title: A Review of the Korean Cultural Syndrome Hwa-Byung: Suggestions for Theory and Intervention.
abstract: The purpose of this paper is to review Hwa-Byung, a cultural syndrome specific to Koreans and Korean immigrants. Hwa-Byung is a unique diagnosis and differs from otherDSMdisorders. However, Hwa-Byung has frequent comorbidity with otherDSMdisorders such as anger disorders, generalized anxiety disorder, and major depressive disorder. There are several risk factors for Hwa-Byung including psychosocial stress caused by marital conflicts and conflicts with their in-laws. Previous interventions of the Hwa-Byung syndrome were based primarily on the medical model. Therefore, based on previous research, we present a new ecological model of Hwa-Byung. We also recommend some areas of future research as well as present some limitations of our ecological model. Finally, we discuss some treatment issues, particularly for Korean women in the United States.
authors.affiliation: Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jieun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wachholtz
authors.affiliation: American University, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Keum-Hyeong
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Choi
keywords: Hwa-Byung; Korean women; ecological model of Hwa-Byung; treatment issues