Japanese adolescents’ attitudes towards learning English: A perspective from the self-worth theory

In this study, the authors investigated the attitudes of Japanese junior high school students towards studying English from the perspective of the Self-worth Theory. A total of 383 students aged 12 to 15 years participated in the qualitative study. Students were required to write three essays about how they would react under hypothetical circumstances in which their feelings of self-worth might be threatened. The contents of the students’ essays were analysed and matched with mechanisms within the quadrants of Covington’s Quadripolar Model of Achievement Motivation. Overall, the results suggested that the adolescents appeared to show traits of low defensive pessimism, high self-handicapping, and high helplessness, placing the students on the borderline of the Self-protectors and the Failure Acceptors. Reasons for the findings and pedagogical implications will be discussed.

Adherence to the Japanese Food Guide: The Association between Three Scoring Systems and Cardiometabolic Risks in Japanese Adolescents

The Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top (JFGST) indicates optimal intake of five food groups (grain, fish and meat, vegetables, milk, and fruits) and sugar and confectionaries. We aimed to investigate whether adherence to the JFGST in 8th grade junior high school students (n = 3162) was associated with cardiometabolic risks and how different scorings of the JFGST influenced the associations. Metabolic risks were assessed from anthropometrics, blood pressure measurements, and blood glucose and lipid profile measurements. Three types of scoring adherent to the JFGST were analyzed (10 points were given for each item with optimal intake; range: 0–60): the original scoring (ORG scoring); first modified scoring, which had no upper limits for vegetables and fruits (MOD1 scoring); and MOD2 scoring without upper limits for five dishes (MOD2 scoring). The MOD2 scoring was positively associated with dietary fiber, potassium, calcium, and vitamins. All types of scorings were associated with low glucose levels (p ≤ 0.001); the MOD2 scoring was associated with low systolic blood pressure (p = 0.001) and low cardiometabolic risk (p = 0.003). Our findings suggest that Japanese adolescents adherent to the JFGST had low cardiometabolic risks and should not fall below lower limits for intake of the abovementioned five food groups.

Association Between Accumulation of Child Maltreatment and Salivary Oxytocin Level Among Japanese Adolescents

Background: Child maltreatment is related to oxytocin (OT), which is related to social functioning. It may hamper the OT level to avoid a harmful situation and increase the OT level to adapt to the situation using a tend-and-befriend stress reaction.Objective: This study aims to examine the association between the accumulation of moderate–severe childhood maltreatment and salivary OT levels in Japanese adolescents.Participants: We used convenience samples of adolescents living in an institution (n = 31) and those living with their parents (n = 46).Methods: Child maltreatment experiences were measured with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. The salivary OT levels were assessed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. A multivariate regression analysis was performed to see the association between the accumulation of child maltreatment types and the salivary OT levels adjusted for covariates (i.e., age, sex, and duration of institutionalization).Results: Physical abuse was associated with higher OT, while emotional neglect showed an inverse association with OT. OT was the lowest with one maltreatment type group, which was significantly lower than the non-maltreatment group. As the number of maltreatment types increased from one maltreatment type to 2–3 types and to 4–5 types, OT also increased. This U-shaped association between the number of maltreatment types and OT was confirmed with the significant result of a square term of number of maltreatment type in the model (p = 0.012).Conclusion: We found herein a U-shaped association between the accumulation of child maltreatment and salivary OT levels. Also, different types of maltreatment had varied effects on the salivary OT. Further study is needed to elucidate the non-linear association between child maltreatment and OT levels.

Role of Libraries in Human Flourishing: Adolescents’ Motivational Orientation for Occupation

Introduction: Adolescence is crucial for human flourishing and strongly influences having meaning in life. We investigated the association between local public library density as a shared resource and motivational orientation toward their occupation in Japanese adolescents. Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted using data from a nationwide birth cohort survey in Japan (n = 12,184). At age 7, their caregivers answered questionnaires on children including the number of books read. Library density (low, moderate, or high) in each municipality was obtained from national statistics. At age 15, the adolescents indicated whether they had decided on an occupation and selected motivational orientations from among intrinsic (own ability and interest), extrinsic (high earnings, social class, or job stability), and altruistic (social contribution) orientations. Multilevel linear probability models were fitted, adjusting for confounders, including household socioeconomic status and city size. Results: Intrinsic, extrinsic, and altruistic motivations for desired occupation were reported by 40.7%, 31.9% and 41.8% of participants, respectively. Living in a municipality with a high library density at age 7 was associated with having intrinsic motivation at age 15 than low density by 3.1 percentage points (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.35, 5.85). The association was more prominent for those with lower income (P for interaction = 0.026). Neither extrinsic nor altruistic motivations were associated with library density (coefficient: −0.13; 95% CI: −2.81, 2.56; coefficient: 0.08; 95% CI: −2.72, 2.88 percentage points, respectively). Conclusions: Developing libraries in communities could encourage intrinsic motivation in adolescents, specifically for those in low-income households.

Influence of Alexithymia on Somatic Complaints among Japanese Adolescents: A survey research

Background The purpose of this study is to examine alexithymic tendencies in Japanese adolescents (aged 12–20) and their effects on somatic complaints. Methods Participants were Japanese adolescents (n = 2,759). Alexithymic tendencies were assessed by the Alexithymia Scale for Adolescents (ASA), and somatic complaints by the Somatic Complaint List (SCL). Results The following results were obtained. 1) ASA total scores remained at a high level from early to late adolescence. 2) Among the ASA subfactors, difficulty identifying feelings (DIF) and difficulty describing feelings (DDF), increased during adolescence, whereas externally oriented thinking (EOT) decreased; as a result, the ASA total scores remained high. 3) DIF significantly affected somatic complaints among adolescents irrespective of their academic year and gender. 4) DDF only had an effect of increasing somatic complaints in junior high and high school-aged male participants, and this effect disappeared as respondents’ age grew and they were university students. This shows that the effect of alexithymic tendencies on somatic complaints changed with age. Conclusion Compared to the results of previous studies, the results of this study showed that alexithymic tendencies among Japanese adolescents are consistently high. The study further revealed that the increasing somatic complaints were consistently influenced by DIF.

489Trends in method-specific suicide among Japanese adolescents in the past four decades

Background In 2018 the overall suicide rate increased by 33% among students, as a part of a continued trend of rising suicide among adolescents. In 2015, the government of Japan aimed to reduce the overall suicide rate to 13 per 100,000 or less by 2025, but deaths among adolescents have been rising. This study analysed the trends in method-specific suicide among Japanese adolescents from 1979 to 2016 and compared suicide mortality rate in Japan with other OECD countries. Methods We obtained vital statistics data from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as well as the global health observatory of the WHO. Poisson regression analysis was performed separately by sex with year, age category, suicide method and a 1998 step variable as covariates. Results We found that hanging suicide rates among high school level boys are 12.15 times and girls are 6.17 times the rate of elementary school-aged children. The year 1998 saw a peak in suicide rates by hanging, which increased by more than 60% among both boys and girls. Japan is near the median of OECD suicide rates, with crude suicide mortality rates of 7.8 per 100,000 among 15–19-year-olds in 2016. Conclusions Suicide among adolescents has been rising during the last decades. Several factors related to the school and family environment, and mental health problems may have affected the adolescent suicide rate in Japan Key messages An urgent need is evident to address suicide among high school and university-aged adolescents.

Trends in the co-use of alcohol and tobacco among Japanese adolescents: periodical nationwide cross-sectional surveys 1996–2017

ObjectivesThis study aimed to assess trends in the prevalence of alcohol use depending on smoking behaviours and that of smoking depending on drinking behaviours among Japanese adolescents.DesignThis was a retrospective study using Japanese school-based nationwide surveys conducted between 1996 and 2017.SettingSurveyed schools, both junior and senior high schools, considered representative of the entire Japanese population, were sampled randomly.ParticipantsWe enrolled 11 584–64 152 students from 179 to 103 schools yearly. They completed a self-reported and anonymous questionnaire on smoking and drinking behaviour.ResultsSince 1996, the prevalence of alcohol use and smoking among adolescents decreased in each survey (p<0.01). The prevalence of alcohol use in the non-smokers group was 29.0% in 1996 and 4.0% in 2017, and in the smokers group, it was 73.3% in 1996 and 57.4% in 2017. The reduction rate (the difference in prevalence between 1996 and 2017 divided by the prevalence in 1996) was 0.86 in the non-smokers group and 0.22 in the smokers group. The prevalence of smoking in the non-drinkers group was 6.7% in 1996 and 0.7% in 2017, while that in the drinkers group was 32.5% in 1996 and 18.9% in 2017. The reduction rate was 0.90 in the non-drinkers group and 0.42 in the drinkers group. Therefore, downward trends differed among the groups. In a subanalysis of senior high school students, we divided students into three groups according to their intention to pursue further education. Between 1996 and 2017, there was a consistent difference in the prevalence of alcohol use and smoking among these groups.ConclusionsAlcohol use and smoking among Japanese adolescents seem to have reduced. However, certain groups showed poor improvements, and health risk behaviour disparity exists, which may widen further. We need to focus on high-risk groups and implement appropriate measures or interventions accordingly.