Healthy Warrior Effect With Deployment to United Nations Peacekeeping Operation: A Longitudinal Study Among Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces.

Introduction: The "healthy warrior effect" (HWE), in which deployed military personnel are healthier than those not deployed, is known to be associated with deployment. However, the HWE associated with deployment to United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations (PKO) has not been examined. This study examined the HWE associated with deployment to UN PKO by examining the impact of pre-deployment mental health on the likelihood of deployment and whether this difference persisted after deployment.

Longitudinal effects of disaster-related experiences on problem drinking among Fukushima nuclear plant workers.

Background: In the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster of March 11, 2011, plant workers were exposed to various traumatic events and reported a subsequent increase in alcohol use. To determine the relationship between disaster-related experiences and problem drinking, we conducted a three-year follow-up study.

Methods: Problem drinking among the nuclear plant workers was assessed annually from 2012-2014 using a modified version of the CAGE questionnaire that asked about current, rather than lifetime, drinking.

Japanese public health nurses classified based on empathy and secondary traumatic stress: variable-centered and person-centered approaches.

Background: Healthcare providers frequently help traumatized people and are regularly exposed to indirect trauma from their work, resulting in negative psychological responses, such as secondary traumatic stress. Empathy has been associated with patient's quality of care and secondary traumatic stress among healthcare providers. However, the relationship between dispositional empathy and secondary traumatic stress has not been fully elucidated.

Risk and resilience in trajectories of post-traumatic stress symptoms among first responders after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake: 7-year prospective cohort study.

Background: First responders to disasters are at risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The trajectories of post-traumatic stress symptom severity differ among individuals, even if they are exposed to similar events. These trajectories have not yet been reported in non-Western first responders.

Type and duration of emergency recovery work and its longitudinal effects on mental health symptoms among Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant workers: The Fukushima NEWS project study.

Background: The Fukushima Nuclear Energy Workers' Support study showed the Fukushima nuclear disaster caused psychological distress in the workers, with higher rates of post-traumatic stress responses (PTSR). To understand how the type and duration of emergency recovery work performed immediately following this disaster impacted workers' psychological status, a longitudinal analysis was conducted with 4-year follow-up data since 2011.

Method: Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant workers were assessed annually with general psychological distress (GPD) and PTSR questionnaires between 2011 and 2014.

Assessment of Factors Associated With Long-term Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Among 56 388 First Responders After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

Importance: First responders are at risk for developing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Little is known about the risk factors for developing PTSD during a years-long period after complex mass disasters.

Objective: To explore the long-term course of PTSD symptoms and to identify risk factors and their relative association with PTSD among first responders dispatched to the 2011 Japanese earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster.

Mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.

As of May 20, 2020, the COVID-19 death toll in Japan was 771. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics/Paralympics had to be postponed to 2021 because of the pandemic. Not only the infected patients but also health care workers have been affected from adverse societal dynamics because of COVID-19, such as discrimination and stigmatization.

Mental health consequences for survivors of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster: a systematic review. Part 1: psychological consequences.

To integrate scholastic literature regarding the prevalence and characteristics of the psychological consequences faced by survivors of the 2011 Fukushima earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster, we conducted a systematic review of survivor studies concerning the Fukushima disaster. In August 2019, four literature databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, and ICHUSHI) were used in the literature search. Peer-reviewed manuscripts reporting psychological consequences, either in English or Japanese, were selected.

Mental health consequences for survivors of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster: a systematic review. Part 2: emotional and behavioral consequences.

To compile the findings of studies assessing emotional and behavioral changes in the survivors of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, we performed a systematic review in August 2019 using four literature databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, and ICHUSHI). Peer-reviewed manuscripts, either in English or Japanese, were included in the searches. Sixty-one studies were retrieved for the review.

Social Support During Emergency Work and Subsequent Serious Psychological Distress: A Cross-Sectional Study Among Emergency Workers who Responded to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident.

Objective: To examine the association between social support for emergency workers and levels of subsequent psychological distress, focusing on workers who responded to the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident.

Methods: Male emergency workers (N = 1405) completed self-administered questionnaires, measuring social support during emergency work, subsequent serious psychological stress, occupational and demographic characteristics, and some confounders. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed.

Longitudinal trends in disaster-related insomnia among Fukushima nuclear plant workers: the Fukushima Nuclear Energy Workers' Support Project study.

Study Objective: To determine longitudinal effects of experiences related to the Fukushima nuclear disaster on March 11, 2011, on insomnia risk among workers of nuclear power plants on identified disaster-related potential risk factors for the subtypes of insomnia.

Methods: We included a total of 1403 workers who responded to a questionnaire on insomnia-related symptoms measured by the Athens Insomnia Scale from 2011 to 2014 and on disaster-related experiences in 2011. We examined the longitudinal relationships between disaster-related experiences and insomnia using mixed-effect logistic regression models.

General psychological distress among Japan Self-Defense Forces personnel dispatched on United Nations peacekeeping operations and their spouses.

Aim: The importance of family care during international deployment is emphasized within military organizations, but mental health interactions between deployed personnel and their spouses have not yet been assessed. This study addressed this gap by examining couples' mental health throughout a deployment period.

Methods: The mental health of 324 spousal dyads of Japan Self-Defense Forces personnel dispatched for a half-year United Nations Disengagement Observer Force mission was examined, using longitudinal data derived from a survey at four time points: one-month pre-deployment, initial deployment, middle deployment, and immediately after homecoming.

[Mental and Organic Features of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder].

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that can develop following exposure to a traumatic event. Historically, it has been debated whether features of this disorder derive from mental or brain organic changes. Recent developments in neuroimaging and biological studies suggest a biological background of PTSD.