A return-to-work self-efficacy program was developed for employees with psychological disorders using the Return-To-Work Self-Efficacy Scale. Employees that had taken sick leave due to a psychological disorder participated in the study (N=25; 23 men and 2 women; Mean age 41.12 years; SD=7.67). The intervention program, which was based on the cognitive behavioral therapy approach consisted of two parts, CBT-1 and CBT-2. Six sessions of CBT-1 and CBT-2 were conducted. Self-evaluation and goal-setting using the Return-To-Work Self-Efficacy Scale were performed three times during the program. The results indicated that an increase in return-to-work self-efficacy resulted from CBT-1 and CBT-2. In particular, return-to-work self-efficacy increased from the middle to the second half of the program. A correlation between stress coping and the locus of control has been demonstrated in changes in return-to-work self-efficacy. Effective methods of supporting employees on sick leave are discussed.

Children with developmental disabilities have various health tasks that they must complete. This study investigated three intervention programs for improving exercises, diet, and Interpersonal relationships, which are known to have positive health benefits, although disabled children dislike these activities. The first intervention program was circuit exercises, the second; a fruit hunt for trying unexpected and disliked tastes, and the third; a camp designed to promote communication with different people, a task at which the children were not proficient. Results of the three interventions indicated that family support was the most important factor in improving health tasks. Therefore, it would be necessary to investigate health psychological approaches designed to improve the family well-being of disabled children’s supporters and the well-being of the children’s families. No statistical analyses were used in this study.

How do mothers who learn that their children have disabilities face up to this and accept their children? This study built on the latest available research on mothers’ acceptance of their children’s disabilities. Interviews were conducted with mothers (N=10). Five mothers had children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities and five mothers had autistic children, including two mothers having children with atypical autism. We developed a model of mothers’ acceptance of their children’s disabilities based on these interviews. The model indicated that physical and mental development of children with autism was very different from that of children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities. We focused on both groups of children and constructed a hypothetical model that could be used to treat different disabilities.

A resilience-enhancing intervention program was developed to increase the parental resilience of mothers having children with disabilities. Parents of children with disabilities participated in the intervention program (N=7, Mean age 40.41 years, SD=3.82). The contents of the program included cognitive reframing, enhancing self-efficacy, and teaching psychology. We compared scores on the Parental Resilience Scale, the Childcare Stress Scale, and the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) at the end of the six sessions. The Parental Resilience Scale consists of three subscales; parenting skills, good relationships and maternal feelings. Results indicated that parenting skills, childcare stress, and mental health improved significantly after the intervention. These results indicate the efficacy of the new intervention program for increasing parental resilience.

The effects of a “body-mind” self-regulation program considering individual differences on the performance of junior soccer players were investigated. Elementary school student-members of a soccer club (N=20; Mean age: 11.0±0) participated in this study. Firstly, the optimal psychological state for performing the long kick was identified in individual players. Then, participants were divided into a control and an intervention group. Performance tests were conducted with one practice and one actual trial. Just before the actual trial, the intervention group practiced the self-regulation method to achieve their optimal psychological state. The results indicated that kick performance improved significantly in actual compared to practice trials in the intervention, but not in the control group. Moreover, there were no significant differences in the psychological state between the two groups. However, it was also indicated that the psychological condition was closer to the optimum state in the intervention group that practiced the self-regulation method (Cohen’s d=1.0). These findings suggest the importance of psychological support that considers individual differences.

This study examined the relationship between message framing type and psychological traits in university students participants were (N=251.170 men and 81 women). First, we developed the Health Promotion/Prevention Focus Scale (HPPFS). Factor analysis indicated that the HPPFS consisted of six items and had a two-factor structure: (1) “Health promotion orientation.” and (2) “Disease prevention orientation.” The scale also had good reliability and validity. Next, we explored differences in the effect of messages according to the type of message framing and psychological traits. The results of an ANOVA indicated that usability scores of exercise behaviors were significantly higher in loss-framed messages,whereas acceptability scores of eating behaviors were higher in gain-framed messages. Also, there were no effects of the message on either exercise or eating behaviors of participants with low scores for Health promotion orientation or Disease prevention orientation factors.

A model showing the relationship between cognitive control, ruminative responses, and depression was developed to examine the effects of cognitive control on ruminative responses and depression. Cognitive control is considered important for ruminating without getting depressed. The model was examined through Structural Equation Modeling in university students (N=248). The results suggested that among ruminative responses, negative rumination and self-focused rumination increased depression, whereas problem-solving rumination reduced depression. Moreover, mitigation of catastrophic rumination suppressed negative rumination and self-focused rumination, leading to problem-solving rumination. Furthermore, analysis of thoughts and behaviors, which are the starting points of the model, facilitated mitigation of catastrophic rumination, self-focused rumination, and problem-solving rumination. Based on the above, it is suggested important to acquire self-efficacy in cognitive control.