Verbal sounds can be associated with specific meanings, a phenomenon called sound symbolism. Previous findings of sound symbolism have shown that words including specific consonants or vowels or mouth shapes to pronounce specific vowels associate with specific and subjective physical and emotional evaluations. The purpose of this study was to examine whether each written vowel in a given language was individually associated with specific subjective evaluations. Six hundred and thirteen participants used five-point semantic differential scales for 10 features (size, closeness, thickness, width, weight, height, depth, affection, excitement and familiarity) to rate written Japanese vowels (a, i, u, e, and o). The results showed that the size, closeness, thickness and width of a, u and o were significantly higher than those of i and e, whereas the affection and familiarity of a were higher than the others. These results were consistent with previous findings in which vowels in sound-symbolic words have been associated with physical (i.e., size, closeness, thickness and width) and emotional (i.e., affection) evaluations. Our findings suggest that each written Japanese vowel itself, with its individual characteristics, could individually contribute to specific and subjective physical and emotional evaluations. These findings provide insights on how we could better use letters for communicative relationships among writers and readers.
Aims Cross-cultural studies of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD (CPTSD) based on ICD-11 diagnostic criteria are scarce, especially in adolescence. The study aimed to evaluate the trauma exposure, prevalence and factors associated with PTSD and CPTSD in general populations of adolescents in Lithuania and Japan. Methods The study sample comprised 1746 adolescents from Lithuania (n = 832) and Japan (n = 914), 49.8% female. The mean age of study participants was 15.52 (s.d. = 1.64), ranging from 12 to 18 years. ICD-11 posttraumatic disorders were assessed using the International Trauma Questionnaire – Child and Adolescent version (ITQ-CA). Results More than half of the adolescents in a total sample (61.5%) reported exposure to at least one traumatic event in their lifetime, 80.0% in Lithuania and 44.6% in Japan, with a higher prevalence of interpersonal trauma in Lithuania and more natural disaster exposure in Japan. The prevalence of PTSD was 5.2% (95% CI 3.8–6.9%) and 2.3% (95% CI 1.4–3.5%), CPTSD 12.3% (95% CI 10.1–14.7%) and 4.1% (95% CI 2.9–5.5%) in Lithuanian and Japanese samples, respectively. Cumulative trauma exposure, female gender, loneliness and financial difficulties in family predicted both PTSD and CPTSD in the total sample. Loneliness discriminated CPTSD v. PTSD in both Lithuanian and Japanese samples. Conclusions This cross-cultural study is among the first which reported different patterns of trauma exposure in Asian Japanese and Lithuanian adolescents in Europe. Despite differences in trauma exposure and PTSD/CPTSD prevalence, we found similar predictors in both studies, particularly the importance of cumulative trauma exposure for PTSD/CPTSD, and social interpersonal factors for the risk of CPTSD. The study supports the universality of traumatic stress reactions to adverse life experiences in adolescence across cultures and regions and highlights different levels of traumatisation of adolescents in various countries.
Background: Although there is increasing knowledge about adjustment disorder (AjD) based on the new diagnostic criteria of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), less is known on AjD in adolescents. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of AjD and its risk factors in Japanese and Lithuanian adolescents. Methods: The cross-sectional study sample comprised 1745 adolescents from Japan (n = 913) and Lithuania (n = 832). AjD was assessed using the Adjustment Disorder New Module-8 (ADNM-8). We compared the prevalence of AjD in Japanese and Lithuanian adolescents. Using multinominal logistic regression analysis, we examined the effects of age, gender, socioeconomic status, and cumulative stressors as societal and cultural factors, resilience as an intrapersonal factor, and loneliness and perceived support as interpersonal factors on adolescent AjD. Results: The prevalence of probable AjD was 11.7% in Lithuanian adolescents and 6.9% in Japanese adolescents. Gender, socioeconomic status, cumulative stressors, resilience, loneliness, and perceived positive social support were each significantly associated with AjD risk. Conclusions: This cross-cultural comparative study revealed characteristics of the stressors and prevalence of AjD among Japanese and Lithuanian adolescents. In terms of the socio-interpersonal framework model for the stress–response syndrome, sociocultural, intrapersonal, and interpersonal factors were found to be risk factors associated with AjD in adolescents.
Hemodialysis patients suffer from long-term pain that drains their energy and contributes to behavioral interference and other negative effects on their daily lives that result in or exacerbate functional limitations. In addition, they deal with dietary restrictions, symptoms such as itching, lack of energy, and psychological stressors like the loss of self-concept and self-esteem. Self-regulation involves the capacity to notice, inform, and modulate responses and behavior, and research indicates that it promotes rehabilitation in chronic pain patients. Research on the aspects of self-regulation afforded by the Japanese psychotherapy Dohsa-hou correspond to psychological processes tied to the sense of self-control that clients realize over their body movements. This study pilot tested a hospital-integrated implementation of Dohsa-hou relaxation tasks as a chronic pain management behavioral intervention for five female hemodialysis patients between the ages of 59–62 years. We conducted an ABABABA single-case design to compare baseline A-phases (treatment-as-usual: TAU) taken at recurring 1 week intervals (three sessions per week for a total of 4 weeks, 12 total recordings) with an intervention of Dohsa-hou B-phases every 4 weeks (three sessions per week for 12 weeks, 36 total recordings) over the span of 4 months to compare effectiveness. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) pain scores between phases were taken and self-regulatory progress was tracked and summarized from a series of semi-structured interviews. Visual analysis of scores for each participant as single cases indicated decreases for the Dohsa-hou phase compared to baseline treatment-as-usual. As a result, participants reported using Dohsa-hou to reduce pain and experienced improvements in quality of life associated with greater self-regulatory capacity to attend to personal care and domestic activities. These preliminary findings suggest that Dohsa-hou body movement relaxation tasks were feasible as a coping skill in a hospital-integrated setting and at home and show promise for promoting quality of life vis-a-vis the management of severe and chronic bodily pain associated with end-stage renal disease and its treatment, particularly by improving aspects of pain-mediated self-regulatory fatigue.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. AbstractObjectives: Stress management for human service professionals remains an international issue. Methods: We conducted a primary prevention program using Dohsa-hou designed to provide early-career nurses with an understanding of stress and physical relaxation skills that can be utilized to reduce negative and increase positive mood states. Results: A total of 56 nurses working at a general hospital in Japan participated in the program. As a result, negative mood states were significantly reduced at post-test from the intervention. Also, vigor as a positive mood state showed a marginal increase compared to pre-test. These findings were largely consistent with a previous study implementing Dohsa-hou movement tasks in a stress management program. Conclusions: Although there were some limitations, this study suggested that the stress management program using Dohsa-hou may be a useful approach for preventing burnout by promoting mood state regulation for nurses.
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