to skip breakfast than those whose mother had no job. In case of high school students, the students perceiving their household income level "low or middle low" tended to skip breakfast than those perceiving their household income level "high or middle high". The results of analysis of variance, all the psychosocial factors examined in this study-"Attitude", "Subjective norm", "Perceived difficulty in access to breakfast", "Perceived time restriction" and "Self restriction to breakfast"- were related to the frequencies of eating breakfast during weekdays in both the middle and high school students.

Psychometric Properties of the Life Events Checklist-Korean Version

OBJECTIVE: The Life Events Checklist is a brief screening instrument that is used for potentially traumatic events such as accidents, disasters, sexual or physical assaults, or combat-related exposures. The original English version was recently tested for reliability and validity and it showed good psychometric properties, and so its use is recommended for the assessment of trauma. METHODS: This study investigated the reliability and validity of a Life Events Checklist-Korean version in 157 consecutive psychiatric outpatients at a university-affiliated teaching hospital. The questionnaire also included the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Correlation and principal component analyses were conducted. RESULTS: The four week test-retest reliability was good and the internal consistency was acceptable. In addition, the number of traumatic events was significantly correlated with the posttraumatic depressive and anxiety symptoms, which demonstrated the convergent validity of the scale. Additionally, exploratory factor analysis identified a six-factor structure that explained 57.2% of the total variance. CONCLUSION: These findings support the reliability and validity of the Life Events Checklist-Korean version.

Factors Affecting Intention to Participate in School Breakfast Programs of Middle and High School Students in Seoul / 대한지역사회영양학회지

The purpose of this study was to determine factors affecting intention to participate in school breakfast programs of middle and high school students in Seoul using the Theory of Planned Behavior. Out of 2,280 questionnaires distributed to the middle and high school students, 2,060 were returned (90.4% response rate) and 1,799 were analyzed (78.9% analysis rate). To determine factors affecting intention to participate in school breakfast programs, logistic regression analyses were conducted for middle and high school students, respectively. For logistic regression, data of 1,217 out of 1,799 students (637 middle and 580 high school students) were used after excluding 582 students which had an answer 'Not sure' to the question about intention to participate in school breakfast programs. In case of middle school students, male than female students (OR = 1.504), the students who skipped all breakfast (OR = 1.851), who ate breakfast 1~2 times (OR = 3.474) or 3~4 times (OR = 1.950) than those who ate breakfast everyday during weekdays of the previous week were more likely to participate in school breakfast programs. In case of high school students, male than female (OR = 1.967), the students who skipped all breakfast (OR = 4.187), the students who ate breakfast 1~2 times (OR = 3.024) or 3~4 times (OR = 2.095) than those who ate breakfast everyday during weekdays of the previous week were more likely to participate in school breakfast programs. In addition, both possibility of middle and high school students' participation in school breakfast programs increased as the satisfaction with school lunch service (OR = 1.704, 1.653) increased. Middle school students who perceived their household income level 'low or middle low' (OR = 1.999) than those who perceived their household income level 'middle' and the students who had more positive 'attitude' (OR = 1.311) toward eating breakfast were more likely to participate in school breakfast programs. However, high school students who had higher 'perceived difficulty in access to breakfast' (OR = 1.370) were more likely to participate in school breakfast programs. The results of this study could be useful data to plan and develop school breakfast programs in Korea.