The purpose of this study was to understand the extent to which competitive anxiety is a risk factor for severe depression and anxiety symptoms among junior athletes. Four-hundred-thirty-eight junior athletes (mean age 13.23 years, SD＝0.02 years) belonging to a junior high school athletic club completed a questionnaire measuring competitive anxiety, anxiety, and depression symptoms. The results of the analysis showed that a higher level of competitive anxiety was associated with a greater risk of developing severe depression and anxiety symptoms among Japanese junior athletes. Therefore, the importance of establishing a support system to address mental health problems among junior athletes in Japan, as well as co-operatively supporting them in this regard, is discussed.

In this study, we attempted to develop a scale to measure mental toughness, which has started to gain attention in recent years, mainly in the field of sports. From the results of previous research and interviews with university students, we created items based on the assumption that there are four factors that constitute mental toughness: willpower, control, social skills, and positivity, with the objective of verifying the appropriateness of the same four assumed factors via three rounds of exploratory factor analysis. In Survey 1 and Survey 2, we queried general university students regarding the Mental Toughness Scale, and in Survey 3, we queried university athletes belonging to an athletic team with factor analyses. As a result, the assumed four-factor structure was obtained for both factor analyses. Furthermore, the same factor structure was obtained for both university athletes and general university students, suggesting that this scale is applicable regardless of the difference between the general public and athletes.

We encountered a male patient in his 40 s with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) and frequent suicide attempts who showed sustained improvement of symptoms following exercise interventions. At age 19, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He had been hospitalized twice. He was admitted to our hospital because of a suicide attempt due to exacerbation of hallucinations and delusions. During hospitalization, he made several suicide attempts and the response to pharmacotherapy was poor. He achieved improvement under electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). However, soon after discharge, he made a serious suicide attempt, after which he was hospitalized with severe auditory hallucinations and imminent suicidal ideation. He was admitted to another hospital and received modified ECT. It was effective, but he was again hospitalized with delusions. Soon after admission, his psychotic symptoms worsened and he made frequent suicide attempts. We recommended him to play table tennis, badminton, conduct radio gymnastic exercises, and we taught him a variety of skills. These exercise interventions induced in him positive thinking for the first time and resulted in a gradual improvement in psychotic symptoms and suicidal ideation. In this case, exercise may not only have enhanced his self-esteem and resilience, but also produced the hope of living. This case suggests that exercise interventions may have beneficial effects for patients with severe TRS.