Our results suggest that the group intervention using the CLIMB® Program relieved children's posttraumatic stress symptoms and improved parents' quality of life. The intervention proved the feasibility of delivering the program using manuals and training. Further research is needed to provide more substantiation for the benefits of the program.

BackgroundThis study was conducted to investigate the relationship between symptoms of gambling problems, gambling behaviours, and cognitive distortions among a university student population in Japan ages 20 to 29 years. We aimed to address the gap in knowledge of gambling disorders and treatment for this population.MethodsData were obtained from 1471 Japanese undergraduate students from 19 universities in Japan. Descriptive statistics and hierarchical multivariate regression analysis were used to investigate whether the factors of gambling cognitive distortions would have predictive effects on gambling disorder symptoms.ResultsResults indicated that 5.1% of the participants are classifiable as probable disordered gamblers. The bias of the gambling type to pachinko and pachislot was unique to gamblers in Japan. Of the students sampled, 342 self-reported gambling symptoms via the South Oaks Gambling Screen. Hierarchical multivariate regression analysis indicated that one domain of gambling cognitive distortions was associated significantly with gambling symptoms among the 342 symptomatic participants: gambling expectancy (β = 0.19, p < .05). The multivariate model explained 47% of the variance in the gambling symptoms.ConclusionThis study successfully contributed to the sparse research on university student gambling in Japan. Specifically, our results indicated a statistically significant relationship between gambling cognitive distortions and gambling disorder symptoms. These results can inform the development of preventive education and treatment for university students with gambling disorder in Japan. The report also describes needs for future research of university students with gambling disorder.

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Recently, the effects of mindfulness-based interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been studied. However, we lack knowledge of the processes or mechanisms through which mindfulness influences resilience or promotes recovery following exposure to trauma. In this study, we examine the process by which mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral factors such as posttraumatic negative cognition and avoidance behaviors are associated with reduced PTSD-like symptoms. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 885 university students, using the Trauma Experience Questionnaire, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, revised Ways of Coping Checklist, and a brief version of the Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory. Data from 254 participants who experienced trauma with PTSD-like symptoms were analyzed. The final model using SEM indicated no direct association of mindful attention awareness on PTSD-like symptoms, a small direct association of cognitive defusion on PTSD-like symptoms, and a large indirect association mediated by posttraumatic negative cognitions and avoidance coping. Owing to the study’s cross-sectional design, strong conclusions cannot be drawn regarding the causal relationship of mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral factors or generalizations. However, our findings suggest that it would be worthwhile to continue to clarify the mechanism of mindfulness and to investigate its use in the treatment of PTSD. In the future, a highly accurate study design will hopefully be used to examine the mechanisms of several different factors associated with improvement in posttraumatic stress symptoms, preferably including them in the same model.

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