Minoru Takakura

Psychosocial correlates of depressive symptoms among Japanese high school students

PURPOSE To determine the psychosocial factors associated with the presence and persistence of depressive symptoms among high school students in Okinawa, Japan. METHODS The study sample was 3202 students from 12 public senior high schools. Students completed self-administered questionnaires from October through December 1997. We measured depressive symptomatology using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. We asked students to report whether they had depressive symptoms at any time in the immediate past week, and whether those symptoms persisted for 5-7 days. The psychosocial variables examined were life stressors, perceived social support, health practices, self-esteem, and Locus of Control. The relationship between the psychosocial factors and depressive symptoms was examined using hierarchical multiple regression analyses. RESULTS After controlling for the effects of demographic and other psychosocial variables, presence of depressive symptoms was positively associated with life stressors in the domains of friends, family, and teachers. Similarly, persistence of depressive symptoms was also positively associated with life stressors in the domains of friends and teachers. Presence and persistence of depressive symptoms were negatively associated with positive health practices, more social support, high self-esteem, and internal Locus of Control. CONCLUSIONS The psychosocial variables associated with presence and persistence of depressive symptoms were remarkably consistent. Life stressors might be risk factors; on the contrary, positive health practices, perceived social support, high self-esteem, and internal Locus of Control might be protective factors of depressive symptoms among Japanese adolescents.

The Contextual Effect of School Satisfaction on Health‐Risk Behaviors in Japanese High School Students

BACKGROUND The importance of school contextual effects on health and well-being among young people is currently recognized. This study examines the contextual effects of school satisfaction as well as the effects of individual-level school satisfaction on health-risk behaviors in Japanese high school students. METHODS Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 3248 students in grades 10 through 12 at 29 public high schools throughout Okinawa, Japan. Using multilevel logistic regression models, the effects of individual- and contextual-level school satisfactions on health-risk behaviors were analyzed. The contextual-level school satisfaction was defined as satisfaction at the school level and was measured using aggregated individual scores. Behaviors studied included current smoking, current drinking, and sexual activity. RESULTS Approximately 15%, 6%, and 5% of the total individual differences in smoking, drinking, and sexual behaviors, respectively, occurred at the school level. Students with lower school satisfaction were more likely to engage in health-risk behaviors compared with those with higher school satisfaction. After adjustment for individual-level school satisfaction and other covariates, the odds of smoking and drinking increased with decreasing contextual-level school satisfaction. However, the association of contextual school satisfaction with sexual activity did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS This study showed that individual- and contextual-level school satisfactions affected smoking and drinking behaviors in Japanese high school students. However, no significant association between contextual-level school satisfaction and sexual activity was observed.

Relations of participation in organized activities to smoking and drinking among Japanese youth: contextual effects of structural social capital in high school

ObjectivesThis cross-sectional study examined the effect of school-level structural social capital on smoking and drinking among Japanese youth.MethodsSelf-administered anonymous questionnaires were distributed to 3248 students at 29 high schools across Okinawa, Japan in 2008. Structural social capital was measured by students’ participation in organized activities: student council, extracurricular activities, volunteer activities, community sports clubs, and youth associations. Contextual-level social capital was measured by aggregated school-level individual responses.ResultsAt the individual level, extracurricular activity participation was negatively associated with smoking and drinking, whereas participation in youth associations was positively associated with smoking and drinking. School-level extracurricular activity participation was negatively associated with smoking among boys, whereas school-level participation in youth associations was positively associated with smoking among boys and girls and drinking among boys.ConclusionsThis study suggests that structural social capital measured by participation in organized activities, especially extracurricular activities, might be an important way for youths to attain good health. This study also supports the idea that particular type of activities, such as youth associations, can lead to the so-called “dark side of social capital”.

Does Physical Fitness Affect Academic Achievement among Japanese Adolescents? A Hybrid Approach for Decomposing Within-Person and Between-Persons Effects

Positive association between physical fitness and academic achievement in adolescents has been suggested yet the causal effect of physical fitness on academic achievement remains unclear. This study examined if longitudinal changes in physical fitness were associated with changes in academic achievement among junior high school students. Analyses were based on a two-year with three time-point data of 567 students (aged 12–13 years old at the baseline-point; 303 boys) who entered in five Japanese junior high schools in 2015. Academic achievement was evaluated using the student’s overall grade point average. Comprehensive physical fitness score was summed up from eight fitness tests: 50-m sprint, standing broad jump, repeated side-steps, sit and reach, sit-ups, hand-grip strength, handball throw, and 20-m shuttle run or endurance run. The hybrid regression model was applied to examine the impact of change in physical fitness on change in academic achievement using multiple imputation to account for non-response at follow-up. The changes in fitness score within-person and the differences in average of fitness score of three-time points between-person were associated with change in overall grade point average for boys. No significant association between fitness score and overall grade point average was observed in girls. Opportunities for increased physical fitness may be important to support academic achievement, particularly in junior high school boys.