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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

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Sense of coherence as a protective factor against mental health symptoms among North Korean defectors

SENSE OF COHERENCE AS A PROTECTIVE FACTOR FOR MENTAL HEALTH SYMPTOMS AMONG NORTH KOREAN DEFECTORS

A higher sense of coherence among North Korean defectors is independently associated with a lower symptom burden and reduced odds of depression, anxiety, adjustment disorder, and complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

The study aimed to examine levels of sense of coherence (SOC) among North Korean defectors and their relationship with symptom severity and probable diagnoses of depression, anxiety, adjustment disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among defectors living in South Korea; the measures included the SOC-13 and ICD-11–aligned screening instruments (IDQ, IAQ, IADQ, and ITQ), and analyses used Pearson correlations and multivariable logistic regression adjusted for sex, age, and education. Participants (N=202) had a mean age of 48.13 ± 12.83 years; 168 (83.2%) were women, 93 (46.0%) had a university education or higher, 161 (79.7%) lived with others, and 71 (35.0%) were employed. The total SOC score was 56.77 ± 11.26. All correlations between SOC and symptom severity were negative and significant at p<0.001; absolute r values were 0.5 for adjustment disorder, 0.394 for depression, 0.378 for CPTSD, 0.374 for anxiety, and 0.289 for PTSD. Probable diagnosis frequencies and adjusted odds ratios (aORs) from the adjusted analyses were as follows: depression, 23 (11.4%), aOR 0.937 (95% CI 0.895 to 0.980; p<0.01); anxiety, 26 (12.9%), aOR 0.930 (0.890 to 0.971; p<0.01); adjustment disorder, 42 (20.8%), aOR 0.926 (0.892 to 0.962; p<0.001); CPTSD, 18 (8.9%), aOR 0.916 (0.869 to 0.967; p<0.01); and PTSD, 28 (13.9%), aOR 0.981 (0.947 to 1.017; not significant). In conclusion, higher SOC is independently associated with a lower symptom burden and lower odds of diagnosis for conditions other than PTSD. The authors emphasize that resettlement programs may benefit from strengthening the dimensions of comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness, and that longitudinal research is needed to draw causal inferences.

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