An intervention to promote concrete thinking style in young adults: Effects on depressive symptoms and its protective factors.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Individuals with low concreteness-experiential thought (CET) tend to have exacerbated depressive symptoms. Interventions aimed at increasing CET have been shown to influence depressive symptoms. The present study examined the effects of increasing CET on depressive symptoms and its protective factors. METHODS: A two-armed experimental intervention was conducted with 86 healthy university students in Japan. They were randomly allocated to the intervention and waitlist groups. Participants in the intervention group engaged in an unguided and web-based (UW) intervention to increase CET (UW-CET). This intervention included a one-off session, to explain the rationale behind increasing CET via a psychoeducation video, and a five-session training on CET over a week. We assessed depressive symptoms, thought styles, and protective factors, such as mindfulness and goal striving, both pre- and-post-assessment and at the one-month follow-up. RESULTS: Participants in the intervention group had marginally increased CET in the follow-up assessments; however, participants in the waitlist group did not. Furthermore, participants in the intervention showed marginally increased mindfulness tendencies and strivings toward their personal goals, but their depressive symptoms were not affected. LIMITATIONS: The present study did not include any active control conditions. Additionally, the sample consisted of only healthy university students. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the UW-CET can marginally increase adaptive thinking, such as CET, and promote positive psychological aspects in healthy young adults; however, the effect is small. The findings may also help expand clinical implementations to prevent depression in young adults.

The development and validation of the multidimensional fear-of-injection scale.

Background: Adults and children alike can feel anxious and afraid of needles. As a result, some people avoid necessary medical injections, leading to health problems. Assessing the fear of injections should consider fear factors, avoidance behaviors, and physical symptoms. We have developed a single scale that measures each of these variables. Conventional fear-of-injection scales do not simultaneously measure the aforementioned components, and thus may not adequately capture the fear of injections. Furthermore, no scale has been developed in Japan to measure the fear of injections. Method: A multidimensional fear-of-injection scale was developed in Study 1. The participants, 419 university students, were administered a questionnaire to check the reliability and validity of the scale. In Study 2, to establish the cut-off value of the scale, we conducted a questionnaire and analyzed the data of 771 university students. The outcome is the multidimensional fear-of-injection scale. Results: The results from factor analysis showed that this scale has a four-factor structure (direct fear, indirect fear, physiological response, and avoidance behaviors). The results of the receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that a cut-off value of 35 points identifies people with a subjective fear of injections. Conclusion: The multidimensional fear-of-injection scale is a comprehensive measure of the fear of injections and serves as an effective indicator for intervention and screening. Additionally, it provides a quantitative assessment of the fear of injection in Japan.