There are cultural differences in childcare practices in preschools, reflecting beliefs and values about children, childcare, and education. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed normally hidden cultural, ethnic, and historical issues. Mealtime is particularly restricted by droplet spread of COVID-19. Cultural differences in thoughts related to meals became evident in the response to this critical situation caused by the pandemic. This study examined how preschool mealtime has changed due to COVID-19 in Japan and China. A questionnaire survey was conducted from September 2020 to January 2021. This study included 191 Japanese preschools and 179 Chinese preschools. Various infection countermeasures were taken and mealtime practices changed drastically in both countries. In Japan, preschool mealtime is regarded as a socially essential event, for example, chatting while eating; whereas in China, nutrition and hygiene are considered more important. Possibly, because of such differences in mealtime conceptions, the impact of the spread of COVID-19 appeared to be substantial in Japan compared to China. Based on the obtained results, cultural differences in preschool education were discussed.

The purpose of this study is to examine (a) the factors determining types of parenting time and (b) the relationship between the custodial mothers’ cognition of the fathers’ parenting time following divorce (as measured by the MCFPT survey) and the custodial mothers’ psychological adjustment. Using the MCFPT, responses from 348 custodial mothers of children aged 0－17 years were obtained and analyzed. Multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that fathers’ requests for visitation, the payment status of child support, and the presence or absence of custody disputes relate to whether paternal parenting time continues. Results of a structural equation modeling analysis suggest that the occurrence of post-divorce conflict over parenting time affects custodial mothers’ psychological adjustment, such as grief over the end of the marriage, feeling anger toward the ex-husband, as well as emotional alienation from the former spouse through the mothers’ cognition of the fathers’ parenting time. Implications for the practice of conflict resolution and supervised visitation are discussed.

Many recent studies, primarily about comprehension, have shown that perceptual simulation occurs in language processing. We conducted two studies to investigate how such perceptual simulation influences sentence production. In both studies, the participants were first repeatedly presented with pictures of an object with a specific shape (e.g., an unbroken egg or a broken egg). In Study 1, they produced a sentence using two words (e.g., egg, refrigerator) and the onset times for their speech were recorded. In Study 2, they were presented with three words and asked to produce a sentence from the target word (e.g., egg) and a word they freely chose from the others (e.g., refrigerator or skillet). Results indicated that visual information matching the sentences did not influence speech onset times (Study 1). However, more sentences implied that the shape matched the presented picture compared to the other picture (Study 2). This suggests perceptual simulation plays an important role in sentence production when spontaneously formulating the message to be conveyed.

Reports have indicated that character strength, which includes positive personality traits, improves well-being. However, less is known about how one’s character strength is linked to suicidal risk, and whether well-being mediates this relationship. This cross-sectional study examined the possibility that well-being has a mediating effect on the relationship between one’s character strength and suicidal tendencies. University students (N = 305, average age = 19.7) answered the questionnaire. The data was analyzed using mediation analysis. Students’ knowledge of their character strength and using that strength each had different direct effects on suicidal tendencies. Knowing one’s character strength directly reduced suicidal tendencies, which were also mediated by a high level of well-being. Meanwhile, using one’s character strength had negative effects toward suicidal tendencies. These results indicate that students’ knowledge of their own character strength might play a protective role in suicidal tendencies even if well-being did not improve, and also suggest that one’s use of character strength might increase suicidal tendencies if it were not used appropriately according to the types of strengths and various situational factors.

This study aims to develop a scale to measure resilience in responding to risk situations in clinical training and to verify its reliability and validity. We developed a resilience scale based on the item pool of an existing resilience scale. Conducting preliminary surveys four times, we administered a questionnaire survey to 1,280 nursing college students nationwide in Japan. The response rate was 27.9% and 348 valid responses were included in the analysis. From a confirmatory factor analysis, a five-factor structure was supported, and internal consistency was largely verified. Further, covariance with three existing scales related to adaptation was confirmed. Because the resilience score of the respondents who had overcome challenging experiences in clinical training was significantly high, it is suggested that the newly developed scale could be employed as a predictor for training adaptation. The findings support the criteria-related validity and construct validity of the scale.

Coaching harassment, which includes physical violence (corporal punishment), psychological violence, and other inappropriate coaching behaviors such as unfair treatment and favoritism, is known to occur in junior sports. Previous studies have primarily focused on the effects and qualitative characteristics of harassment. Moreover, a scale for convenient and appropriate assessment of coaching harassment experiences have not been developed to date. This study developed a scale to assess coaching harassment experiences in sports that comprised of nine items assessing concrete behaviors. A survey using the scale was conducted with university and vocational school students asking about their sports experiences in senior high school. The scale’s internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity were examined, which indicated adequate results. It is expected that using this scale in future studies will demonstrate the psychological effects of coaching harassment on motivation and mental health, as well as the process through which coaching harassment occurs.

The quantitative assessment of footedness is required in various fields, such as psychology, neuroscience, sports science, medicine, and medical practice. While the Waterloo Footedness Questionnaire－Revised (WFQ-R) is the most accepted measurement of footedness, a Japanese translation of the WFQ-R is still not available. In the present study, we developed a Japanese translation of the WFQ-R and tested its validity and reliability. Five hundred and forty-seven university students (153 women) were administered the questionnaire online. Seventy-six of the 547 participants were tested twice to assess the test-retest reliability. We found that the Japanese translation of WFQ-R had a two-factor structure (manipulation and balance), as its developer proposed, and high internal consistency and test-retest reliability. These results suggest that the Japanese translation of the WFQ-R is a valid and reliable measure of footedness.

The present study examined the relationship among community consciousness, school-community partnerships recognized by parents, and evaluations of parent-teacher association (PTA) activities, including gender differences. An online survey was conducted and data from 493 parents who served as PTA officers in public elementary and junior high schools in the last three years were analyzed. The number of opportunities for local residents to participate in school activities was used as an index of school-community partnership, whereas internal rewards and sense of burden were used as indices for the evaluation of PTA activities. The results indicated that the participation of residents in school activities was, generally, positively related to community consciousness, which, in turn, was positively and negatively related to internal rewards and the sense of burden obtained from PTA activities, respectively. Gender differences were found such that in general, mothers reported low ratings for community awareness and PTA activities. The study discussed the environment necessary for utilizing human resources in community activities.

Dohsa-hou therapists usually assist clients through physical contact but physical contact is not advisable during the coronavirus pandemic. We explored a non-contact form of self-care Dohsa-hou that clients could conduct by themselves with the aid of therapists’ instruction, advice, and feedback. In this study, we created two groups of young adults for a single 60-minute session: a face-to-face Dohsa-hou group (N = 28) and an online Dohsa-hou group (N = 17) via a video platform. We compared the effects of stress reactions, the sense of mind-body harmony, and authenticity. The results indicated that both methods were equally effective in reducing stress reactions and in increasing the sense of mind-body harmony and authenticity. The online group showed larger effect sizes in the sense of physical stability and authenticity compared with the face-to-face group. These effects were obtained by using visual information and deepening immersions in the online Dohsa-hou group. Self-care Dohsa-hou would be useful for young adults because they could engage in Dohsa tasks without the therapist’s physical assistance and maintain a healthy mind-body harmony.

The autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) produces tingling sensations induced by sounds and accompanied by positive emotions, whereas in misophonia, everyday sounds provoke maladaptive behaviors and negative emotions. People with autism spectrum disorders sometimes suffer hyperacusis. However, it is unknown whether the three types of auditory-related reactions are interdependent. We investigated ASMR, misophonia symptoms, and autistic traits in a non-clinical population (N = 552; 18－60 years) through self-reporting measures. 58 % of young adults reported that they watched ASMR videos, whereas only 12 % of participants over age 30 did so. The prevalence of misophonia, previously unknown in Japan, was estimated at 54 %. Misophonia Questionnaire (MQ) scores increased with advancing age. Scores were higher for females than for males, although we did not find a gender difference in sensitivity to ASMR. Factor analyses of eight questionnaire subscales (n = 180) demonstrated that ASMR scores are linked with MQ scores, but not with Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) sub-scores. The close link between ASMR and misophonia may be based on auditory processes underlying hyperacusis.