The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in the cognition of bodily sensations before and after video-feedback (VF). In a preliminary investigation, undergraduate students responded to the Social Phobia Scale (SPS), Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) and Cognition of Bodily Sensations in Social Situation Scale (CBS). Previous study used SPS and SIAS and suggested that social anxiety in undergraduates could be divided into five clusters labeled Generalized, Performance, Interaction, Average and No-anxiety. In a main experiment, speeches made by participants who agreement with join this experiment were video recorded, and feedback was provided. CBS score and Subjective Units of Disturbance (SUD) were assessed before and after the speech, and after VF. Mental sweats were also assessed starting from before, until after the speech. Results indicated that there were no differences in SUD, or mental sweats in any of the social anxiety subtypes, before the speech. However, participants with Generalized social anxiety compared to other subtypes showed more worry about negative evaluations from others regarding their bodily sensations, as assessed by the CBS. In addition, a decrease in this CBS score was observed in Generalized social anxiety and all the subtypes. These results suggest that subtypes of participants with high Generalized social anxiety might have unique cognitions of bodily sensation that are affected by video feedback.

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This study explored the relationship between the neutral and negative interpretation, and explored the influence of the positive, neutral, and negative interpretations in ambiguous events for SAD patients. In this study, 50 SAD patients completed (1) the Japanese version of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (Asakura et al., 2002); (2) the interpretation measure of ambiguous events. The results of correlation analysis revealed that the negative interpretation did not relate to neutral interpretation but positive interpretation (r=-.48, p<.001) in social events. The regression analysis revealed that the influence of negative interpretation in social events predicted social anxiety symptoms (β=.34, p<.05). The results suggest that to benign negative interpretations of ambiguous events will be decrease social anxiety symptoms by increasing positive interpretation of them.

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The purpose of this study was to develop the Japanese version of the Saving Inventory-Revised (SI-R), and to examine the clinical characteristics of non-clinical hoarding among Japanese adolescents. A sample was composed of 365 undergraduate students and vocational college students. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a three-factor structure was the acceptable fit for the data. The Japanese version of the SI-R was considered to have good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and validity. Also, non-clinical hoarding group and healthy control group were divided by U.S. cut-off score (SI-R total over/under 41) were compared. As a result, scores on clutter severity evaluated by a picture rating scale measuring the clutter of rooms, obsessive compulsive symptoms, trait-anxiety, depression, and impairment were significantly higher in non-clinical hoarding group. These results showed clinical characteristics of non-clinical hoarding among Japanese adolescents.

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Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been categorized separately from other anxiety disorders in DSM-5, and is currently conceptualized as a disorder that is characterized by having preoccupations (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). Disorders with phenomenological and psychopathological features similar to those of OCD also consist of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRD) that have been newly introduced into DSM-5. Some OCRDs such as body dysmorphic disorder and hoarding disorder are characterized by preoccupations and repetitive behaviors or mental acts in response to the preoccupation, while others are primarily characterized by recurrent body-focused repetitive behaviors (e.g. hair pulling and skin picking) and repeated attempts to decrease or stop the behaviors. However, OCD and anxiety disorders often share core clinical features such as elevated anxiety, fear conditioning, avoidant behaviors, and a higher prevalence of comorbid major depression as well as effective treatment strategies such as SSRI or CBT. Thus, the relationship between OCD and anxiety disorders is very complex and may be attributed to the heterogeneity of OCD (e.g. cognitive or motoric OCD) and the broader range of its concept, which even includes continuity with autism spectrum disorders or impulsive or addictive disorders. Therefore, further studies are needed in order to confirm the validity and clinical utility of the current diagnostic concept of OCD and determine the future direction of OCD.

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This study systematically reviewed case studies and outcome research relating to nurse-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in Japan. The review revealed the following findings: (1) CBT was used in various nursing areas, but mainly for mental disorders; (2) In many of the cases, nurse-delivered CBT was provided to hospitalized patients; (3) The majority of existing outcome research has reported positive outcomes following the use of CBT; however, the target groups and research designs varied widely across the studies; (4) Most studies did not report the quality control methods taken during CBT, such as the manner in which therapy sessions were supervised during interventions. These findings suggest a need for the development of an education or training system that includes ongoing supervision, the inclusion of basic education about CBT in the curricula of nursing education programs, and outcome research aimed at examining the effectiveness of nurse-delivered CBT.

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Fear of positive evaluation is one of the cognitive features of social anxiety. This study aimed to examine reliability and validity of a Japanese version of the Fear of Positive Evaluation Scale (FPES). Participants were 324 college students. The results of our confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the Japanese version of FPES should include 8 items and consist of one factor, as does the original FPES. The results of our reliability analyses found that internal consistency and the five-week test-retest reliability of the Japanese version of FPES were high. To confirm its validity, relationships of FPES to fear of negative evaluation and social anxiety were examined. Overall, the relationships consistent with those of the original FPES were found. First, fear of positive evaluation was positively related to both social anxiety and fear of negative evaluation. Second, after controlling for fear of negative evaluation, fear of positive evaluation predicted social anxiety. Thus the reliability and validity of a Japanese version of FPES were confirmed, and its utility was discussed.

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