Department of Research Planning, Mental Health Research Institute, National Center for Mental Health, Seoul 04933, Korea.
Department of Social Psychiatry and Rehabilitation, National Center for Mental Health, Seoul 04933, Korea.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Mar 25;15(4):591. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15040591.
North Korean refugees experience adaptation difficulties, along with a wide range of psychological problems. Accordingly, this study examined the associations between early traumatic experiences, negative automatic thoughts, and depression among young North Korean refugees living in South Korea. Specifically, we examined how different factors of negative automatic thoughts would mediate the relationship between early trauma and depressive symptoms. A total of 109 North Korean refugees aged 13-29 years were recruited from two alternative schools. Our path analysis indicated that early trauma was positively linked with thoughts of personal failure, physical threat, and hostility, but not with thoughts of social threat. The link with depressive symptoms was only significant for thoughts of personal failure. After removing all non-significant pathways, the model revealed that early traumatic experiences were positively associated with depressive symptoms (ß = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.48-0.73) via thoughts of personal failure (ß = 0.17, 95% CI = 0.08-0.28), as well as directly (ß = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.27-0.59). Interventions that target negative cognitions of personal failure may be helpful for North Korean refugees at risk of depression.
朝鲜难民经历适应困难,同时还伴有广泛的心理问题。因此,本研究考察了生活在韩国的年轻朝鲜难民的早期创伤经历、消极自动思维与抑郁之间的关系。具体来说,我们检验了消极自动思维的不同因素如何在早期创伤和抑郁症状之间起中介作用。共有 109 名年龄在 13 至 29 岁之间的朝鲜难民从两所替代学校中招募而来。我们的路径分析表明,早期创伤与个人失败、身体威胁和敌意的思维呈正相关,但与社会威胁的思维无关。与抑郁症状的关联仅对个人失败的思维具有统计学意义。在去除所有无统计学意义的路径后,模型显示,早期创伤经历通过个人失败思维(ß = 0.17,95%CI = 0.08-0.28)与抑郁症状呈正相关(ß = 0.61,95%CI = 0.48-0.73),以及直接相关(ß = 0.44,95%CI = 0.27-0.59)。针对个人失败消极认知的干预措施可能对有抑郁风险的朝鲜难民有帮助。