Background: Smartphone addiction among children and adolescents has a negative effect, as excessive use of smartphones can cause physical symptoms, such as fatigue, indigestion, and sleep problems, as well as psychopathological problems, such as depression, anxiety, and impulsiveness. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out using the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey 2019 conducted by the National Youth Policy Institute. The total number of participants was 4656 youths (2290 in grade 5 and 2366 in grade 8), and the dependent and independent variables were smartphone addiction in children and parents, respectively. Multiple regression analysis was conducted by Stata 15.0 SE. Results: First, the level of parents’ smartphone addiction affected that of children and adolescents. Second, the children’s and adolescents’ age affected the level of smartphone addiction, while their gender did not affect it. Third, the relationship between the levels of parents’ and children’s smartphone addiction was not moderated by the genders and ages of the children and adolescents. Conclusions: It was confirmed that as parents’ smartphone addiction increased, that of children increased, and smartphone addiction was found to increase in the second grade of middle school (12 years old) rather than grade 5 of elementary school (10 years old). Parents’ and children’s smartphone addiction was not moderated by children’s and adolescents’ gender and age.

Background: Korea had the highest suicide rate among OECD countries for the 10 years leading up to 2016; however, the suicide rate in Korea has declined since 2010, after policy-driven interventions were implemented. Methods: Suicide rates from all of the 229 cities, counties, and districts in Korea were reliably estimated from the period 2010 to 2017, and data were examined by Stata 14.0 and M-plus to identify regional suicide rate change patterns by latent growth modeling. The dependent variable is the suicide rate, and independent variables as characteristics of the various districts are the region (cities, counties, and autonomous districts), proportion of elderly residents, financial independence rate, establishment of mental health and welfare centers, and number of social welfare facilities. Results: Three suicide rate change patterns were identified: ‘average’, ‘precipitous drop’, and ‘high level’. Two of the three patterns exhibit features that are markedly different to the national data as a whole, and the three patterns appear across the 229 cities, counties, and districts of Korea. Some of the determinant factors have been postulated here. While a high proportion of elderly residents in a given area is a significant indicator that the suicide rate will increase, having a large elderly population in combination with an increased number of social welfare facilities centers appeared to show a discrete pattern of suicide rate reduction when compared with average national data. Conclusions: Policy-driven interventions should be planned and implemented by central and local governments in conjunction, by considering regional characteristics to decrease local suicide rates more effectively.

This study aimed to investigate the moderation of social support in the association between loneliness and depression in different age groups of older adults. The sample consisted of 1532 community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older, based on the data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), Wave 3 (2015–2016). Eleven items of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) were used to measure depressive symptoms. Similarly, a four-item scale was used to measure social support (each from spouse and family), and a three-item scale for loneliness. The results were as follows. Loneliness was associated with depression in both the young-old and the old-old groups. Spousal support and family support were associated with reduced depression in the young-old group, whereas only spousal support was associated with relieving depression in the old-old group. Social support had a significant moderating effect on the relationship between loneliness and depression in the old-old group, whereas it had no significant effect in the young-old group. From these results, it can be concluded that spousal support plays a significant role in seniors’ mental health. The role of caregivers for a person’s well-being grows later in life, so practitioners could help couples communicate with this consideration. In addition, regular contacts with family members and spousal support are recommended to prevent older old adults’ depression.

This study analyzes the stakeholder networks that have developed in the medical tourism industry centered around South Korea. The network that 14 leading Korean medical tourism stakeholders have with China and the United States are investigated considering General Agreement on Trade in Services four modes and analyzed via social network analysis. The stakeholders of each mode with China and the United States depict relational structures that vary in their degree of similarity and disparity on the basis of their centralization. This study contributes to the literature by bringing order to and providing a structural framework for the network complexity of the medical trade in relation with the medical tourism industry.

Background: Smartphones are an important part of children’s and adolescents’ lives, and they often spend a lot of time using them. This study aims to precisely discover the effects of smartphone addiction on sleep duration as moderated by age and gender. Materials and methods: The data utilized in this study are from the ‘Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey 2018′ by the National Youth Policy Institute; a total of 4940 youths (2399 in grade 4 and 2541 in grade 7) from the survey were analyzed by Stata 15.0 S. The dependent variable is sleep duration, and the independent variables are the sub-factors of smartphone addiction: disturbance of adaptive functions, virtual life orientation, withdrawal, and tolerance. An independent t-test was conducted to confirm the differences in the main variables according to gender and age. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to verify the moderating effects of gender and age in the relationship between children’s smartphone addiction and sleep duration. Results: First, the average sleep duration among grade 4 students was 9.17 h and grade 7 students was 7.96 h. Second, sleep duration was significantly higher for males than females, while there was no difference in smartphone addiction by gender. Third, smartphone addiction, particularly the sub-factor of tolerance significantly affected sleep duration. Fourth, age significantly affected sleep duration and gender had a moderating effect on sleep duration. Conclusions: Interventions to develop a healthy smartphone usage culture on family and societal levels would be beneficial for increasing awareness of smartphone addiction and its adverse effects on children and adolescents. Furthermore, targeted intervention would be more effective at modifying addictive behavior and sleep duration than trying to administer blanket interventions to youths as a whole.