What makes children aged 10 to 13 engage in problematic smartphone use? A longitudinal study of changing patterns considering individual, parental, and school factors.

Background and aims: The current research aimed to discover classification concerning problematic smartphone use in children. Furthermore, to investigate their longitudinal trajectories, as well as to discover the connection concerning problematic smartphone usage by individual, parental, and school factors. Methods: A total of 2,399 South Korean children who were in the 4th grade (female 1,206 (50.3%), age 10-13 years) at baseline. Latent class growth analysis was utilized to discover typologies in problematic smartphone use and their longitudinal trajectories. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to find various associations among problematic smartphone use and individual, parental, as well as school factors. Results: The results identified three distinct trajectories of problematic smartphone use: (1) a high-level group (7.7%), (2) a mid-increasing group (62.5%), and (3) a low-increasing group (29.8%). The increasing group showed the highest level of problematic smartphone use. Gender, self-esteem, social withdrawal, exercise, parental inconsistency, monthly income, and teacher support were significant predictors. Discussion and Conclusions: The findings suggest that there are distinct developmental trajectories concerning problematic smartphone usage of childhood. The results show that the early discovery of children in danger of problematic smartphone use and targeted interventions aimed at reducing parental inconsistency and social withdrawal, improving self-esteem, exercise, and teacher support may be effective strategies for preventing problematic smartphone usage during childhood.

Role of human dural fibroblasts in the angiogenic responses of human endothelial cells: An in vitro dural model and the application of lab-on-a-chip for EDAS.

Encephaloduroarteriosynangiosis (EDAS), an indirect anastomosis procedure, is widely accepted as a primary treatment for moyamoya disease (MMD) to improve collateral blood flow. During surgical intervention, dural fibroblasts (DuF) are thought to produce various proteins that create an angiogenic microenvironment. However, the biophysiological evidence supporting the angiogenic properties of this surgical technique has not been thoroughly elucidated. The purpose of these studies was to determine whether DuF releases pro-angiogenic factors and chemokines and promotes angiogenic properties in human endothelial cells (ECs) under IL-1ß-mediated wound conditions, which are expected to occur during the process of neo-vascularization within the dura mater. Furthermore, a microfluidic chemotaxis platform was implemented to investigate the angiogenic activity of ECs in response to a reconstituted dura model. Transcriptome sequencing revealed that IL-1ß stimulation on DuF induced a significant upregulation of various pro-angiogenic genes, including IL-6, IL-8, CCL-2, CCL-5, SMOC-1, and SCG-2 (p < 0.05). Moreover, compared to ECs cultured in naïve media or naïve DuF media, those exposed to IL-1ß-DuF conditioned media expressed higher mRNA and protein levels of these pro-angiogenic factors (p < 0.001). ECs co-cultured with IL-1ß-DuF also exhibited considerable migration on the microfluidic chemotaxis platform. Furthermore, the chemotactic effects on the ECs were reduced upon neutralization of IL-8 or inhibition of NF-κB signaling. Our findings demonstrate that IL-1ß-DuFs release factors that activate and enhance the angiogenic properties of ECs. These results suggest a potential interaction between DuF and ECs following EDAS for MMD, and these components could be targeted for the development of therapeutic biomarkers.

The Birth Cohorts Difference in Depression.

Cohort effect refers to the social phenomenon that a certain event manifests differently depending on a group that is born in the same year or a similar time period. It is important to understand adolescents' depressive symptoms vary from generation to generation. We studied the changes of the depressive symptoms during the eighth to tenth grade and examined the difference between the 1997-birth cohort and 2000-birth cohort. The study included 2,070 students (2014-2016 of 2000-birth-cohort data, from 8th to 10th grade, mean age = 12.95-14.95 years) and 2,278 students (2011-2013 of 1997-birth-cohort data, from 8th to 10th grade, mean age = 12.90-14.90 years) who participated in the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey. Latent growth curve modeling and multi-group analysis were used to compare depressive symptom trajectories between cohorts. The result of comparing the depression levels of the cohorts showed the initial values and change rates verifying the presence of a significant cohort effect-the depression level of the 2000-birth-cohort (initial value = 17.75) was significantly lower than the depression level of the 1997-birth-cohort (initial value = 19.49). This study has significance in that adolescents' depression has both age and cohort effects. It is speculated that the cohort effect may have been impacted by two major events: The Children Problem-Behavior Screening Questionare Test (mental health screening test), implemented nationwide in 2012, and the Sewol Ferry Disaster, which occurred in 2014. Based on the results, suggestions for future research were discussed.

What are the characteristics of cyberbullying victims and perpetrators among South Korean students and how do their experiences change?

BACKGROUND: Increasing use of online network has a positive impact on the psychosocial development of adolescents, but at the same time has a negative impact such as cyberbullying. Yet, research on the characteristics of cyberbullying victimization and perpetration in adolescence is limited, despite its potential importance to provide adequate implications for adolescent protection. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to clarify latent classes characterized by cyberbullying victimization and perpetration, and to examine what factors predict the latent classes of the cyberbullying trajectories. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The study included 3656 students (13-18 years) who had information about cyberbullying victimization and perpetration. The data was taken from the Seoul Education Longitudinal Study. METHODS: Latent class growth analysis and multinomial logistic regression were conducted to identify patterns of cyberbullying victimization and perpetration. RESULTS: Cyberbullying victimization patterns were identified: high risk increasing (n = 144, 3.9 %), transient (n = 219, 6.0 %), and low risk group (n = 3293, 90.1 %). Cyberbullying perpetration pattern were identified: mid risk maintaining (n = 115, 3.1 %), low risk (n = 3474, 95.0 %), and transient group (n = 67, 1.8 %). Regression results indicate that female students, students with high self-esteem, and more support from parents and friends experience less cyberbullying. Perpetration experience increases the risk of cyberbullying victimization, whereas victimization experience increases the risk of cyberbullying perpetration. CONCLUSION: Adolescents experience distinct patterns of cyberbullying victimization and perpetration based on the individual and social support factors. This study provides important implications that characteristics of subgroups should be considered for interventions in cyberbullying.

A Comparative Study of Cohorts for Children's Body Mass Index Changes.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the body mass index changes over time and to determine whether there is a difference between the cohorts. For these purposes, we used latent growth curve modeling and multi-group analysis involving 2,250 students (first-grade cohort panel data) and 2,094 students (fourth-grade cohort panel data) who participated in the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey. Major findings are as follows. 1) The trajectories of body mass index were different by the cohort. Specifically, children's body mass index has become more serious in recent generation. 2) Multi-group analysis showed that the trajectories of body mass index and its predictors were varied by the cohort. Specifically, self-esteem, abuse, sedentary lifestyle, and study time explained the cohort effect. These findings suggest that the social environment intervention is needed for the physical health of children.

Cohort effects associated with reduced sleep duration in adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to examine how the sleep duration changes during adolescence across the seventh, eighth, ninth, and 10th grade periods, and to determine whether there is a difference between the cohorts. METHOD: For these purposes, we used the latent growth curve modeling and the multi-group analysis involving 2081 students (2000-birth cohort data) and 2254 students (1997-birth cohort data) who participated in the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey. The data were collected using a stratified multistage cluster sampling method. RESULTS: Sleep duration became shorter as age increased. Furthermore, the sleep duration of the 2000-birth cohort became shorter than the sleep duration of the 1997-birth cohort. Specifically, the mean value of the initial sleep duration of the 2000-birth cohort was 8.09 h, which was significantly shorter than the initial value 8.36 h of the sleep duration of the 1997-birth cohort. In addition, multi-group analysis revealed that the trajectories of sleep duration and its predictors were varied by cohort. Specifically, parent supervision, peer relationship, and electronic media factors (smartphone overuse, time spent on using computer and playing games) explained the cohort effect. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that environmental factors such as increasing use of electronic media or pressure regarding higher education to adolescents could be associated with reduced sleep duration.

Electrical impulse effects on degenerative human annulus fibrosus model to reduce disc pain using micro-electrical impulse-on-a-chip.

Electrical stimulation of cells and tissues for therapeutic benefit is a well-established method. Although animal studies can emulate the complexity of an organism's physiology, lab-on-a-chip platforms provide a suitable primary model for follow-up animal studies. Thus, inexpensive and easy-to-use platforms for in vitro human cell studies are required. In the present study, we designed a micro-electrical impulse (micro-EI)-on-a-chip (micro-EI-chip), which can precisely control electron density and adjust the frequency based on a micro-EI. The micro-EI-chip can stimulate cells at various micro-EI densities (0-500 mV/mm) and frequencies (0-300 Hz), which enables multiple co-culture of different cell types with or without electrical stimulation. As a proof-of-concept study, a model involving degenerative inflamed human annulus fibrosus (hAF) cells was established in vitro and the effects of micro-EI on inflamed hAF cells were evaluated using the micro-EI-chip. Stimulation of the cells (150 mV/mm at 200 Hz) inhibited the secretion of inflammatory cytokines and downregulated the activities of extracellular matrix-modifying enzymes and matrix metalloproteinase-1. These results show that micro-EI stimulation could affect degenerative diseases based on inflammation, implicating the micro-EI-chip as being useful for basic research of electroceuticals.