This study aimed to: (1) develop and evaluate the Moral Distress Scale for Psychiatric nurses (MDS-P); (2) use the MDS-P to examine the moral distress experienced by Japanese psychiatric nurses; and (3) explore the correlation between moral distress and burnout. A questionnaire on the intensity and frequency of moral distress items (the MDS-P: 15 items grouped into three factors), a burnout scale (Maslach Burnout Inventory - General Survey) and demographic questions were administered to 391 Japanese psychiatric nurses in 2007-2008. These nurses experienced relatively low levels of moral distress despite the fact that they were commonly confronted by morally distressing situations. All the circumstances in which the participants experienced moral distress were included in the 'low staffing' factor, which reflects the characteristics of Japanese psychiatric care. The frequency score of the low staffing factor was a significant predictor of burnout.

Moral sensitivity and moral distress were positively correlated among psychiatric nurses in both Japan and Finland, although the participating nurses from the two countries were different in qualification, age, and cultural background. Nurses with high moral sensitivity suffer from moral distress.

This study aims to test the following two hypotheses. First, the life satisfaction of the elderly is not directly affected by their resident status. Second, guided by activity theory and symbolic interaction theory, social activities outside the home (paid work, unpaid work, and hobby/leaning activity) have a greater effect on life satisfaction for elderly people living alone than those living with family members. Participants were 1,774 elderly people who had participated in courses for the elderly to learn various topics, with a final study sample size of 1,539 after flawed survey sheets were removed. T-test findings showed that resident status did not directly influence life satisfaction. A multi-group structural equation model analysis verified that unpaid work has a greater effect on the life satisfaction of the elderly living alone than the one of elderly living alone. These results suggest that unpaid work acts as a buffer effect to decreased life satisfaction.

This study aimed to clarify the emotional experiences of a community-dwelling sample of elderly individuals with mild cognitive impairment and their families. The participants included an elderly man and his wife and an elderly woman and her daughterin- law. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed by using a qualitative inductive method. In total, 212 codes were extracted from the interviews and categorized into 37 sub-categories. Finally, we obtained the following 4 categories: Bewilderment regarding memory decline, Avoidance of neighborly relations, Fluctuation of confidence in the family, and Desire to maintain a healthy life.

This study explores the influence of self-processes involving grandparenthood on the frequency of contact with grandchildren and grandparent satisfaction, and the influence of these self-processes, frequency of contact, and grandparent satisfaction on subjective well-being. A mail survey was conducted with randomly selected people between 65-74 years of age (N = 226) living in a city. The results showed that grandparent centrality and grandparent identity meanings influenced the frequency of contact with grandchildren. Grandparent-identity meanings influenced grandparent satisfaction. Additionally, grandparent-identity meanings and grandparent satisfaction influenced subjective well-being. The findings suggest that only grandparent-identity meanings in self-processes of grandparenthood influenced grandparent satisfaction and subjective well-being.