Maezono, J., Hamada, S., Sillanm€ aki, L., Kaneko, H., Ogura, M., Lempinen, L. & Sourander, A. (2019). Cross-cultural, population-based study on adolescent body image and eating distress in Japan and Finland. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 60, 67-76.This cross-sectional population-based survey compares the prevalence of self-reported body image and eating distress symptoms among adolescents in Japan and Finland, and associations between emotional/behavioral problems, body image and eating distress from a cross-cultural perspective. The study included 1,840 Japanese and 1,135 Finnish 8th grade students. The self-reported questionnaire included the Body Image and Eating Distress Scale and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The female adolescents from both Finland and Japan reported much greater dissatisfaction with, and concern about, their bodies than the males and Japanese females expressed even higher distress than Finnish females. High levels of body image and eating distress were associated with psychiatric problems measured with the SDQ. There was a significant three-way interaction effect of body image and eating distress, gender and country with SDQ peer problems and prosocial behavior.

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Background: No previous population-based studies have examined associations between self-cutting, perceived school safety, and bullying behavior among East Asian adolescents. Method: We examined whether bullying, victimization, and perceived school safety were associated with self-cutting by getting 1865 students with a mean age of 13.9 years (standard deviation 0.2 years) to complete questions on these variables. Psychiatric problems were assessed with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Results: About 5.6% of males and 11.9% females had practiced self-cutting and when we controlled these results for psychiatric symptoms, self-cutting was associated with being both a bully and a victim among males and females. In addition, self-cutting was independently associated with perceived school safety among females. Those who felt unsafe at school and were victimized were much more likely to engage in self-cutting. Conclusions: Self-cutting among Japanese adolescents was linked with bullying behavior and feeling unsafe at school. Secure school environments and school-based antibullying programs could help to prevent adolescent self-injurious behavior. Key Practitioner Message• Self-cutting has been observed among adolescents, with females engaging in self-harm more frequently than males, and this is of clinical concern.• Being a bully and a victim of bullying have been strongly associated with self-cutting in both male and female adolescents.• Schools can help to reduce the incidence of self-cutting by providing a safe environment and providing antibullying programs.

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