Search

Background: Object Relations Scale (ORS: Iume, Hirai, Aoki & Baba, 2006) was developed for accessing an individual’s object relation pattern. It consists of five domains: Insufficiency of Intimacy, Superficiality in Interpersonal Relations, Egoistic Manipulation, Excessive Need for Identification, and Abandonment Anxiety. However, its factor structure using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is still undetermined. Purpose: This study aims at evaluating the psychometric properties of ORS, in particular, confirming its factor structure using CFA, and examining the relationship of object relation maturity, to mental health as well as to psychological distress. Methods: The subjects of this study were 547 medical college students in Japan. CFA were conducted in order to determine the best fit model. The relationships of maturity level of one’s object relation pattern to his/her mental health as well as psychological distresses were examined by t-tests. Results: A four-factor model, a modified version of the original five-factor model showed the best fit. Among the four factors, three were those included in the original model. They were Insufficiency of Intimacy, Superficiality in Interpersonal Relations, and Abandonment Anxiety. The last factor consisted of items originally included in the remaining two factors, Egotistic Manipulation and Excessive Need for Identification. Each ORS subscale score positively correlated with that of mental health problems as well as those of psychological distresses of one or more domains at significant levels. Conclusion: The four-factor model, which does not necessarily negate the original five-factor model proposed by Iume et al., showed the best fit. Immaturity and instability in object relation relationship contributed to a variety of distresses as well as poor mental health.

In a clinical setting, the importance of obtaining informed consent has been emphasized. However, for patients with personality pathologies, due to their damaged ability of decisionmaking, it seems extremely difficult to either give consent or dissent, despite their intact intelligence. This article, based on the author’s previous writings which described those patients in detail, depicts a deepened understanding concerning their difficulties of making decisions, or exercising autonomy, related to early life events using a few scholars’ theories. Clinical strategies which help those patients exercise autonomy are also proposed as well as a few issues remaining to be explored in future research.

The purposes of this study were: 1) to modify the Exercise Motivation Scale (EMS: Fujita, Sato, & Moriguchi, 2010) which has its theoretical basis on self-determination theory (SDT) in order to adapt it to the academic field; 2) to confirm the factor structure of every subscale of Academic Performance Motivation Scale (APMS) (the revised version of EMS); 3) to evaluate the relationship between the students’ motivation styles for academic activities and their psychological well-being; and 4) to examine the relationship between motivation styles and academic achievement level, using data from self-report questionnaire results obtained from 162 college students in Japan. The 26 items in EMS were modified to accommodate to the academic activities, and all of them were adopted in APMS after confirming the content validity. Single-factor structure of all six subscales: Intrinsic Motivation, Integrated Regulation, Identified Regulation, Introjected Regulation, External Regulation, and A-Motivation, was confirmed by CFA. Mental health impairment, academic stress, and perceived social support were applied as indices of psycho-logical well-being. To assess the academic achievement level, the respondents were asked whether they had had to retake at least one examination and/or re-peat a year during the last twelve months. Consistent with SDT, the motivation styles with higher levels of autonomy and integration were related to high perceived social support. On the contrary, the motivation styles with lower levels of autonomy and integration were related to poor mental health, in-creased academic stress, and low perceived social support. It was not concluded whether academic achievement is related to motivation style.

Based on the facts that child abuse rarely exists in isolation from one or more of the other child abuse subcategories, a depressive affect at some particular point includes both reactively provoked one and persistent one, and depressive affect and borderline personality organization are inseparable, this study explored the influence of each child abuse subcategory on later development of borderline personality organization, as well as on persistent depressive affect, examining whether the causality between some particular child abuse subcategory and depression is direct or indirect, i.e. mediated by borderline personality pathology. Three hundred four Japanese university students were the target for analysis. Questionnaire surveys were conducted over a six-week period on three occasions. Structural equation modeling was used for the statistical analysis. Self-Rating Depressive Scale (SDS), Inventory of Personality Organization (IPO), and Child Abuse and Trauma Scale (CATS) were used for assessing depressive affects, borderline personality organization, and past experience of child abuse, respectively. “Neglect and Emotional Abuse” had a deteriorating effect on children’s later mental health. “Sexual Abuse” and “Authoritarianism” had indirect influence via borderline personality organization. Although “Physical Punishment and Scolding” and “Marital Disharmony” per se did not have a significant negative impact on later mental health, it should be noted that they are frequently accompanied by “Neglect and Emotional Abuse.”

Under the socially critical situations, an individual’s personality pathologies tracing back to their origins a long time ago are usually exacerbated, and hidden group mentality of society as a whole is manifested. The COVID-19 outbreak, which has brought about an extremely high level of crisis all over the world, provides us with an opportunity to observe pathologies of society in addition to those of an individual more vividly, helping us understand the meanings of the pathologies. In this study, attitudes and behavioral reactions of Japanese individuals and society as a whole caused by the COVID-19 outbreak were discussed. Psychoanalytic and social psychology theories as well as self-determination theory were applied for discussing some behavioral phenomena, such as addiction behaviors and crude criticism and/or discrimination towards some particular category of people. After proposing some hypotheses regarding these attitudes and behaviors, I finally mentioned tasks with which COVID-19 challenges human society. I refer to the increased need for clinical psychiatry and psychology in contributing to society to achieve the tasks.

This article aimed at building a comprehensive hypothesis on the origin and developmental process of addictive behaviors based on facts obtained from the author’s clinical experience. A woman with a variety of addictive behaviors was introduced as an instance. Not only childhood adversity which contribution already had been proven in the development of addiction, the author also focused on psycho-social obstruction during adolescence, more specifically, that of constructing peer relationships as well as that of renewing the relationship with parents crucial for passing through the second individuation process (Blos, 1967). Furthermore, how the obstruction related to the adversity during early life was discussed. At the end of the article, reference was made to possible benefits in adulthood brought about by intervening with adolescents who are at high risk of addictive behaviors.

To study correlates of presenteeism among Japanese IT employees, a cross-sectional study in 440 employees of four IT companies were studied with a net-based questionnaire survey. A structural regression analysis revealed that presenteeism was directly associated with common mental symptoms and job strain, common mental symptoms mediated the effects of job strain and poor workplace social support as well as high Harm Avoidance and low Self-directedness and Cooperativeness upon presenteeism. IT company workers presenteeism may be a result of complicated effects of common mental symptoms, job strain and poor workplace social support, and personality traits.

The purpose of this study was to explore the motivations for entry into the sex industry. The narratives of four Japanese female psychiatric patients with a past experience of sex work were used for analysis. I identified not only practical factors such as financial difficulties or lack of job skills, but also various psycho-social factors, namely: weak emotional ties with their mothers since infancy, their mothers’ tendency to prioritize sons over daughters, unremitting needs for maternal care, fear of rejection and object-seeking behavior, desire to control others, envy and aggressive self-destructive behavior, difficulties in establishing female peer relationships during adolescence, proneness to dependency on male objects through sexual relationships, past histories of crime and delinquency, weak internal motivation, frequent acting out, and addictive behaviors. In this article I discussed whether their mental maladjustment was purely the product of their past experiences as sex workers, or whether in fact both the maladjustment and the motivations for entry were derived from personality characteristics developed since infancy. Although not applicable to every Japanese sex worker, this article presents a preliminary hypothesis regarding the contribution of the above multi-dimensional factors to the motivations for entry, and the following mental maladjustment.

Based on the experiences of psychiatric patients who were in the process of rehabilitation after a significant period of rest and recuperation, the author aimed at analyzing the phenomena that facilitate as well as hinder patient maladjustment, in order to identify ways for clinical psychiatry to support patients’ rehabilitation processes. Two female patients with pathological personality traits who were in the process of rehabilitation were chosen. One attended a community center that offers employment for people with mental disorders, followed by a vocational rehabilitation center for the unemployed; the other returned to an ordinary job for which she was qualified. The author first investigated the interactions between their personalities and the group mentalities in their workplaces, and then analyzed these interactions using psychodynamic theories. The dynamic interactions between these patients’ personality pathologies and the group mentalities of the workplaces they chose for their rehabilitation seemed to play a crucial role in determining whether they experienced maladjustment or not. Various phenomena experienced by an individual in a community setting should not be ascribed solely to either the person’s personality or the community group mentality, but rather to the interaction between the two. Community centers for people with mental disorders must provide support that facilitates the accomplishment of the original purposes of the group, but also helps each group member improve their self-esteem. At the end of this article, the author argues that the narcissistic need for approval cannot be dismissed simply as pathological, but should be seen as a ubiquitous phenomenon in the contemporary Japanese ethos.

Purpose: To study the determinants of current parenting styles in Japan. Methods: Fathers (n = 312) and mothers (n = 333) of children aged between 0 and 10 attending a paediatric clinic were evaluated with regards to the following: parental attitudes rated by spouses using the Parental Bonding Instrument, current dysphoric mood assessed with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, life time history of Major Depressive Episode (MDE), and perceived parenting styles when the parents themselves were children. Results: Path models showed that current parenting styles were predicted by parents perception of maternal rearing during childhood. Moreover, in mothers only, they were predicted by the manner in which the women were raised by their fathers. This prediction was indirect, occurring via lifetime history of MDE and current dysphoric mood. Conclusion: This study suggests that the way in which parents themselves were raised was no less important than how they currently felt in determining how they were raising their child. Current dysphoric mood or lifetime history of MDE mediated such effects only among mothers.

Psychological mindedness (PM) is a psychological construct that represents the tendency and ability to understand the relationships between thoughts, feelings, and behavior. This study examined the statistical properties, particularly the factor structure, of the Psychological Mindedness Scale (PMS) in a non-clinical Japanese sample through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The relationship between PMS and depression was also examined for predictive validity. The results suggested that the PMS tested on a Japanese sample contains the following four factors: (a) belief in the benefits of discussing one's problems; (b) access to feelings; (c) openness to new ideas and capacity to change; and (d) interest in the meaning and motivation of own and others' behavior. Whereas the total PM score and Factors 2 and 3 had negative correlations with depression, there was a positive correlation between Factor 4 and depression. The 4-factor structure of the scale is deemed to be applicable to the Japanese population.

Few studies in Japan have examined whether children's later mental health is influenced by the way parental authority is exercised, specifically with a focus on gender. Our main purposes of this study were to confirm the three-factor structure of the Japanese version of the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) and to verify its reliability and validity. We then used structural equation modeling to examine whether children's later mental health was influenced by parents' authoritative, permissive, and authoritarian parenting. The subcategories included in the Japanese version of the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure were chosen as mental health indices. A total of 1,320 people in Japan, including company employees, university students, and hospital staff members, were asked to recall and evaluate the parenting they received and to report on their current mental health. Confirmatory factor analyses verified the three-factor structure of the Japanese version of the PAQ, with a reduction in the number of items from the original version. The respondents, regardless of gender, evaluated their mothers as having been more authoritative than their fathers. Concerning the impact of parenting styles on respondents' later mental health, both maternal and pater- nal authoritarian parenting styles worsened respondents' later mental health, including symptomatic problems, risk to self and others, life functioning, and psychological well- being. Both maternal and paternal authoritative parenting had a beneficial impact on respondents' later mental health. Simultaneous analyses of multi-groups demonstrated that the nature of these influences did not vary with respondent gender. We present the above results in detail, and discuss them from psycho-socio-cultural viewpoints.

Previous Dependency Inventory (JIDI) as well demonstrates how the interpersonal attitudes assessed by the JIDI generate interpersonal negative life events (NLEs) and therefore results in dysphoric moods and poor life functioning. The subjects of this study were 467 Japanese university students. The JIDI was administered at Time 1, and the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) was administered at Time 2 for the purpose of assessing dysphoric mood and life functioning. NLEs occurring between Times 1 and 2 were evaluated. The three-factor structure of the JIDI was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. The structural equation modeling demonstrated that of the three factors, only one, “emotional reliance”, predisposed individuals to dysphoric mood and poor life functioning, both directly and indirectly, via interpersonal NLEs. Although the other two factors did not increase vulnerability to interpersonal NLEs or dysphoric mood, “lack of social self-confidence” worsened general functioning, and “assertion of autonomy” led to poor functioning in close relationships, both directly. Furthermore, “assertion of autonomy” decreased anxiety levels. As to gender differences, simultaneous analysis of multi-groups showed that female subjects were more likely to become anxious following interpersonal NLEs.

This study examined the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation–Outcome Measure (CORE-OM), a standardized, brief, but comprehensive outcome measurement. The target population consisted of 1684 Japanese company employees, hospital staff, and university students. A confirmatory factor analysis proved that our data fit the factor structure of the original CORE-OM. We also examined its internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity, and sensitivity in discriminating between clinical and nonclinical samples. After demonstrating these results, we discuss how the Japanese version of the CORE-OM can be used both in clinical and research settings. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Unhealthy use of the Internet and mobile phones is a health issue in Japan. We solicited participation in this questionnaire-based study from the employees of a city office in Kumamoto. A total of 92 men and 54 women filled in the Internet Addiction Questionnaire (IAQ), the Self-perception of Text-message Dependency Scale (STDS), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The prevalence of ''light Internet addiction'' and ''severe Internet addiction'' were 33.7% and 6.1% for men whereas they were 24.6% and 1.8% for women. The prevalence of ''light mobile phone text-message addiction'' was 3.1% for men and 5.4% for women. There were no cases of ''sever text-message addiction''. We found a two-factor structure for the IAQ and a three-factor structure for the STDS. We also performed an EFA of the IAQ and STDS subscales, and this revealed a two-factor structure - Internet Dependency and Text-message Dependency. An STDS subscale, Relationship Maintenance, showed a moderate factor loading of the factor that reflected unhealthy Internet use. In a path analysis, Depression was associated with both Internet Dependency and Text-message Dependency whereas Anxiety was associated negatively with Text-message Dependency. These results suggest applicability of the IAQ and STDS and that Internet and Text-message Dependences are factorially distinct.

In order to examine the relationships between parenting styles and personality traits over generations, a cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted for fathers and mothers of school-age children of grades 5–9. The parenting styles measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) and the personality traits measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) were correlated within and between the consecutive generations (the grandparents and the parents for the PBI and the parents and the children for the TCI). A series of structural equation modeling showed that (1) while the parenting styles were transmitted directly from the grandparents to the parents, it was partly mediated by the fathers’ Co-operativeness (C) but not so for the mothers, (2) while the personality traits were transmitted directly from the parents to the children, it was only the fathers’ parenting styles that mediated C, and (3) the parents’ parenting styles had independent effects upon the children’s personality traits.

Dispositional coping styles in adulthood may be influenced by one's experiences as a child. Japanese university students were examined in terms of their coping styles and child abuse history. Regression analyses revealed that an emo- tion-oriented coping style was predicted by neglect and emotional abuse during childhood.

���������������� ������������ ������������� ������������ ������������� �������������� ��������������� �������������� ���������� ������������� ��� ������������� ������������� ��� ���������� ������������� ��� ������������� ������������� ��� � � � �

Services provided to rape victims by human service professionals are usually helpful but are occasionally very harmful in that the victim ends up feeling 're-victimized'. This may be caused by the attitudes of the professionals towards the victims based on beliefs regarding rape and gender roles. Japanese human service professionals were solicited for responses to the Rape Myth Scale (RMS) and the short form of the Scale of Egalitarian Sex Role Attitudes (SESRA-S). One interpretable factor was extracted according to an exploratory factor analysis. Impact of the participants' age, sex, residential area, and type of profession on rape myth acceptance were examined by four-way layout ANOVA. Nurses had significantly higher rape myth acceptance than any other professional group. Furthermore, a structural equation model showing the contribution of sex role egalitarian attitude to rape myth acceptance was established.

Coping styles and self-efficacy have been recognized as important determinants of dysphoric mood. The objectives of this study were to determine the influence of these two factors on depression and anxiety in Japanese students. A set of questionnaires, including the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale, the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS), and the Self-efficacy Scale (SES) was distributed to 146 nursing students. Structural equation modelling was conducted to specify the relationships between measured variables. The HAD depression and anxiety scores were predicted by emotion-oriented coping. The HAD depression alone was predicted by avoidance-oriented coping. Self-efficacy scores predicted the emotion-oriented coping and HAD depression scores. Students’ dysphoric moods were influenced by emotional-oriented coping that mediated the effects of low self-efficacy, and self-efficacy also had a direct effect on depression.

This study explored the factorial structure of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) in the Japanese population. Several differences between the structure model in the current study and Parker et al.'s original model were identified. We also examined the adaptability of the inventory to children currently being raised by parents. We also developed a structural equation model that takes into account the impacts of the respondents' generation and gender and the caregivers' gender. The cultural, developmental, generational, and gender influences on the factorial structure of the PBI as well as the implications for clinical settings were discussed.

The psychometric properties of the short form of the Scale of Egalitarian Sex Role Attitudes (SESRA-S) were studied among human service professionals. An exploratory factor analysis yielded two factors interpreted as reflecting women's rights (e.g. women at home and men at work [a reverse item]) and women's independence (e.g. working outside is equally important for women [a non-reverse item]), respectively. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit. Impact of participant age, sex, residential area, and type of profession on sex role egalitarianism were examined by four-way layout anova. Men in rural areas had the lowest score in the women's rights subscale and psychiatrists in rural areas had the lowest score in the women's independence subscale.

The 25-item Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ-25) measures presenteeism but has not been sufficiently validated in a Japanese population.A total of 451 employees from four information technology companies in Tokyo completed the WLQ-25 and questionnaires of other variables on two occasions, 2 weeks apart.The WLQ-25 yielded a two-factor structure: Cognitive Demand and Physical Demand. These subscales showed good internal consistency, and both were associated with adverse working conditions, greater perceived job strain, lower skill use, poorer workplace social support, and less satisfactory psychological adjustment. Intraclass correlation coefficients of the two WLQ-25 subscales between time 1 and time 2 were 0.78 and 0.55, respectively.This study suggests acceptable psychometric properties of the WLQ-25 in Japan.

The Influence of Borderline Personality Organization on Trait Depressive Affects and the Generation of Negative Life Events This study sought to assess whether borderline personality organization (BPO) influenced trait depressive affect, the generation of negative life events (NLEs), and state depressive affect, which includes the depressive affect component caused by the NLEs. The study population was 350 university students in Japan. They were solicited to complete questionnaires on three occasions over a six-week period. The Inventory of Personality Organization and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) were used to assess BPO and depressive affect, respectively. Structural equation modeling and simultaneous analysis of multi-groups were used for statistical analysis.

This study focused on the functional aspects of narcissism in regulating self-conscious emotions (guilt, shame, hubristic pride, and achievement-oriented pride) as well as two other attribution styles (externalization and detachment). The authors investigated Japanese university students (N = 452) with regard to their self-conscious emotions using the Test of Self-Conscious Affect-3 (TOSCA-3) and their narcissistic personality using the short version of Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI-S). Structural equation modeling was used for the analysis. The authors found that narcissism led individuals to feel achievement-oriented pride, hubristic pride, externalization, and detachment, but inhibited feelings of shame. It did not have a significant effect on guilt. Shame-proneness prompted hubristic pride and externalization. Guilt-proneness inclined an individual toward achievement-oriented pride, but deterred externalization. In this article, the authors present and interpret these results in detail and then discuss how they can be utilized in psychotherapy.

To simultaneously examine the impact of childhood abuse history on borderline personality traits, negative life events, and depression, undergraduate students (N=243) were studied by questionnaire surveys with one week intervals. Neglect and emotional abuse as well as sexual maltreatment predicted borderline personality traits and baseline depression. Baseline depression as well as the impact of negative life events occurring the week prior predicted depression a week later. However, after considering the baseline depression level, child abuse history failed to predict the follow-up depression level. Borderline personality traits did not moderate these findings. Childhood emotional and sexual abuse history may influence depression and borderline personality traits.

Aims: To identify the psychosocial correlates of adolescents. Methods: Unmarried university students (n = 4226) aged 18–23 years were examined in a questionnaire survey. Results: Four clusters of people (indifferent, secure, fearful, and preoccupied) identified by cluster analysis were plotted in 2-D using discriminant function analysis with the first function (father's and mother's Care, Cooperativeness, and family Cohesion on the positive end and Harm Avoidance and father's and mother's Overprotection on the negative end) representing the Self-model and the second function (Reward Dependence and experience of Peer Victimization on the positive end and Self-directedness on the negative end) representing the Other model. Conclusions: These findings partially support Bartholomew's notion that adult attachment is based on the good versus bad representations of the self and the other and that it is influenced by psychosocial environments experienced over the course of development.

A retrospective study of negative sexual experiences (NSEs) was conducted among 532 Japanese university women. More than one third of the respondents reported having experienced at least one NSE, and two thirds were victimized by strangers. When the woman knew the perpetrator well, the NSE was more likely to be repeated. One sixth of victims did not disclose the incident. Older children disclosed incidents more frequently than did younger children. Women in the total disclosure group disclosed the incidents more quickly than did those in the partial disclosure group. Women victimized by strangers were more likely to disclose the incident completely. Less than 10% of women were disappointed with the reaction of the first-disclosure receiver. Unlike results obtained in previous studies, the victims did not necessarily regard it negatively when the incident was viewed less seriously or they were criticized by first-disclosure receivers. On the other hand, instrumental support was not always supportive.

According to Beck's cognitive theory, individuals who endure negative self-schemas (dysfunctional attitudes) are more likely to present automatic thoughts consisting of negative schemata of oneself and one's world while experiencing depression. In order to examine the relationships between depression, automatic thought, and dysfunctional attitude, 329 Japanese university students were given a set of questionnaires, including the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Automatic Thought Questionnaire-revised (ATQ-R), and Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS). A structural equation model revealed that depression was predicted predominantly by automatic thought, which was in turn predicted by dysfunctional attitude. The male gender had a tendency to predict dysfunctional attitude. The link between a student's depression and dysfunctional attitude was mediated by automatic thought.

The roles of shame and attribution style in developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were examined among 172 Japanese university women with negative sexual experiences (NSEs) using a structural equation model. “Shame” directly predicted PTSD, whereas “Internal Attribution” and “External Attribution” did not. The effect of Internal Attribution on PTSD was mediated by Shame. In a simultaneous analysis of multi-groups, only the relationship with the perpetrator showed a different contribution for shame in developing PTSD symptoms. In addition, the role of the shame and attribution style in developing PTSD symptoms in the Japanese culture was discussed.

We examined gender differences in perceived rearing and adult attachment style in adolescents. A total of 3,912 senior college students (1,149 men and 2,763 women) ages 18-23 (men’s M = 20.1 years, women’s M = 20.0 years) were administered a set of questionnaires including Relationship Questionnaire (to measure adult attachment), the Parental Bonding Instrument (perceived rearing), and a list of early life events. In the men, positive adult total attachment style was predicted by the scores of paternal care and low scores on maternal overprotection in a hierarchical regression analysis. On the other hand, in the women, positive adult total attachment style was predicted by the scores of paternal and maternal care, and low score on maternal overprotection. Adult attachment was also predicted by fewer Peer Victimization experience as a child in both men and women. However, while men’s adult attachment was predicted by Self Disease experiences, women’s adult attachment was predicted by Top Star experiences and fewer Relocation experiences. The adult attachment style was predictable from early experiences but there existed some gender differences.

A total of 946 Japanese children in the 5th to 9th grades and their parents were studied in order to investigate the extent to which parenting characteristics (measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument) and the personality of the child (measured by the junior version of the Temperament and Character Inventory) would be associated with the two aspects of the externalizing problems — aggression and delinquency — of the child (measured by the Child Behavior Checklist). A series of regression analyses demonstrated that (1) aggressive children were higher in Novelty Seeking, and delinquent children were higher in Novelty Seeking and lower in Harm Avoidance, and (2) both aggressive and delinquent children were characterised by low maternal care, paternal over-protection, and low maternal overprotection. A structural equation model confirmed these findings except for the link between the two externalising behaviour scores and the maternal care. Moreover, it was suggested that Novelty seeking of the child would be predicted by low parental care and low paternal and high maternal overprotection. The children's aggression and delinquency could, to some extent, be explainable by their temperament patterns and parental characteristics.

Few studies have examined patients with pathological personality traits in terms of their competency to exercise autonomy, despite the increasing number of these individuals who visit psychiatric clinics in Japan. The purpose of this study was to assess such patients’ competencies using medical record data focusing not only on the therapeutic relationship but also on the patients’ social relationships throughout their life histories. Two patients were evaluated: one with borderline personality disorder and another with the “as if personality”, a concept of personality prototype proposed by Helene Deutsch in 1942. Their clinical materials were analyzed from psychosocial viewpoints. I attempted to identify with borderline personality disorder and another with the “as if personality”, a concept of personality prototype proposed by Helene Deutsch in 1942. Their clinical materials were analyzed from psychosocial viewpoints. I attempted to identify the points in their lives at which any competency weaknesses originated. I further discuss their competencies in decision making and exercising autonomy using psychoanalytic theory, in particular Winnicott’s contributions. Finally, I propose the role of contemporary psychiatry in nurturing patients’ autonomy, in order to help them live more comfortably in Japanese modern society.

To evaluate the personality correlates of mobile phone text message use in Japanese youth, university students (N = 232) were distributed a set questionnaires containing the Temperament and Character Inventory and items enquiring their text message use. Greater text messaging was associated with high Novelty Seeking (NS). The results of this study suggest that text message was based on NS.