This study examined the variables used for classifying over-adaptive cognitions and behaviors. Research has indicated that higher alexithymia is associated with higher perceived stress and fear of negative evaluation (FNE), resulting in over-adaptation. However, variables contributing to the differential classification of over-adaptation and other groups have not been thoroughly investigated. We examined FNE, interpersonal stress, task stress, and subfactors of alexithymia, including difficulties in identifying own feelings and describing feelings, as determinants of over-adaptation. We also examined the role of determinants in classifying over-adaptation and other groups using the random forest approach. The results showed that FNE contributed the most to classifying over-adaptation by best predicting the over-adaptation group’s pattern. Therefore, we suggest that methods of reducing FNE might prevent over-adaptation.

The author designed this study to clarify the processes of recovery or deterioration in psychologists’ burnout. The author interviewed clinical psychologists (N=19) with high burnout scores and analyzed their episodic narratives by M-GTA. The psychologists’ mean years of experience was 5.3 years. The author also interviewed many novice psychologists. The results showed that novice psychologists who lacked competence and expertise could not cope with the mismatch between their work environment and salary, the workload, and human relationships, making it challenging to demonstrate their knowledge in the workplace or clinical practice. As a result, psychologists’ burnout became chronic. However, many psychologists who recovered from burnout and experienced growth by actively using self-care and social support continued to work without resigning from their jobs. These findings suggest the essential role of continuous self-care and social support after entering the workplace. Furthermore, organizational-level measures are necessary to prevent burnout due to environmental factors because individual efforts might have only limited effects.

A pilot study examined the efficacy of the Gatekeeper Training Program designed for suicide prevention in Yogo teachers. The author explored the program’s effectiveness on Yogo teachers with over 20 and under 20 years of experience. Self-administered questionnaires were administered before and after the program to assess the teachers’ confidence in managing students, their willingness to act as gatekeepers, and their self-efficacy. Yogo teachers (N=51) participated in the study. The results indicated improvements in confidence, the willingness to act as gatekeepers, and self-efficacy, regardless of experience, suggesting the Gatekeeper Training Program’s efficacy. The results also showed that the program was more effective for teachers with over 20 years than under 20 years of experience, especially for early intervention items.

This study examined how interacting with an animal-type therapy robot improved executive attention, emotional regulation, and resilience. We divided the participants (N=41) into the animal-robot group that interacted with a therapy robot named Paro (n=14), the human-robot group that interacted with a human-type robot named Robi (n=12), and a control group that did not interact with a robot (n=15). The participants in the animal and human-robot groups interacted with the robots eight times in 10 weeks. The participants also completed scales assessing executive attention and emotional regulation before and after these interactions and a scale assessing resilience during the interaction. The results showed that the attentional control score, a subscale of executive attention, increased significantly in the post-interaction compared to the pre-interaction period. The interaction between groups and periods showed that emotional regulation improved in the animal-type robot group after the interaction. However, there was no significant difference in resilience scores between the groups. These results indicate that interacting with the animal-type therapy robot PARO enhanced emotional regulation.

This study was designed to clarify the anxieties of parents with children hospitalized in intensive care units. The written, open-ended responses of 197 parents regarding their most severe anxieties were analyzed by text mining. Results identified 87 terms used at least four times in the parents’ texts. The most frequently used terms included “after surgery,” followed by “doctor,” “surgery,” and “sudden turn for the worse.” We classified these words into 13 categories by cluster analysis. We extracted 17 topics concerning parents’ anxiety based on these categories: “anticipating worsening conditions,” “future anxiety,” “doctors’ explanations,” “nurses’ behaviors,” and “uncertainty about the illness,” among others. The appearance frequency of these topics differed based on the severity of the children’s medical conditions assessed by their parents and the type of hospital admission.

This study examined the associations between lifestyle changes related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the psychological health of university students, and the potential moderating roles of dispositional mindfulness in these relationships. Participants (N=300) completed an online questionnaire survey assessing pre- and post-pandemic lifestyles and responded to psychological scales assessing stress, anxiety, depression, and mindfulness. The results indicated post-pandemic changes, including increased time spent at home, decreased time spent indoors, and increased self-reported frequency of exposure to COVID-19-related media reports. The increased time spent at home and indoors was significantly associated with higher stress and anxiety. Furthermore, there was a moderating effect of mindfulness, such that the frequency of post-pandemic exposure to media reports was less predictive of lower psychological health when mindfulness was relatively high. These results suggest that post-pandemic lifestyles and lifestyle changes influenced students’ psychological health compared to before the pandemic. Moreover, mindfulness played a protective role in this relationship.

Worldwide, many people have experienced adversity during childhood, including abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) negatively impact adulthood health. As a result, ACEs have caused enormous economic losses. However, the effects of ACEs on health have not been studied in Japanese general population. This study examined the effects of ACEs on factors leading to early death, including drinking, physical illnesses such as Type 2 diabetes and cancer, and suicide attempt. An Internet-based questionnaire survey was conducted with Japanese adults (N=988, 488 men and 500 women, Mean age, 39.12 years, age range 20 to 75 years). The results indicated that people who had experienced four or more ACE categories compared to those who had not experienced ACEs were more likely to have a history of smoking, physical illnesses, and suicide attempt. However, all effects of ACEs on drinking were not significant. These results suggest that ACEs have adverse effects on the health of Japanese people of all ages.

This study examined changes in COVID-19 preventive behaviors, including social distancing and hand washing behaviors and related cognitive variables derived from the protection motivation theory and the focus theory of normative conduct. We examined the relationships between preventive behaviors and cognitive variables. We conducted eight panel surveys among Tokyo residents via the internet, each targeting approximately 1,000 people between April-May 2020 and January 2021. The panel survey data indicated that social distancing behaviors decreased immediately after the first state of emergency has been lifted compared to during the emergency period. Moreover, there was no increase in social distancing behaviors during the second emergency period. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that injunctive norms were associated with the social distancing behaviors at all assessment time points. Furthermore, the effect of risk perception was not large. We have discussed the relationship between emergency declarations and behavioral changes.

Interpersonal Sensitivity (IS) and Privileged Self (PS) are psychological features of a new type of depression with different symptoms from the melancholic type. The characteristic of this type of depression includes poor physical and mental conditions during working hours, which improves significantly in free time. Therefore, distress during working hours from the new depression type might be worst among office workers with high IS and PS. The author investigated relationships among IS, PS, and mental and physical conditions during working and free time. The study hypothesized that people with high IS and PS show significant differences in distress between working hours and free time. Office workers (N=400, 200 men and 200 women, age range, 22 to 59 years) working in large companies participated in an Internet survey. A series of hierarchical regression analyses supported the study’s hypotheses after controlling for age and sex.

It is known that middle-aged men, compared to women, are more reluctant to participate in public health promotion programs to increase exercise, change their diet, control alcohol consumption, or cease smoking. Hence, we developed material for a health promotion program for supporting middle-aged couples by encouraging men to participate and change their behavior by collaborating with their partners. We named the program, “Small Change Health Promotion for Couples.” We conducted focus group interviews (FGIs) with representatives of the target audience before recruiting participants for the program as formative reseach. Seven couples (5 men and 7 women: mean age 48.5 years) current health behaviors participated in the FGIs held separately for men and women, in which we focused on the following issues: (1) current health behaviors, (2) conversation topics about health with each other, (3) small behavior changes that each partner can undertake, (4) small behavior changes that couples can undertake together, (5) tangible methods of promoting each other’s health, and (6) health intervention strategies to accommodate men (in the female group only). The FGIs showed clear gender differences in health promotion attitudes, health-related conversation topics, and psychosocial factors influencing behaviors, including barriers and facilitators. Based on this information, we developed supporting material for a couple’s program, which we plan to introduce in the future.