Self-concealment and suicidality: Mediating roles of unmet interpersonal needs and attitudes toward help-seeking.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the relationship between self-concealment-a tendency to hide distressing information-and suicidality, via two mediators: (a) unmet interpersonal needs and (b) help-seeking attitudes. METHOD: A sample of young adults (18-25 years) was recruited online to complete a self-report survey questionnaire (n = 245). A parallel multiple mediation model was analyzed using the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2013, Methodology in the social sciences. Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York, NY: Guilford Press) in SPSS. RESULTS: There was a significant positive relationship between self-concealment and suicidality. This relationship was partially mediated by unmet interpersonal needs. Although self-concealment was associated with more negative attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help, these help-seeking attitudes were not significantly related to suicidality. CONCLUSIONS: Our results highlight the importance of interpersonal factors in suicide. Unmet interpersonal needs emerged as a mechanism by which self-concealment contributes to increased suicidality. We review implications for research, clinical practice, and prevention.

Examination of the Adlerian constructs of activity and social interest with depression among recent Korean retirees: Meaning in life as a mediator.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether (a) the Adlerian construct of activity and social interest would be related to decreased depression and (b) meaning in life would mediate these relationships among Korean retirees. A total of 219 Korean retirees who had retired within the last three years completed the survey. The survey included the Activity Scale, Social Interest Scale, The Meaning in Life Questionnaire, and Center for Epidemiology Depression Scale. Structural equation modeling was conducted to analyze data. The results indicated that activity was directly associated with depression (ß=-.453, p<.001) and indirectly related to depression through meaning in life (indirect path: ß=-.279, p< .05, 95% CI=-.483, ∼-.145). Similarly, social interest was found to be directly related to depression (ß=-.710, p<.001) and indirectly related to depression through meaning in life (indirect path: ß=-.227, p<.05, 95% CI=-.427, ∼-.086). These findings suggest that meaning in life is an important avenue through which activity and social interest are linked to a lower level of depression among Korean retirees.

Development and validation of the Patriarchal Beliefs Scale.

The purpose of this research was to develop and validate a conceptually and psychometrically solid measure for patriarchal beliefs in samples of U.S. American adults from diverse demographic and geographic backgrounds. In Study 1, we identified 3 correlated factors of the Patriarchal Beliefs Scale (PBS) in data collected from the Internet (N = 279): Institutional Power of Men, Inferiority of Women, and Gendered Domestic Roles. In Study 2, data collected from the Internet (N = 284) supported both an oblique 3-factor structure and a bifactor structure of the PBS, through confirmatory factor analyses. Construct validity of the PBS was supported in relation to other gender-related measures. The PBS was correlated in expected directions with modern sexism, antifeminist attitudes, and egalitarian attitudes toward women. In Study 3, we examined measurement invariance across gender by using combined data from Study 1 and Study 2. All 3 factors of the oblique 3-factor model indicated measurement invariance, whereas the general factor represented in the bifactor model indicated nonequivalence. Mean differences in patriarchal beliefs were found for such demographic variables as gender, sexual orientation, education, and social class. Recommendations for using the PBS, as well as implications for research and practice, are discussed.

Hwa-Byung among middle-aged Korean women: family relationships, gender-role attitudes, and self-esteem.

We surveyed 395 Korean middle-aged women and examined how their perceptions of family relationships, gender-role attitudes, and self-esteem were associated with Hwa-Byung (HB; Korean anger syndrome). Our regression analyses revealed that participants who reported worse family relationship problems experienced more HB symptoms. Having profeminist, egalitarian attitudes toward women's gender roles was also associated with more HB symptoms. Self-esteem was not significantly associated with HB. Based on the results, we suggest that what is crucial to understanding HB is not how women evaluate themselves, but rather the level of stress caused by family relationship problems and their perception of women's roles.