Masataka Hirosawa

Reliability and validity of a Japanese version of the Cambridge depersonalization scale as a screening instrument for depersonalization disorder.

Aims:  The Cambridge Depersonalization Scale (CDS) is an instrument that has obtained reliability and validity in some countries for use in detecting depersonalization disorder under clinical conditions, but not yet in Japan under non‐psychiatric conditions. The purposes of this study were to develop a Japanese version of the CDS (J‐CDS) and to examine its reliability and validity as an instrument for screening depersonalization disorder under non‐clinical conditions.

Relative Age Effect on Psychological Factors Related to Sports Participation Among Japanese Elementary School Children

Children born soon after the selection period’s cut-off date (early-born children) may benefit by up to a full year in physical and psychological development compared with children born just before the cut-off date (late-born children). This phenomenon is called the “relative age effect” (RAE). RAE is defined as the consequence of age differences between individuals within the same cohort, either in school or on sports teams. We examined the RAE on physical activity enjoyment, physical activity competence, attitude toward physical activities, attitude toward physical education, and frequency of participation in physical activities among Japanese elementary school children. Data were collected from 961 Japanese elementary school children (478 male, 483 female). The results showed that early-born children scored higher than late-born children did in the above-mentioned variables. This indicated that the RAE exists for psychological factors related to sports participation among Japanese elementary school children.

Relationship between state anxiety and success rate in game performance, coach’s evaluation among Japanese university volleyball players

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between state anxiety and individual athletic game performance. The subjects were 54 male players of 4 teams (The average age was 20.5 (SD=1.09) years), who participated in the Kanto university mens volleyball league games in the spring of year 2010. The subjects were asked to respond to a Japanese version of the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), which was measured at 4 time periods (the day before, the day of game, just before the game, just after the game) for each of a total of 40 games (each team played 10 games). The results were as follows: (1) Relationships between state anxiety and success rate in game performance (spike, reception, block) showed different correlation depending on each game performance. (2) The group of players who performed well in games collected by coaches scored lower than the more badly-performing group in the score of state anxiety on the day of game and just after the game. (3) The temporal change of the score of state anxiety from just before the game to just after the game was different depending on whether they performed well or not in games.

The Impact of Physical Activity Enjoyment on Motor Ability

This study aimed to examine the impact of physical activity enjoyment on the motor ability of school-age children. We collected data from 351 elementary school students (180 boys and 171 girls; Mage = 8.78, standard deviation = 1.85) from public elementary schools in Japan. We investigated individual profiles (sex, age, birth date, and school year), children’s physical size (height, weight, and Rohrer index), children’s motor ability (performance during a 50-m sprint, standing broad jump, and throwing a soft ball), and enjoyment of physical activity using the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES). We assessed the effect of physical activity enjoyment (independent variable) on motor ability (dependent variable) using binomial logistic regression analysis. An examination of confounders (chi-square test) indicated that weight and Rohrer index were the influential factors in the 50-m sprint (ps < .05). Therefore, the adjusted ORs for these factors were calculated using logistic regression analysis. The adjusted analysis results indicated that enjoyment (PACES score ≥ 4.00) is a promoting factor for motor ability.

Impact of Emotion Regulation on Mental Health of Japanese University Athletes

Athletes’ mental health is a great concern for coaches, supporters, and researchers in the field of sports science. To prevent mental health problems in athletes, emotion regulation strategies are considered effective for coping with stressors. Emotion regulation is defined as the regulation of thoughts or behaviors that influence the emotions. Emotions may influence not only the mental health but also performance in competitive sports. Therefore, we examined the impact of emotion regulation on the mental health of Japanese university athletes. We collected data from 927 Japanese university athletes (535 male and 392 female). We collected information on athletes’ demographics, emotion regulation (Emotion Regulation Questionnaire: ERQ), and mental health (Self-report Depression Scale: SDS, and General Health Questionnaire-30; GHQ-30). A regression analysis showed that reappraisal had a significant negative effect on SDS (β = .−44, p < .001, R2 = .19) and GHQ-30 scores (β = .−26, p < .001, R2 = .08) but suppression did not affect either of them. This indicates that athletes using reappraisal have a good mental health, thereby suggesting that emotion regulation may contribute to the maintenance of athletes’ mental health. Thus, we concluded that emotion regulation has an impact on the mental health of Japanese university athletes. Sports coaches and supporters of athletes should pay substantial attention to athletes’ emotion regulation strategies to maintain their mental health and enhance their performance.

The Effect of Awareness of Physical Activity on the Characteristics of Motor Ability Among Five-Year-Old Children

We examined the relationship between the types of awareness about physical activity and motor ability among Japanese 5-year-old children. Data were collected from 169 five-year-old children (85 boys and 84 girls). We found that children’s awareness of their own physical activity (liking, enjoyment, and the confidence in physical activity as their physical competence) and actual motor ability (20-m sprint, standing broad jump, throwing a tennis ball) were weakly associated. Moreover, in classifying children’s awareness of physical activity, we extracted four clusters of awareness characteristics. Notably, we found that some children with negative awareness did not have poor motor ability, whereas some children with positive awareness did not have good motor ability. Understanding these phenomena would be essential for building exciting environments that help all children view physical activity as play.

Direct and Indirect Effect of Hardiness on Mental Health Among Japanese University Athletes

This study examined direct and indirect effects of hardiness on mental health among Japanese university athletes. Participants were 760 university athletes (men = 524, women = 236, Mage = 19.9, SD = 1.22). The questionnaire comprised demographic information (gender, role in team), the Revised Athlete Hardiness Scale (RAHS), the Adolescent Resilience Scale (ARS) and General Health Questionnaire-30 (GHQ-30). For men, RAHS score had a direct negative effect on GHQ scores, while for women, RAHS score had no effect on GHQ score. In regular players, the RAHS score had a direct negative effect on GHQ scores, while in non-regular players, It had no effect on GHQ scores. In conclusion, hardiness directly influenced mental health among Japanese university athletes and the influence of hardiness on mental health differed by gender and team role. This suggests that hardiness may be a factor in promoting mental health among Japanese male and regular athletes.

Effect of Relative Age on Physical Size and Motor Ability Among Japanese Elementary Schoolchildren

A child born soon after the designated cut-off date (“early-born”) may benefit by up to a full year in physical and psychological development, unlike one born just before the cut-off date (“late-born”). This phenomenon—called the “relative age effect”—causes inequalities in education and impacts the psychological aspects of children’s sports participation. However, its influence on physical aspects has not been clarified. Therefore, we examined its impact on physical size and motor ability among Japanese elementary schoolchildren (384 males and 360 females). We collected demographic data and measured physical size and motor abilities. Analysis of covariance showed that early-born children scored significantly higher than late-born children across variables, indicating the effect of relative age on physical aspects of sports participation and the possible advantage of early-born over late-born children in sports achievement. We propose the need for acknowledging this phenomenon in educational settings among teachers and coaches.

Mind reading through the eyes: an fMRI study

Mind reading is the ability to understand another persons thoughts, intentions, and feelings (Whiten, 1991). The purpose of this study was to clarify which part of the brain is evoked while mind reading in functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) experiments, using a mind reading task, the Reading Mind in the Eyes Test (RME: Baron-Cohen et al., 2001) with four choices (mental state words). The participants were right-handed and sex-matched healthy Japanese university students (10 males and 10 females, age range 19-25). We used periodic ABA...block design in the fMRI sessions. Task A (an experimental task) was the mind reading task and Task B (a control task) was the age-gender task. In order to clarify the activated region of the brain while mind reading, we calculated the difference between the degrees of BOLD (Blood-oxygen-level dependent) activation during the Task A and Task B. The results showed that there was a significant difference in activation of the right superior occipital gyrus, and the left parietal lobe. These findings indicated that these regions were used while mind reading. The role of these regions was discussed in terms of the findings from previous studies.

A Psychopathological Study on Elderly Japanese Delusional Depressives in Relation to Collapse of Traditional Japanese Culture

Background: Since Japanese society is rapidly being “westernized”, particularly among younger generations who stress individualism, elderly Japanese people who have the traditional values of stressing the maintenance of interpersonal harmony and the suppression of ones feelings might experience strong psychological stress. The incidence of depression seems to be increasing among them. Careful examination of specific contents of thoughts of Japanese elderly depressives, considering the cultural background, may be valuable to understanding their psycho‐pathology.