Workers' experiences of improvements in the work environment and mental health problems: a web-based 1-year prospective study of Japanese employees.

Objectives: This study aimed to prospectively investigate the association between work environment improvements and multiple mental health outcomes in a large sample of Japanese employees.

Methods: A web-based longitudinal study surveyed 20 000 Japanese employees, 7970 of whom completed a follow-up after 1 year. Various types of work environment improvements experienced by workers were assessed using a 24-item checklist.

Prolonged perceived stress predicts fingernail cortisol increase: A longitudinal study.

Cortisol levels in fingernail samples are known to represent cumulative hormone levels. However, findings on the association between fingernail cortisol and perceived stress have been inconsistent. Since the effect of confounding factors cannot be excluded in cross-sectional studies, this study longitudinally examined the effects of perceived stress and negative life events on changes in fingernail cortisol levels over a period of six months.

Protocol for a web-based study on the work environment and daily lifestyle of Japanese employees.

Mental health problems are prevalent among the working population and must be resolved. We conducted a web-based large-scale study of workers, including a baseline survey and two follow-up surveys, to investigate the associations between self-care behaviors in daily life (e.g.

The effect of distraction versus post-event processing on cortisol recovery in individuals with elevated social anxiety.

There are preliminary findings that repetitive thinking on social situations (post-event processing; PEP) is associated with impaired cortisol recovery after experiencing social evaluative stressors. However, no studies have examined the effect of experimental manipulation of PEP on cortisol recovery among socially anxious individuals. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of distraction on cortisol recovery following a social-evaluative stressor in individuals with subclinical social anxiety symptoms.

Effects of cortisol on retrieval of extinction memory in individuals with social anxiety.

While exposure-based treatment for social anxiety disorder (SAD) has been shown to be effective, the high relapse rate remains a problem. Although relapse has been understood as the inability to retrieve extinction memory, the factors that influence the extent of retrieval of extinction memory have not been determined. This study aimed to examine whether the cortisol response to acute stressors in socially anxious individuals inhibits the retrieval of extinction memory, focusing on the cortisol response to acute stressors as a factor.