Endocrine Journal (EJ) took its name from volume 40 in 1993. The journal is a continuation of Endocrinologia Japonica, which had been first published from the Japan Endocrine Society Eastern Region, ...and then from the Japan Endocrine Society up to volume 39 as an English journal. Since 1975, the Impact Factor (IF) has been used to evaluate academic journals. When I was appointed as editor-in-chief, one of the issues was "how to raise IF above 1."
Despite their importance in population health among children and adolescents, our understanding of how individual items mutually interact within and between pediatric health-related quality of life ...(HRQOL) and school social capital is limited.
We employed network analysis in a general population sample of 7759 children aged 9-15 years to explore the network structure of relations among pediatric HRQOL and school social capital items measured using validated scales. Furthermore, network centrality was examined to identify central items that had stronger and more direct connections with other items in the network than others. Network structure and overall strength of connectivity among items were compared between groups (by sex and age).
Our analysis revealed that the item related to school/academic functioning and the item related to shared enjoyment among students had the highest strength centrality in the network of HRQOL and school social capital, respectively, underpinning their critical roles in pediatric HRQOL and school social capital. Additionally, the edge connecting "I trust my friends at school" and "trouble getting along with peers" had the strongest negative edge weight among ones connecting school social capital and pediatric HRQOL constructs. Network comparison test revealed stronger overall network connectivity in middle schoolers compared to elementary schoolers but no differences between male and female students.
The network approach elucidated the complex relationship of mutually influencing items within and between pediatric HRQOL and school social capital. Addressing central items may promote children's perceived health and school social capital.
Though autism spectrum disorder (ASD) traits are associated with depression, it is unclear if school social capital mediates their association. We examined whether school social capital mediates the ...association between ASD traits and depression, and moderation effect of sex on the mediation effect among adolescents in a general population sample (1750 males, 1779 females; equivalent 12–15 years old). The results of this study indicate that ASD traits are associated with depression among adolescents, and that this association is partly mediated by school social capital. Furthermore, the results of the moderated mediation analysis suggest that lower level of school social capital can lead to more increase level of depression for females than for males.
Whether there is a true increase in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequency or not remains unclear. Additionally, the rates of co-existing neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) in a total population ...sample has not been fully examined before. Therefore, using a total population sample in Japan, we aimed to estimate the prevalence and cumulative incidence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) annually, to determine whether there is a true increase in ASD prevalence by estimating the cumulative incidence of ASD annually, and to examine the rates of co-existing neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD).
In this cross-sectional sequential design study, all 5-year-old children in the catchment area underwent the screening annually from the year 2013-2016. Screen-positive children were invited to participate in a comprehensive assessment, including child and parent interview, behavioral observation, and cognitive and motor function testing. All cases were reviewed by a multidisciplinary research team.
Caregivers of 3954 children returned the screening, among which 559 children underwent the assessment with 87 children receiving an ASD diagnosis. Adjusted ASD prevalence was 3.22% (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.66-3.76%). The male to female ratio of the crude prevalence was 2.2:1. The cumulative incidence of ASD up to 5 years of age for the total study years was 1.31% (95% CI 1.00-1.62%). A generalized linear model revealed no significant linear trends in 5-year cumulative incidence over the study years. Only 11.5% of children had ASD alone; the remaining 88.5% were found to have at least one co-existing NDD.
Modest sample size for a total population study.
Our findings demonstrate the stability of the 5-year cumulative incidence of ASD, implying no true rise in ASD incident cases over the 4-year study period in the study catchment area. High rates of co-existing NDDs reflect the importance of investigating broad developmental challenges in children with ASD.
Social capital is an important factor that affects mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between social capital and depression and between social capital and ...quality of life (QoL) in children in elementary and junior high school and to examine how this relationship differs in relevant patterns at both the individual- and school-level. The study was conducted in all elementary and junior high schools in a single municipality; the subjects consisted of 3,722 elementary school and 3,987 junior high school students (aged from 9 to 15). A multilevel linear mixed effect model analysis revealed that all three subscales of social capital were associated with depression and QoL at the individual-level: The school social capital at the individual-level showed the strongest association with depression and QoL. We also found that some of social capital at the school-level was associated with depression and QoL. An interactive effect was observed between educational stage (elementary and junior high) and some of social capital subscales. Specifically, the inverse association between school social capital and depression was stronger among the junior high students, while the positive association between school and neighborhood social capital and QoL was stronger among the elementary students. These interactions suggest that social capital impacts depression and QoL differently in elementary and junior high students. These findings suggest that the degree of association of social capital domains differs in mental health among the educational stage.
Under the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns regarding prolonged screen time and mental health effects in children have increased. We examined the association of depression with smartphone ownership in ...school children at four time points: September 2019, July 2020, December 2020, and March 2021. The analysis revealed an interaction between group and time, indicating that depressive symptoms among smartphone owners were significantly more severe than in the other group. These results were clearer for fourth-year students, pointing that smartphone possession at younger ages may be a risk factor for mental health in the new lifestyle caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through this meta-analysis, we sought to examine the prevalence of, risks for, and factors associated with bullying involvement (victimization, perpetration, perpetration-victimization) among ...students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Additionally, we attempted to examine sources of variance in the prevalence and effect sizes of bullying in students with ASD across studies. Systematic database and literature review identified 34 relevant studies (31 for Western countries, three for Eastern countries). Pooled prevalence estimates for victimization, perpetration, and perpetration-victimization in general were 67%, 29%, and 14%, respectively. The risk of victimization in students with ASD was significantly higher than that in typically developing students and students with other disabilities. Further, deficits in social interaction and communication, externalizing symptoms, internalizing symptoms, and integrated inclusive school settings were related to higher victimization, and externalizing symptoms were related to higher perpetration. Finally, moderation analyses revealed significant variations in the pooled prevalences thereof depending on culture, age, school settings, and methodological quality and in the pooled effect sizes according to publication year and methodological quality. Our results highlight needs for bullying intervention for students with ASD, especially those who are younger, are in an inclusive school setting, and have higher social difficulties and externalizing/internalizing symptoms; for intensive research of bullying experiences among students with ASD in Eastern countries; and for efforts to improve the methodological quality of such research.
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