Development of a scale to assess Hwa-Byung, a Korean culture-bound syndrome, using the Korean MMPI-2

Transcult Psychiatry. 2006 Sep;43(3):383-400. doi: 10.1177/1363461506067715.

Abstract

This study documents the development of an MMPI-2 scale designed to assess features of the Korean culture-bound syndrome, Hwa-Byung (HB). An American research team and psychiatric practitioners in Korea created an 18-item HB scale via rational item selection and psycho-metric refinement. Principal components analysis of scale items revealed four components, reflecting content domains of general health, gastrointestinal symptoms, hopelessness, and anger. This four-component solution applied well to both Korean men and women, but not to an American sample. Although some findings were encouraging, future studies employing clinical samples are needed to provide further validation of this scale.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Anger*
  • Anxiety / diagnosis
  • Anxiety / ethnology*
  • Anxiety / psychology
  • Cross-Cultural Comparison
  • Culture*
  • Depression / diagnosis
  • Depression / ethnology*
  • Depression / psychology
  • Female
  • Gastrointestinal Diseases / diagnosis
  • Gastrointestinal Diseases / ethnology*
  • Gastrointestinal Diseases / psychology
  • Humans
  • Korea
  • MMPI / statistics & numerical data*
  • Male
  • Psychometrics / statistics & numerical data
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Somatoform Disorders / diagnosis
  • Somatoform Disorders / ethnology*
  • Somatoform Disorders / psychology
  • Syndrome