BACKGROUND：Greater understanding of disease-prone vs. healthy behavior patterns is important, because such patterns could be marks or targets of interventions. Grossarth-Maticek proposed “object dependence” as disease-prone and “autonomy” and “self-regulation” as healthy behavioral patterns. They showed that self-regulation is correlated with healthy lifestyle habits and it interacts with these habits in the direction of health promotion. OBJECTIVE：The Self-Regulation Questionnaire 16-item Short Form is a tool to measure self-regulation. We examined the reliability and validity of its Japanese version (SR16-J). Methods：A total of 227 hospital staff members and their family members/acquaintances (sample A) and 107 patients with cancer (sample B) completed a set of self-administered questionnaires that included the SR16-J. RESULTS：Cronbach’s alphas of the self-regulation scale were 0.93 and 0.93, and its test-retest reliability (Spearman’s r) coeffi cients were 0.87 and 0.92 in samples A and B, respectively. Factor analysis yielded a single factor that contributed about 50% of the variance. This scale was strongly, positively correlated with “type IV behavior” , which indicates autonomy, whereas it was correlated moderately or weakly, inversely with scales relevant to “type I” and “type II” behaviors, which are subordinate concepts of object dependence. It was also moderately, positively correlated with the “mental component summary” and its relevant subscales of SF-36, and positively associated with a frequency of partaking in physical exercise. These results were similar for both samples. CONCLUSION：A high reliability (internal consistency and reproducibility) and some validity( construct validity and criterion-related validity) were shown for SR16-J.

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BACKGROUND： Due to the COVID-19, it is recommended to wear a facemask. Mask-wearing may increase the physical burden during exercise. OBJECTIVE： This study aimed to compare the eff ects of a mask-wearing and ambient room temperature on heart rate（ HR）, autonomic nervous system activity, and rating of perceived exertion （RPE） during a bicycle exercise. METHODS： Thirty healthy university students participated in four bicycle exercise sessions, performed at the intensity of anaerobic threshold for 10 minutes. During these sessions, participants were subjected to two temperatures, 20℃ and 24℃ , and were either, while wearing a mask or not. We measured the electrocardiogram（ ECG） and RPE during exercise. HR and rate of change in autonomic nervous system activity were evaluated by the ECG. RESULTS： We observed signifi cant changes in HR（ p < 0.001） and RPE（ p = 0.0026） between diff erent room temperatures and whether or not a mask was used. RPE was signifi cantly higher during mask-wearing sessions than during no mask sessions at 24℃ . However, there were no signifi cant changes in the rate of change in autonomic nervous system activity, regardless of room temperature or mask-wearing. CONCLUSION： Our results suggest that physiological discomfort associated with mask-wearing can be reduced by decreasing the ambient room temperature.

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BACKGROUND：Local governments are required to practice health promotion by using nudges. They are expected to be able to practice nudges in the field of health promotion by completing the training and subsequent participation in the nudge unit （nudge use promotion team）. OBJECTIVE：We aimed to design a training session for local government officials to acquire health promotion nudges immediately and motivate them to learn continuously. METHODS：A series of three nudge training sessions were held in Kyotango City（Kyoto Prefecture）. The EAST（Easy, Attractive, Social, and Timely） nudge framework was used to design the training sessions. Participants in the third training session were surveyed about their nudge mastery phase and motivation to participate in a nudge unit using a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire. RESULTS：There were 71 participants in the first session, 50 in the second session, and 44 in the third session. Of 44 participants in the third session, 43 responded to the survey. Before the first session, 60.0%（n=24）answered that they had no knowledge of nudges. After the third session, 73.8%（n=31）answered that they would like to use nudges, and 11.9%（n=5）answered that they were using nudges （p<0.001）. Also, 81.0%（n=34）answered that they preferred to establish a nudge unit, and 46.5%（n=20）answered that they were willing to participate in it. CONCLUSION：The results suggest that training sessions combining the EAST elements may contribute to the immediate mastery and continuous motivation to learn nudges and the training of nudge practitioners in health promotion. Meanwhile, there was a bottleneck between the willingness to establish a nudge unit and the willingness to participate, which needs to be verifi ed to overcome this bottleneck in the future.

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[in Japanese]

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