Anxiety Symptoms and Associated Psychological and Job-Related Factors Among Hospital Nurses.

OBJECTIVE: Recently, burnout and mental health issues regarding nurses are reported increasingly. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of anxiety symptoms among hospital nurses and determine their association with psychological and job-related factors. METHODS: Data on demographics, job-related characteristics, burnout, Type A behavior patterns, self-esteem, and happiness were collected from 515 nurses working at a university hospital in Korea. Anxiety symptoms were assessed using the anxiety subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, with scores of 8 or higher indicating the presence of anxiety symptoms. Demographic, job-related, and psychological factors were compared according to the presence of anxiety. Logistic regression was conducted to identify factors associated with anxiety symptoms. RESULTS: Two hundred and four (39.6%) participants had anxiety symptoms. Self-esteem and happiness were associated with a lower risk of anxiety symptoms, whereas burnout was associated with a higher risk of anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, being female, having a career of less than five years, and requiring counseling due to stress were associated with a higher risk of anxiety symptoms. Being younger, female, or a basic nurse; having a career of less than five years; partaking in shift work; experiencing job dissatisfaction; requiring counseling due to stress; being exposed to higher levels of burnout; and having lower levels of self-esteem and happiness were all found to be significantly correlated with anxiety symptoms. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that promoting self-esteem and happiness while reducing burnout may be beneficial in preventing and managing anxiety symptoms among hospital nurses.

The association between adverse childhood experiences and self-harm among South Korean children and adolescents: a cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: Adolescent self-harm is a public health problem. Research suggests a link between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and self-destructive behaviors. Few studies, however, have examined the effects of ACEs on self-harm among Asian adolescents. This study explored the association between lifetime ACEs and a history of self-harm among Korean children and adolescents in elementary, middle, and high schools. METHODS: A cross-sectional, retrospective medical record review was conducted on a dataset of a national psychiatrist advisory service for school counselors who participated in the Wee Doctor Service from January 1 to December 31, 2020. The data were analyzed using multiple logistic regression to predict self-harm. RESULTS: Student cases (n=171) were referred to psychiatrists by school counselors for remote consultation. Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that the odds of self-harm were higher among high school students (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]=4.97; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.94-12.76), those with two or more ACEs (aOR=3.27; 95% CI=1.43-7.47), and those with depression (aOR=3.06; 95% CI=1.32-7.10). CONCLUSION: The study's findings provide compelling evidence that exposure to ACEs can increase vulnerability to self-harm among Korean students. Students with a history of ACEs and depression, as well as high school students, require increased attention during counseling. School counselors can benefit from incorporating screening assessment tools that include questions related to ACEs and depression. Establishing a systematic referral system to connect students with experts can enhance the likelihood of identifying self-harm tendencies and offering the essential support to prevent self-harm.

Psychosocial Factors Influencing Quality of Life Among Medical Students.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the influence of psychosocial factors on medical students' quality of life (QOL). METHODS: A total of 408 medical students participated in this study. We collected data on participants' sociodemographic details, symptoms of depression and Internet addiction, self-esteem, social support, and QOL. QOL was assessed using the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Abbreviated form, which has four domains (physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environment). A stepwise multiple linear regression model was constructed to identify factors' independent impact on QOL. RESULTS: Higher levels of depression and Internet addiction were associated with lower scores in all domains of QOL, whereas higher levels of self-esteem and social support were associated with higher scores. Being in third-year versus first-year was associated with higher scores in the physical health and environment domains. Living alone or in dormitories, low or middle socioeconomic status, and insufficient or moderate pocket money were associated with lower scores in the environment domain. Additionally, female students displayed significantly lower scores for physical health, psychological health, and environment than male students, but not for social relationships. There were significant differences in certain domains of QOL due to sociodemographic factors. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the psychosocial factors influencing medical students' QOL. Educational strategies focusing on strengthening self-esteem and social support as well as preventing depression and Internet addiction may contribute to improving medical students' QOL.

Automating Rey Complex Figure Test scoring using a deep learning-based approach: a potential large-scale screening tool for cognitive decline.

BACKGROUND: The Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT) has been widely used to evaluate the neurocognitive functions in various clinical groups with a broad range of ages. However, despite its usefulness, the scoring method is as complex as the figure. Such a complicated scoring system can lead to the risk of reducing the extent of agreement among raters. Although several attempts have been made to use RCFT in clinical settings in a digitalized format, little attention has been given to develop direct automatic scoring that is comparable to experienced psychologists. Therefore, we aimed to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) scoring system for RCFT using a deep learning (DL) algorithm and confirmed its validity. METHODS: A total of 6680 subjects were enrolled in the Gwangju Alzheimer's and Related Dementia cohort registry, Korea, from January 2015 to June 2021. We obtained 20,040 scanned images using three images per subject (copy, immediate recall, and delayed recall) and scores rated by 32 experienced psychologists. We trained the automated scoring system using the DenseNet architecture. To increase the model performance, we improved the quality of training data by re-examining some images with poor results (mean absolute error (MAE) [Formula: see text] 5 [points]) and re-trained our model. Finally, we conducted an external validation with 150 images scored by five experienced psychologists. RESULTS: For fivefold cross-validation, our first model obtained MAE = 1.24 [points] and R-squared ([Formula: see text]) = 0.977. However, after evaluating and updating the model, the performance of the final model was improved (MAE = 0.95 [points], [Formula: see text] = 0.986). Predicted scores among cognitively normal, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia were significantly different. For the 150 independent test sets, the MAE and [Formula: see text] between AI and average scores by five human experts were 0.64 [points] and 0.994, respectively. CONCLUSION: We concluded that there was no fundamental difference between the rating scores of experienced psychologists and those of our AI scoring system. We expect that our AI psychologist will be able to contribute to screen the early stages of Alzheimer's disease pathology in medical checkup centers or large-scale community-based research institutes in a faster and cost-effective way.

Successful Early Lamotrigine and Aripiprazole Augmentation of Clomipramine in Severe Obsessive-compulsive Disorder.

Lamotrigine and aripiprazole have shown efficacy as augmentation agents of serotonin reuptake inhibitors for treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). To date, the efficacy of lamotrigine/aripiprazole augmentation has not been reported in OCD treatment. Herein, we report the case of a 37-year-old male with severe OCD and comorbid depression whose symptoms markedly improved after low-dose lamotrigine/aripiprazole augmentation to clomipramine. Our report suggests that early glutamatergic/antipsychotic augmentation contributes to rapid remission of OCD symptoms.

Ego-resiliency moderates the risk of depression and social anxiety symptoms on suicidal ideation in medical students.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the role of protective factors in suicidal ideation among medical students. This study aimed to examine the association between suicidal ideation and protective (self-esteem/ego-resiliency/social support) and risk (depression/social anxiety) factors. METHODS: Data on sociodemographic factors, depression, social anxiety, self-esteem, ego-resiliency, social support, and current suicidal ideation were collected from 408 medical students. A logistic regression model was constructed to identify the independent impact of potential influencing factors on suicidal ideation. Potential moderating effects were also explored. RESULTS: Thirty-eight participants (9.3%) reported experiencing suicidal ideation. Younger age, higher levels of depression, social anxiety, and lower levels of self-esteem, ego-resiliency, and social support were found to be significantly correlated with suicidal ideation. In the final model, higher levels of depression and social anxiety were associated with an increased risk of suicidal ideation, while higher levels of self-esteem and social support were associated with a decreased risk of suicidal ideation. Although the independent effect was not significant, the interactions of ego-resiliency with both depression and social anxiety on suicidal ideation were significant. Higher levels of ego-resiliency acted as a buffer against suicidal ideation among those with higher levels of depression or social anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to risk factors, this study revealed the underlying protective and moderating factors of suicidal ideation among medical students. Mental health programs focusing on enhancing ego-resiliency, self-esteem, and social support may contribute to suicide prevention in medical students.

Network Analysis-Based Disentanglement of the Symptom Heterogeneity in Asian Patients with Schizophrenia: Findings from the Research on Asian Psychotropic Prescription Patterns for Antipsychotics.

The symptom heterogeneity of schizophrenia is consistent with Wittgenstein's analogy of a language game. From the perspective of precision medicine, this study aimed to estimate the symptom presentation and identify the psychonectome in Asian patients, using data obtained from the Research on Asian Psychotropic Prescription Patterns for Antipsychotics. We constructed a network structure of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) items in 1438 Asian patients with schizophrenia. Furthermore, all the BPRS items were considered to be an ordered categorical variable ranging in value from 1-7. Motor retardation was situated most centrally within the BPRS network structure, followed by depressive mood and unusual thought content. Contrastingly, hallucinatory behavior was situated least centrally within the network structure. Using a community detection algorithm, the BPRS items were organized into positive, negative, and general symptom clusters. Overall, DSM symptoms were not more central than non-DSM symptoms within the symptom network of Asian patients with schizophrenia. Thus, motor retardation, which results from the unmet needs associated with current antipsychotic medications for schizophrenia, may be a tailored treatment target for Asian patients with schizophrenia. Based on these findings, targeting non-dopamine systems (glutamate, γ-aminobutyric acid) may represent an effective strategy with respect to precision medicine for psychosis.

Amisulpride withdrawal akathisia responding to aripiprazole with propranolol in first-onset psychosis: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Akathisia tends to develop as an early complication of antipsychotic treatment in a dose-dependent manner. Although withdrawal akathisia has been reported after the discontinuation or dose reduction of typical antipsychotic drugs, akathisia following atypical antipsychotic drug withdrawal remains a rare phenomenon. CASE PRESENTATION: A 24-year-old woman with an acute psychotic episode was admitted and initially treated with aripiprazole. The aripiprazole dose was titrated up to 30 mg/day over 9 days and maintained for the next 3 days; however, her psychotic symptoms persisted without change. She was switched to amisulpride, with the dose increased over 2 weeks to 1000 mg/day. Subsequently, although the patient's psychotic episode subsided, her serum prolactin levels increased markedly. After discharge, the amisulpride dose was increased to 1200 mg/day owing to auditory hallucinations and was maintained with quetiapine (100-200 mg/day) and benztropine (1 mg/day) for 13 weeks. Given the potential for hyperprolactinemia as a side effect, the amisulpride dose was reduced to 800 mg/day concurrently with the discontinuation of benztropine; however, these changes resulted in severe restlessness without other extrapyramidal symptoms. The withdrawal akathisia disappeared over 2 weeks after switching to aripiprazole (10 mg/day) with propranolol (40 mg/day) and the patient's prolactin levels had normalized after 6 months of aripiprazole monotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: The present case highlights the potential for the development of withdrawal akathisia when the dose of amisulpride is tapered abruptly. Thus, a slow tapering and careful monitoring are recommended when switching from amisulpride to other antipsychotic drugs. Furthermore, this case suggests that changing the regimen to aripiprazole with propranolol may be a potential option for amisulpride withdrawal akathisia superimposed on pre-existing hyperprolactinemia.

A Literature Review on the Efficacy and Related Neural Effects of Pharmacological and Psychosocial Treatments in Individuals With Internet Gaming Disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Internet gaming disorder (IGD) has attracted considerable attention as a serious mental and public health issue worldwide. Currently, there are no established treatment guidelines for IGD. Herein, we review the latest findings on the efficacy and related neural effects of pharmacological and psychosocial treatments for individuals with IGD. METHODS: A database search of relevant studies published between 2007 and 2020 was conducted using PubMed and Google Scholar. Twenty-seven studies were reviewed for current evidence related to the efficacy and neural effects of pharmacological and psychosocial IGD treatments. RESULTS: Pharmacological studies suggest that bupropion may play a significant role in IGD. Additionally, nuclear imaging studies on IGD have demonstrated functional impairment of the dopamine system, providing a neurobiological basis for the efficacy of dopamineenhancing drugs. Among the various psychosocial interventions, current evidence suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy may be an effective intervention for IGD. Cognitive behavioral therapy and bupropion were found to influence resting-state functional connectivity within the cortico-subcortical circuit and default mode network, suggesting a possible neural mechanism. Innovative approaches, including virtual reality treatment, residential camps, voluntary abstinence, and transcranial direct current stimulation, have shown promising results. However, methodological limitations, such as the absence of proper controls, small sample sizes, short duration, inconsistency of inclusion criteria across studies, and self-report measures of outcome, hamper conclusions regarding the efficacy of treatments. CONCLUSION: Ongoing basic research and clinical trials overcoming these limitations could add to the existing knowledge on IGD and contribute to the development of evidence-based treatments.

Associations between Brain Reserve Proxies and Clinical Progression in Alzheimer's Disease Dementia.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether brain and cognitive reserves were associated with the clinical progression of AD dementia. We included participants with AD dementia from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, provided they were followed up at least once, and candidate proxies for cognitive (education for early-life reserve and Adult Reading Test for late-life reserve) or brain reserve (intracranial volume [ICV] for early-life reserve and the composite value of [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography regions of interest (FDG-ROIs) for late-life reserve) were available. The final analysis included 120 participants. Cox proportional hazards model revealed that FDG-ROIs were the only significant predictor of clinical progression. Subgroup analysis revealed a significant association between FDG-ROIs and clinical progression only in the larger ICV group (HR = 0.388, p = 0.028, 95% CI 0.167-0.902). Our preliminary findings suggest that relatively preserved cerebral glucose metabolism might delay further clinical progression in AD dementia, particularly in the greater ICV group. In addition to ICV, cerebral glucose metabolism could play an important role as a late-life brain reserve in the process of neurodegeneration. Distinguishing between early- and late-life reserves, and considering both proxies simultaneously, would provide a wider range of factors associated with the prognosis of AD dementia.

Visuospatial memory impairment as a potential neurocognitive marker to predict tau pathology in Alzheimer's continuum.

BACKGROUND: Given that tau accumulation, not amyloid-ß (Aß) burden, is more closely connected with cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease (AD), a detailed understanding of the tau-related characteristics of cognitive function is critical in both clinical and research settings. We investigated the association between phosphorylated tau (p-Tau) level and cognitive impairment across the AD continuum and the mediating role of medial temporal lobe (MTL) atrophy. We also developed a prediction model for abnormal tau accumulation. METHODS: We included participants from the Gwangju Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia Cohort in Korea, who completed cerebrospinal fluid analysis and clinical evaluation, and corresponded to one of three groups according to the biomarkers of A and T profiles based on the National Institute on Aging and Alzheimer's Association research framework. Multiple linear and logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the association between p-Tau and cognition and to develop prediction models. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to examine the discrimination ability of the models. RESULTS: Among 185 participants, 93 were classified as A-T-, 23 as A+T-, and 69 as A+T+. There was an association between decreased visuospatial delayed memory performance and p-Tau level (B = - 0.754, ß = - 0.363, p < 0.001), independent of other relevant variables (e.g., Aß). MTL neurodegeneration was found to mediate the association between the two. Prediction models with visuospatial delayed memory alone (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.872) and visuospatial delayed memory and entorhinal thickness (AUC = 0.921) for abnormal tau accumulation were suggested and they were validated in an independent sample (AUC = 0.879 and 0.891, respectively). CONCLUSION: It is crucial to identify sensitive cognitive measures that capture subtle cognitive impairment associated with underlying pathological changes. Preliminary findings from the current study might suggest that abnormal tau accumulation underlies episodic memory impairment, particularly visuospatial modality, in the AD continuum. Suggested models are potentially useful in predicting tau pathology, and might be utilized practically in the field.

Internet Addiction and Its Associations with Clinical and Psychosocial Factors in Medical Students.

OBJECTIVE: Excessive internet use has been associated with various psychiatric symptoms and psychosocial factors. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of internet addiction (IA) and its associations with clinical (depression/social anxiety) and psychosocial (self-esteem/perceived social support) factors in medical students. METHODS: In total, 408 medical students at one university in Korea were included in this study. IA symptoms were assessed with Young's Internet Addiction Test, and scores of 50 or higher were considered to indicate IA. Participants were asked to complete the Beck Depression Inventory, Social Phobia Inventory, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and Duke-University of North Carolina Functional Social Support Questionnaire. A logistic regression model was constructed to examine the impact of clinical and psychosocial factors on IA. RESULTS: Forty-seven participants (11.5%) were identified as having IA. Self-esteem was associated with a lower risk of IA, whereas depression and social anxiety were associated with a higher risk of IA. Depression, social anxiety, low self-esteem, and low perceived social support were found to be significant correlates of IA. Young's Internet Addiction Test score positively correlated with Beck Depression Inventory and Social Phobia Inventory scores, but negatively correlated with Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Duke-University of North Carolina Functional Social Support Questionnaire scores. Furthermore, the prevalence of IA was highest in first-year medical students. CONCLUSION: This study revealed the possible risk and protective factors of IA. Our findings indicate that strengthening self-esteem and reducing depression and social anxiety may contribute to the prevention and management of IA in medical students.

Network Analysis of Language Disorganization in Patients with Schizophrenia.

Language disorganization, an objective component of formal thought process abnormality, has been regarded as a core symptom of schizophrenia from an evolutionary psychopathology perspective. However, to the best of our knowledge, the network structure of language disorganization has rarely been examined in patients with schizophrenia. Thus, our preliminary study aimed to evaluate the network structure using the Clinical Language Disorder Rating Scale (CLANG) in 167 inpatients with schizophrenia. All 17 of the CLANG items were considered to be ordered categorical variables ranging from 0 to 3. Our results indicated that disclosure failure, excess syntactic constraints, abnormal prosody, and aprosodic speech rank among the top five central domains within the network structure. We deemed that disclosure failure and prosody problems are the most important symptoms of language disorder in schizophrenia. Thus, reduced top-down processing of linguistic information may be a core neurobiological underpinning of language disorganization in schizophrenia. Further studies controlling for the potential effects of confounding factors (i.e., duration of illness) on network analyses of language disorder and formal thought disorder are warranted in patients with schizophrenia.

Coronavirus Disease Outbreak in Call Center, South Korea.

We describe the epidemiology of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in a call center in South Korea. We obtained information on demographic characteristics by using standardized epidemiologic investigation forms. We performed descriptive analyses and reported the results as frequencies and proportions for categoric variables. Of 1,143 persons who were tested for COVID-19, a total of 97 (8.5%, 95% CI 7.0%-10.3%) had confirmed cases. Of these, 94 were working in an 11th-floor call center with 216 employees, translating to an attack rate of 43.5% (95% CI 36.9%-50.4%). The household secondary attack rate among symptomatic case-patients was 16.2% (95% CI 11.6%- 22.0%). Of the 97 persons with confirmed COVID-19, only 4 (1.9%) remained asymptomatic within 14 days of quarantine, and none of their household contacts acquired secondary infections. Extensive contact tracing, testing all contacts, and early quarantine blocked further transmission and might be effective for containing rapid outbreaks in crowded work settings.

Reversion From Mild Cognitive Impairment To Normal Cognition: False-Positive Error Or True Restoration Thanks To Cognitive Control Ability?

PURPOSE: Relatively little attention has been paid to the meaning of reversion from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to cognitively normal (CN), compared to MCI progression studies. The purpose of the study was to investigate the characteristics contributing to reversion from MCI to CN and to identify the associated factors with such reversion. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively identified 200 individuals who initially diagnosed as MCI and completed the second visit from the National Research Center for Dementia (NRCD) registry in Korea. Participants underwent comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological assessments. Factors associated with reversion were examined by a independent-samples t-test, χ2 test, and logistic regression. Longitudinal change was examined by a repeated measures analysis of variance (rANOVA). RESULTS: Based on the second assessment, 78 (39%) individuals were found to have reverted to CN (rMCI) and 118 (59%) remained with MCI (sMCI). Four (2%) progressed to Alzheimer's disease dementia and they were excluded from further analysis. Over a wide range of socio-demographic, clinical, and neuropsychological variables, group difference was significant only in neuropsychological tests of cognitive control. Both groups showed improvement in several neuropsychological tests, implying a practice effect, but the rMCI group showed greater improvement. CONCLUSION: Reversion from MCI to CN might not be a false-positive error but a true recovery from cognitive impairment. Our results suggest that cognitive control ability may be a characteristic favorable for the restoration of cognitive function. Therefore, assessment of cognitive control might facilitate the development of appropriate interventions for MCI as well as prognosis evaluation.

Tuberculum sellae meningioma with possible tacrolimus neurotoxicity manifesting as manic-like psychosis after kidney transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Although kidney transplantation is the best treatment option for chronic kidney disease, the accompanying immunosuppressive treatment can induce severe neurotoxicity presenting, on rare occasions, as psychosis. However, a brain tumor synchronous with immunosuppressant neurotoxicity has never been reported in a kidney transplant recipient. Herein, we report the first case of possible tacrolimus neurotoxicity with a meningioma manifesting as manic-like psychosis after kidney transplantation. CASE PRESENTATION: A 63-year-old male presenting with acute psychotic mania was admitted to a psychiatric ward approximately 2 years after kidney transplantation. On brain magnetic resonance imaging, a tuberculum sellae meningioma was found, and hyperintense white matter lesions with possible tacrolimus-induced neurotoxicity were seen on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images. Interestingly, the patient showed no visual field defects, and his blood tacrolimus concentration was within therapeutic ranges. After 3 weeks of adjunctive treatment with blonanserin, most of the symptoms had abated. CONCLUSIONS: The present case highlights the fact that neuroimaging studies are necessary to investigate underlying causes, as well as immunosuppressant neurotoxicity, which should all be considered when atypical psychiatric symptoms develop after organ transplantation. Further, this case suggests that the additional use of atypical antipsychotics while maintaining immunosuppressants may be effective for manic-like psychotic symptoms secondary to possible immunosuppressant neurotoxicity synchronous with a meningioma.

Distinct Neural Correlates of Executive Function by Amyloid Positivity and Associations with Clinical Progression in Mild Cognitive Impairment.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to identify the neural basis of executive function (EF) in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) according to beta-amyloid (Aß) positivity. Furthermore, we explored if the identified brain areas could serve as predictors for clinical progression. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We included individuals with aMCI using data from [18F]-florbetapir-positron emission tomography (PET), fluorodeoxyglucose-PET, and EF scores, as well as follow-up clinical severity scores at 1 and 5 years from baseline from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database. The correlations between EF score and regional cerebral glucose metabolism (rCMglc) were analyzed separately for aMCI with low Aß burden (aMCI Aß-, n=230) and aMCI with high Aß burden (aMCI Aß+, n=268). Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to investigate the associations between rCMglc and clinical progression. RESULTS: Longitudinal courses differed between aMCI Aß- and aMCI Aß+ groups. On average, aMCI Aß- subjects maintained their level of clinical severity, whereas aMCI Aß+ subjects showed progression. EF impairment in aMCI Aß- was related to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), whereas that in aMCI Aß+ was related to Alzheimer's Disease-vulnerable brain regions. ACC and the posterior cingulate cortex were associated with clinical progression in aMCI Aß- and aMCI Aß+, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that although MCI subjects showed similar behavioral phenotypes at the time of diagnosis, EF and further progression were associated with different brain regions according to Aß burden. Clarification of the etiologies and nature of EF impairment in aMCI are critical for disease prognosis and management.

Examining Patterns of Polypharmacy in Bipolar Disorder: Findings from the REAP-BD, Korea.

Based on Korean data from the Research on Asian Psychotropic Prescription Pattern for Bipolar Disorder, this study tried to present prescription patterns in biopolar disorder (BD) and its associated clinical features. Based on the information obtained from the study with structured questions, the tendency of prescription pattern was studied and analyzed. Polypharmacy was predominant, including simple polypharmacy in 51.1% and complex polypharmacy in 34.2% of patients. Subjects associated with simple or complex polypharmacy were significantly younger, had higher inpatient settings, a larger portion of onset with manic episode, a shorter duration of untreated illness, a shorter duration of current episode, were more overweight, used less antidepressants and used more anxiolytics. These findings can suggest higher polypharmacy rate in more severe BD and highlight the necessity of monitoring the weight of subjects with polypharmacy.

Neural Correlates of Self-referential Processing and Their Clinical Implications in Social Anxiety Disorder.

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is associated with aberrant self-referential processing (SRP) such as increased self-focused attention. Aberrant SRP is one of the core features of SAD and is also related to therapeutic interventions. Understanding of the underlying neural correlates of SRP in SAD is important for identifying specific brain regions as treatment targets. We reviewed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies to clarify the neural correlates of SRP and their clinical implications for SAD. Task-based and resting fMRI studies have reported the cortical midline structures including the default mode network, theory of mind-related regions of the temporo-parietal junction and temporal pole, and the insula as significant neural correlates of aberrant SRP in SAD patients. Also, these neural correlates are related to clinical improvement on pharmacological and cognitive-behavioral treatments. Furthermore, these could be candidates for the development of novel SAD treatments. This review supports that neural correlates of SAD may be significant biomarkers for future pathophysiology based treatment.

Life satisfaction and happiness associated with depressive symptoms among university students: a cross-sectional study in Korea.

BACKGROUND: This cross-sectional study investigated the impact of life satisfaction and happiness, as well as the prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms in a large sample of university students. METHODS: We included 2338 students at 6 universities in 1 metropolitan city and 2 provinces of Korea. Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory, and scores of 16 or higher were categorized as the presence of depression. Various sociodemographic, life satisfaction, happiness, and clinical factors (alcohol consumption and sleep quality) were measured. According to the presence of depression, sociodemographic, life satisfaction, happiness, and clinical characteristics were compared using statistical analyses. Further, a logistic regression model was constructed to examine the impact of life satisfaction, happiness, and clinical factors on depression. RESULTS: Among participants, 13.4% were identified as having depression. Life satisfaction and happiness were associated with a lower risk of depression, while hazardous alcohol drinking and poor sleep quality were related to a higher risk of depression. In addition, female gender, subjective body shape as obese, and insufficient pocket money were found to be significant correlates of depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated possible risk and protective factors of underlying depressive symptoms. Especially, our findings suggest that improvement in life satisfaction and happiness would be important in the prevention and management of depression. Our findings may contribute to developing specialized mental health programs for prevention, screening, and treatment of depression among university students.