This study examined the effects of parental involvement in home-based learning on children's vocabulary across two cohorts, using data from the Japanese Longitudinal Study of Children and Parents. Data from 2016 (Wave 2), 2019 (Wave 5), and 2022 (Wave 8), when vocabulary tests were administered, were included. The first cohort (N = 1,368) completed a vocabulary test in the third, sixth, and ninth grades, while the second cohort (N = 1,177) did so in the sixth, ninth, and twelfth grades. We employed a conditional latent growth model to examine whether parental involvement in Wave 2 predicted vocabulary changes. The results showed that parental involvement was not related to the slope. Additionally, we used a cross-lagged panel model to infer the causal effects of parental involvement. Results showed that parental autonomy support enhanced children's vocabulary, whereas parental control and direct instruction hindered it.

The present study aimed to adapt the Japanese versions of the short and extra-short forms of the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2-S-J and BFI-2-XS-J). In Survey 1, we examined the usability of the 30-item (BFI-2-S-J) and 15-item (BFI-2-XS-J) inventories by comparing them with the original 60-item inventory. In Survey 2, we conducted a survey using the BFI-2-S-J. A total of 962 (Survey 1) and 560 (Survey 2) Japanese adults responded to online questionnaires. Both surveys measured other psychological scales to examine the validity. A random intercept exploratory factor analysis was employed to identify the factor structure. An analysis using item response theory demonstrated measurement accuracy. Convergent and discriminant validity were also confirmed. Additionally, the analyses indicated measurement invariance across demographic groups and the availability of facet-level scores of the BFI-2-S-J within each Big Five domain. Overall, the results indicated that the BFI-2-S-J and BFI-2-XS-J are useful tools for measuring the Big Five personality traits in Japanese samples.

This study aimed to develop the Cognitive Abilities Test Online (CAT-O) for preschoolers and early school-age children. The scale's reliability, validity, and factor structure were also investigated. The CAT-O consists of three subtests: the Picture Vocabulary Test-Online, the Visual Reasoning Test-Online, and the Visual Working Memory Test-Online. Study 1 revealed that each of the three tests demonstrated good test-retest reliability. In terms of convergent validity, the three subtests demonstrated moderate to high significant positive correlations with similar scales. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analyses of ordered categorical data with a national random sample (N = 1,251) revealed that the three-factor model was the best fit. The high internal consistency of each test provided further evidence of its reliability. The mean levels of individual correct response rates and categorical factor scores progressed according to grade level, which also confirmed the validity of the CAT-O. Future research should focus on investigating the usability of the CAT-O in research and clinical settings.

The contrast avoidance model has been proposed as a (maladaptive) emotion regulation strategy in generalized anxiety disorder, suggesting that chronic worry and anxiety play a role in maintaining a negative mood to prevent a drastic shift to negative emotions triggered by uncertain future events. This model ironically explains why individuals with generalized anxiety disorder experience persistent worry and anxiety. The Contrast Avoidance Questionnaire (CAQ) was originally developed in English to assess individual differences in contrast avoidance. In this study, we developed a Japanese version of the CAQ and tested its reliability and validity. The CAQ includes two versions: one focusing on worry (CAQ-W) and the other on negative mood (CAQ-GE). Study 1 confirmed the structural validity and internal consistency of the Japanese version of the scale. Study 2 demonstrated sufficient test-retest reliability. Study 3 examined convergent and divergent validity, and the results generally replicated the original findings. We discussed transdiagnostic clinical applications and outlined directions for future research using the CAQ.

Individuals with high social anxiety often fear that others will notice signs of anxiety via their facial expressions and evaluate them negatively. The current study examined the effects of wearing a mask that hides most of the face on interpersonal communication among people with high social anxiety. In a laboratory experiment, 58 participants rated their level of social anxiety. Subsequently, participants engaged in a 5-minute conversation with a partner with or without a mask, and rated their own communication. Coders then coded each participant's behavior during the conversation. The results revealed that participants in the high social anxiety group expressed more communicative behaviors and rated their own communication more positively when wearing a mask than when not wearing a mask. The possibility that wearing a mask may promote smooth communication in people with high social anxiety is discussed.

The purpose of the current study was to clarify the psychological processes underlying aggressive behavior among drivers. The narratives of 118 drivers who had been interviewed by police and later subjected to administrative punishment because of their aggressive behavior were analyzed using the Modified Grounded Theory Approach. The results identified four stages that led to the aggressive behavior: "situation before the incident," "reaction to the opponent's behavior," "behavioral intentions," and "cognition of one's behavior." Depending on "recognition of the consequences of one's behavior," aggressive behavior may terminate or relapse. In some cases, "trigger of behavioral inhibition" may promote termination of aggressive behavior. The results revealed that the presence of a primer before an incident, maintenance of anger, attribution bias, and a lack of insight were associated with offending drivers in this study. The findings suggested that interventions that apply deterrent measures for general aggressive behaviors, such as interventions that are based on cognitive-behavioral models, may be effective for reducing offences among drivers.

Perimetric complexity, a character (letter) complexity metric, can be easily computed with a computer program and thus has the potential for application to characters in a wide range of languages. However, the validity of perimetric complexity for Japanese has only been tested for kana characters. Thus, the validity of perimetric complexity for kanji characters is still an open question that was addressed in the current study. We asked Japanese and English speakers to rate the subjective complexity of different kanji characters, which was averaged into the subjective complexity of each character for each speaker group. On the basis of these ratings, we calculated the correlations between perimetric complexity and subjective complexity. The results revealed three main findings: (a) we found strong correlations between the two factors (rs >.85), (b) the correlation was comparable to that between subjective complexity and other measures of character complexity (i.e., stroke count), and (c) subjective complexity was highly correlated between Japanese and English speakers. These results suggest that perimetric complexity is a valid index of the subjective complexity of kanji and is more useful than stroke count given its multilingual versatility.

This study examines the effects of mental contrasting on creativity among Japanese participants. Specifically, it tests the hypothesis that mental contrasting promotes creative performance in Japanese individuals when they receive negative feedback, reducing the likelihood of goal attainment. Additionally, it explores whether cognitive flexibility and cognitive persistence mediate this mechanism. Participants were adults (N = 432, age range 18-60). The Unusual Uses Task was used to assess their creativity. Results supported the hypothesis that mental contrasting positively affects creativity in Japanese participants facing difficulties achieving goals. Furthermore, results suggested that cognitive flexibility and cognitive persistence mediate the process by which mental contrasting enhances creative performance. The study discusses the potential of mental contrasting as a novel and effective strategy for improving creativity, distinct from traditional creativity training methods.

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has led to a surge in unemployment globally. To address the lack of effective tools to assess psychological stressors, this study developed a scale for measuring psychological stressors faced by unemployed individuals multidimensionally from three perspectives. Following preliminary research involving qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys, we conducted an online survey with 1,000 unemployed men and women. The results indicated that the stressors of leaving a job included two factors: "other-blame or victim consciousness" and "self-blame or low self-esteem." Stressors associated with lives of the unemployed encompassed two factors: "decreased activity and disorder in life during unemployment" and "isolation and difficulty during unemployment." Stressors as a job seeker consisted of one factor. The reliability and validity of these factors were substantiated. The proposed scale may be helpful for informing the development of suitable psychological support for individuals experiencing unemployment.

In recent years, the importance of data sharing has been emphasized in psychological research, and systems for data sharing have been developed. However, currently existing methods have not enabled secondary analysis that examines the relationships among variables across multiple data sets. To conduct secondary analysis beyond a single data set, a sharing system is needed to link data from the same individual that exists in multiple data sets. In the current study, we focused on decentralized personal data stores (decentralized PDS) as a sharing system for securely linking data among individuals. We discuss the issues that need to be resolved to popularize decentralized PDS in psychological research and the potential benefits of decentralized PDS becoming more prevalent in psychological research.

The aim of this study was to develop the Japanese version of the Mentalization Questionnaire (MZQ-J), used to measure mentalizing deficits, and to test its validity and reliability. The author conducted an Internet survey, and data for 250 adults were collected. A confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the MZQ-J had a single factor structure common to both genders, and sufficient internal consistency and test-retest reliability were confirmed. A correlation analysis showed that the MZQ-J was closely related to self-related mentalization as well as to mindfulness, empathy, Big Five personality traits, attachment, and self-esteem. The MZQ-J clearly showed correlations with pathological indicators of borderline personality traits and depression and anxiety. The results established the acceptable validity and reliability of the MZQ-J. The MZQ-J will also make it possible to provide appropriate clinical psychological assistance tailored to mentalizing capabilities and compare research findings of empirical studies regarding mentalizing at the international level.

The purpose of this study was to create a scale measuring the yarigai of human service professionals in the fields of medicine, welfare, and education and verify the scale's reliability and validity. In Study 1, responses to an open-ended questionnaire were collected from 759 service workers, and a provisional scale of 39 items was created. In Study 2, an online survey was administered to 1,999 human service professionals to examine factor structure, reliability, and validity. The factor analysis confirmed a structure of 28 items under the five factors of "growth and positive change in the recipient," "gratitude and trust," "smooth cooperation," "growth as a professional," and "positive evaluation at the workplace." A significant correlation was demonstrated with respect to test-retest reliability. Moreover, correlations were confirmed between work engagement and meaningful work, degree of job utilization and aptitude, and the intention to quit. These results suggest that the scale possesses a certain degree of reliability and validity.

The effect of older siblings on language development is a phenomenon in which secondborn children with an older sibling have lower levels of language skills than firstborn children without older siblings. Because this effect has been confirmed in only a few cultures (e.g., France and Singapore), it remains unclear whether the effect is robust and universal. Using data for 755 Japanese 4- to 5-year-olds from the Hamamatsu Birth Cohort for Mothers and Children, we investigated the effect of older siblings on children's language skills, measured as verbal IQ by the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI). Consistent with previous findings, results showed that secondborn children with an older sibling had significantly lower verbal IQ than firstborn children. Further analysis also confirmed previous findings: the more closely spaced the siblings' age gap, the higher the verbal IQ of the secondborn child. Therefore, the present findings suggest that the older sibling effect is robust in Japan and may be universal across cultures.

This study aimed to investigate differences in responses between groups by comparing online responses via smartphones using various response formats on Google Forms with responses from paper questionnaires among university students. Participants were randomly assigned to either an online group where they responded using one of grid, radio button, or linear scale formats, or a paper-based group. In each group, respondents answered multiple psychological scales and rated the visibility of the survey form. Additionally, response times and the ratio of careless responses were recorded. A total of 1,108 valid responses were analyzed. Results indicated that in the grid group, certain mean values of scale scores and some correlation coefficients differed from those in the paper-based group. Furthermore, there were more careless responses, longer response times, and lower ratings for form visibility in the grid group. Differences in mean values for some scales compared to the paper-based group were also observed in the linear scale group. The radio button group showed the least difference in responses compared to the paper-based group.

This study examined the construct validity of ambiguity scores, including the bipolarity and coexistence between extraversion (E) and introversion (I), thinking (T) and feeling (F), and sensation (S) and intuition (N) using the Jung Psychological Types Scale for Coexistence (JPTS-C). Despite the bipolarity assumption, the JPTS-C uses two pairs of items, each scored on a 7-point Likert scale in a unipolar format-to measure the coexistence of between E and I, T and F, and S and N. The results were as follows. (a) Correlational patterns were found among the ambiguity scores for the three subscales on JPTS-C and the Two-Sided Personality Scale. (b) Ambiguity scores between E and I had a negative correlation with anxiety on attitudes toward ambiguity, and ambiguity scores between S and N had a positive correlation with enjoyment and reception on attitudes toward ambiguity, and a negative correlation with dichotomous belief, although ambiguity scores between T and F had a positive correlation with enjoyment and control on attitudes toward ambiguity. This suggests that construct validity about ambiguity scores for the three subscales on JPTS-C was confirmed and that each characteristic of ambiguity score was different for the three subscales.