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To deter the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many countries have imposed a lockdown with restrictions. On 7 April 2020, the Japanese government declared a state of emergency over the COVID-19 outbreak. Japan was in “mild lockdown” which was not enforceable and non-punitive with the declaration. We conducted an online survey to investigate factors associated with psychological distress in the “mild lockdown” under a declared state of emergency for COVID-19. We collected data on 11,333 inhabitants (52.4% women, 46.3 ± 14.6 years) living in the seven prefectures where the declaration was first applied. The investigation dates of this study, 11 and 12 May 2020, were in the final phase of the state of emergency. The survey was conducted in real-time to minimize participants’ recall bias. In addition to psychological inventories often used worldwide, the questionnaires used in this survey included lifestyle and stress management items related to COVID-19 and various socio-demographic items including occupation (e.g. healthcare worker) or income., Measurement(s) Stress • socio-demographic data • psychological distress • loneliness measurement • social network analysis • Lifestyle Technology Type(s) survey method Factor Type(s) sex • age Sample Characteristic - Organism Homo sapiens Sample Characteristic - Environment mild lockdown Sample Characteristic - Location Japan Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: 10.6084/m9.figshare.12996998

This study investigated changes in alcohol use and its related psychosocial factors during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Two online surveys were completed by participants between 15 and 20 June 2021 (phase 1) and 13 and 30 May 2022 (phase 2). A total of 9614 individuals participated in both phases (46% women, mean age = 50.0 ± 13.1 years) and a repeated three-way analysis of variance and multinomial logistic regression analysis were conducted. These data analyses showed that the presence of hazardous alcohol use at phase 2 was predicted by being male and unmarried, having a higher annual household income and age, having a larger social network, and displaying fewer COVID-19 prevention behaviors at phase 1. Further, the presence of potential alcoholism at phase 2 was predicted by being male, being more anxious, having a larger social network, exercising more, showing a deterioration of economic status, having more difficulties owing to a lack of daily necessities, having less healthy eating habits, and showing fewer COVID-19 prevention behaviors at phase 1. These findings suggest that psychological problems and increased work (or academic) and economic difficulties were associated with severe alcohol problems during a later stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We conducted a large-scale survey in the Japanese population, about one year after the initial declaration of the state of emergency, to investigate alcohol use under the prolonged coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its related psychosocial and demographic characteristics. The survey was conducted online between 15 and 20 June 2021. A total of 11,427 participants were included in the analysis (48.5% female, 48.82 ± 13.30 years, range = 20–90 years). Compared with females, males were more prevalent in the hazardous user and the potential alcoholism group and were less prevalent in the no alcohol-related problem group. However, the prevalence of potential alcoholism among the participants in our study was higher than that previously reported. This trend was particularly pronounced in women. The presence of potential alcoholism was related to a deteriorated psychological status, particularly depression and anxiety, and various difficulties in their daily lives due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the future, intervention methods and systems should be developed to provide optimal assistance to people with psychological problems who are vulnerable to alcohol-related problems during the COVID-19 pandemic, while conducting further long-term follow-up studies.

BACKGROUND Lockdowns and stay-at-home orders announced internationally for COVID-19 have led to physical and social distancing, with reports of many individuals experiencing social isolation (SI) and loneliness. Although the emergency declaration in Japan was declared as a “mild” lockdown requested by the government without penalties for violations, the lockdown measures, including SI, had several influences on people’s lives and mental health as in other countries. Furthermore, Japan declared a state of emergency multiple times; thus, it is necessary to examine the influence of the transition of SI caused by repeated emergency declarations and the deterioration of mental health associated with these changes. OBJECTIVE This study longitudinally investigated the transition of SI and its related factors during the mild lockdown under 2 declared states of emergency in Japan and analyzed psychosocial characteristics by extracting clusters where people with specific transition patterns of SI predominated. METHODS We collected data on 7893 inhabitants (3694 [46.8%] women, 49.6 [SD 13.7] years old) living in the 7 prefectures where the initial emergency declaration was applied. The investigations took place online in the final phase of the first and second states of emergency: phase 1 (between May 11 and 12, 2020) and phase 2 (between February 24 and 28, 2021). Nonparametric Bayesian coclustering was used to visualize the exhaustive interaction structure between the transition pattern of SI and the psychosocial variables. RESULTS There were no improvements in social networks and loneliness between the 2 phases, although psychological distress significantly improved and depression slightly decreased. Overall, 3868 (49%) of the 7893 participants remained socially isolated through phases 1 and 2, and 947 (12%) were socially isolated in phase 2, even though they were not socially isolated in phase 1. More participants experienced persistent SI in unmarried, childless, and low-household-income groups. The persistent-SI group had fewer cohabitants than other transition pattern groups. The nonparametric Bayesian coclustering results showed that most clusters, including participants without SI throughout phases 1 and 2, had healthy behaviors, more interactions, good relationships, and less loneliness and psychological stress. Furthermore, the cluster in which relationships deteriorated in phase 1 recovered in phase 2. Comparatively, the clusters with SI throughout phases 1 and 2 were divided into clusters with increased loneliness and psychological stress; clusters were close to participants’ average scores in this study. The clusters with increased loneliness and psychological stress were notable for deteriorating relationships and less online interaction. CONCLUSIONS This study revealed the actual state of transition of SI and related psychological, social, and behavioral factors under repeated declarations of a state of emergency. These results should help construct intervention methods that fit individual characteristics of people in SI during a pandemic.

The mental and physical effects of repeated lockdowns are unknown. We conducted a longitudinal study of the influence of repeated mild lockdowns during two emergency declarations in Japan, in May 2020 and February 2021. The analyses included 7,893 people who participated in all online surveys. During repeated mild lockdowns, mental and physical symptoms decreased overall, while loneliness increased and social networks decreased. Subgroup analyses revealed that depression and suicidal ideation did not decrease only in the younger age group (aged 18-29) and that younger and middle-aged people (aged 18-49), women, people with a history of treatment for mental illness, and people who were socially disadvantaged in terms of income had higher levels of mental and physical symptoms at all survey times. Additionally, comprehensive extraction of the interaction structure between depression, demographic attributes, and psychosocial variables indicated that loneliness and social networks were most closely associated with depression. These results indicate that repeated lockdowns have cumulative negative effects on interpersonal interaction and loneliness and that susceptible populations, such as young people and those with high levels of loneliness, require special consideration during repetitive lockdown situations.

The influence of repeated lockdowns on mental health and social isolation is unknown. We conducted a longitudinal study of the influence of repeated mild lockdowns during two emergency declarations in Japan, in May 2020 and February 2021. The analyses included 7893 people who participated in all online surveys. During repeated mild lockdowns, mental and physical symptoms decreased overall, while loneliness increased and social networks decreased. Subgroup analyses revealed that depression and suicidal ideation did not decrease only in the younger age group (aged 18–29 years) and that younger and middle-aged people (aged 18–49 years), women, people with a history of treatment for mental illness, and people who were socially disadvantaged in terms of income had higher levels of mental and physical symptoms at all survey times. Additionally, comprehensive extraction of the interaction structure between depression, demographic attributes, and psychosocial variables indicated that loneliness and social networks were most closely associated with depression. These results indicate that repeated lockdowns have cumulative negative effects on social isolation and loneliness and that susceptible populations, such as young people and those with high levels of loneliness, require special consideration during repeated lockdown situations.

ObjectiveThis study investigated the sociodemographic, behavioural and psychological characteristics of socially isolated individuals during the ‘mild lockdown’ period of COVID-19 in Japan.DesignA cross-sectional study.SettingThe seven prefectures where the emergency declaration was first applied in Japan.ParticipantsWe collected data on 11 333 individuals (52.4% women, 46.3±14.6 years) living in the seven prefectures where the emergency declaration was first applied. The online survey was performed between 11 May and 12 May 2020, in the final phase of the state of emergency.Primary outcome measuresLubben Social Network Scale (LSNS-6)ResultsWe found that male sex (95% CI 1.60 to 1.98), middle age (95% CI 1.55 to 1.93) and lower income (eg, annual household income ConclusionsWe identified the sociodemographic and psychological characteristics associated with social isolation under mild lockdown. These results are expected to be a useful resource for identifying which groups may require intervention to improve their social interactions in order to preserve their mental health during the pandemic.

This study examined the psychological distress caused by non-coercive lockdown (mild lockdown) in Japan. An online survey was conducted with 11,333 people (52.4% females, mean age = 46.3 &plusmn, 14.6 years, range = 18&ndash, 89 years) during the mild lockdown in the seven prefectures most affected by COVID-19 infection. Over one-third (36.6%) of participants experienced mild-to-moderate psychological distress (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale [K6] score 5&ndash, 12), while 11.5% reported serious psychological distress (K6 score &ge, 13). The estimated prevalence of depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score &ge, 10) was 17.9%. Regarding the distribution of K6 scores, the proportion of those with psychological distress in this study was significantly higher when compared with the previous national survey data from 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019. Healthcare workers, those with a history of treatment for mental illness, and younger participants (aged 18&ndash, 19 or 20&ndash, 39 years) showed particularly high levels of psychological distress. Psychological distress severity was influenced by specific interactional structures of risk factors: high loneliness, poor interpersonal relationships, COVID-19-related sleeplessness and anxiety, deterioration of household economy, and work and academic difficulties. Even when non-coercive lockdowns are implemented, people&rsquo, s mental health should be considered, and policies to prevent mental health deterioration are needed. Cross-disciplinary public&ndash, private sector efforts tailored to each individual&rsquo, s problem structure are important to address the mental health issues arising from lockdown.

The current coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has been reported to influence interoceptive sensibility. This study focused on adaptive and maladaptive aspects of interoceptive sensibility and examined how each aspect of interoceptive sensibility affects depression, anxiety, and somatization symptoms under the mild lockdown in Japan, which was not enforceable and a non-punitive lockdown. We used data from 10,672 participants who lived in prefectures where the emergency declaration was first applied in Japan. Interoceptive sensibility was measured by the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA). The findings show that Noticing, a subscale of the MAIA, significantly contributed to the worsening of psychological and somatic symptoms (all ps &lt, 0.001). Conversely, Not-Distracting, Not-Worrying, Self-Regulation, and Trusting significantly contributed to the decrease of these symptoms (all ps &lt, 0.05). The findings suggest that two aspects of interoceptive sensibility affected mental health in different ways during the mild lockdown. Mindfulness and mindfulness-based interventions would be effective in terms of enhancing adaptive aspects of interoceptive sensibility.

We report on two experiments, published originally in Japanese, on judged goodness and simplicity of dot patterns with reflectional and rotational symmetries (with 1–4 reflection axes and repeats, respectively) under free-viewing tasks. We found that (a) both goodness and simplicity increase monotonously with the number of transformations under which a pattern is invariant; (b) stimulus outlines, such as squares and hexagons, affect both goodness and simplicity; and (c) factors such as contrast polarity and collinearity affect simplicity rather than goodness. The employed free-viewing tasks contrast with detection tasks involving short presentation times, and based on behavioural and neurophysiological evidence, we conclude that this transformational approach captures late rather than early aspects of visio-cognitive processing of visual regularities. ispartof: Acta Psychologica vol:171 pages:128-137 ispartof: location:Netherlands status: published

This study examined the ordinal agreement and order conservation hypotheses of Imai (1986), which predict that a pattern is considered good if it is invariant for more transformations. Undergraduates (N = 144) made goodness ratings for 21-dot compound patterns. The patterns consisted of 8-dot and 13-dot figures with solid and/or open circles. Both the figures and the patterns were invariant under the transformations of rotation and reflection, forming cyclic (C1, C2, C4) or dihedral (D1, D2, D4) groups. The results showed no significant differences among the four combinations of solid and open circles. When the 13-dot C1 figure was overlapped with the 8-dot figures, the C1 compound patterns were rated the poorest. The goodness ratings of the Cn and Dn patterns were the increasing functions of the number of transformations, which supports the ordinal agreement hypothesis. When alternated with the 8-dot D4 figure, the 8-dot C1 figure superimposed with the 13-dot figures reduced the goodness ratings of the C1 patterns, but the order of the ratings was conserved, which supports the order conservation hypothesis.

Backgrounds: The digit symbol substitution test (DSST) is a clinically useful and widely accepted tool for the detection of various psychiatric disorders. Investigating neural activity during the DSST is useful when considering the relationship between the poor performance on the DSST and neurocognitive deficits. However, obtaining reliable functional imaging of the neural mechanisms associated with this test is challenging due to motion artifacts. Aims: To circumvent this problem, we examined frontal lobe activity during the DSST using multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy, a noninvasive functional imaging technique that does not interfere with the DSST procedure. Methods: Twenty-five healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study. Changes in the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (oxyHb) during the DSST were determined bilaterally in 52 measurement points (channels) on the frontal area. Results: We found significant increases in oxyHb in more than 70% of the channels, with the intensity of the increase being more pronounced in the left hemisphere. Several channels showed significant positive correlations between changes in oxyHb and DSST performance. Some of the channels with a significant increase in oxyHb during the DSST did not show a correlation with the DSST performance. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the DSST could prove useful as a frontal lobe stimulating task. Further examinations of DSST/near-infrared spectroscopy analyses of neural mechanisms in patients with psychiatric and neurological diseases are necessary to assess its effectiveness in clinical practice for the evaluation of neuropsychopathology.

Abstract. In order to investigate the effects of color stimuli of the Rorschach inkblot method (RIM), the cerebral activity of 40 participants with no history of neurological or psychiatric illness was scanned while they engaged in the Rorschach task. A scanned image of the ten RIM inkblots was projected onto a screen in the MRI scanner. Cerebral activation in response to five achromatic color cards and five chromatic cards were compared. As a result, a significant increase in brain activity was observed in bilateral visual areas V2 and V3, parietooccipital junctions, pulvinars, right superior temporal gyrus, and left premotor cortex for achromatic color cards (p < .001). For the cards with chromatic color, significant increase in brain activity was observed in left visual area V4 and left orbitofrontal cortex (p < .001). Furthermore, a conjoint analysis revealed various regions were activated in responding to the RIM. The neuropsychological underpinnings of the response process, as described by Acklin and Wu-Holt (1996) , were largely confirmed.