Psychosomatic problems and countermeasures in Japanese children and adolescents

Abstract

In Japan there are a number of children and adolescents with emotion-related disorders including psychosomatic diseases (orthostatic dysregulation, anorexia nervosa, recurrent pains), behavior problems and school absenteeism. According to our previous report, the Japanese children had significantly higher score of physical symptoms and psychiatric complaints than did the Swedish children, and these were more strongly influenced by school-related stress than by home-related stress. To enforce countermeasures for psychosomatic problems in children, the Japanese Society of Psychosomatic Pediatrics (established in 1982) have started several new projects including multi-center psychosomatic researches and society-based activities. In this article, we present an outline of our study on mental health in Japanese children in comparison with Swedish children. Countermeasures including clinical guidelines for child psychosomatic diseases are reviewed and discussed.

Do Teachers Matter? Students’ Perceptions of Classroom Interactions and Student Engagement

“…The present study reveals that students would benefit from these activities, especially male students and students in lower secondary schools. Moreover, as young people struggle with their mental health some issues might be of even greater importance, such as positive school factors; reduced competition, comparisons and requirements; more supportive relations with teachers and peers; and a feeling of security, all of which are related to fewer subjective health problems (Tanaka, Terashima, Borres, & Thulesius, 2012). Further, students are exposed to different classrooms with higher-to lower-quality interactions.…”

Novel insights into symptomatology of moyamoya disease in pediatric patients: survey of symptoms suggestive of orthostatic intolerance

“…A national survey reported that 6% of children 10-15 years old suffer from orthostatic intolerance in Japan. 9 In the screening survey from the present study, 59% of patients had symptoms suggestive of orthostatic intolerance. Although our study is not directly comparable to the aforementioned survey because of the difference in backgrounds of the populations and the effects of revascularization surgery, the prevalence of symptoms appeared to be greater than that in the non-MMD population.…”

“…Although our study is not directly comparable to the aforementioned survey because of the difference in backgrounds of the populations and the effects of revascularization surgery, the prevalence of symptoms appeared to be greater than that in the non-MMD population. 9 Cerebral hemodynamic impairment likely underlies the symptoms; however, we were not able to attribute the abnormality to the cerebral perfusion measurements. Furthermore, patients who underwent successful revascularization continued to exhibit symptoms years after surgery.…”

Stress and psychosomatic symptoms of primary school students

“…Zahtevi prema adolescentima i očekivanja od njih dolaze iz različitih izvora: roditelja, nastavnika, vršnjaka, ali i njih samih. Ako su zahtevi i očekivanja visoki i adolescenti kontinuirano ulažu velike napore da ih savladaju, to može dovesti do pada energije, zabrinutosti, anksioznosti i stresa (Tanaka, Terashima, Borres, & Thulesius, 2012). Većina studija potvrđuje da hronični i svakodnevni stresori predstavljaju okidače za pojavu negativnih afektivnih odgovora, a lični faktori posebno stabilne osobine ličnosti jesu faktori vulnerabilnosti koji utiču na individualne razlike u verovatnoći javljanja, načinu manifestovanja i prevazilaženju takvih reakcija (Cuffe, McKeown, Addy, & Garrison, 2005;Steinhausen, Haslimeier, & Metzke, 2007;Utsey, Giesbrecht, Hook, & Stanard, 2008).…”