Yutaka Matsui

Psychological states and coping strategies after bereavement among the spouses of cancer patients: a qualitative study

Objective: Encouraging coping strategies that contribute to positive psychological states in bereaved individuals is assumed to be desirable; however, little is known about the components of positive psychological states and bereavement‐specific coping strategies. The purpose of this study was to describe the components of psychological states and coping strategies after bereavement among the spouses of cancer patients.

Traumatic stress in Japanese broadcast journalists

Job-related traumatic stress experienced by broadcast journalists in Japan was investigated. A questionnaire inquiring about the most traumatic event they faced when covering the news and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) were administered to 270 journalist participants working for Japanese news companies. Of these, 6% met the IES-R criterion for potential posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Moreover, posttraumatic stress reactions at the time of the survey were strongly related to symptoms of stress experienced during the stressful assignment. The early assessment of stress symptoms in journalists that experience traumatic news coverage is important for preventing the development of PTSD symptoms.

Factors influencing suicidal ideation among Japanese adults: From the national survey by the Cabinet Office

Aim:  Suicide prevention is of pressing importance in Japan, and grappling with this problem necessitates clarifying the causes of suicidal ideation. The purpose of the present study was to investigate several factors influencing suicidal ideation. This was done through analyzing factors examined in prior research and accessing suicide sites.

Impaired mental health among the bereaved spouses of cancer patients

Few cancer physicians routinely provide bereavement follow‐up in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence of impaired mental health among the bereaved spouses over several years and explore the indicators for early detection of high‐risk spouses during end‐of life (EOL) care.

How perceived social support relates to suicidal ideation: A Japanese social resident survey

Background: The loss of social support is one of the major risk factors for suicide. However, there are few empirical studies that have examined how a person’s suicide ideation relates to their social support. Aims: To examine the relationship between social support and suicidal ideation. Methods: Self-report questionnaires were sent to 2,200 randomly selected adults in Japan. The questionnaire inquired the participants about the severity of suicidal ideation, the details of current perceived social support and their degree of satisfaction with this social support. Social support and related indicators were compared among three groups of participants that varied in severity of suicidal ideation. Results: People in the group that had suicide ideation during their lives reported receiving significantly less support from their family and had greater feelings of dissatisfaction with that support than those in the other groups. Furthermore, people who had suicide ideation during the month immediately preceding the survey reported providing less support to their family, relatives or friends, as well as receiving less support from family than other groups, and having stronger feelings of dissatisfaction with social support. Conclusion: Our study identified a strong relationship between the severity of suicidal ideation and perceived social support.

Network analysis for motives in suicide cases: a cross-sectional study.

Suicide victims have various distresses or motives. There are few studies on how these motives toward suicide relate with each other. We used network analyses to extract the structures of correlations among the motives for suicide.

Standardization of Brief Inventory of Social Support Exchange Network (BISSEN) in Japan

This study describes the Brief Inventory of Social Support Exchange Network (BISSEN) as a standardized brief inventory measuring various aspects of social support. We confirmed the reliability and validity for function and direction of support and standardized the BISSEN. For Sample 1, a stratified random sampling method was used to select 5200 residents in Japan. We conducted mail surveys and responses were retrieved from 2274 participants (collection rate 43.7%). Participants completed a questionnaire packet that included BISSEN, suicidal ideation, depression, support seeking, and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Sample 2 surveys for test-retest reliability were conducted on 23 residents at approximately two-week intervals. Participants were asked about gender, age, and BISSEN. First, we assessed the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct, convergent, and concurrent validity. McDonalds omega (.73-.92) and test-retest correlations (.78-.85) demonstrated adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Depression, support seeking, and MSPSS were significantly correlated with all scores of BISSEN. The non-suicidal ideation group had significantly more support compared to the suicidal ideation group. Therefore, function and direction of support in BISSEN had sufficient reliability and validity. Next, we standardized BISSEN using Z-scores and percentile rank with respect to each 12 norm groups by age and gender.

The attachment structure and the heterosexual relationship among university students

Research on adolescents in romantic love has suggested that their heterosexual relationship may be influenced by their attachment to their mothers and to friends of the same sex. Three hundred fifty-nine college students responded to a questionnaire designed to explore this correlation. The results indicated that male sexual behavior and feelings of romantic love towards their girl friends were not influenced by the attachment to their mothers nor to their friends whereas those of the females were. Females who were involved in intimate sexual relationship had weaker attachment to their mothers; on the other hand, females who had strong romantic feelings, yet without sexual relationships, tended to have strong attachment to their friends of the same sex.