Type D personality has recently attracted attention as a psychological factor closely related to the onset and progression of coronary heart disease (CHD). The purpose of the present research was to develop the Japanese version of Type D scale and to evaluate its validity and reliability. Participants (N=291; 133 CHD patients, 158 normal adults) completed questionnaires including the Japanese version of the Type D Scale (DS14), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Kikuchi's Social Skills Scale-18 (Kiss-18), and Negative Emotional Suppression Tendency Scale. Exploratory factor analysis of Japanese DS14 revealed two factors (social inhibition: SI, and negative affectivity: NA) comprised of 14 items. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated an adequate index of fitness. In addition, the scale had an acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha, SI=.862, and NA=.799), as well as adequate reliability. These results indicate that the Japanese version of DS14 is a clinically useful scale for evaluating Type D personality in patients with CHD.

View full abstract

In Japan, more than 80% of kidney transplant donors are living donors. It is stipulated that a living donor must be an immediate family member, or be a relative of the organ recipient. Moreover, the donor must have the voluntary intention to donate, as well as decision-making ability. According to the ethical guideline of the Japan Society for Transplantation, the voluntary intent of the donor candidates should be confirmed by a third party outside the patient's family. Over one year, we conducted interviews with 156 candidate donors to confirm their intention to donate a kidney. The interviewers included a psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist. Candidates that were judged to be in conflict about their intention to donate a kidney were selected after the interview. A total of 14 (9%) out of 156 interviewees had a conflict in their intention to donate. The problems described by the donor candidates included the ability to express their intention, psychological pressure from others, agreement in the family for the donation and the ability to understand medical information, such as the risks of donation. The results of this study suggest that careful psychosocial assessment of living kidney donor candidates is necessary to confirm their decision.

View full abstract

Negative emotions, such as “sadness,” “anxiety,” and “disgust”, as well as coping skills for negative emotions, and the positive emotion of “happiness,” were assessed in pediatric patients admitted to A Hospital between July 2013 and December 2013. Participants were 11 children aged 7 to 15 years (8 boys and 3 girls, mean age±SD=9.13±1.98 years). Children were inquired details about their emotions and coping skills. We performed qualitative content analysis of their responses and calculated the frequency of extracted categories. Results indicated that sadness consisted of four categories, including family, examination, and treatment; and 10 coping skills were extracted for Sadness. Anxiety consisted of five categories, including examination, treatment and night; and 18 coping skills were extracted for Anxiety. Disgust consisted five categories, including examination, treatment and admission; and 17 coping skills were extracted for Disgust. These results identified the variety of emotional content of negative emotions. Happiness consisted of five categories, including other patients and spend time freely, which were used as coping skills for negative emotions.

View full abstract

Many studies have demonstrated that children and adolescents with epilepsy have more emotional, social, and behavioral problems than their healthy peers. The present case study reports Cognitive Behavior Therapy with Problem-solving Therapy and Social Skills Training for an adolescent with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy. Assessment of her frequent seizure in school indicated that they were related to stress and anxiety in social situations, which were caused by her low problem-solving skills, low social skills and negative self-evaluation. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy was effective for decreasing seizure frequency and stress reactions in this person. We have discussed the effects of Cognitive Behavior Therapy in children with epilepsy.

View full abstract

Research in psycho-oncology has focused on how cancer affects the mental condition of cancer patients, their families, and medical staff, and how the mind and behavior affect the progression of cancer. Psycho-oncology research has developed readily since the 1980s, to address the psychological distress of cancer patients by supporting them psychologically. Research on psychological distress of cancer patients during the clinical course of the disease has identified vague anxieties related to uncertainty. However, each cancer patient is unique in how they experience psychological distress, and therefore, research has focused on the effects of psychological characteristics as factors that influence individual differences. Studies of risk factors for psychological distress in breast cancer patients have identified psychological characteristics, such as the tendency to suppress emotions, trait anxiety, life stress experiences, and coping, as risk factors. Several forms of psychotherapy are available for cancer patients, including psychotherapy for emotional suppression, problem-solving therapy, relaxation, and group therapy. To date, the efficacy of psychotherapy for cancer patients has been investigated through randomized trials mostly in Western countries. It is hoped that such studies would be undertaken in Japan in the near future.

View full abstract