Environmental Sensitivity in Adults: Psychometric Properties of the Japanese Version of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale 10-Item Version

Iimura, Shuhei; Yano, Kosuke; Ishii, Yoshikazu

doi:10.31234/osf.io/2h8jt

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The 10-item Japanese version of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (Iimura et al, 2021) was used to measure individual differences in sensory-processing sensitivity. This scale consists of ten items that investigate sensitivity to positive environments (e.g., "Are you deeply moved by the arts or music?")…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensory-processing sensitivity and COVID-19 stress in a young population: The mediating role of resilience

Iimura

2022

Personality and Individual Differences

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Psychologists worldwide are becoming increasingly concerned about the negative impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on adolescents' mental health. However, compared to studies involving adults, research using a young population is limited. To further understand the mental health of older adolescents and young adults during the pandemic, the present study examined whether resilience, as a protective factor, buffers the relationship between the personality trait of environmental sensitivity and COVID-19-related distress. In total, 441 older adolescents and young adults (53.7% women, Mage = 18.91 years, SDage = 0.82 years) living in urban Japan completed an online cross-sectional survey in October 2020. The results showed that sensitivity was positively, though weakly, correlated with COVID-19 stress and negatively correlated with resilience. Resilience was negatively correlated with COVID-19 stress. Mediation analysis showed that resilience buffered the negative relationship between sensitivity and COVID-19 stress, and its indirect effect was statistically significant, albeit close to zero. These results suggest that higher sensitivity is not necessarily a vulnerability factor, if resilience can be enhanced.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensory-processing sensitivity and COVID-19 stress in a young population: The mediating role of resilience

Iimura

2022

Personality and Individual Differences

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“…However, in this study, the scale score, which is the average of all the items, was used for the analysis. The scale score reflects the individual differences in sensitivity to both positive and negative stimuli (Iimura et al, 2021). This scale includes items such as "Are you easily overwhelmed by strong sensory input?"…”

Section: Sensory Processing Sensitivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensory Processing Sensitivity and Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Japanese Adult

Iimura¹,

Takasugi²

2022

Preprint

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Sensory processing sensitivity is a personality or temperamental trait defined as individual differences in the tendency to perceive and process both positive and negative stimuli and experiences. Studies have shown that high sensitivity is correlated with psychosocial health, including depression and anxiety. However, its relationship with physical health has not been clarified. To fill this gap, this study focused on gastrointestinal disease symptoms as an indicator of physical health and examined their relationship with sensitivity. Participants were 863 Japanese adults (female = 450; male = 413; Mage = 30.4 years; SD = 4.9) who completed a web-based questionnaire. As a result, highly sensitive persons were more likely to report experiencing a wide range of gastrointestinal disease symptoms in the past week, including reflux syndrome, abdominal pain, indigestion syndrome, diarrhea syndrome, and constipation syndrome, even when statistically controlling for the participants’ sociodemographic characteristics. Our findings suggest that high sensory processing sensitivity is not only associated with psychosocial health, but also with physical health. Some of the potential causes of this are also discussed.

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Interactions between environmental sensitivity and gut microbiota are associated with biomarkers of stress-related psychiatric symptoms

Iimura

Takasugi

Yasuda

et al. 2023

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Background: Humans vary in their sensitivity to stressful and supportive environments and experiences. Such individual differences in environmental sensitivity are associated with mechanisms of stress-related psychiatric symptoms. In recent years, researchers have focused on bidirectional interactions in the brain-gut-microbiota axis as a neurophysiological pathway contributing to the mechanisms of stress-related psychiatric symptoms, and evidence is rapidly accumulating. Methods: Data on environmental sensitivity, gut microbiota, gut permeability (lipopolysaccharide-binding protein; LBP) and inflammation (C-reactive protein; CRP) were collected from 90 adults (50% female; Mage = 42.1; SDage = 10.0). Environmental sensitivity was measured using a self-report questionnaire. Study participants' feces were analyzed, and observed operational taxonomic units for richness, Shannon's index for evenness, and phylogenetic diversity for biodiversity were evaluated as indicators of gut microbiota. In addition, participants' serum was analyzed for CRP and LBP. We investigated whether the interaction between environmental sensitivity and gut microbiota is associated with biomarkers of inflammation and gut permeability. Results: The interaction between environmental sensitivity and gut microbiota (excluding the Shannon's index) explained the levels of these biomarkers. Individuals with high environmental sensitivity displayed higher levels of CRP and LBP, when the richness and diversity of the gut microbiota was low. However, even highly susceptible individuals had lower levels of CRP and LBP, when the richness and diversity of the gut microbiota was high. Conclusions: Our study indicates that high environmental sensitivity can be a risk factor for inflammation and gut permeability, when the gut microbiota diversity is low, suggesting a brain-gut-microbiota axis interaction.

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Environmental Sensitivity in Adults: Psychometric Properties of the Japanese Version of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale 10-Item Version

Cited by 4 publications

References 24 publications

Sensory-processing sensitivity and COVID-19 stress in a young population: The mediating role of resilience

Sensory-processing sensitivity and COVID-19 stress in a young population: The mediating role of resilience

Sensory Processing Sensitivity and Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Japanese Adult

Interactions between environmental sensitivity and gut microbiota are associated with biomarkers of stress-related psychiatric symptoms

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