Earticle

Addiction is a global social issue that poses significant crisis to individuals and their families’health and social aspects. The characteristics of addiction can vary depending on the region, culture, and context. Addictive behaviors such as drinking and gambling are associated with various psychosocial factors. We examined whether and how psychosocial factors (i.e., ego-resiliency, family cohesion, and social support) affect addictive behaviors, specifically drinking and gambling problems, by comparing the occurrences of both problems and related factors between college students in South Korea and Hawai‘i. We collected data from college students in South Korea (n= 503) and Hawai‘i (n= 217). Our findings showed that respondents from the Korean sample were more involved in drinking and gambling problems. In addition, we found that region was a factor associated with problem drinking and that there was a significant effect of social support on problem gambling. In conclusion, we discussed our key findings in-depth and suggested strategies to prevent and intervene early in addictive behaviors among college students.

Recently, the volatility of oil prices has significantly increased due to various factors. This study aims to analyze the influences of oil price fluctuations on agricultural value added, with a particular focus on comparing the magnitude of ripple effects across different categories. In order to achieve this, we designated not only oil prices but also exchange rates and the prices of three grains as random variables, and developed a stochastic model that considers their correlations. When oil prices fluctuate within expected ranges, it was analyzed that agricultural value-added changes by approximately 540 billion KRW. When examined by category, it was found that fruit-bearing vegetables exhibited the largest ripple effect. As a policy alternative to alleviate the farmers’ operational risk, this study introduces margin insurance to effectively manage both the increases in input costs due to rising oil prices and the decreases in agricultural commodity prices.

The total fertility rate in South Korea is at its lowest in the world, and there is a sense of crisis about this. One of factors influencing the total fertility rate of women is their postpartum depression, which is correlated with their pregnancy experience. In this study, we aimed to investigate correlation between positive or negative pregnancy experience, maternal attachment, and postpartum depression among who have given birth, The design of this study is descriptive correlational research, and the participants included 152 women undergoing postpartum care in postpartum care centers located in Seoul and Gimhae city. The average age of the participants in this study was 33.72 years, and their mean scores for pregnancy experience indicated that positive scores were higher than negative scores. Also, the research results revealed that there is a significant correlation between women`s positive or negative pregnancy experience and postpartum depression. Based on the findings of this study, it is necessary to provide proactive intervention and support from the time of pregnancy to enhance the well-being of postpartum women.

The paper re-examines the relationship between economic growth, energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) for India over the period of 1970-2021. The study began with the main concern of whether there are any changes of empirical results compared to the previous studies on India. To achieve this objective, this study investigates the effect of the economic growth, energy consumption, population and trade openness on CO2 emissions. The paper also applies the conventional unit root test to build an appropriate model and deduce reliable results for this study. The empirical results indicate that there are strong and significant effects of economic growth and energy consumption on CO2 emissions, which are similar to the conclusions of previous studies on India. These outcomes imply that economic growth has increased CO2 emissions and that an increase in energy consumption plays a crucial role in increasing CO2 emissions as well. Therefore, the study results suggest that policymakers need to improve environmental quality and increase the efficiency of energy usage through the development of eco-friendly technologies to achieve sustainable economic growth while reducing CO2 emissions in India.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of emotional problems(EB), such as depression and anxiety, on smartphone game addiction(SGA) of elementary school students, and to indentify how parent-child communication(PCC) and ego-resilience(ER) act as multiple mediating factors. A survey was conducted with 572 students at grades 4 to 6 at two elementary schools in a metropolitan area. The survey was constructed to assess the levels of EB, SGA, PCC and ER. The collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling, and the multi-mediated effect was confirmed via bootstrap analysis. The primary findings are as follows. Firstly, ER of elementary school students was found to escalate their SGA either directly or indirectly. Secondly, both PCC and ER were found to mediate the relationship between EB and SG through a multi-mediation analysis. In the analysis, three significant pathways were identified: 'EB → PCC → SGA', 'EB → ER → SGA', and 'EB → PCC → ER → SGA'. Therefore, it is essential to totally consider emotional problems, familial communication, and ego-concept of elementary school students to prevent or intervene in their smartphone game addiction.

The National Police Agency announced a Police Reform Roadmap for the implementation of human rights policing through a public reporting event in 2021. The Police Reform Roadmap brings in outside experts by newly instituting an open Human Rights Policy Officer, and establishes a control system within the National Investigation Headquarters to prevent human rights violations and power abuse during the investigative process. It also proposed a system for monitoring attorney-led investigations to analyze and address issues in vulnerable sectors. However, in an effort to strengthen these human rights guarantee capabilities, it suggested that the Human Rights Impact Assessment system be recognized as an essential process and stipulated. It also introduced a framework for establishing the direction of Human Rights Impact Assessment system within the police organization. Furthermore, it suggested the police to develop substantive, systematic human rights education and training programs, foster close cooperation within the organization through institutional human rights solidarity, and design human rights guidelines, indicating that such measures are requisite for the police to strenghten its human rights guarantee capabilities.