Associations Among Hypersensitivity, Vagal Tone, and Mood State in Adults.

Although many previous studies have reported the relationship between hypersensitivity and vagal function in children, the relationship in adults is unclear. This study investigates the relationship between hypersensitivity and vagal function, discomfort to sensory stimuli, and daily mood states in healthy adults. Using a questionnaire, 39 healthy adults were divided into hypersensitivity and control groups. We compared the baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), reflecting vagal tone and reactivity, subjective discomfort to sensory stimuli, and daily mood status between groups. Those in the hypersensitivity group had significantly lower baseline RSA and were more likely to experience greater RSA variability and discomfort during exposure to sensory stimuli than the control group. We found no significant difference between groups in daily mood status. These findings suggest that vagal function is an important marker of hypersensitivity in healthy adults.

Relationships Among Hypersensitivity, Parasympathetic Function, and Mood States in AdultsPrevious studies in children have reported many associations between sensory characteristics, such as hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli, and parasympathetic function, but the association in adults is not clear. This study divided 39 healthy adults into a hypersensitivity group and a control group and compared their parasympathetic function, discomfort to sensory stimuli, and daily mood. We found that the hypersensitivity group had significantly lower baseline parasympathetic function and tended to experience greater fluctuations in parasympathetic activity and discomfort during sensory stimulation than the control group. However, we found no significant difference in daily mood between the groups. This suggests that parasympathetic function is an important marker of hypersensitivity in healthy adults. This may help therapists support those with hypersensitivity. Future research is needed in clinical practice.

Relationship between personal recovery, autobiographical memory, and clinical recovery in people with mental illness in the acute phase.

Aim: Narratives are important in psychiatric rehabilitation. People with a psychiatric diagnosis find it difficult to recall specific autobiographical memories of events that lasted less than a day. Although personal narratives play a central role in personal recovery, the factors influencing personal and clinical recovery, such as psychiatric symptoms and cognitive function, have not been fully explored. Therefore, this study examined the associations between personal recovery and autobiographical memory, age, psychiatric symptoms, and neurocognitive function. Method: The Self-Identified Stage of Recovery, Parts A and B (SISR-A, SISR-B), Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT), Japanese version of the Brief Assessment Scale of Schizophrenia Cognitive Function, and Brief Psychiatric Symptom Rating Scale were administered to 40 individuals with psychiatric disorders who were undergoing psychiatric rehabilitation. Results: A significant positive correlation was found between the total number of specific memories in the AMT and total SISR-B scores. A binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the total number of specific memories, especially high responsiveness to negative cue words, significantly predicted greater personal recovery. Age, psychiatric symptoms, and neurocognitive function did not significantly predict higher personal recovery. Conclusion: In psychiatric rehabilitation, negative episodes should be treated with caution; however, they may also facilitate personal recovery.

Sensory processing, autonomic nervous function, and social participation in people with mental illnesses.

Introduction: This study investigated the relationship between sensory processing, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and social participation in people with psychiatric disorders. Method: This study recruited 30 participants, primarily women, from a psychiatric university hospital with a mental health diagnosis listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition (mean age: 37.7 ± 16.0 years). Sensory processing, autonomic nervous function, and social participation were measured using the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile®, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule, respectively. Through mediation analysis, a model wherein sensory processing mediated the relationship between respiratory sinus arrhythmia and social participation was developed. Results: Social participation was moderately to highly correlated with Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile® quadrants (excluding sensory seeking) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Furthermore, the mediation analysis revealed that sensory avoiding mediated the relationship between respiratory sinus arrhythmia and social participation, consequently counteracting the direct relationship. Conclusion: A mediation model was constructed, which indicated that individuals with psychiatric disorders and low parasympathetic nervous system activity expressed higher sensory processing quadrant of sensory avoiding. Ultimately, this was associated with reduced social participation.

Jumping to conclusions correlates with negative symptoms, poor response inhibition, and impaired functioning in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: The jumping to conclusions (JTC) bias is the tendency to make immediate decisions based on little information. There are few studies that have investigated the relationship between JTC and frontal lobe function. We examined the association between JTC and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale in individuals with schizophrenia. METHODS: In total, 50 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and 50 healthy control individuals were administered the beads task. Individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia were assessed using the FAB, BPRS, and GAF. RESULTS: There was a significant negative correlation between JTC and the negative symptoms of the BPRS (rs=-.368, p = .008). There was a significant positive correlation between JTC and the Go/No-Go task of the FAB (rs=.319, p = .026), and the GAF (rs=.433, p = .002). CONCLUSION: JTC in individuals with schizophrenia may be categorized according to several causes, including negative symptoms and poor response inhibition.

Intraoperative hand strength as an indicator of consciousness during awake craniotomy: a prospective, observational study.

Awake craniotomy enables mapping and monitoring of brain functions. For successful procedures, rapid awakening and the precise evaluation of consciousness are required. A prospective, observational study conducted to test whether intraoperative hand strength could be a sensitive indicator of consciousness during the awake phase of awake craniotomy. Twenty-three patients who underwent awake craniotomy were included. Subtle changes of the level of consciousness were assessed by the Japan Coma Scale (JCS). The associations of hand strength on the unaffected side with the predicted plasma concentration (Cp) of propofol, the bispectral index (BIS), and the JCS were analyzed. Hand strength relative to the preoperative maximum hand strength on the unaffected side showed significant correlations with the Cp of propofol (ρ = - 0.219, p = 0.007), the BIS (ρ = 0.259, p = 0.002), and the JCS (τ = - 0.508, p = 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis for discriminating JCS 0-1 and JCS ≥ 2 demonstrated that the area under the curve was 0.76 for hand strength, 0.78 for Cp of propofol, and 0.66 for BIS. With a cutoff value of 75% for hand strength, the sensitivity was 0.76, and the specificity was 0.67. These data demonstrated that hand strength is a useful indicator for assessing the intraoperative level of consciousness during awake craniotomy.

Caregiver burden and coping strategies for patients with schizophrenia: comparison between Japan and Korea.

AIM: With the current shift to community-centered mental health services, considerable research on the family burden of caring for patients with schizophrenia has been conducted in developed countries. However, there has been no investigation of families with Japanese or Korean sociocultural backgrounds. Therefore, the present study compared the caregiver burden and coping strategies of families of patients with schizophrenia in Japan and Korea in order to elucidate similarities and differences in the sociocultural factors that affect the care experience of families in Northeast Asia. METHODS: A total of 99 Japanese (Nagasaki) and 92 Korean (Seoul, Daegu) family members of patients with schizophrenia were surveyed in regards to caregiver burden, coping strategies, and nursing awareness of the caregiver role regarding the patient with schizophrenia. RESULTS: Analysis revealed the following: (i) although no difference in caregiver burden and coping strategy was observed between the countries, the nursing awareness of families' caregiver role was significantly higher in Japan than in Korea; (ii) caregiver burden was significantly associated with the patient's social functioning and care needs in both countries; and (iii) caregiver burden was significantly associated with reduction of social interests, coercion, avoidance, resignation, and nursing awareness of caregiver role in both countries. CONCLUSION: Although the nursing awareness of families' roles in caring for patients with schizophrenia differed between Japan and Korea, similar trends were observed for the causes of caregiver burden. These findings suggest that in order to provide effective support for reducing caregiver burden, the necessity of such support must be emphasized in both countries.

Burden and coping strategies in mothers of patients with schizophrenia in Japan.

AIM: The present study was conducted to identify factors contributing to burden of care in 57 mothers caring for patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: Members of the Federation of Families of People with Mental Illness in Nagasaki Prefecture were evaluated using well-validated scales to evaluate burden of care (eight-item short version of the Japanese version of the Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview), general health status (General Health Questionnaire 12-item version), difficulty in life, coping strategies, emotional support, and understanding of mental illness and disorders. RESULTS: Burden of care was significantly associated with general health status and difficulty in life. CONCLUSION: On multiple regression it was found that 'social interests' and 'resignation', both of which are the subscales of coping strategies, exerted significant and independent effects with respect to burden of care.

Clear distinction between preattentive and attentive process in schizophrenia by visual search performance.

Visual information-processing deficits were investigated in patients with schizophrenia using visual search tasks. Subjects comprised 20 patients with schizophrenia and 20 normal subjects. Visual search tasks were modified from those used previously to reveal more distinct differences between feature and conjunction search tasks. The presentation area of items in the present study was more than double the area used in our previous study [Mori, S., Tanaka, G., Ayaka, Y., Michitsuji, S., Niwa, H., Uemura, M., Ohta, Y., 1996. Preattentive and focal attentional processes in schizophrenia: a visual search study. Schizophrenia Research 22, 69-76], and items were distributed over the area randomly in each trial to produce a certain range of locational jitter for each item across trials that prevented a matrix-like presentation of items at fixed positions [Mori, S., Tanaka, G., Ayaka, Y., Michitsuji, S., Niwa, H., Uemura, M., Ohta, Y., 1996. Preattentive and focal attentional processes in schizophrenia: a visual search study. Schizophrenia Research 22, 69-76]. The target was a red square, and distractors were red circles in the feature search task and red circles and green squares in the conjunction search task. Slopes and intercepts of a linear function relating reaction times to set size were computed. In the feature search task, slopes for both groups were almost zero. In the conjunction search task, significant differences in slopes were seen between the two groups irrespective of target presence or absence. Moreover, the slopes were approximately twice as steep during target absence as during target presence. These results indicate more definitively than the results of our previous study [Mori, S., Tanaka, G., Ayaka, Y., Michitsuji, S., Niwa, H., Uemura, M., Ohta, Y., 1996. Preattentive and focal attentional processes in schizophrenia: a visual search study. Schizophrenia Research 22, 69-76] that patients with schizophrenia have deficits in focal attentional processing, although their preattentive processing functions at a normal level.

Efficacy of 3-year psychiatric daycare treatment in patients with schizophrenia.

The present study investigated the efficacy of a 3-year psychiatric daycare (DC) program with regard to psychiatric symptoms and difficulties with daily living experienced by patients with schizophrenia. The subjects were 28 patients who met the diagnostic criteria from the 4th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for schizophrenia and continued DC treatment for 3 years. The present study assessed participants at two points: at the start of DC and after 3 years, by evaluating socioeconomic factors and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) scores. In addition, in order to measure difficulties with daily living, the Life Assessment Scale for the Mentally Ill (LASMI) and the Etoh Daycare Assessment Scale (ETODAS) developed at the Etoh Hospital, were used. Results indicated that no significant changes in socioeconomic factors or BPRS scores occurred during the 3-year period of DC treatment. However, over this period, mean scores (+/- standard deviation [SD]) for LASMI subcategories decreased from 1.6 +/- 0.8 points to 0.9 +/- 0.7 for daily living and from 1.7 +/- 0.8 to 1.2 +/- 0.7 for interpersonal relations, indicating significant improvement (P < 0.05). In addition, mean scores (+/-SD) for the ETODAS subcategories increased from 3.4 +/- 0.8 to 4.1 +/- 0.8 for expressiveness, from 3.3 +/- 0.9 to 4.0 +/- 0.8 for communication, from 3.1 +/- 0.6 to 3.6 +/- 1.0 for initiative within a group, and from 3.4 +/- 0.5 to 3.8 +/- 0.7 for cooperation in work activities, indicating significant improvement (P < 0.05). The present study suggests that DC can enable patients with schizophrenia to maintain their condition without worsening the psychiatric symptoms, and to improve their daily living skills, social skills in human relations, and work skills.

Evaluating community attitudes to people with schizophrenia and mental disorders using a case vignette method.

Utilizing the case vignette method, community attitudes about people with schizophrenia and mental disorders, and perceived causes of and images regarding schizophrenia were investigated. Participants comprised 1596 respondents living in the area covered by the K health center in N prefecture. The survey utilized the Mental Disorder Prejudice Scale, a case vignette, and other basic attributes. The case vignette survey yielded the following results: when asked about a landlord refusing to rent an apartment to the vignette subject, approximately 80% of respondents agreed with the landlord's decision. However, when asked about necessary conditions for the vignette subject to live in an apartment independently, only 2.4% of respondents chose 'difficult under any circumstance'. Approximately half of the respondents chose the following conditions: 'periodic visits to the hospital', 'availability of a system where people can discuss and address any problems that might arise' and 'attending a sheltered workshop or making attempts to rehabilitate'. Regarding acceptance as a neighbor after meeting the listed conditions, most respondents stated they would 'treat him just like any other neighbor' (47.3%), followed by 'help as much as possible in times of need' (36.3%). In other words, approximately 80.0% of respondents were willing to have the vignette subject as their neighbor. In addition, many respondents thought that schizophrenia is caused by problems in interpersonal relationships (64.8%) and represents an unstable disease (69.9%). When asked about having the subject as a neighbor, respondents were more willing to accept him as a neighbor after clarifying conditions for living arrangements.

Evaluating stigma against mental disorder and related factors.

This study attempted to identify forms of stigma against individuals with mental disorders and related factors. The subjects comprised 2632 people living in the area covered by the K health center in N prefecture. Factor analysis of the Mental Disorder Prejudice Scale (1211 valid responses) identified three factors: 'rejection', 'peculiarity' and 'human rights alienation'. Regression analysis revealed that age, welfare activities, an active problem-solving attitude, lecture attendance, and previous contact, exerted independent effects with respect to 'rejection'. These results suggest the importance of disseminating accurate information and creating more opportunities for people to have meaningful interactions with people with mental disorders in order to dispell the stigma.

Effects of an educational program on public attitudes towards mental illness.

The World Psychiatric Association promotes global anti-stigma programs. However, evaluation research is crucial to developing effective programs. The present study examined the effects of a lecture on mental health on public attitudes towards mental illness. Subjects were recruited from individuals employed by private companies and the government. Attitudes towards mental illness were measured using the Mental Illness and Disorder Understanding Scale developed by the authors and the Scale of Negative Attitudes Towards the Independence of People with Mental Disorders. Test scores obtained before and after the lecture were compared. The results demonstrated that scores on both scales improved significantly. The present study suggests the effectiveness of this type of educational program in reducing stigma attached to mental illness and disorder.

Characteristics of trees drawn by patients with paranoid schizophrenia.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between schizophrenia subtype and morphological characteristics of trees drawn in the Baum test. Subjects comprised the following three groups: 20 patients diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia according to International Classification of Diseases (10th revision; ICD-10) criteria; 26 patients with non-paranoid schizophrenia according to ICD-10 criteria; and 53 healthy individuals. Differences in psychiatric symptoms as assessed using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) score were compared between patients with paranoid and non-paranoid schizophrenia. In addition, differences in two morphological characteristics of trees, namely trunk-to-crown ratio and trunk end opening, were compared between the three groups. No differences in psychiatric symptoms were identified between patients with paranoid and non-paranoid schizophrenia. Conversely, mean +/- SD trunk-to-crown ratio was 13.1 +/- 8.0 for patients with non-paranoid schizophrenia, 8.8 +/- 4.6 for patients with paranoid schizophrenia, and 5.4 +/- 3.4 for healthy individuals. Significant differences were identified between all three groups. Furthermore, mean trunk end opening was 0.80 +/- 0.7 for patients with paranoid schizophrenia, 0.38 +/- 0.6 for patients with non-paranoid schizophrenia, and 0.06 +/- 0.3 for healthy individuals. Again, significant differences were apparent between all three groups. These findings suggest that morphological differences in trees drawn in the Baum test can be observed between the two schizophrenia subtypes in terms of not only psychopathological interpretation, but also gestalt formation, as assessed on the basis of trees with collapsed gestalt or with some degree of gestalt. This suggests the possibility of multiple disorders at a physiological level. The present study confirmed that the Baum test can quantitatively assess facets of schizophrenia that existing scales such as BPRS are unable to analyze, and is useful for investigating brain function in patients with schizophrenia.