Deprivation and Social Support in Mental Health of Welfare Recipients in Japan.

Although many Western studies examining the mental health of welfare recipients exist, Japanese welfare recipients have been overlooked. This study investigated mental health among welfare recipients in Japan and relations with a sense of deprivation of life's necessities and social support. Participants (n = 305) completed the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12), Proportional Deprivation Index, and a social support scale. Participants' GHQ-12 scores exceeded those of the general public, as 54.9% scored above the cut-off, suggesting poorer mental health among welfare recipients than the general population. Proportional Deprivation Index and emotional support from relatives and friends were associated with GHQ-12 scores. These results suggest that while chronic deprivation is associated with poorer mental health among welfare recipients, receiving emotional support may help cope with distress and maintain mental health.

Psychometric properties of the Adolescent Dissociative Experiences Scale (A-DES) in Japanese adolescents from a community sample.

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Adolescent Dissociative Experiences Scale (A-DES) applied to Japanese adolescents in school. A large sample of normal adolescents (N = 2,272) aged 11 to 18 years completed the A-DES, and the factor structure, frequency, and differences by gender and age were examined. The scores of Japanese adolescents were comparable to the results of similarly aged adolescents in the United States, England, and Turkey but much higher than those recorded in The Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden. In particular, adolescents aged 11 to 12 seemed to have more dissociative experiences than older adolescents. Out of 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-factor structures that exploratory factor analyses regarded as competing models, confirmatory factor analyses seemed to support a 3-factor structure: depersonalization, disintegration of conscious control, and amnesia. The future implications of these results for clinicians and professionals who assess dissociative tendency in adolescents are described.

Reliability and validity of the Parenting Scale of Inconsistency.

The purposes of the present study were to develop a Parenting Scale of Inconsistency and to evaluate its initial reliability and validity. The 12 items assess the inconsistency among parents' moods, behaviors, and attitudes toward children. In the primary study, 517 participants completed three measures: the new Parenting Scale of Inconsistency, the Parental Bonding Instrument, and the Depression Scale of the General Health Questionnaire. The Parenting Scale of Inconsistency had good test-retest reliability of .85 and internal consistency of .88 (Cronbach coefficient alpha). Construct validity was good as Inconsistency scores were significantly correlated with the Care and Overprotection scores of the Parental Bonding Instrument and with the Depression scores. Moreover, Inconsistency scores' relation with a dimension of parenting style distinct from Care and Overprotection suggested that the Parenting Scale of Inconsistency had factorial validity. This scale seems a potential measure for examining the relationships between inconsistent parenting and the mental health of children.

Hallucinatory experiences in a community sample of Japanese children.

OBJECTIVE: Hallucinatory experiences in children are often thought to indicate serious psychopathology. However, they have also been reported in normally developing children and in association with temporary psychological reactions to acute stress. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of hallucinatory experiences in a nonclinical population of children and to examine the relationship between the modality and content of hallucinations and psychopathology. METHOD: Seven hundred sixty-one Japanese children, 11 to 12 years old, completed a battery of four measures: (1) a questionnaire about the type of hallucinatory experience, (2) the Children's Depression Inventory, (3) the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, and (4) the Adolescent Dissociative Experiences Scale. RESULTS: Approximately 21% of the subjects had experienced hallucinations. Subjects who had experienced hallucinations, in particular, hallucinations characterized by combined modalities, closely self-related auditory content, or concrete visual content, had more significant psychopathology than did those who had never experienced hallucinations. CONCLUSIONS: Therapeutic intervention should be considered for children who experience hallucinations in association with depression, anxiety, or dissociation.