In the present study, meta-analysis was used to investigate whether or not depressed and anxious people showed implicit memory bias for negative information. Such bias is indicated when performance on an implicit memory task is better for negative rather than positive information. Results were as follows: (1) Depressed people showed better performance on implicit memory tasks for negative information, both when experimental conditions facilitated concurrent explicit memory and when they did not. (2) Anxious people showed better performance on the tasks for negative information, only when conditions did not facilitate explicit memory. These results suggest that depressed people are subject to both implicit and explicit memory bias, while anxious people are subject to only implicit memory bias.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the opposing effects of stressor and social support on non-attendance tendency in junior high school. We conducted a survey of 444 college and vocational school students about stressors and social support they had in junior high school. The students were classified into four groups, with such characteristics of nonattendance tendency as: (A) actual absence from school, (B) tendency to cut classes, (C) disliking school, or (D) none of these. Major findings showed that the first three groups reported having suffered from severer stress, and felt that they got less social support than the last group. A causal model was proposed for junior high school nonattendance, which indicated that on the tendency: (1) Stress related to peers and teachers had direct effects. (2) Stress related to parents and study had indirect ones. And (3) social support had an indirect buffering effect.

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This study examined psychological preparation for athletic activities. Based on self reports, a 96-item inventory (PPIS) was constructed in a preliminary study. In Study 1, factor analysis of PPIS responses by 199 undergraduate athletes revealed five factors: enthusiasm, self possession, physical conditioning, rule focus, and high spirits. With the results, the inventory was shortened to a 24-item version (BPPIS) for easier administration. In Study 2, another sample of 224 athletes showed that BPPIS had a four-factor structure because high spirits items loaded on the enthusiasm factor; in addition, competitive athletes responded significantly higher than less competitive ones to the three factors other than rule focus. In Study 3, BPPIS scores of 125 undergraduate athletes, 74 of less rigorous sports clubs, and 102 without sports club experience, were compared. Responses of athletes and non-athletes differed significantly on all the factors. It was argued that better psychological preparation was necessary for higher athletic performance.

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In this study, persistent effects of traumatic experiences on borderline personality trait were analyzed. Sequential data at three points in time were collected of 76 female students at a medical technology school. Examined were: 1) effects of past traumatic experiences on present borderline score of MCMI-II personality inventory, 2) temporal effects of recent situational stress experiences on the score, and 3) persistent effects of traumatic experiences, in contrast to the temporal effects. Results were as follows: 1) Students who reported a traumatie experience in infancy showed a significantly higher borderline score than those who did not. 2) Students who recently experienced a stressful life event showed a temporal increase in the borderline score. 3) Traumatie experiences had persistent effects, and situational stress had weak persistent effects on the score. Interaction effects of traumatie experience, situational stress, and time of data collection on borderline personality trait were also discussed.

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