Objectives: The aim of this study is to give recommendations on public drinking restriction in the alcohol accessibility policies in order to bring about changes in the alcohol consumption norm. Methods: As for in-country literature, reports of government agencies and research papers were reviewed. Results: Though public drinking prohibition laws differ from state to state, one common law that every state shares are that, it is illegal to drink in public areas in Australia. Canada’s alcohol law jurisdiction is based on the federal law or local government. All territories and states commonly share the same principals of public alcohol consumption. It is illegal to drink alcohol in public and public spaces are defined broadly throughout Canada. The law prohibits people from carrying around opened alcohol bottles in the USA. Under the alcohol laws in Singapore, one can drink in public but only during specific times. Violating the public drinking prohibition time will amount to consequences ranging from a fine to imprisonment. Conclusions: Thus, prohibiting public drinking should be clearly stated under the National Health Promotion Act. Detailed locations should be also defined under the jurisdiction from the local government’s ordinance.

Although most of the pandemic-related mandatory restrictions have been lifted or eased, vaccination is still recommended as an effective measure to minimize the damage from COVID-19 infection. Since COVID-19 eradication is unlikely, it is necessary to understand the factors affecting the public’s vaccination intention when COVID-19 vaccination is continuously recommended. This study aims to explore the factors that affect the intention to repeat the COVID-19 vaccination in South Korea. An online survey was conducted in January 2022 with adults living in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. In a hierarchical logistic regression analysis, sociodemographic factors, COVID-19 infection-related factors, COVID-19 vaccination-related factors, sociocultural factors, and communication factors were taken into account. In this study, more than three-quarters (78.1%) of Koreans were willing to repeat the COVID-19 vaccination. People who had high-risk perceptions, had been vaccinated against COVID-19 at least once, had more authoritarian attitudes, regarded the vaccination as a social responsibility, and had positive attitudes toward health authorities’ regular briefings were more likely to repeat the vaccination. In contrast, those who directly or indirectly experienced COVID-19 vaccine side effects and who showed psychological reactance against the government’s vaccination recommendation were less likely to repeat the vaccination. Our research indicates that empathetic communication, promotion of the prosocial aspect of vaccination, and regular and transparent provision of vaccine information are essential for promoting the intention to repeat the COVID-19 vaccination.

BACKGROUND: The negative consequences of job loss on financial and psychological quality of life have been well documented. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the level of unemployed individuals’ embitterment and the mechanism by which negative life experiences increase embitterment by lowering the belief in a just world (BJW). METHODS: A survey was administered to 1,074 unemployed Korean adults who visited a regional Center for Employment and Welfare. Question items included the Korean version of posttraumatic embitterment disorder (PTED) self-rating scale, the BJW (personal and general) scale, negative life events, and sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: Only 45.9% of the participants were categorized as being in a ‘normal state,’ indicating that many of the unemployed were emotionally embittered. There was a positive direct effect of an increase in negative life events on embitterment. Negative life events also significantly and indirectly affected embitterment through personal BJW. CONCLUSIONS: Embitterment was prevalent among the unemployed participants and embitterment was a reactive emotion following personal downgrading, not so much related to conditions in the world at large. Thus, we recommend developing a screening program to detect extreme embitterment and an interventional program to help people better cope with emotional stress due to job loss. Efforts should be made to restore their violated expectation and trust that they would be treated in a just and fair way.

To examine the prevalence of embitterment by following individuals over time and to statistically evaluate how factors known as correlates of embitterment affect different groups with or without changes in embitterment over time. Responses for the posttraumatic embitterment disorder (PTED) self-rating Scale were collected from the same 1,153 adults who participated in a follow-up survey delivered 14 months apart. Suggested cutoff points were applied to identify changes in embitterment and four groups were identified. For each group, the relative impacts of factors that affect changes in or maintenance of embitterment, such as negative life events (NLEs), belief in a just world (BJW), social support, relative deprivation, and resilience, were statistically analyzed. The average PTED scores were relatively high for both surveys (M = 1.73 and 1.58, respectively). "Persistent" or "increased" in embitterment was seen for 47.3% of the participants. In particular, 15.3% (Wave 1) and 12.1% (Wave 2) of participants experienced clinically relevant levels of embitterment. NLEs, BJW, relative deprivation, and resilience showed significant associations with the risk of persistence or deterioration of embitterment. Our study highlights embitterment as a dynamic emotion that can either be aggravated or moderated over time. Embitterment can be elicited by joint effects of multiple social and interactional factors including known embitterment correlates, and relative deprivation is confirmed as a possible core elicitor of embitterment in the context of comparative justice. These findings imply that additional longitudinal research and development of practices for mental health prevention in general populations are needed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Objectives: This study aims to not only examine the protective role of perceived social support (PSS) but also derive practical implications focusing on its effects on depression and embitterment, while considering negative life events (NLEs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: An online-based, self-reporting survey was administered in January 2022 to 1,000 community residents that were 18 years of age or older in Gyeonggi province, South Korea. The question items included depression, embitterment, PSS, and NLEs. Some covariates, such as sociodemographic characteristics, justice belief, general and governmental trust, and experience of COVID-19 confirmation and self-isolation, were also included. The hypotheses were examined via a hierarchical regression utilizing bootstrap methods. Results: Higher levels of NLEs during the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with deteriorated levels of depression and embitterment, respectively. The PSS showed significant protective effects on depression and embitterment, respectively, particularly in the consideration of NLEs during the pandemic. The effect of PSS on depression was greater than in that the case of embitterment. Conclusion: From the analysis of Korea, which applies a range of long-term containment strategies, this study highlights the necessity for the government and communities to develop strategies that can reduce the detrimental impact on psychological health vis-à-vis the significant effects of PSS.

We have demonstrated an order of magnitude increase in terahertz (THz) power by creating an asymmetric plasma filament whose density decreases gradually in its tail. Comparison between models with and without accounting for amplification indicates amplification of the THz wave in the plasma.