Objectives The aim of this study was to compare attitudes toward medication and associated factors for patients with schizophrenia in Japan and China. Methods Age-group matched samples were drawn from outpatients in Tokyo (N = 76) and Beijing (N = 76) according to the same inclusion/exclusion criteria. Psychotropic prescription and attitudes toward medication were measured using Drug Attitude Inventory-30 (DAI-30) and an original questionnaire regarding beliefs about psychiatric medication. Stepwise regression analysis of the DAI-30 data was performed for each group. Results Japanese subjects were prescribed significantly larger amounts of antipsychotics. Polypharmacy of antipsychotics and concurrent use of anticholinergics, anxiolytics, or hypnotics were more frequently found among subjects in Tokyo than among those in Beijing. However, subjects in Tokyo and Beijing had similar subjective responses to medication, subjective evaluation of sideeffects, and complaints about overuse of psychotropics. Subjects in Tokyo complained less about physician's overreliance on medication and were less concerned about medication cost than those in Beijing. In Tokyo, longer duration of illness and lower subjective distress caused by side effects predicted a more positive subjective response, while female gender, younger age, and lower Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale score were independently correlated with a better subjective response in Beijing. Conclusions Subjective acceptance of multiple medications is greater for patients in Japan than those in China. Determinants of subjective response to medication varied between Japan and China.

Odor perception has been studied in patients with various mental disorders; however, no consensus has been reached as to its detection, identification, or pleasantness/unpleasantness of odors especially in patients with depression. One hundred and nineteen normal elderly individuals living at home were exposed to odors of rose, perfume, white ginger, Indian ink, cigarette smoke, milk, feces and orange scent using the scratch and sniff method. They were asked to rate the strength of each odor, its pleasantness or unpleasantness, their liking for it, and their familiarity with it. They were also asked to complete a self-rating depression scale (SDS). The relationship of the score of each psychological olfactory scale with the SDS score and the difference in the score of each psychological scale between high-SDS and low-SDS groups are discussed.

Historically, schizophrenics' body image problems were regarded as related particularly to delusions and hallucinations. However, during the 1980s, the predominant view of the phenomenology of the disorder broadened to include negative symptoms; deviations in schizophrenics' body image underlie various behaviors or allegations concerning the body and should be refocused. The present study attempted to detect body image deviations in chronic schizophrenia using the Body Image Questionnaire (BIQ), which comprises three hypothetical components (anatomical, functional and other psychological components), and to clarify their related clinical characteristics in symptoms and insight. The BIQ was administered to 93 chronic schizophrenics (diagnosed according to DSM IV; 44 men and 49 women) and 177 normals (78 men and 99 women) adults. The combined data of the three BIQ components in schizophrenic and normal subjects were factor-analyzed separately, and factor scores obtained were compared between schizophrenic and normal groups. The factor scores that differentiated groups were further compared between schizophrenic subgroups, determined by high or low scores for positive symptoms assessed by Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms, negative symptoms by Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms and insight by the Schedule for Assessing Insight. Significant differences between diagnostic groups were found in five of nine factor scores. Dullness in movement, powerlessness, unusually strong gastrointestinal function, lifelessness and fragility proved to be the deviated body images in chronic schizophrenic patients. Powerlessness and lifelessness proved to be related to positive and negative symptoms, and unusually strong gastrointestinal function and fragility to insight.

The purpose of this study was to explore the association between psychosocial functioning of children treated for cancer and that of their parents. Factors associated with psychosocial functioning were also examined. The present study was a cross-sectional survey of 33 mothers and one father (mean age: 37.9), each of whom had a child that had been treated for cancer. The participants answered a package of questionnaires consisting of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), the Parent Experience of Child Illness (PECI), and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Information about the children’s illnesses was collected from medical records. The CBCL total problems T score was correlated with the parental IES-R total scores. Intensity of treatment independently predicted the variance of parental long-term uncertainty. In conclusion, psychosocial problems of children with cancer were associated with parental post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Provision of early, adequate support to parents who are vulnerable to PTSS will help not only the parents, but also their children with cancer.

A preliminary study on the Noh mask test for analysis of recognition of facial expression was performed. The present study was conducted on 15 normal subjects (mean age: 32 years, SD 9.7 years) as the first step to test for the differences between psychiatric patients and normal subjects. Stimuli were created by photographs of 15 Noh masks at different vertical angles. Subjects were given 12 tasks (12 emotion items), and each task consisted of 15 trials (15 Noh mask images). In each trial, the subject viewed a colour monitor, and was shown an emotion item, followed by a Noh mask image. The subject pressed either the yes or no key to indicate whether the Noh mask image expressed the emotion item. The subject’s response and reaction time to each Noh mask image showed no deviation, although the subject’s response and reaction time to each emotion item showed some deviation. As the vertical angle of the Noh mask changed, normal subjects recognized all emotion items except the ‘uncanny’ expression. Factor analysis of the 15 Noh mask images produced three factors, and the analysis of 12 emotion items produced five factors. Thus, the Noh mask test was simplified to nine images and nine items. Further developments of the Noh mask test may include the evaluation of the dysfunction of perception on delicate facial expression in psychiatric patients.

Binge drinking by college students is a problematic behavior. However, data on binge drinking and the reasons for drinking by college students in Japan are scarce. We explored the reasons for drinking among college students. The study used a cross-sectional design and a self-administered questionnaire. From December 2016 to March 2017, we sampled undergraduate and graduate students aged 20 or older at 35 colleges in the Kanto region of Japan. The questionnaire addressed 1) frequency of drinking alcohol, 2) amount of drinking per day, 3) frequency of binge drinking in the past year, and 4) reasons for drinking (with 12 possible responses). The t-test was used to compare the means between binge drinkers and non-binge drinkers. Logistic regression analysis was conducted on binge drinking and the reasons for drinking. The participants included 303 men and 260 women. Significant differences between men and women included the presence of binge drinking (men: 74.9%; women: 59.6%). Among male students, the statistically significant reasons given for binge drinking were "to feel happy or be in a good mood" and "to relieve stress," whereas among female students, the reasons were "to feel happy or be in a good mood," "to facilitate interpersonal relationships," "to forget something bad," and "to relieve stress." The reasons for drinking associated with binge drinking were identified. It is important to incorporate these results into preventive education about binge drinking aimed at college students in Japan.

This study assessed the psychometric properties of the Japanese version of the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI) in children in clinical and non‐clinical settings in Japan. Validation of the ECBI for clinical and non‐clinical participants (N = 128, 2–7 years of age) was evaluated. First, we evaluated the internal consistency reliability of the ECBI Problem and Intensity scales. We evaluated the construct and criterion‐referenced validity by comparing scores among the subscales of the ECBI, Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), and Japanese versions of the Parenting Stress Index‐Short Form (PSI‐SF) and the Beck Depression Inventory‐II (BDI‐II). Results showed that Cronbach's alphas for both the Intensity and Problem scores were .91 and .92, respectively, which reflects high internal consistency. Results also showed that both the ECBI Intensity and Problem scores were significantly correlated with all subscales of the CBCL, PSI‐SF, and BDI‐II. These data suggest that the Japanese version of the ECBI is a psychometrically sound measure for assessing behavior problems in Japanese children.

In order to clarify the characteristics of job stress in scientific researchers, a self-administered questionnaire survey for 16,330 workers was carried out at Tsukuba Research Park City, Japan. The data of 7,063 (43%) workers aged 20-59 years old were analyzed, and the characteristics of job stress in 3,290 scientific researchers were compared with those of 1,799 technicians and 1,849 clerks. The researchers perceived higher quantitative and qualitative workload, greater job control (job decision latitude), and greater reward from work, than did the other two job groups. In addition, young male researchers received a large amount of support from their coworkers, while middle-aged male researchers perceived difficulty in personal relationships with their coworkers. From the viewpoints of the demand-control-support model and the effort-reward imbalance model, the researchers, particularly men, were typically occupied in active jobs, and the large amount of effort required for their work seemed to be balanced by greater reward from work. Compared with male researchers, however, female researchers perceived lesser job demand, lesser job control, and lesser reward from work. The working environment of female researchers may be related to the so-called career stress of working women. The mental health status of these scientific researchers should be examined directly in a future study.