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The relationship between positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA) and reported use of problem-focused or emotion-focused coping strategies was investigated in a longitudinal study. Japanese undergraduates (200 men and 270 women) completed a version of the PANAS (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) and the situational version of the General Coping Questionnaire (Sasaki & Yamasaki, 2004). These two measures were administered twice, five weeks apart (T1 and T2). The results showed some significant sex differences. Higher PA at T1 was associated with greater reported use of cognitive reinterpretation as a coping strategy at T2 only for men, whereas greater use of cognitive reinterpretation at T1 was associated with higher PA at T2 only for women. These results suggest that there is no mutually reciprocal relationship between PA and use of cognitive reinterpretation as a coping strategy.

The purpose of the present study was to develop a standardized questionnaire to measure proactive and reactive aggression in children. In Study 1, the questionnaire was administered to fourth- through sixth-grade children (n = 700) to investigate its factor structure and internal consistency. Moreover, in order to examine reproducibility, it was administered twice, at the interval of about three weeks, to 132 of these children. Statistical analyses of the data have yielded three factors: proactive-relational aggression, reactive-expressive aggression, and reactive-inexpressive aggression; and have confirmed that the questionnaire was reliable and internally consistent. In Study 2, 14 homeroom teachers of fourth- through sixth-grade nominated children who were most characteristic (n = 106) and least characteristic (n = 99) in each of the three factors. In addition, fifth- and sixth-grade children (n = 86) assessed their same-sex classmates according to the sentences that characterized each of the three factors. These children selected were also participants in Study 1. The results showed that the scale scores were consistent with the nominations and assessments, indicating the high construct validity of the questionnaire.

In this paper, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children originally developed in 1999 by Laurent, et al. was adapted for use in Japan. In Study 1, a total of 763 children in Grades 4 to 6 completed this Schedule, and 103 of them completed it again about three months later. Principal factor analysis with promax rotation identified two factors, positive and negative affect, in the Japanese version, whose alphas (over .80) and test-retest correlations (over .50) were sufficient to indicate internal consistency and stability over time. In Study 2, a total of 328 children completed the Japanese version, the Depression Self-rating Scale for Children, and the Trait Form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children. Intercorrelations showed convergent and discriminant validity using these self-report measures of depression and anxiety. Overall these data support the reliability and validity of this Japanese version.

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