Kentaro Tokutake

A Pilot Study of Social Competence Assessment Using Interaction Rating Scale Advanced

Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the validity of the Interaction Rating Scale Advanced (IRSA) as an evidence-based practical index of social skills. Methods. The participants in our study were 17 high school students. The participants completed the five-minute interaction session and were observed using the IRSA. Their teacher evaluated their social competence based on regular observation in school. Results. The results indicated the high correlation between IRSA scores and teachers practical evaluation. IRSA can measure social competence with high validity. Conclusion. The IRSA provides further evidence of the fact that in order to study social competence development, it is important to evaluate various features of the interaction like IRSA subscales.

Factors Associated With Health Service Utilization in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: A Population-Based Survey

Background Understanding patterns of health service utilization can improve health care and increase use of health services. We examined patterns of health service utilization among residents of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Methods A total of 500 adults were surveyed using paper-based questionnaires. The χ2 test and multiple logistic regression were used to identify associations between factors. Results 44.1% of respondents had visited a physician during the previous 12 months. After controlling for determinants, the significant predictors of utilization of health service were attention to health examinations (OR = 3.6, CI: 1.93–6.76), being married (OR = 2.7, CI: 1.50–4.72), being satisfied with the overall cleanliness of the hospital (OR = 2.4, CI: 1.12–5.19), being a nonsmoker (OR = 2.2, CI: 1.21–3.98), having periodic physical examinations (OR = 2.2, CI: 1.25–3.71), not being a hospital patient during the previous 3 years (OR = 2.1, CI: 1.22–3.73), having proper documentation (OR = 1.9, CI: 1.10–3.43), having medical insurance (OR = 1.9, CI: 1.96–3.28), not wanting to receive information on food and nutrition (OR = 0.6, CI: 0.36–0.96), having more than 5 household members (OR = 0.5, CI: 0.50–0.85), low income (OR = 0.5, CI: 0.30–0.85), lack of concern for food and nutrition (OR = 0.5, CI: 0.28–0.84), self-medication during the past 12 months (OR = 0.4, CI: 0.24–0.69), and desire for treatment abroad (OR = 0.4, CI: 0.20–0.60). Conclusions A number of health-related behaviors and sociodemographic factors were important predictors of health service utilization.

Perceiving active listening activates the reward system and improves the impression of relevant experiences

Although active listening is an influential behavior, which can affect the social responses of others, the neural correlates underlying its perception have remained unclear. Sensing active listening in social interactions is accompanied by an improvement in the recollected impressions of relevant experiences and is thought to arouse positive feelings. We therefore hypothesized that the recognition of active listening activates the reward system, and that the emotional appraisal of experiences that had been subject to active listening would be improved. To test these hypotheses, we conducted functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on participants viewing assessments of their own personal experiences made by evaluators with or without active listening attitude. Subjects rated evaluators who showed active listening more positively. Furthermore, they rated episodes more positively when they were evaluated by individuals showing active listening. Neural activation in the ventral striatum was enhanced by perceiving active listening, suggesting that this was processed as rewarding. It also activated the right anterior insula, representing positive emotional reappraisal processes. Furthermore, the mentalizing network was activated when participants were being evaluated, irrespective of active listening behavior. Therefore, perceiving active listening appeared to result in positive emotional appraisal and to invoke mental state attribution to the active listener.

Social Interaction and Dementia Prevention: Six-year Follow-up Study

This six-year follow-up study was designed to analyse the relationship between social interaction and the prevention of dementia. All participants (aged 65 years and above) lived in farming communities near major urban centers in Japan. The contents of the questionnaire covered social interaction (using an index of social interaction constituting 18 items), health status, physical function, age, and gender. Residents who needed care and had disease at baseline survey were excluded from analysis. After the baseline survey, 35 participants among 593 were diagnosed as dementia within the six-year period. Results showed that: (1) baseline age was related to dementia; (2) greater social interaction was positively related to reduced dementia; (3) the multiple logistic regression analysis adjusted for baseline age, gender indicated that high frequency of newspaper reading, health motivation, life style motivation, and active approach were related to dementia prevention. These findings highlight the importance of social interaction in dementia prevention.