Depressive Symptoms in Chinese Factory Workers in Nagasaki, Japan

Date, Yutaka; Abe, Yasuyo; Aoyagi, Kiyoshi; Ye, Zhaojia; Takamura, Noboru; Tomita, Masato; Osaki, Makoto; Honda, Sumihisa

doi:10.2486/indhealth.47.376

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…There were 13 studies examining international university students studying in Japan and one of Brazilian middle school students (the youngest cohort assessed in this study) 16–29. Eleven studies exclusively examined migrant workers30–36 and four studies were on the mental well-being of economic partnership agreement care workers specifically 37–40. Two studies enrolled non-pregnant migrants41 42 and eight exclusively analysed mothers 43–50.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental well-being of international migrants to Japan: a systematic review

et al. 2019

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BackgroundMigration is a stressful process of resettlement and acculturation that can often negatively impact the mental health of migrants. International migration to Japan, a country with dominant ethnic homogeneity, is growing steadily amid an ageing domestic population and severe labour shortages.ObjectivesTo identify the contemporary barriers to, and facilitators of, mental well-being among the migrant population in Japan.DesignSystematic reviewData sourcesPubMed, ProQuest, Web of Science, Ichushi and J-StageEligibility criteriaResearch articles examining the mental well-being of international migrants in Japan that were published in English or Japanese between January 2000 and September 2018 were included.Data extraction and synthesisFull texts of relevant articles were screened and references of the included studies were hand-searched for further admissible articles. Study characteristics, mental well-being facilitators and barriers, as well as policy recommendations were synthesised into categorical observations and were then thematically analysed.ResultsFifty-five studies (23 published in English), surveying a total of 8649 migrants, were identified. The most commonly studied migrant nationalities were Brazilian (36%), followed by Chinese (27%) and Filipino (8%). Thematic analysis of barriers to mental well-being among migrants chiefly identified ‘language difficulties’, ‘being female’ and ‘lack of social support’, whereas the primary facilitators were ‘social networks’ followed by ‘cultural identity’. Policy recommendations for authorities generally described more migrant support services and cross-cultural awareness among the Japanese public.ConclusionAccess to social support networks of various types appears to be an influential factor affecting the mental well-being of international migrants in Japan. More research is necessary on how to promote such connections to foster a more inclusive and multicultural Japanese society amid rapid demographic change.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42018108421.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental well-being of international migrants to Japan: a systematic review

et al. 2019

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“…Previous studies have only focused on job-related stress among highly-skilled foreign workers in Japan 15) and depression among Chinese factory workers 20) . However, no studies to date have revealed the mental health status, the issue of presenteeism among Chinese workers living in Japan, nor managed to identify any relationship between personal characteristics, workplace environment, the mental health status, and presenteeism.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Presenteeism among Chinese workers in Japan and its relationship with mental health and health-promoting lifestyles

et al. 2020

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This study aimed to investigate factors related to presenteeism among Chinese workers residing in Japan by assessing their mental state and health-promoting lifestyles. An anonymous, self-reported questionnaire was administered to 450 Chinese workers living in Hiroshima Prefecture, of whom, 313 completed it in its entirety. Results showed that 40.6% reported suffering from depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, CES-D). Sociodemographic characteristics such as being female, having a lower educational background, being widowed/divorced, having fewer years of residence, fluency in basic-level Japanese, being employed part-time, being an engineer, and workplace environment (having no health education in the workplace) increased the likelihood of depression. Path analysis indicated that marital status (being married) was negatively associated with presenteeism on the Work Limitations Questionnaire-Chinese version via work-related stress. There was a positive correlation between work-related stress and presenteeism through mental health (CES-D). Health-promoting lifestyles (Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II) showed a negative correlation with presenteeism, via work-related stress and mental health. Furthermore, health-promoting lifestyles showed a direct negative association with presenteeism. Thus, health education that emphasizes mental health was a significant factor for improving presenteeism. Furthermore, the provision of health education shortly after Chinese workers had arrived in Japan is important.

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“…A potential negative health effect of long work hours is the risk of depression (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25). It has been suggested that working long hours could result in sleep deprivation, lack of recovery from work, reduced time for non-work activities, injuries, and longer exposure to work demands and workplace hazards (1).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Earlier studies have implied a potential relationship between long work hours and depression (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25), but several limitations preclude causal inference: (i) the application of a cross sectional study design in the majority of the studies (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17) disguises the direction of association between long work hours and depression; (ii) the low response rates, ranging from 35-58%, (9-13, 15, 18, 19) increase the risk of selection bias; (iii) self-reporting of exposure (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25) and outcome (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%