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AbstractBackgroundResearch outcomes on intellectual development and related disabilities in North Korea are not widely known. Therefore, the current scoping review aimed to provide preliminary insight on research topics concerning intellectual disabilities in North Korea.MethodA six‐stage framework for scoping review was adopted to examine research trends. Articles were categorised based on the era of supreme leader and research topic.ResultsThere is a greater amount of research regarding intellectual disabilities in the recent Kim Jong‐un era compared to the period of the previous leader where research outcomes on general intelligence were the focus. Significant qualitative progress was similarly found.ConclusionsThe current analysis on research outcomes provides meaningful insights to aid in understanding the atmosphere in North Korea surrounding intellectual disabilities. Follow‐up studies and open discussions are necessary for further progress.

Background: Suicide attempts and depression are considerably misunderstood by Korean society. Studies regarding factors should provide basic information concerning the factors that should be considered when examining stigmatization. Aim: This study aimed to investigate sociodemographic factors related to the social stigma toward people with a history of suicide attempts or depression in a Korean nationwide community sample. Method: Face-to-face interviews were conducted with participants selected via a multi-stage cluster sampling method; 779 respondents completed Link's Perceived Devaluation and Discrimination (PDD) scale to assess the social stigma they attached to suicide attempts, and another 743 completed PDD scale to assess the social stigma they attached to depression. Multiple regression analysis, including socioeconomic and psychiatric variables, was performed to identify the factors predictive of social stigma. Results: Results of multiple regressions revealed that age ( β = .12, p = .018), sex ( β = .08, p = .038), years of education ( β = −.31, p = .006) and history of suicide attempts ( β = −.11, p = .009) significantly predicted the degree of stigma toward people who had made suicide attempts, whereas age ( β = .15, p = .003) and education ( β = −.40, p = .001) also predicted the social stigma toward people with depression, sex and history of a depressive episode did not. Conclusion: Older men with less education and no experience with suicide perceived suicide attempts more negatively. Similarly, older people with less education placed a greater stigma on people suffering from depression. These results suggest that greater access to higher education may reduce stigma toward people with mental illness.

<b><i>Aims:</i></b> The aim of the current study was to develop and validate a short-form of the internet overuse screening questionnaire (IOS-Qs). <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A total of 571 adults were recruited from a representative, stratified, and multistage cluster sample. Among participants, 188 and 383 were used in the development and validation of the IOS-Qs, respectively. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Experts' ratings and Rasch model analyses led to the selection of 8 items from the IOS-Qs; latent-class analysis using these 8 items revealed an estimated prevalence of 8.6% (33 out of 383) of problematic internet over-users. Problematic internet over-users were positively associated with a 1-year prevalence rate of any mental disorder (OR 3.08, <i>p</i> = 0.008), mood disorder (OR 7.11, <i>p</i> = 0.003), and depressive disorder (OR 5.22, <i>p</i> = 0.016). The receiver operating characteristic curves identified an optimal cutoff score of 9.5 for differentiating problematic internet over-users from unproblematic internet users with 94% sensitivity and 94% specificity. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> The results suggest that the IOS-Qs was valid, and items including social isolation were crucial to the brief distinction of at-risk internet users. Because of its brevity, the questionnaire can be effectively administered as a large-scale survey.

Jun-Young Lee,1,2 Sooyeon Kho,1,2 Hye Bin Yoo,1,2 Soowon Park,1,2 Jung-Seok Choi,1,2 Jun Soo Kwon,3 Kyung Ryeol Cha,4 Hee-Yeon Jung1,21Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University, 2Seoul Metropolitan Government – Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, 3Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; 4Department of Psychiatry, Osan Mental Hospital, Gyeonggi, South KoreaObjective: This study aims to apply the virtual radial arm maze (VRAM) task to find spatial working memory and reference memory impairments in patients of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Spatial memory functions between aMCI converters and nonconverters are also compared using VRAM results.Methods: We assessed the spatial memory in 20 normal controls, 20 aMCI, and 20 mild AD subjects using VRAM. The Mini-Mental State Examination, Clinical Dementia Rating scale, and other neuropsychological tests were given to the subjects in conjunction with the VRAM test. Scores in working memory errors and reference memory errors were compared among the three groups using repeated measures analysis of variance. In addition, aMCI patients were followed-up after 5 years and surveyed for AD conversion rate.Results: In AD patients, both spatial working and reference memory were impaired. However, in aMCI subjects, only spatial reference memory was impaired. Significant spatial reference memory impairment was found in the aMCI converter group when compared to the nonconverter group.Conclusion: Spatial working memory is less impaired in aMCI while reference memory is similarly damaged in AD. In aMCI patients, more severe spatial reference memory deficit is a neuropsychological marker for AD conversion. VRAM may be well utilized in humans to assess spatial memory in normal aging, in aMCI, and in AD.Keywords: spatial behavior, Alzheimer's disease, user computer interface, cognition

A few studies have been conducted on the prevalence of partial posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but points of agreement and disagreement between full and partial PTSD have not been fully investigated. We interviewed a representative sample of 6,258 subjects, ages 18-64 years, in household visits using the Korean version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (K-CIDI 2.1). "Partial PTSD" was defined as >/=1 symptom in each of the three symptom groups (Criteria B, C, and D) and duration of >/=1 month (Criterion E). Estimated lifetime prevalence of partial PTSD was 2.7%, and that of full PTSD was 1.7%. A "female gender" risk factor was significantly associated with both partial and full PTSD. The mean duration of partial PTSD was 6.5 years, which was not significantly different from the 5.7 year duration of full PTSD. Traumas associated with the development of partial rather than full PTSD were "natural disaster with fire" and "military combat" in men, and "witnessing a traumatic situation" and "learning about traumas to others" in women, whereas "threatened by others" was more associated with the development of full PTSD. The rates of multiple comorbid disorders and of comorbid major depressive disorder and dysfunctions in work during the 1-month period prior to interview did not differ significantly between the partial and full PTSD groups. In conclusion, partial PTSD did not differ significantly from full PTSD in terms of duration, comorbidity, and dysfunction, but they differed markedly in terms of associated trauma types.