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Globally, the COVID‐19 pandemic has impaired every aspect of life, especially causing much psychological damage—for instance, increasing the risk of suicide. Intense fear and anxiety are considered to play a central role in mental health problems. This study examined the psychological properties of the Japanese version of the Fear of COVID‐19 Scale (FCV‐19S) using classical test theory (CTT) and item response theory (IRT). Five hundred fifty participants aged 18–69 years and from across Japan completed questionnaires, including the Japanese FCV‐19S, the Japanese Depression Anxiety Stress Scales‐15 (DASS‐15), and the Japanese version of the Kessler 6 (K6). CTT showed that each item of the Japanese FCV‐19S had no ceiling and floor effect and was close to the normal distribution, and IRT revealed that each item had an appropriate parameter of discrimination and difficulty. Finally, the Japanese FCV‐19S was shown to have an acceptable reliability and moderate good concurrent validity. Consequently, the Japanese FCV‐19S has robust psychometric properties and can be useful for early detection of adults impacted by the COVID‐19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, the COVID‐19 pandemic has impaired every aspect of life, especially causing much psychological damage—for instance, increasing the risk of suicide. Intense fear and anxiety are considered to play a central role in mental health problems. This study examined the psychological properties of the Japanese version of the Fear of COVID‐19 Scale (FCV‐19S) using classical test theory (CTT) and item response theory (IRT). Five hundred fifty participants aged 18–69 years and from across Japan completed questionnaires, including the Japanese FCV‐19S, the Japanese Depression Anxiety Stress Scales‐15 (DASS‐15), and the Japanese version of the Kessler 6 (K6). CTT showed that each item of the Japanese FCV‐19S had no ceiling and floor effect and was close to the normal distribution, and IRT revealed that each item had an appropriate parameter of discrimination and difficulty. Finally, the Japanese FCV‐19S was shown to have an acceptable reliability and moderate good concurrent validity. Consequently, the Japanese FCV‐19S has robust psychometric properties and can be useful for early detection of adults impacted by the COVID‐19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, the importance of Advanced Care Planning has been recognized in Japan. However, it is still difficult for healthcare providers and patients to verbalize how they want to spend the last days of their lives and what unfinished business they have left to accomplish. This study aimed to clarify how nurses intervened to assist patients with cancer at the end of life to express their thoughts and concerns. Twenty‐four nurses were interviewed regarding how they intervened for patients' thoughts and concerns, and data were analyzed qualitatively using a modified grounded theory approach. A 25‐item scale was selected, and the questionnaires, which included the scale, were distributed to nurses in general wards, palliative care units, and home visiting nurse services. A total of 1864 responses were analyzed. Factor analysis and structural equation model analysis were used, and three factors were identified: "assessment and intervention," "basic care," and "knowledge and communication," which led to the formulation of an intervention structure model for uncovering thoughts and concerns. These results indicate the importance of basic care and communication during interventions for patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relationship between segmental relaxation and normal-mode relaxation has been studied for molten poly(butylene oxide)s having various molecular weights by broadband dielectric spectroscopy over a wide temperature (T) range. We found that T dependence of the segmental relaxation time, τs, was weaker than the normal mode time, τn, at high T(>250 K ~ Tg + 50 K), and the τn/τs ratio systematically decreased with increasing temperature. This high temperature complexity, whose mechanism has not been discussed in detail so far, was quantitatively explained by assuming the two step processes: local conformation change of polymers (elementary process) occurs first, and then the motion of a segment unit (second process) occurs. It was also found that the elementary process was strongly correlated with the experimentally observed β-relaxation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the factors associated with the degree of distress experienced by patients with cancer before disclosing their cancer diagnosis to a friend and their perceptions of social support upon disclosure. Methods: Adult patients with cancer participated in a cross‐sectional Internet‐based survey on their behaviour when disclosing their diagnosis to a selected friend, degree of distress before this disclosure and perceived social support upon disclosure. Results: Of 473 eligible respondents, around half were middle‐aged (40–59 years) and around half were men. Having a younger age (20–39 years), being a woman and delaying disclosure were factors associated with greater pre‐disclosure distress. Most participants perceived receiving emotional support upon disclosure. Telling a close friend or a female friend and early disclosure timing were associated with perceived social support, although this varied by social support type. Conclusion: Younger patients and women may need more support in deciding to disclose their cancer diagnosis to friends. Selection of to whom to disclose this information and disclosure timing should be considered to achieve more desirable outcomes. In addition to selective disclosure—including planning and scheduling—communication skills may be required for effectively disclosing a cancer diagnosis and achieving favourable results following this disclosure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of volunteers working with those experiencing homelessness in Japan. Topics include the core purpose of volunteering is to help others, whilst providing social and economic benefits, and concept of homelessness in Japan with its reasons, qualitative study to explore the motivational factors for volunteering at one homeless not-for-profit organization (NPO) in Hyōgo Prefecture.

The average length of hospital stay in the psychiatric ward is longer, and the risk of patient-to-nurse violence is higher than that in other departments. Therefore, psychiatric nurses' work environment may differ from that of other nurses. The factors related to psychiatric nurses' self-efficacy may also differ from those of general workers or other nurses. Mental health care that considers the characteristics of psychiatric nurses requires exploration of self-efficacy unique to psychiatric nurses. This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the distinct factors related to psychiatric nurses' self-efficacy. The developed 24 items related to improvement in self-efficacy and 25 items related to decrease in self-efficacy were examined. The Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale was used to measure the validity of the factors. To extract the factors of self-efficacy, data from 132 nurses and assistant nurses who provided informed consent were analyzed, and the reliability and validity of the factors were calculated. The factors associated with improvement in self-efficacy were "Positive reactions by patients," "Ability to positively change nurse-patient relationship," and "Practicability of appropriate nursing." The factors associated with decrease in self-efficacy were "Uncertainty in psychiatric nursing" and "Nurses' role loss." The Cronbach's α for all factors exceeded.70. Of the five factors, four had significant weak-to-moderate correlations with the Japanese version of the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale; therefore, the validity was quantitatively confirmed with four factors. Interventions based on these four factors may improve psychiatric nurses' self-efficacy. Additionally, it is possible that this tool assesses the unique facets of self-efficacy rather than psychiatric nurses' general self-efficacy. Interventions to improve psychiatric nurses' self-efficacy based on the characteristics of psychiatry are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dielectric relaxations in undiluted cis-polyisoprene (cis-PI) with narrow molecular-weight distribution were investigated. The normal mode process due to fluctuation of the end-to-end distance and the segmental mode process due to the local segmental motions were observed. The average relaxation time τn for the normal mode process was insensitive to the polydispersity Mw/Mn, but the width of the loss curve reflecting the distribution of the relaxation times increased with Mw/Mn. The slope of the double logarithmic plot of τn against Mw changed at the characteristic molecular weight Mc from 2.0 in the range MwMc. It was found that although the half-width is nearly independent of Mw, the tail of the loss curve in the high frequency side broadens with increasing Mw. This indicates that by entanglement effects the distribution of the relaxation time for the normal mode process changes slightly. The segmental mode is found to be almost independent of the molecular weight and the polydispersity factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dielectric relaxation spectra for the bulk and concentrated solutions of cis-polyisoprene with narrow distribution of molecular weight were calculated based on a novel method. It was found that the relaxation spectra for the normal mode process exhibit a sharp peak in the range of the longest relaxation time. A weak secondary peak was observed in the time domain about one decade shorter than the main peak. The intensity of the secondary peak increased with increasing molecular weight and concentration. The molecular mechanisms for the secondary process are discussed. The reliability of this new method for calculating the relaxation spectrum was tested by using the loss curves calculated from model spectra. It was found that the reproducibility is better than Tschoegl’s second approximation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We report the dielectric study of dynamical heterogeneity in miscible polymer blends composed of four kinds of polyethers, i.e., poly(butylene oxide) (PBO), poly(isopropylglycidyl ether) (PiPGE), poly(n-butylglycidyl ether) (PnBGE), and poly(t-butylglycidyl ether) (PtBGE). All polyethers exhibit both the dielectric normal mode relaxations due to fluctuation of the end-to-end vector and the segmental mode due to local motions. In blends composed of polyethers, the loss curves for the segmental modes are unimodal but are asymmetrical when the composition becomes asymmetrical, namely 75/25 and 25/75. The asymmetrical loss curve indicates that the loss curve consists of the fast and slow modes. We have resolved the loss curves into the fast- and slow modes by curve fitting assuming that the segmental modes are composed of two ε″ curves. Thus we have estimated the separation of the fast and slow modes. The separation is approximately proportional to the difference of the glass transition temperatures of the components. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We investigated the dielectric relaxation in blends of 4-n-pentyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl (5CB) and polystyrene (PS) in order to examine the size effect of low mass molecules on the cooperativity of local dynamics. To obtain the dielectric data in the isotropic state, the phase diagram was produced. The temperature (T) dependence of the dielectric loss factor ε″ of PS/5CB blends containing 20 to 30 wt% of 5CB exhibited a bimodal peak near the calorimetric glass transition temperature T[subg]. The bimodal peak was resolved into two peaks termed α and β. The α process locates above T[subg] and can be assigned to cooperative motions of the PS segments and the 5CB molecules. The β process is responsible to independent reorientation of the 5CB molecules in the glassy PS matrix. The α and β loss peaks tend to merge with increasing T. This behavior contrasts to the dielectric behavior of the PS/toluene system which exhibits loss peaks due to segmental motions of PS and rotation of the toluene molecules in well separated temperature regions. The toluene molecule has a size of ca. 1/3 of the 5CB molecule and does not move cooperatively with PS but the 5CB molecule does. From the intensity of the α and β peaks, the fraction of the 5CB molecules moving cooperatively with PS has been estimated to be 0.25 and 0.63 for the blends containing 30 and 20 wt% of 5CB, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We studied viscoelastic and dielectric relaxation behavior of poly(vinyl acetate)/poly(ethylene oxide) (PVAc/PEO) blends in the miscible state. Especially for the viscoelastic measurements, we used highly asymmetric molecular weight M W combinations to examine the component dynamics separately. Time–temperature superposition principle did not hold since the two components have different shift factors (a T ). We determined the a T of both components in the blends for the terminal relaxation modes. Concerning the dielectric relaxation, we observed single α-relaxation peak and found that the α-relaxation mainly reflected the segmental motion of PVAc in the blends. The dielectric and viscoelastic a T of the PVAc component showed almost the same temperature dependence compared at the same composition. From these a T data, we determined effective glass transition temperatures (T g,eff) as a function of blend composition for both components. The results were compared with the literature data for a similar miscible blend, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/PEO [T.R. Lutz, Y. He, M.D. Ediger, H. Cao, G.Lin, A.A. Jones, Macromolecules 36 (2003) 1724]. The T g,eff’s of PEO in the two blend systems were almost the same at any compositions even though the blend partners have very different glass transition temperatures T g’s: 311K for PVAc and 405K for PMMA. If we use the Lodge–McLeish (LM) model to explain the similar T g,eff’s of PEO in both blends, the self-concentration of PEO should be dependent on the blend partner. This suggests the necessity to take into account the effect of the inter-molecular interaction in the LM model. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objectives: To develop the Psychiatric Nurse Self-Efficacy Scales, and to examine their reliability and validity., Design: We developed the Improved Self-Efficacy Scale (ISES) and Decreased Self-Efficacy Scale (DSES) using existing evidence. Statistical analysis was conducted on the data to test reliability and validity., Setting: The study's setting was psychiatric facilities in three prefectures in Japan., Participants: Data from 514 valid responses were extracted of the 786 responses by psychiatric nurses., Outcome Measures: The study measured the reliability and validity of the scales., Results: The ISES has two factors ('Positive changes in the patient' and 'Prospect of continuing in psychiatric nursing') and the DSES has three ('Devaluation of own role as a psychiatric nurse', 'Decrease in nursing ability due to overload' and 'Difficulty in seeing any results in psychiatric nursing'). With regard to scale reliability, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.634-0.845. With regard to scale validity, as the factorial validity of the ISES and DSES, for the ISES, χ 2 /df (110.625/37) ratio=2.990 (p<0.001), goodness-of-fit index (GFI)=0.962, adjusted GFI (AGFI)=0.932, comparative fit index (CFI)=0.967 and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)=0.062; for the DSES, χ 2 /df (101.982/37) ratio=2.756 (p<0.001), GFI=0.966, AGFI=0.940, CFI=0.943, RMSEA=0.059 and Akaike Information Criterion=159.982. The concurrent validity of the General Self-Efficacy Scale was r=0.149-0.446 (p<0.01) for ISES and r=-0.154 to -0.462 (p<0.01) for DSES, and the concurrent validity of the Stress Reaction Scale was r=-0.128 to 0.168 for ISES, r=0.214-0.398 for DSES (p<0.01).Statistical analyses showed the scales to be reliable and valid measures., Conclusions: The ISES and DSES can accurately assess psychiatric nurses' self-efficacy. Using these scales, it is possible to formulate programmes for improving psychiatric nurses' feelings of self-efficacy., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

The aim of this study is to enrich nursing education by clarifying the relationship between personality traits, motivation, and career paths in professional nursing. This cross-sectional study surveyed 150 nurses from a polyclinic in Japan that performs internal medicine and surgery. The survey covered several aspects of personality, work motivation, and career development using the Ten-Item Personality Inventory, Work Motivation Scale, and Nurses' Job Career Scale. The demographics of the participants were also recorded. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the personality traits extraversion and agreeableness had a direct and positive impact on nurses' interest in team collaboration, but not on career development. Interest in career improvement was related to conscientiousness as a power toward purpose and openness as an aspect of curiosity. Conscientiousness and openness were indirectly related to the development and adjustment of interpersonal relationships and self-capability development through interest in career improvement. Interest in patient support positively impacted the implementation and pursuit of quality nursing. The findings highlight the need to account for individual differences in personality and motivation to support nurses' success during their nursing education and in the workplace.

Objective: This study explored the factors influencing commissioned welfare volunteers' (CWVs) attitudes toward mental illnesses and how their attitudes correlated with their social distance from people with mental illness. Materials and Methods: Data from 223 CWVs were analyzed statistically. Factor extractions for the Image for Mental Illness Scale (IMI) and Social Distance Scale (SDS) were calculated. We examined the relations between factors in IMI and SDS. Results: CWVs' attitudes were classified as Understanding (understanding of the condition), Secure (feelings of safety in the presence of those with mental illness), and Activity (reactions to the behaviors of people with mental illness). Social distance from those with mental illness was classified as Public and Private Interactions. CWVs' interactions with people with mental illness were significantly influenced by feeling Secure in the presence of the latter. Low Public and Private Interactions were influenced by older age. CWVs' "experience in providing consultations for mental illness" led to the avoidance of Private Interactions. Conclusion: CWVs should feel safe when involved in Public or Private Interactions with individuals with mental illness. CWVs reported a preference for a higher level of social distance from people with mental illness., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (©2020 The Japanese Association of Rural Medicine.)