The Effects of Bereavement Time on the Relationship Between Coping Strategies and Psychological Distress.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between bereaved individuals' coping patterns, mental health, and time post-loss. A questionnaire using the Coping with Bereavement Scale (CBS) and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) was completed by 173 family members of individuals who died from cancer between August 2013 and March 2016. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a three-factor solution for the CBS comprised of "life orientation," "avoidance," and "retaining ties" with the deceased.

Bereavement risk assessment of family caregivers of patients with cancer: Japanese version of the Bereavement Risk Assessment Tool.

Objectives: The Bereavement Risk Assessment Tool (BRAT) seems to be useful in identifying those who are likely to suffer from the more severe consequences of bereavement. To date, however, only a few studies have examined bereavement risk using the BRAT. This study investigated bereavement risk in family caregivers of patients with cancer using the Japanese version of the Bereavement Risk Assessment Tool (BRAT-J).

[Activity to prevent mental diseases after the Great East Japan Earthquake].

Following the Great East Japan Earthquake, we have been supporting psychiatric hospitals and mental health and welfare centers in Miyagi Prefecture. In October 2011, with a grant from Miyagi Prefecture, the Department of Preventive Psychiatry was established in Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine. The institute aims to promote the prevention of and early intervention for mental diseases.

Relationship between cognitive insight and attenuated delusional symptoms in individuals with at-risk mental state.

Cognitive insight, defined as the ability to evaluate and correct one׳s own distorted beliefs and misinterpretations, is hypothesized to contribute to the development of psychotic symptoms. We investigated cognitive insight in individuals with at-risk mental state (ARMS), which is associated with a clinically high risk of psychosis. Sixty individuals with ARMS were compared with 200 healthy controls in terms of cognitive insight measured using the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale.

Emotional processing during speech communication and positive symptoms in schizophrenia.

Aims: The recognition of emotion is often impaired in patients with schizophrenia. The relationship of this deficit with symptoms of psychosis remains unclear. In the current study, we investigated the relationship between emotional processing and positive psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia.

[Application of cognitive behavioral therapy to early phase of psychosis].

Attempts to apply cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to treat patients in the early stage of psychosis, including those with First-Episode Psychosis (FEP) and those with an At-Risk Mental State (ARMS), have recently attracted considerable attention. Such CBT for FEP focuses on promoting the recovery process and relapse prevention, although evidence on its efficacy is currently limited. Further, studies on CBT for ARMS have not consistently demonstrated its effectiveness.

Psychometric properties of the Japanese version of the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale: relation of cognitive insight to clinical insight.

Aim: Insight in schizophrenia is considered to have a multidimensional construct, and cognitive insight is thought to be an important dimension of insight: an ability to evaluate and correct one's own distorted beliefs and misinterpretations. The Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS) was developed to measure cognitive insight, and studies have shown that cognitive insight is associated with several clinical features in schizophrenia. The aim of the present study was to develop a Japanese version of the BCIS (BCIS-J) and assess the psychometric properties of this instrument.