Feasibility Study of Virtual Reality-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Patients With Depression: Protocol for an Open Trial and Therapeutic Intervention.

Background: The clinical usefulness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for patients with depression who do not remit with pharmacotherapy has been recognized. However, the longer time burden on health care providers associated with conducting CBT and the lack of a system for providing CBT lead to inadequate CBT provision to patients who wish to receive it.

Objective: We aim to evaluate the feasibility of introducing virtual reality (VR) into CBT for patients with depression.

Evaluation of the effect of a midwife-led online program using cognitive behavioral therapy for pregnant women at risk for anxiety disorder in Japan: A pilot randomized controlled trial.

Aim: This study aimed to conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) to examine the appropriateness and feasibility of a midwife-led cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based, three-session program delivered remotely to pregnant women at risk for anxiety disorders.

Methods: The study design was a pilot RCT. Outcome was the difference between the two groups in the change in generalized anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7), Kessler6 (K6) and Edinberg Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) etc.

Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of cognitive processing therapy in Japanese patients with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) is one of the most widely tested evidence-based treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, most studies on CPT have been conducted in Western cultural settings. This open-label, single-arm trial investigated the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of CPT for treating Japanese patients with PTSD.

Adolescent Health Promotion Interventions Using Well-Care Visits and a Smartphone Cognitive Behavioral Therapy App: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Adolescent health promotion is important in preventing risk behaviors and improving mental health. Health promotion during adolescence has been shown to contribute to the prevention of late onset of the mental health disease. However, scalable interventions have not been established yet.

Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in the New Life With COVID-19: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study in Japan Rugby Top League Players.

The primary objective is to compare the prevalence of mental health problems, including psychological distress, anxiety and depressive symptoms in Japan Rugby Top League players in the new life with COVID-19 with those evaluated before COVID-19. An observational comparative web-based cross-sectional study was employed for Japan Rugby Top League players. We compared the data from 220 Japanese and 7 foreign players during the new life with COVID-19 with the data from before COVID-19, which was obtained from 233 Japanese and 18 foreign players.

Validating a Japanese Version of the Athlete Psychological Strain Questionnaire.

Background: There is increasing international interest in clinical practice and research related to mental health in the international sports society. The athlete-specific psychological distress assessment tool that addresses potential mental health needs can help promote early detection and recovery of mental illness, as well as physical illnesses. Currently, little is known about the applicability of the useful assessment tool for Japanese elite athletes.

Association of mental health help-seeking with mental health-related knowledge and stigma in Japan Rugby Top League players.

Background: Globally increasing clinical and research interests are driving a movement to promote understanding and practice of mental health in elite athletes. However, few studies have yet addressed this issue. This study aims to describe the association of the intention to seek help with mental health knowledge and stigma and the severity of depressive symptoms in Japan Rugby Top League players.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Reduces Benzodiazepine Anxiolytics Use in Japanese Patients with Mood and Anxiety Disorders: A Retrospective Observational Study.

Purpose: Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are prescribed to treat psychiatric diseases. However, many guidelines recommend limiting the use of BZDs because of side effects and lack of evidence regarding long-term efficacy. Moreover, reducing BZDs' use is difficult because of dependency and the severity of withdrawal symptoms.

Expressive suppression of emotion is a moderator of anxiety in a unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of anxiety and depressive disorders: A secondary analysis.

Background: Expressive suppression (ES) of emotion is considered a moderator that reduces the efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT); however, whether and how ES moderates the efficacy of the unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders (UP), a version of CBT targeting aversive/avoidant responses to emotions, including ES, remain unclear. We investigated whether and how emotion regulation, especially ES, moderates UP efficacy for anxiety symptoms in patients with anxiety and depressive disorders.

Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a previous trial.

Mental health crisis of Japanese health care workers under COVID-19.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, the mental health of health care workers has become a major public health concern. Particularly in Japan, women health care workers are experiencing a mental health crisis because of gender imbalance. In addition to honoring health care workers as heroes, we must promote efforts to compensate health care workers, strengthen infection prevention, and promote mental health.

Pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling MRI study of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) magnetic resonance imaging is a novel technique that can measure regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). Here we used pseudo-continuous ASL (pCASL) to examine the structural and functional imaging data in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We estimated the gray matter volume imaging and pCASL imaging data by means of a voxel-by-voxel statistical analysis.

Pilot study of a basic individualized cognitive behavioral therapy program for chronic pain in Japan.

Background: Chronic pain is a major health problem, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is its recommended treatment; however, efforts to develop CBT programs for chronic pain and assess their feasibility are remarkably delayed in Asia. Therefore, we conducted this pilot study to develop a basic individualized CBT for chronic pain (CBT-CP) and assessed its feasibility for use in Japan.

Methods: Our study was an open-labeled before-after trial without a control group conducted cooperatively in five Japanese tertiary care hospitals.

An Evaluation of Family-Based Treatment for OCD in Japan: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Although family involvement in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) produces a reduction in OCD symptoms and has significant effects on global functioning, few studies have focused on family intervention as part of OCD treatment in Japan. This study aims to examine the feasibility and efficacy of the family-based exposure and response prevention (FERP) program for adult patients with OCD and their family members. Randomized controlled pilot study.

The Feasibility and Efficacy of Social Cognition and Interaction Training for Outpatients With Schizophrenia in Japan: A Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial.

Schizophrenia is a disabling illness. Social cognition and interaction training (SCIT) seeks to improve patients' social functioning by alleviating deficits in social cognition. SCIT has shown promise in improving social cognition in patients with schizophrenia, but has not yet been studied in Japan.

Mechanically activated ion channel PIEZO1 is required for lymphatic valve formation.

PIEZO1 is a cation channel that is activated by mechanical forces such as fluid shear stress or membrane stretch. loss-of-function mutations in patients are associated with congenital lymphedema with pleural effusion. However, the mechanistic link between PIEZO1 function and the development or function of the lymphatic system is currently unknown.

Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of cognitive processing therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder among Japanese patients: the Safety, Power, Intimacy, Esteem, Trust (SPINET) study.

Introduction: Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) is widely regarded as a safe and effective first-line treatment for individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, no comparative studies have been conducted to examine the treatment outcomes in an Asian population. The aim of the present trial is to investigate the efficacy of CPT (individual format) as a treatment for PTSD in a population of Japanese patients.

Methods And Analysis: A 16-week, single-centre, assessor-masked, randomised, parallel-group superiority trial has been designed to compare the efficacy of CPT in conjunction with treatment as usual (mostly pharmacotherapy and clinical monitoring) versus treatment as usual alone.

Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Emotion Regulation Skills Questionnaire.

Background: The Emotion Regulation Skills Questionnaire (ERSQ) comprehensively assesses nine aspects of emotion regulation skills: awareness, clarity, sensation, understanding, compassionate self-support, modification, acceptance, tolerance, and readiness to confront. However, it is unknown about the levels of emotion regulation skills in various mental disorders, and its cross-cultural validity. We developed a Japanese version of the ERSQ, then examined its validity and reliability in clinical and non-clinical populations.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for depression in Japanese Parkinson's disease patients: a pilot study.

Objectives: This study evaluated the feasibility of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for Japanese Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with depression. To increase cultural acceptability, we developed the CBT program using manga, a type of Japanese comic novel.

Methods: Participants included 19 non-demented PD patients who had depressive symptoms (GRID-Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression score ≥8).

Transdiagnostic and Transcultural: Pilot Study of Unified Protocol for Depressive and Anxiety Disorders in Japan.

Unified protocol (UP) is a transdiagnostic cognitive behavior therapy for emotional disorders. It remains unknown whether UP is applicable for use in non-Western countries and for depressive disorders. We therefore examined its feasibility for a Japanese clinical population using this clinical trial design, which is multicentered, open-labeled, and single-armed (Clinical registry: UMIN000008322).

Japan Unified Protocol Clinical Trial for Depressive and Anxiety Disorders (JUNP study): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The unified protocol for the transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders is a promising treatment approach that could be applicable to a broad range of mental disorders, including depressive, anxiety, trauma-related, and obsessive-compulsive disorders. However, no randomized controlled trial has been conducted to verify the efficacy of the unified protocol on the heterogeneous clinical population with depressive and anxiety disorders.

Methods/design: The trial was designed as a single-center, assessor-blinded, randomized, 20-week, parallel-group superiority study in order to compare the efficacy of the combination of unified protocol and treatment-as-usual versus waiting-list with treatment-as-usual for patients with depressive and/or anxiety disorders.

Facial expression perception correlates with verbal working memory function in schizophrenia.

Aims: Facial emotion perception is considered to provide a measure of social cognition. Numerous studies have examined the perception of emotion in patients with schizophrenia, and the majority has reported impaired ability to recognize facial emotion perception. We aimed to investigate the correlation between facial expression recognition and other domains of social cognition and neurocognition in Japanese patients with schizophrenia.

Assessing depression related severity and functional impairment: the Overall Depression Severity and Impairment Scale (ODSIS).

Background: The Overall Depression Severity and Impairment Scale (ODSIS) is a brief, five-item measure for assessing the frequency and intensity of depressive symptoms, as well as functional impairments in pleasurable activities, work or school, and interpersonal relationships due to depression. Although this scale is expected to be useful in various psychiatric and mental health settings, the reliability, validity, and interpretability have not yet been fully examined. This study was designed to examine the reliability, factorial, convergent, and discriminant validity of a Japanese version of the ODSIS, as well as its ability to distinguish between individuals with and without a major depressive disorder diagnosis.

Validity and clinical interpretability of Overall Anxiety Severity And Impairment Scale (OASIS).

Background: The Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale is a brief generic measure for anxiety that encompasses frequency and intensity as well as behavioral and functional aspects of anxiety. This study was conducted to elucidate aspects of reliability, validity, and interpretability, such as equivalence of factor loadings across non-clinical and clinical populations, convergence and discriminance of related variables, and performance of detecting diagnostic and medical status of anxiety disorders.

Methods: Non-clinical and clinical Japanese populations were taken from a panelist pool registered with an internet survey company (total n=2830; 619 panic disorder, 576 for social anxiety disorder, 645 for obsessive-compulsive disorder, a 619 for major depressive disorder, and 371 for non-disorder panelists).

New instrument for measuring multiple domains of social cognition: construct validity of the Social Cognition Screening Questionnaire (Japanese version).

Aim: The present study aimed to test the construct validity and internal consistency of the Social Cognition Screening Questionnaire (SCSQ) (Japanese version).

Methods: We first tested whether the subscale scores and the total score of the SCSQ could discriminate patients with schizophrenia from normal controls. Next, we tested the internal consistency.