There are significantly elevated parental stress levels in Japanese parents of children with Asperger's syndrome or autism. In addition, the total parental stress levels were significantly higher in parents of children with Asperger's syndrome than in parents of children with autism.

A Japanese version of the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) was developed and validated using a group of anorectics and Japanese female controls. Its sensitivity was considered to be low for anorectics, especially for the fasting type anorectics. A cross-cultural comparison of the EAT scores of anorectics showed some significant differences among those found in Japan, Canada and Germany. A survey of eating disorders among 286 Japanese female students was carried out with a Japanese EAT. Three cases of bulimia nervosa were identified in this survey, although no clear case of anorexia nervosa could be identified. The EAT seemed to be useful to screen cases of bulimia nervosa and sensitive to distinguish abnormal eating attitudes among the young females in Japan.

We report a 6-year-old boy with acute stress reaction and dissociative disorders, who suffered multiple injury in a traffic accident without cerebral contusion. He was still crying, suffered sleep disorders, was unable to communicate and showed hemiplegia a week after the injury. Brain CT showed no high or low attenuation areas. Cervical X-ray revealed neither fractures nor dislocation and cervical MRI showed no high or low intensities. His psychogenic symptoms improved temporarily both times 2.5mg of midazolam was intramusculary administered for CT scans and MRI. His psychogenic symptoms and hemiplegia remarkably and permanently disappeared after an intramuscular administration of 5mg of midazolam. The clinical course suggested acute stress reaction and dissociative disorders. Like adults, children may exhibit psychogenic symptoms despite the absence of cerebral contusions on CT scan and MRI, as a result of acute stress reaction following extremely frightening experiences. Focal neurological signs which are inexplicable by X-ray, CT or MRI may indicate dissociative disorders.