Nonsmoking after simultaneous alcohol abstinence and smoking cessation program was associated with better drinking status outcome in Japanese alcohol-dependent men: A prospective follow-up study.

Background: Growing evidence suggests that intervention for smoking cessation enhances alcohol abstinence in treatment settings for alcohol dependence. However, research in this field is rare in Asians.

Method: We prospectively investigated the association of smoking status with drinking status using 9 surveys mailed during a 12-month period in 198 Japanese alcohol-dependent men (70 never/ex-smokers and 128 smokers) who admitted for the first time and completed a 3-month inpatient program for simultaneous alcohol abstinence and smoking cessation.

Change of Internet Use and Bedtime among Junior High School Students after Long-Term School Closure Due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

Most schools in Japan were closed in spring 2020 due to the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We investigated lifestyle and internet use among junior high school students across eight schools after long-term school closure and compared the data with those we obtained from previous surveys. In the summers of 2018, 2019, and 2020, we conducted questionnaire surveys on seventh-grade students from the same schools.

Therapeutic responses to a frontal/executive programme in autism spectrum disorder: Comparison with schizophrenia.

Introduction: Studies on autism spectrum disorder in recent years have controversially indicated similarities with schizophrenia. Cognitive dysfunction is present in both disorders, and while there is a rich array of interventions for cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia, there are few such treatments for autism spectrum disorder. In this study, we have investigated a potentially useful approach in autism spectrum disorder by comparing autism spectrum disorder with schizophrenia in regard to the characteristics of cognitive dysfunction and therapeutic response to cognitive remediation therapy.

The effects of cognitive remediation therapy using the frontal/executive program for autism spectrum disorder.

Objective: The cognitive features and treatment of autism spectrum disorder have been the subject of much debate in recent years. Therapeutic approaches to date have focused on skills acquisition, support tailored to the characteristics of autism spectrum disorder, and interventions in social cognitive functioning; there have been few reports describing interventions aimed at neurocognitive dysfunction. In this study, we focus on impairment of executive functioning in autism spectrum disorder patients and investigate improvements in executive functioning and their generalization to social functioning.

[Private facilities for the mentally disturbed in the Tohoku region, Japan].

Purpose: The modernization of mental health services in Japan began in 1868 during the Meiji Restoration (restoration of imperial government from Shogun era). However, mental institutions in Japan were inadequate until the end of World War II in 1945. The Tohoku region, comprised of 6 prefectures located in northeastern Japan, experienced a delay in modernization, struggled economically, and also showed a delay in the development of mental institutions.