This study investigated the longitudinal associations between the degrees of positive and negative spillover in work–life balance (WLB) at baseline and reports of depressive mood at a 2-year follow-up in Korean women employees. We used a panel study design data of 1386 women employees who participated in the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families in both 2014 and 2016. Depressive mood was measured using the “10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.” Associations between the positive and negative spillover in WLB at baseline and reports of new incidence of depressive mood at 2-year follow-up were explored using a multivariate logistic regression model. Negative spillover in WLB at baseline showed a significant linear association with reports of depressive mood at 2-yearfollow-up after adjusting for age, education level, marital status, number of children, and positive spillover (P = 0.014). The highest scoring group in negative spillover (fourth quartile) showed a significant higher odds ratio of 1.95 compared with the lowest scoring group (first quartile; P = 0.036). Positive spillover in WLB showed a U-shaped association with depression. The degrees of positive and negative spillover in WLB among Korean women employees at baseline were associated with new incidence of depressive mood within 2 years. To prevent depression of female workers, more discrete and differentiated policies on how to maintain healthy WLB are required.

Objective The current study examined the differential empathic capacity, post-traumatic symptoms, and coping strategies in healthcare workers (HCWs) according to the exposure of verbal or physical workplace violence (WPV).Methods Using online survey, a total of 422 HCWs employed at a training general hospital of South Korea participated and completed self-reporting questionnaires including the WPV questionnaire with coping strategy, the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy.Results Those who experienced either only verbal violence or both physical and verbal violence had lower Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy scores (p<0.05). Posttraumatic stress symptom severity was higher among people who experienced verbal violence than physical violence. HCWs’ exposure to verbal violence was associated with severe posttraumatic symptoms and a low level of empathy with patients (p<0.05). More than half of the victims of verbal violence responded that they did not take any action, receive organizational protection, or peer support, while most physically-abused HCWs received institutional intervention or help from others.Conclusion Our findings highlight the critical importance of reducing verbal violence, which may represent a larger psychological burden compared to physical violence, by actively implementing effective strategies and policies at the institutional level.

Objective This cross-sectional study aimed to 1) explore the relationships among work-life balance (WLB), burnout, and empathy and 2) investigate the roles of the subtypes of burnout relating to WLB and empathy.Methods A total of 105 health care professionals from a general hospital in Seoul were assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory, Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy, and a one-sentence-question on subjective WLB. Multiple questions on psychiatric problems, including sleep problems, anxiety, depressive symptom, and alcohol problems, were also included.Results In the mediation analyses, personal achievement was considered as a potential mediating variable between WLB and empathy. The direct effect (β=3.93, 95% CI: 1.21–6.64) and the indirect effect (β=1.95, 95% CI: 0.52–3.76) of WLB on empathy were also significant.Conclusion Interventions encouraging personal achievement may help mitigate burnout of health professionals.

Objective We aimed to investigate the association between working from home (WFH), depression/anxiety, and work-family conflict (WFC) among Korean workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We surveyed a total of 1,074 workers online. Depression and anxiety were measured using the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Mediating effects of WFC on the relationship between WFH and depression/anxiety were examined. Results The WFH group had higher depression and anxiety scores than the daily commuting group. As WFC increased, the CES-D and BAI scores also increased. A possible mediating effect of WFC on the relationship between WFH and high CES-D and BAI scores was found. Conclusion We observed a significant difference in depression/anxiety between WFH and daily commute workers, which was mediated by WFC, especially for young, child-growing, and precarious workers.

Economic growth has a protective effect against suicide, but the nature of this association remains unclear. This ecological study explored the relationship between economic growth and suicide rates across countries within a specific timeframe. Data on age-standardized suicide rates and gross domestic product per capita (GDPpc) from 198 countries between 1991 and 2021 were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease Study and the World Bank. Using a two-way fixed-effects model and the compound annual growth rate, the association between age- and sex-adjusted suicide rates and GDPpc changes in preceding years was analyzed. GDPpc growth and lower suicide rates were significantly correlated, with a stronger correlation over longer periods, and similar associations were observed in upper-middle, lower-middle, and low-income countries. The opposite correlation was found between increased suicide rates and short-term average GDPpc growth in high-income countries, with economic growth being associated with increased suicide rates in these countries. In low- and lower-middle-income countries, increased suicide rates were associated with long-term economic stagnation. Socioenvironmental stress related to economic changes should be considered when implementing suicide prevention policies.

BACKGROUND In South Korea, the psychiatric treatment gap is huge. Sociocultural context, such as stigma attached to mental illness, limit opportunities for professional help-seeking. OBJECTIVE This study uses TM of the internet to investigate barriers by age groups to receiving psychiatric treatment. METHODS A corpus of data was collected from web communities, social network services, and personal blogs on the internet from 1 January 2016 to 31 July 2019. Words frequently linked with psychiatry were collected by natural language processing. Words that may be associated with barriers to receiving psychiatric help were identified and categorized. Because the data from web communities could be classified approximately according to age, the analyses were arranged by age groups. RESULTS A total of 97,730,360 articles were identified for the period in question, among which 6,097,369 texts contained keywords relevant to psychiatry. Among words that were associated with ‘psychiatry,’ approximately 3,000 were selected based on their frequency of occurrence. Words associated with barriers to receiving psychiatric help were categorized into the following four groups: structural discrimination, public prejudice, low accessibility, and adverse drug effects. Structural discrimination was the greatest barrier (34%), followed by public prejudice (27.8%), adverse drug effects (18.6%), and cost/low accessibility (16.1%). Structural discrimination was the greatest barrier in the groups consisting of teenagers (51%), job seekers (64%), and young mothers (43%). However, in the seniors group, the greatest barrier was public prejudice (49%). CONCLUSIONS Structural discrimination is the greatest barrier to receiving psychiatric help in Korea. Difference in the barriers, however, exists among age groups. As well as addressing structural issues for all, more tailored approaches may be required by generations to lower the gap.