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On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake devastated the Tohoku region, which led to a tsunami and a nuclear disaster. While these three disasters caused tremendous physical damage, their psychological impact remains unclear. The present study evaluated traumatic responses, internalizing (i.e., anxiety and depression), and externalizing (i.e., anger) symptoms among Japanese young people in the immediate aftermath and 2.5 years later. A total of 435 undergraduates were recruited from universities in three differentially exposed regions: Fukushima, Tokyo, and Kyoto. They completed a set of questionnaires retrospectively (i.e., September to December 2013) to measure their traumatic responses, anxiety and depressive symptoms, functional impairment, and anger immediately after the disaster and 2.5 years later. Participants in Tokyo had the highest level of traumatic response and internalizing symptoms immediately after the earthquake, whereas those in Fukushima had significantly higher levels of trait anger, anger-in (holding one's anger in), and anger-out (expressing one's anger externally). In Kyoto, the levels of anxiety and depression after 2.5 years were significantly higher than they were immediately after the disasters. In conclusion, anger symptoms were high among young people who lived at or near the center of the disasters, while anxiety and depression were high among those who lived far away from the disasters. These findings suggest the importance of providing mental health services to young people who did not live near the disaster area as well as to those living in the directly affected area.

Purpose: The main aims of the present study were to compare the frequency and correlates of psychopathological symptoms in two generations of the same family in Japan and in England., Methods: The sample included 689 adolescents and one of their parents/guardians. All participants completed a set of questionnaires to measure psychopathological symptoms, self-construals, and perceived social support., Results: In both parent and adolescent data, the Japanese sample reported significantly lower psychopathological symptoms than the English sample. The relationship between parental and adolescent psychopathology was significant in England, but not in Japan. In both countries, perceived social support and independent self-construal were generally associated with less psychopathological symptoms, and interdependent self-construal was associated with more symptoms. Additionally, in England, a significant interaction effect was found between social support and the self-construals. Participants with low independent and high interdependent self-construal had elevated levels of psychopathological symptoms when perceived social support was low., Conclusions: The present study illustrates the importance of culture in the transmission of psychopathological symptoms across different generations in the same family.

Background: One specific type of social anxiety, occurring primarily in Japanese culture, is called taijin kyofusho. Taijin kyofusho is characterized by an intense fear that one's body parts or functions displease, embarrass or are offensive to others., Aim: The main aim of the present study was to compare the frequency and correlates of taijin kyofusho symptoms (TKS) in Japanese adolescents and their parents., Method: The sample included 351 adolescents, aged 12 to 17 years, and one of their parents/guardians. These adolescents were recruited from secondary schools in Miyazaki, Japan. All participants completed a set of questionnaires that were used to measure TKS, DSM-IV anxiety disorder symptoms, general difficulties and positive attributes, self-construals and social support., Results: Adolescents reported significantly more TKS than their parent/guardians. In each generational sample high TKS was significantly associated with high levels of anxiety symptoms, the strongest correlation being with social phobia. The pattern of the relationship between self-construal and TKS differed across the two generations. Among adolescents, independent self-construal was associated with lower TKS, whereas among parents, interdependent self-construal was associated with lower evaluative concerns from others., Conclusion: The present study illustrates the importance of the diverse roles that self-construals play in TKS across different generations of the same family constellation in contemporary Japanese culture.

Background: Most of our knowledge about anxiety in adolescents has come from studies conducted in Western countries. Little is known about the extent to which these results can be generalized to those who live in other cultures. The main aim of this study was to compare the frequency and correlates of anxiety symptoms among adolescents in Japan and England., Method: A total of 689 adolescents (338 from England and 351 from Japan), aged 12-17 years, took part in this research. They completed a set of questionnaires which were used to measure DSM-IV anxiety disorder symptoms, general difficulties and positive attributes, self-construals, and social support., Results: Adolescents in England reported significantly higher levels of anxiety symptoms than adolescents in Japan. In both countries, independent self-construal was negatively associated with anxiety symptoms, while interdependent self-construal was positively associated with anxiety. However, the magnitude of this relationship was stronger for independent self-construal than the interdependent self-construal. Path analysis showed that the effect of interdependent self-construal seemed to be weaker in Japan than in England., Conclusion: Future studies need to explore the effects of cultural context and environmental experiences such as the role of parenting styles that account for the higher levels of anxiety in English compared with Japanese adolescents., (© 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Background: There is ample evidence for female preponderance of major depressive disorder (MDD) in adolescence and adulthood. This study examined gender differences in the developmental course (i.e., incidence, duration, number of depressive episodes, and recovery rates) of MDD in non-referred adolescents and young adults., Methods: Data from the Oregon Adolescent Depression Project were used to examine gender differences in the developmental course of MDD. Gender differences in the onset, duration, number of depressive episode and rate of recovery from MDD were examined in a population-based sample of the same individuals (participants: N=773) during adolescence (age 14 to 17) and at age 30., Results: Compared to males, females have higher incidence rates of MDD and had a more chronic course. Difference in duration of depressive episodes is marginally significant between male and female, with females having longer episodes. Lower onset age correlates significantly with more number of episodes in both genders; however, lower onset age predicts a worse course of depression only in females., Limitations: The sample was from a single region of the country and consisted mostly of White adolescents., Conclusions: Childhood depression may be a more serious risk factor for girls than for boys., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The purpose of this study was to compare the frequency of anxiety symptoms and their association with gender and age in Japanese and German children using the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS). A total of 1837 children (862 from Germany and 975 from Japan) between the age of 8 and 12 years were investigated. Results revealed that German children reported significantly higher symptoms of separation anxiety, social phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder than Japanese children. Conversely, Japanese children reported significantly higher scores on symptoms related to physical injury fear. In both countries, girls scored higher than boys on all the scales of the SCAS. Symptoms of separation anxiety and panic decreased with age, whereas social phobia increased with age. The findings underscore the impact of culture on children's anxiety.