The purpose of the present study was to investigate effects on mental and physical health of structured disclosure of trauma. Participants (25 undergraduate students) were randomly assigned to one of the following groups: (a) structured disclosure of trauma (S) , (b) free disclosure of trauma (F) , and (c) a control group (C) . Over a 3-day period, all participants completed daily written reports in 20-30 minute sessions. To promote cognitive reappraisal, the structured disclosure group was required to follow detailed instructions when describing a trauma. The free disclosure group was asked to describe a trauma freely, as they remembered it. The control group was asked to write about a neutral topic. The findings suggested that endocrine functions in the structured and free recall groups were maintained to improvement. Furthermore, the results for cognitive functions showed a significant tendency for the structured recall group to get higher working-memory scores, compared to the control group.

View full abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of non-lethal trauma on traumatic symptoms, and the relationship between posttraumatic cognitions and posttraumatic stress reactions (PTSR) , in a non-lethal trauma group compared to a lethal trauma group. The Traumatic Experiences Schedule, the Impact of Event Scale Revised (IRS-R), and the Japanese version of the Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory (JPTCI) were administered to 302 undergraduates. Participants were then divided into 2 groups: those who reported having experienced a lethal trauma, and those reporting an experience of a non-lethal trauma. The number of individuals who had developed and experienced serious posttraumatic stress reactions was not significantly different between the 2 groups. Moreover, the non-lethal trauma group showed significantly greater severity of self-blame than the lethal trauma group did. In addition, the correlations between the Japanese version of the Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised in the lethal trauma group were higher than in the non-lethal trauma group. Future research should investigate posttraumatic cognitions specific for individuals who have experienced non-lethal trauma.

View full abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine influences of social anxiety on temporal characteristics of attentional bias toward threat words, using the attentional blink (AB) task. Healthy participants (n = 40) were asked to report 2 green target words (T1 and T2) which appeared in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of white neutral words. In the attentional blink task, the interval between the 2 target words, and the content (general or social) and the valence (threat or neutral) of the second target word, were manipulated. Participants were divided into groups based on their assessed anxiety level. The high state and trait-anxiety group showed heightened accuracy on the second target words with threat valence during the periods in which the attentional blink usually occurs, suggesting that they showed temporal attentional bias toward threat words. The high social-anxiety group did not show such a tendency. Conversely, the low social-anxiety group showed a temporal attentional bias toward threat words. These results were compared to previous research that used pictures as stimuli, and the temporal characteristics of attentional bias observed in the present study were discussed.

View full abstract

"Metacognitive awareness" refers to the way that negative thoughts and feelings are experienced as thoughts (mental events), rather than as aspects of self or direct reflections of truth. Studies have suggested that metacognitive awareness reduces the risk that a mild dysphoria would escalate to a major depression or relapse. The purpose of the present study was to collect preliminary findings on effects of Zazen meditation (the core technique in mindfulness training) , whose aim is to change the way that cognition is dealt with, on the depressive symptoms of college students (n=22: 10 men, 12 women) and on metacognitive awareness. Zazen meditation reduced the participants' depressive tendencies and ruminative thought patterns. Metacognitive awareness may have contributed to this result. Future studies confirming the present preliminary findings in clinically depressed patients are needed.

View full abstract

The Aggressive Behavior Scale for Adolescents (ABS-A) was developed to provide a valid measure of the aggressive behavior of adolescents in the 7th to 9th grades. The results of Study 1 suggested that the Aggressive Behavior Scale for Adolescents consisted of 9 items that measured 3 dimensions of adolescents' aggressive behavior: physical aggression, verbal aggression, and relational aggression. The Aggressive Behavior Scale for Adolescents was evaluated psychometrically in Study 2. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated cross validity of the Scale. The correlation between scores on the Aggressive Behavior Scale for Adolescents and social skills and anger was calculated in order to evaluate the Scale's concurrent validity. To test criterion-related validity, adolescents who frequently performed each type of aggression and others who did not were nominated by 15 teachers, and those youths' scores on the Aggressive Behavior Scale for Adolescents were compared. The results indicated that the Scale has high validity. Moreover, Cronbach's a and test-retest correlation were good, supporting the utility of the scale as a measure of adolescents' aggression.

View full abstract

The present study examined effects of pivotal response treatments (PRT) on the shaping of social interactions between college students and children with autistic disorders. After college students (n= 4) were taught pivotal response treatment strategies by instruction, modeling, role-playing, and performance feedback, effects of that training on the paired interaction of those students with children with autistic disorders were evaluated. The target behavior included the child's social behavior (interaction and initiation) and the college student's behavior that was relevant to the pivotal response treatment. The results indicated an increase in interactions in 3 of the 4 pairs. However, despite that observed increase, the autistic children's initiation behavior did not change from baseline. Training issues relating to pivotal response treatment were discussed in the context of the results of the present study.

View full abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate convergent validity of attentional biases measured by the emotional Stroop task and the probe detection task. Healthy participants (n=39) performed the emotional Stroop task and the probe detection task, and completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. For the emotional Stroop task, threat, positive, and neutral words were presented in separate blocks. In the probe detection task, the criterion indices of orienting toward and disengaging from threat words were calculated in relation to the participants' reaction times to probes on neutral trials. A correlational analysis showed that the latency for color-naming of the threat words was related to the difficulty of disengaging attention from the threat words. However, no significant relation was found between these indices and anxiety. Implications of the present findings for interpretation of the attentional biases measured by the emotional Stroop task and the probe detection task were discussed.

View full abstract

he present study evaluated the utility for on-task behavior and academic productivity of a self-management procedure combined with classroom-based functional assessment in a general education classroom. A multiple-baseline-across-behaviors design was used. The participant was an elementary school student with Asperger's syndrome. In Study 1, assessment information was collected through interviews and direct observation. The behavioral support plan that was developed based on the presumed function of his disruptive behavior included (a) permitting functionally equivalent alternative behavior, (b) preparing independent work that was at an appropriate academic level, and (c) reinforcing appropriate behavior through a self-management procedure. When a self-management package consisting of self-monitoring attention and a token economy system was implemented, off-seat behavior considerably decreased. In Study 2, in order to improve the boy's academic performance on independent work, self-monitoring of performance was introduced. The student was instructed to selfmonitor the number of correct answers in his independent work, and was reinforced according to his performance. The results showed that self-monitoring academic performance had a positive effect on the student's on-task behavior and academic accuracy, compared with self-monitoring attention. The procedure was highly acceptable to the student and his classroom teacher. Effective self-management procedures for the general education classroom were discussed.

View full abstract