Eun-Jin Park

Objective The Children in Disaster: Evaluation and Recovery (CIDER) program in Korea was developed to treat children and adolescents exposed to trauma. This study aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the CIDER through a comparison with controls.Methods A total of 85 participants consisted of the intervention group (n=41) and control group (n=44). We assessed the changes in trauma-related symptoms, depression, anxiety, and improvements in quality of life before and after the intervention.Results In total, bullying and school violence (44.7%) were the most common trauma, followed by sexual abuse (17.6%). Acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) accounted for 41.2%, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and developmental disorder were the most common comorbidities (51.8%). The symptoms of trauma, depression, anxiety, and quality of life improved significantly in the intervention group, while the control group did not show significant changes.Conclusion Compared with the control group, the CIDER improved symptoms and quality of life in children and adolescents who had experienced trauma. The CIDER program was practical and easy to apply, even for different ages, types of traumas, and comorbidities.

Soh Yeon Hong, Young-Min Park, Eun-Jin Park. Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci 2024;22:151-8. https://doi.org/10.9758/cpn.23.1088

Eun Jin Park, Young-Min Park, Seung-Hwan Lee, Bongseog Kim. Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci 2022;20:514-25. https://doi.org/10.9758/cpn.2022.20.3.514

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is common, with a 10% global prevalence and a significant health problem, and is one of the main causes of morbidity. Patients with COPD experience various types of sleep problems with insomnia as the most common sleep disorder. The presence of sleep disorders further deteriorates their quality of life. Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are commonly prescribed drugs for insomnia. Several meta-analyses have shown that BZDs effectively reduce insomnia; however, severe side effects including rebound insomnia, next-day hangover, anterograde amnesia, and cognitive impairment occur. Since COPD patients often complain of symptoms such as shortness of breath, safe treatment for sleep disorders is needed. Melatonin supplements have a safe profile and are well-tolerated. Therefore, melatonin can be safely prescribed to treat insomnia in patients with COPD. In addition, due to the anti-inflammatory activity of melatonin, it can be an alternative to BZDs for improving insomnia symptoms without exacerbating respiratory symptoms. It would be helpful to more actively screen and detect sleep disorders in adults with COPD, and to provide safe melatonin treatment for improving their quality of life.

Addiction in adolescence is increasing and has a significant impact on physical and mental health. Notably, addictions can be comorbid and affect each other. Despite the recent growing interest in food addiction (FA) and problematic smartphone use (PSU), few studies have investigated their association in adolescents. We investigated the relationship between FA and PSU in adolescents and the effects of eating behaviors. A total of 209 adolescents (44.5% male; mean age = 12.86 ± 0.7 years) participated in the current school-based community study. We found a positive correlation between the dimensional Yale Food Addiction Scale for Children 2.0 (dYFAS-C2.0) and the Smartphone Overdependence Scale after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, and socioeconomic status. The high-risk PSU group accounted for 17.2% of participants. Furthermore, this group showed 2.3 times higher dYFAS-C2.0 scores than the general group. Emotional overeating and satiety responsiveness were correlated with PSU. A comprehensive evaluation of addiction symptoms is needed for proper intervention, especially in adolescents with symptoms of abnormal eating behaviors.

Yeonkyu Choi, Dong Yun Lee, Sangha Lee, Eun-Jin Park, Hee Jeong Yoo, and Yunmi Shin. J Korean Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2021;32:154-60. https://doi.org/10.5765/jkacap.210015

Objective As smartphone use is becoming more common, the age of initial exposure to devices is becoming younger. Young children’s screen use is influenced by various factors; it is more directly dependent on family environment than school-aged children. Our study aimed to examine the effect of mother’s smartphone addition on their child’s smartphone use.Methods Participants were from the Kids Cohort for Understanding of internet addiction Risk factors in early childhood (K-CURE) study. Adult smartphone addiction self-diagnosis scale was used to evaluate smartphone addiction degree of mother. Child’s smartphone use was assessed by parental questionnaire. Using logistic regression analysis, we examine the association between mother’s smartphone addiction and child’s smartphone use.Results After adjusting for other factors, mother’s smartphone addiction is related with early smartphone exposure of children. Highrisk group’s children was exposed to smartphone earlier than low risk group (adjusted OR, 0.418; p=0.021). Contrary to expectation, there is no correlation between mother’s smartphone addiction and child’s smartphone use time.Conclusion Our study explain that mother’s smartphone addiction can affect early smartphone exposure on children. Based on our findings, further study might explore the effect of early smartphone exposure on children.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that develops during early childhood. It is characterized by social communication deficits, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors. The various comorbid problems affect the daily functioning and quality of life of patients and their families. In particular, sleep problems, including insomnia, negatively affect the children's social interactions, emotions, and behavior. Melatonin is the most commonly prescribed drug for sleep problems related to ASD during childhood and adolescence, and the link between decreased melatonin concentration and the pathogenesis of sleep disturbances in ASD has been focused on recently. It is essential to evaluate sleep problems in children with ASD and to make appropriate therapeutic interventions. This article reviews the findings on the sleep-melatonin relationship in patients with ASD.

Lee MS, et al. J Korean Med Sci. 2020 Jun;35(29):e240. https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e240