Waine, Broomfield, Banham, & Espie (2009) developed and validated the Metacognitions Questionnaire-Insomnia (MCQ-I) to assess metacognition about sleep, which was hypothesized to have a two-factor structure consisting of metacognitive belief about sleep, and metacognitive plans about sleep. However, it is unclear if the MCQ-I reflects metacognition about sleep as hypothesized because no item analysis or factor analysis was conducted. The present study was designed to develop a short version of MCQ-I using selected items and investigate its reliability and validity. A cross-sectional survey using the MCQ-I was conducted with undergraduates (N=330) and 27 patients with chronic insomnia disorder. Results of factor analysis and item analysis of their responses indicated that MCQ-I has a two-factor structure as hypothesized, and 25 items had high internal consistency. Moreover, the MCQ-I-25 was correlated with metacognition about worry, comprehensive dimensions of cognitive arousal, and sleep disturbances. Furthermore, the MCQ-I-25 score was higher in insomnia patients than healthy students. These results suggest that MCQ-I-25 reflects metacognition about sleep and could predict cognitive arousal and insomnia.

This study was designed to examine the effects of threat appeal in preventing obesity and non-communicable disease among university students. Participants were Japanese university students (N=395). An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) examined differences in cognitive variables (threat appraisal, coping appraisal, protective motivation, usefulness, and acceptability) for protecting against threat appeals under threat information vs. threat & coping information conditions. Also, covariance structure analysis was conducted to identify models in which threat appeals promoted protective motivation by enhancing cognitive variables under each condition. The results indicated that usefulness and acceptability scores were significantly different between the two conditions with significantly higher scores for participants in the threat & coping information condition. Moreover, both threat appraisal and coping appraisal positively influenced the usefulness and acceptability of the message in the threat & coping information condition, whereas coping appraisal influenced only the usefulness and acceptability of the message in the threat information condition. Overall, these results suggest the possibility that both types of threat appeal could promote protective motivation.

This study investigated the feeling of mothers raising physically disabled high-school children. Participants were women living around the Tokyo metropolitan area, raising physically disabled children attending special schools (N=338). The investigation was conducted from the end of September to December of 2014. We examined contributions of husbands’ instrumental and emotional support, friends’ emotional support, compassion, and mothers’ mental strength, on mothers’ sense of fulfillment and stress of rearing physically disabled children. Multiple regression analyses indicated that husbands’ emotional supports and mothers’ omoiyari (sympathy) had positive influences on mothers’ sense of fulfillment. Moreover, mothers’ mental strength and husbands’ instrumental support had a negative influence on child-rearing stress. Specific support should be offered to mothers raising physically disabled high school children based on these findings.

Purpose: We examined factors associated with stages of change in exercise behavior of individuals with physical disabilities using the transtheoretical model (TTM). Methods: Participants were individuals with physical disability certificates (N=43). Stages of change in exercise behavior, exercise self-efficacy, and social support (support from facilities and programs, informational support, human support, and support for access) were evaluate and statistically analyzed. Results: There was no significant difference in exercise self-efficacy at any stage; however, there was a significant correlation between changing stages (r=.31). Moreover, human support was significantly different between the precontemplation and maintenance stages. Furthermore, there was a significant difference between the stages of change (r=.41). Conclusions: The results of this preliminary study suggest a relationship between exercise self-efficacy and human support at stages of change for exercise behavior in individuals with physical disabilities. However, the relationship between exercise self-efficacy and stages of change for exercise was weaker than in healthy individuals.

We developed a scale for assessing psychosomatic symptoms caused by computer equipment use and examined the reliability and validity of this scale. We collected 62 items in a pilot study. Then, undergraduates (N=216) responded to the main research (Studies 1–3). The resulting scale for assessing psychosomatic symptoms consisted of five factors: “Anxiety” (16 items), “Physical symptoms” (11 items), “Preoccupation symptoms” (7 items), “Addiction features” (6 items), and “Dissatisfaction with computer operation” (5 items). The Computer Psychosomatic Symptom Scale (CPSS) had adequate alpha and omega coefficients and test-retest reliability. The validity of the scale was supported by significant correlations with other measures and established factorial invariance. Based on these results, we concluded that the CPSS is a valid measure of psychosomatic symptoms caused by using computer equipment.

The Japanese version of the Dispositional Positive Emotion Scales (DPES-J) measures seven positive emotional traits: joy, contentment, pride, love, compassion, amusement, and awe. We conducted three surveys to test the reliability and validity of the DPES-J. Confirmatory factor analysis of data from 832 participants conducted in Survey 1 indicated that each scale had sufficient factor loading and good internal consistency. Moreover, a test-retest correlation of the DPES-J scores for 119 participants in Survey 2 indicated adequate reliability of the scale. Furthermore, the association of data of 220 participants in Survey 3 showed that each DPES-J factor was associated with extraversion, positive emotions, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and strength (love, kindness, humor, appreciation of beauty). Additionally, results of correlation and partial correlation analyses identified the characteristics of each factor. These results indicate that the DPES-J has concurrent reliability and validity for assessing seven positive emotional traits.