There is growing evidence that individuals with social anxiety show impaired cortisol recovery after experiencing social evaluative stressors. Yet, little is known regarding the cognitive processes underlying such impaired cortisol recovery. The present study examined the effect of post-event processing (PEP), referred to as repetitive thinking about social situations, on cortisol recovery following a social stressor. Forty-two non-clinical university students (23 women, 19 men, mean age = 22.0 ± 2.0 years) completed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), followed by a thought sampling procedure which assessed the frequency of PEP reflecting the TSST. A growth curve model showed PEP and social anxiety interactively predicted cortisol recovery. In particular, PEP predicted impaired cortisol recovery in those with low levels of social anxiety but not in those with high levels of social anxiety, which contradicted the initial hypothesis. These findings suggest that PEP is differentially associated with cortisol recovery depending on levels of social anxiety. The possible mechanisms underlying these findings were discussed in terms of protective inhibition framework.

This study examined the effects of a group cognitive behavioral intervention on senior school students affected by the Hiroshima heavy rain disaster and investigated the effects of reducing depression by enhancing resilience. A total of 229 second‐grade senior school students affected by the Hiroshima heavy rain disaster participated in the study. The intervention was performed in the following order: psychological education on daily stress, problem‐solving training for daily stress, psychological education on traumatic reactions derived from traumatic experiences, and instruction on the merits of utilizing information acquired from the intervention in daily life. The results showed that the high‐depression group's depression score was reduced by the intervention. Resilience score was increased both in the high‐ and low‐depression groups as a result of the intervention. Therefore, the intervention program used in this study was proven effective in reducing depression and improving resilience. Prospectively, strategies for psychological support during and after large‐scale disasters should be established by applying the findings obtained in this research.

Cognitive models of social anxiety posit that there are several types of maladaptive beliefs responsible for persistent social anxiety. Although these beliefs are theoretically important, currently there is no validated measure of these beliefs in Japan. In the present study, we translated into Japanese a well-validated measure of these beliefs, the Self-Beliefs Related to Social Anxiety (SBSA) Scale. The psychometric properties of the scale were also examined in two nonclinical samples ( ns = 401 and 30). Using confirmatory factor analysis, the Japanese version of the SBSA was found to have a correlated three-factor structure that consisted of "conditional beliefs," "unconditional beliefs," and "high standard beliefs." In addition, the Japanese version of the SBSA and its subscales demonstrated good internal consistency reliability and test-retest reliability. The Japanese version of the SBSA also demonstrated good convergent and divergent validity. Future applications of the Japanese version of the SBSA are discussed.

In this study, we translated the Trait and State versions of the Post‐Event Processing Inventory (PEPI) into Japanese and examined their psychometric properties. One thousand participants, comprising three subsamples, completed the questionnaires. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a bi‐factor model, comprising one general factor and three theoretically derived subfactors (“Frequency,” “Self‐judgment,” and “Intensity”), for the State and Trait versions of the scale. However, both versions were essentially unidimensional, and scoring based on subfactors lacked support. Additionally, we found preliminary evidence for the test–retest reliability; internal consistency; and concurrent, convergent, divergent, incremental, and predictive validity of both versions. Furthermore, participants with self‐reported diagnoses of social anxiety disorder exhibited higher scores on both the PEPI‐Trait and PEPI‐State than healthy controls. Our findings suggest that the Japanese versions of the PEPI‐Trait and PEPI‐State may become useful alternatives to existing measures of post‐event processing in Japan.

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