Objective The objective of this study was to determine cancer understanding among Japanese primary and secondary school students. Methods The study design was a cross-sectional nationwide survey using a self-administered questionnaire. The prefecture with the lowest student population was set to 1, and that with the highest student population was set to 18 for elementary schools and 19 for junior high and high schools based on the ratio of the student population. In this way, 213 elementary schools, 222 junior high schools, and 208 high schools were selected from all 47 prefectures in Japan, and questionnaires were sent to each school. The questionnaire listed the names of 15 cancers and asked respondents to choose one answer from three: ''Never heard of,'' ''Heard of/ Don't understand,'' or ''Heard of/Understand.'' Results Response rates for schools were 44.1 % (n = 94) for elementary schools, 46.4 % (n = 103) for junior high schools, and 55.8 % (n = 116) for high schools. A total of 8,876 questionnaires were used for the analysis. Our survey suggests that the most commonly understood types of cancer differed by grade, with lung cancer the most commonly understood in elementary school, leukemia in junior high schools, and breast cancer in high schools. Girls tended to demonstrate greater cancer understanding than boys, with particularly large differences by gender in rates of understanding of breast and uterine cancer at each assessed grade level. Conclusions Here, we examined Japanese primary and secondary school students. Marked differences in cancer recognition by grade and gender suggest that educational efforts are needed at various grade levels and gender-specific cancer education. Further, more than 50 % of students at any school level were not familiar with most cancers. It suggests that cancer education is deficient.

Aims Improving mental health literacy through school‐based education may encourage mental health promotion, prevention and care and reduce stigma in adolescents. In Japan, instruction about mental illness has been formulated in a Course of Study that reflects governmental curriculum guidelines, which will be enforced from 2022 to promote an understanding of current issues of adolescent health. Educational resources available to schoolteachers have been developed. This article describes the development processes and contents of these resources. Methods Our collaborating team, consisting of mental health professionals and schoolteachers, developed educational resources, based on feedback from high school students in general and young people who had experienced mental health problems. Results The new Course of Study covers: (1) mechanisms of mental illness, prevalence, age at onset, risk factors and treatability; (2) typical symptoms of mental health problems and illnesses; (3) self‐help strategies for prevention of and recovery from mental illness; (4) enhancing help‐seeking and helping behaviour and (5) decreasing stigma associated with people with mental health problems. The educational strategy is targeted at high school students (grades 10‐12) and is conducted by teachers of health and physical education. The educational resources include short story animated films, filmed social contact and educators' manuals, which are freely available through the internet and open to all concerned including schoolteachers in Japan. Conclusions Our efforts are expected to help implement mental health education of the public throughout Japan and other countries and promote the practice of early intervention and prevention of mental illnesses in adolescents.

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The purpose of this study was to describe the cancer-screening intention, sources of cancer information, and cancer understanding among Japanese adolescents. A cross-sectional nationwide survey involving a self-administered questionnaire was conducted. Response rates of the target schools were 46.4 % (n = 103) for junior high schools and 55.8 % (n = 116) for high schools. From these, we analyzed the data of 2960 junior high school students (1520 males, 1440 females) and 3703 high school students (1546 males, 2157 females) to examine the association between cancer-screening intention and sources of cancer-related information and understanding. A significant association between cancer-screening intention and sources of cancer information and cancer understanding was observed. The screening intention group identified more sources of cancer information than the no-screening intention group did. Understanding about cancer was reported by a higher proportion of students in the screening intention group compared with the no-screening intention group. Recognition that healthy people must take part in cancer screening was significantly associated with screening intention in both junior high (odds ratio (OR), 1.859; 95 % confidence interval (CI), 1.582-2.185; P < 0.001) and high school (OR, 2.485; 95 % CI, 2.139-2.887; P < 0.001) students. Health education at school was indicated by a high proportion of students as a source of cancer-related information, although the association was not significant. The present survey indicated that those in of our sample who intended to undergo future cancer screening (67.8 %) had more sources of information and understanding regarding cancer. Thus, schools should enrich health education curricula with more information and understanding about cancer to promote cancer-screening intention among Japanese adolescents.

Background: This study evaluated the effectiveness of a comprehensive mental health literacy (MHL) educational programme known as “Sanita” for improving junior high school students’ knowledge of mental illness, attitudes towards people with mental health problems, and help-seeking behaviour. Methods: A randomised controlled trial with a parallel-group design was conducted. A total of 125 students (51 in the intervention group and 74 in the control group) received three 50-min classes and completed self-report questionnaires (Mental Illness and Disorder Understanding Scale, MIDUS; Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale, RIBS-J; and an original questionnaire investigating help-seeking behaviour) before and after the programme and three months later. Results: Regarding MIDUS, the post-test and 3-month follow-up test results showed a significant main effect of time-by-group interactions in a linear mixed model. Regarding RIBS-J, the post-test results showed a significant main effect of time-by-group interactions; however, the 3-month follow-up test showed no significant effect. No significant effects of time-by-group interactions were seen in the post-test and 3-month follow-up test results for help-seeking behaviour in a logistic regression-mixed model. Conclusions: The Sanita MHL educational programme was longitudinally effective at improving junior high school students’ knowledge of mental illness, although improvements in attitudes and help-seeking behaviour were insufficient.