Effect of School-Based Social Skills Training Program on Peer Relationships: Preliminary Study.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a school-based social skills training program on peer relationships in children and adolescents and to assess the plan for effective school-based mental health services. METHODS: The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Promotion Team of Bugok National Hospital conducted 7-sessioned school-based social skills training for elementary and middle school students (n=90). Changes in peer relationships were evaluated before and after application of the program using a name generator question. RESULTS: The social skills training program increased peer relations, indicating significant changes in social network indices. CONCLUSION: The social skills training program positively influenced peer relationships. The school-based social skills training program can be expected to have positive effects on school-based mental health services. Future investigation is needed to validate the long term effects of this program.

Activity monitoring using a mHealth device and correlations with psychopathology in patients with chronic schizophrenia.

There are few studies of mobile-Health (mHealth) device application with schizophrenic patients. We aimed to quantitatively assess patient's activity and the relationship between their physical activity and the severity of their psychopathologies. Then we attempted to identify the patients who required intervention and evaluated the feasibility of using the mHealth device. A total of 61 of the 76 available hospitalized patients with chronic schizophrenia who participated in the activity programs were enrolled. They wore a mHealth device for a week to assess their activity (steps/day). The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was completed by the subjects. As a result, the positive subscale of the PANSS and the positive and negative factors of the PANSS 5-factor structure showed a predictive value for low levels of physical activity. The group of subjects with a high total PANSS score had a significantly lower level of physical activity than the other groups. In conclusion, physical activity showed a significant association with positive symptoms as well as negative symptoms. The mHealth device showed relatively good feasibility for schizophrenic patients. We should pay more attention to the activity of patients with high PANSS scores.

The Korean Version of the Adolescent Dissociative Experience Scale: Psychometric Properties and the Connection to Trauma among Korean Adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: The Adolescent Dissociative Experience Scale (A-DES) is a screening measure for dissociative experience in adolescents. The present study aimed to investigate the reliability, validity and psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Adolescent Dissociative Experience Scale. METHODS: The Korean version of the A-DES was administered to a normative group of 371 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years and a traumatized group of 33 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years with known trauma. RESULTS: The internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach's alpha=0.91) and the test-retest correlation of the A-DES was high (r=0.99). Correlation between the A-DES and other measures of dissociation was moderate (r=0.48). There were no significant age differences in mean total A-DES scores for the normative sample, or for boys or girls separately. Nor were there any significant gender differences for any age group. The mean total score of the A-DES was significantly higher in the traumatized group than in the normative group. There was a statistically significant difference between adolescents with self-reported trauma and those without a trauma history in the normative group. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that the Korean version of the A-DES is a reliable measure with excellent internal consistency and good stability over a 4-week test-retest interval with single factor structure. It can be used to screen for dissociative symptoms in Korean adolescents between the ages 12 and 18.