We reviewed the problems and solutions to the reproducibility crisis in science from the viewpoint of method/result/inference reproducibility proposed by Goodman et al. Pre-registration that reduces the degree of freedom of researchers to test hypotheses and open science that makes data, analysis codes, and materials available to the public used as a solution to the crisis of reproducibility. We surveyed the extent to which these research practices are conducted in BioPsychoSocial Medicine. The results showed that clinical trials are pre-registered compared to other research designs, and the availability of data and codes in external repositories or journal sites is rare. Open science practices are necessary for research fairness and may gain prevalence in the future.

Meta-analysis is a statistical analysis that summarizes the findings. To compare the findings of various studies regardless of the sample size, we use effect size, which standardizes findings across studies, so that they can be compared independent of sample size. We weigh the effect sizes based on the accuracy (standard error) and combine them. There are two combining rules : the fixed effect model and the random-effects model. The fixed effect model assumes that one true population effect exists, while the random-effects model assumes variability in the population effects. Generally, the random-effects model is preferred because of the conservative results. Our article used a systematic review by Yang et al. to explain the common effect size indices (mean difference and standardized mean difference), combining rules (fixed effect model and random-effects model), and statistical heterogeneity.

Given the application of Bayesian statistics in various scientific disciplines, few researchers in psychosomatic medicine, psychiatry, and psychology have used this approach in their studies. We believe that this gap arises because of scarce literature describing the actual applications and merits of Bayesian statistics in their respective areas of specialization. This article discusses how network analysis and statistical modeling are applied in real-world situations and reviews previous Bayesian statistics research. Further, we enumerate points to consider when conducting a study using Bayesian statistics.

In the recent years, Single-Case Experimental Design (SCED), which has for long been used in various fields of psychology as a design to evaluate the effects of psychosocial interventions, has received renewed attention. This paper discusses the reasons for the renewed interest in SCED by reevaluating the level of evidence and the development of research methods. Then, I focused on using the index based on the non-overlap rate as a statistical analysis method and explained the calculation method. Specifically, the calculation methods of PND, PEM, IRD, NAP, and Tau-U are explained. The criteria for interpreting the measures are also explained.

This study introduces a structural topic model (STM), a natural language processing (NLP), technology for qualitative data analysis. Natural language is a spontaneous language for human interaction. Extant studies in psychology frequently use conventional qualitative analysis for text data, including the KJ method and grounded theory. However, these methods may lead to several problems, such as the reproduction of results. NLP technology improves the computer processing of language and inferences. STM is a statistical approach that uses Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to generate observed words-based latent variables called topics. It has three components ; a topic prevalence model, a topical content model, and a core language (or observation) model. STM can incorporate covariates in the topic prevalence model and topical content model for generating quantitative results. It can have higher reproduction than conventional qualitative analysis while extracting the meanings of documents as topics. In this study, we apply STM using a famous Japanese literary work by Soseki Natsume, called Kokoro, having 1300 paragraphs. The plot revolves around a man and his older teacher, whose life contained a secret involving a woman named Ojosan. This secret had culminated in his friend’s and eventually his suicide. The novel reflects a generational shift in values and the uncertainty of human behavior, all under the shadow of the central theme of death. The novel was morphologically analyzed to remove stop words, followed by processing through the STM model. Preprocessing was done using the MeCab software for morphological analysis with the mecab-ipadic-NEologd dictionary. We used STM packages in the STM training and visualization to create a word cloud and a correlational network diagram of the topics. The searchK function included in the STM package produced reasonable modeling with 11 topics. Out of these 11, Topic 4 (conflict for the new generation) indicated ambivalent emotion for the changing times, which is strongly related to the story synopsis discussed above. Topic 4 is correlated to Topic 6 (the gap between image and fact), Topic 7 (teacher’s self-punishing attitude), Topic 8 (things that cannot be avoided), Topic 9 (repetitive thinking), and Topic 11 (innermost feeling). Besides, we found correlations among Topic 2 (Ojosan, the girl), Topic 3 (pride), and Topic 5 (Okusan : the wife and Ojosan’s mother), and narrative reviews highlight these relationships. Although STM has some practical concerns, such a preprocessing the text, it may be suitable for clinical studies.

A 46-year-old female patient was presented with sudden onset of severe headache, and her brain MRI and MRA to assess the cause of thunderclap headache did not reveal any significant findings. After eight days, she was admitted to the neurosurgery department at our hospital. She had thunderclap headache every day with emotional instability, and was referred to psychosomatic medicine suspected of migraine affected by psychological factors. MRA revealed multifocal constrictions of the cerebral arteries, and then, she was diagnosed with reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS). Her headache was cured after oral administration of lomerizine and she was discharged without any neurological complications. Conclusively, RCVS must be considered in patients with thunderclap headache as an important differential diagnosis.

Somatic symptom disorder among the elderly is described as refractory, although the data is scarce compared to adult cases. Case reports on somatic symptom disorder or somatoform disorder of the elderly mostly present cases that can be treated as outpatients. This study reports the case of an elderly patient with somatic symptom disorder who was unable to take care of herself due to somatic symptoms and who showed notable progress with Morita Therapy as an inpatient. The factors used to identify progress were the following : 1) the patient was first referred to several clinical departments to examine her physical symptoms and she understood her condition ; 2) the patient had a sound physical condition sufficient to engage in occupational therapy while having symptoms ; and 3) the patient was able to modify her “all-or-nothing” thinking and engage in activities appropriate for her physical strength at a later stage of the treatment. In the end, the patient was able to accept her present physical condition and engage in the activities. This is the attitude of “arugamama” which is the treatment goal of Morita Therapy.