COVID-19 is spreading worldwide, causing various social problems. The aim of the present study was to verify the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale ...(FCV-19S) and to ascertain FCV-19S effects on assessment of Japanese people's coping behavior. After back-translation of the scale, 450 Japanese participants were recruited from a crowdsourcing platform. These participants responded to the Japanese FCV-19S, the Japanese versions of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS) and the Japanese versions of the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease (PVD), which assesses coping behaviors such as stockpiling and health monitoring, reasons for coping behaviors, and socio-demographic variables. Results indicated the factor structure of the Japanese FCV-19S as including seven items and one factor that were equivalent to those of the original FCV-19S. The scale showed adequate internal reliability (α = .87; ω = .92) and concurrent validity, as indicated by significantly positive correlations with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS; anxiety, r = .56; depression, r = .29) and Perceived Vulnerability to Disease (PVD; perceived infectability, r = .32; germ aversion, r = .29). Additionally, the FCV-19S not only directly increased all coping behaviors (β = .21 - .36); it also indirectly increased stockpiling through conformity reason (indirect effect, β = .04; total effect, β = .31). These results suggest that the Japanese FCV-19S psychometric scale has equal reliability and validity to those of the original FCV-19S. These findings will contribute further to the investigation of various difficulties arising from fear about COVID-19 in Japan.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The fear of COVID-19 has become a social problem during the pandemic. The present study compares the fear of COVID-19 among members of the general public, college students, pregnant women, and ...hospital nurses. It also examines various factors associated with the fear of COVID-19. In this study, we conducted a survey of the general public on fear of infection and related factors and compared from previous studies of college students, pregnant women, and hospital nurses. A crowdsourced survey was administered to 450 members of the general public, who were asked about their fear of COVID-19 infection. Data from college students, nurses, and pregnant women were recruited from a May-June 2020 survey on fear of COVID-19. An analysis of variance was used to compare the fear of infection among different attribution. The results showed that more pregnant women and fewer college students feared infection, as did equal numbers of hospital nurses and members of the general public. The multiple regression analysis revealed that college students and pregnant women associated the fear of infection with their key source of information, while hospital nurses associated the fear of infection with living with an older person. These results suggest that pregnant women have a significant fear of infection, which is further defined by the risk of serious illness in cases of infection. Although the fear of infection is relatively low among hospital nurses, they fear becoming a source of infection. These results reveal the groups in Japan that fear infection and the reasons for their concern. The present study may help to provide psychological support to counteract the fear of infection in vulnerable groups.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Self-effacement, showing oneself modestly invisible, is seen as a desirable behavior in Japanese culture. It is also considered desirable to portray one’s family members as inferior in the presence ...of others. Previous studies mainly focused on situations involving patronizing one’s spouse. However, there are instances where caregivers demean their children in the presence of others. This study aimed to explicate the relationship between caregivers’ tendency to show humility by deprecating their child and the child’s focus on their own strengths. A questionnaire administered to 167 elementary school students showed that caregivers’ portrayed humility was positively associated with internalization of self-deprecation in children; and it shaped the children’s understanding of desired humility regardless of gender or age. Further, desired humility was negatively related to how the children focused on their own strengths. Based on these findings, this study discussed the relationship between caregivers’ tendency to show humility by deprecating their child and the child’s focus on their own strengths.
•Pregnant women in Japan have high levels of anxiety.•Japanese pregnant women had higher fear of COVID-19 than Japanese fertility patients.•Websites and social networking sites may ease pregnant ...women's anxiety.•Accurate and anxiety-relieving information should be provided.
Pregnant women and fertility patients are particularly vulnerable to major disease outbreaks. Regarding COVID-19 in particular, much is unclear about the impact on mothers and fetuses. The purpose of this study was to determine the fear of COVID-19 among Japanese pregnant and infertility patients amid the coronavirus disaster.
An online survey of 292 pregnant Japanese women and 13 Japanese women undergoing fertility treatment was conducted during the COVID-19 epidemic from May 19 to June 6, 2020. All participants responded to the Japanese version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale and risk factors.
Japanese pregnant women had higher fear of COVID-19 scores than Japanese fertility patients. In addition, fear of COVID-19 among pregnant women in Japan was positively associated with stockpiling and health monitoring, and an emphasis on websites and social networking sites among pregnant women was associated with lower fear of COVID-19.
This study was a cross-sectional survey, which means that it is not possible to determine the causal relationship between fear of COVID-19 and related factors. Additionally, we were not able to research the web and social networking content that pregnant women consider most important.
Pregnant women in Japan have high levels of anxiety, and websites and social networking sites may be effective in alleviating their anxiety. When communicating information, there will be a need to provide not only accurate information about preventing infectious diseases, but also information that will ease the anxiety of pregnant women.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Active-emphatic listening is active listening that focuses on empathy. The Active-Empathic Listening Scale (AELS) is a self-report scale comprising three dimensions: sensing, processing, and ...responding. However, translated versions are not available for languages used in Asian countries, such as Japanese. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate and report on the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the AELS. After the scale was back translated, 728 Japanese university students completed the Japanese AELS. Of those participants, 566 responded to Japanese versions of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and Encode, Decode, Control, and Regulate Model (ENDCOREs) for validation, and the Japanese AELS was administered again to 59 participants after 3 weeks, to determine test-retest reliability. This study used confirmatory factor analysis to validate the scale's three-factor structure. To evaluate reliability, Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega, and intra-class correlation coefficient were calculated. To examine validity, correlation and partial correlation analyses were conducted. These results suggest that the validity of the Japanese AELS is relatively comparable to the original AELS; however, it will be necessary to determine potential cultural concerns by comparing Japanese culture and other Asian cultures in future studies. The Japanese AELS is expected to be used to measure the outcomes of active listening training in Japan.
The Brief Sense of Community Scale is a widely accepted eight-item scale that measures the four dimensions of sense of community; however, the factor structure of the Japanese version of this scale ...has never been confirmed. In this study, we demonstrated the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Brief Sense of Community Scale.
After completing the back translation of the scale, a sample of 993 Japanese individuals completed the Japanese version of the Brief Sense of Community Scale.
The results indicate that the Japanese version of the Brief Sense of Community Scale is comparable to the original scale and demonstrated adequate goodness-of-fit for both the four-factor and second-order models, which demonstrates its validity. Nonetheless, it remains necessary to consider possible cross-national cultural concerns when utilizing the scale.
The Japanese version of the Brief Sense of Community Scale will contribute toward the creation of a community in which all members feel comfortable.
The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 had a serious psychological impact not only on residents, but also on public servants who worked for residents in prefectures and municipalities. Although ...public servants worked in highly stressful situations, disaster-related stress among them has not been studied, as has been the case for residents. We examine the stress trajectory of Ishinomaki public servants in Miyagi prefecture (N = 573; 317 men, 256 women), which was directly affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, and analyse the effects of risk factors that included poor workplace communication, insufficient rest, having dead or missing family members, and living in a shelter. Six surveys were conducted (baseline approximately three months after the earthquake, and follow-up in approximately six-month intervals over a four-year period) using the Japanese version of the Kessler six-item Psychological Distress Scale. The analysis was conducted using five models, which included one for each risk factor and all four risk factors. Latent growth curve analysis indicated that stress response follows a cubic trajectory over four years. Psychological distress sharply reduced from 2011 to 2012 before stabilising and then slowly declining from 2014 to 2015. In the results of the analysis for each model, all risk factors affected stress response in the baseline. Individuals with poor levels of workplace communication experienced higher stress than those who had good levels of workplace communication. Our findings show that public servants’ stress responses decrease with time, regardless of whether or not there are risk factors involved. These results suggest that workplace communication in daily life can prevent the deterioration of mental health since risk factors affect the baseline of stress response.
After the Great East Japan Earthquake, many citizens experienced severe psychological reactions. This paper describes a three steps model characterized by solution-focused brief therapy sessions. In ...one particular case, this method was successfully utilized over the course of only two sessions by a therapist who was able to treat and resolve the flashback episodes of an adult female client who saw full recovery and complete normalization of her traumatic symptoms within two years, and all without the use of traditional trauma-oriented treatments. This study examines that particular case, and although there are limitations to this study due to the absence of a control group and its focus on a single case, it remains important and worthwhile to examine the remarkable effectiveness of this three steps model for clients with post-traumatic stress disorder.
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