The number of people with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been increasing worldwide. Anxiety about potential infection, fear of severe illness, death, economic problems, and loneliness and isolation brought on by social distancing are increasingly being experienced by people. Therefore, it is imperative to address and improve such mental health-related problems during COVID-19. We aimed to investigate the current mental health care and psychological intervention statuses related to COVID-19 in Japan. In a questionnaire survey, 55 of 69 (80%) mental health and welfare centers and 194 of 931 (21%) psychiatric institutions across Japan responded. COVID-19 patients, their family members, and the general public often consulted the mental health and welfare institutions through telephone. The questionnaire included various information of mental health difficulties related to COVID-19 such as the numbers and contents of the consultations, and the type of the interventions. The contents of consultation included psychological symptoms (anxiety, depression, insomnia, and alcohol problems) and psychosocial problems (interpersonal problems, prejudice, and discrimination). Overall, 9% of mental health and welfare centers provided psychological first aid as psychological intervention and 28% of consultations involved cases requiring urgent care. In Japan, consultations about COVID-19-related mental health problems occurred mainly in mental health and welfare centers. There is urgent need to establish a system that enables mental health triage and brief psychological interventions that are feasible in the centers.

There is insufficient research on the usefulness of psychological interventions, such as psychological first aid (PFA), during outbreaks. We searched for and critically appraised systematic reviews that examined the effectiveness of PFA during infectious disease outbreaks, such as the novel coronavirus disease (COVID‐19). Systematic reviews that examined the efficacy of PFA in the severe acute respiratory syndrome, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, Ebola virus disease, and COVID‐19 outbreaks were searched through PubMed on February 19, 2021. The three included systematic reviews were critically appraised and assessed using AMSTAR‐2. One review's overall confidence in its findings was evaluated as “high,” which suggested that PFA training had a favorable effect on healthcare personnel. Furthermore, the review also demonstrated that PFA was commonly used during outbreaks and could be delivered through multiple methods, such as a phone or video call. Although it was anticipated that PFA would improve subjective well‐being, reports showed no evidence of reduced depression or insomnia. Future studies should examine additional numbers of PFA recipients and conduct quasi‐experimental studies to better understand the effectiveness of PFA. Evidence on its effectiveness in infectious disease outbreaks is still lacking, along with research and evaluation methods. Quasi‐experimental studies, such as comparisons with other psychological interventions, are required to better understand the effectiveness of PFA.

Background: Attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, including executive function, emotional regulation, and motivation, can persist into adulthood and are often associated with mental illnesses. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may help ADHD adults in Japan, but the lack of studies and the variability in group CBT approaches make its effects unclear. Japan lacks unified CBT programs and adult ADHD guidelines, making it difficult to implement international individual CBT recommendations due to cultural differences. This study will assess the feasibility of a novel CBT program for Japanese adult ADHD patients.Methods: This feasibility study will be open, nonrandomized, single‐arm, multicenter study. Twelve ADHD patients aged 20–65 years who are currently receiving treatment will be included based on Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scale (CAARS) clinical severity threshold. An intervention phase of 12–16 weeks and a 12‐week follow‐up will total 24–28 weeks for all participants. The intervention will use a new CBT program tailored to individual assessments.Results: The primary objective is to determine feasibility using dropout rates, adverse events, and CAARS score changes between Weeks 1 and 16. The secondary outcomes will assess long‐term effects of treatment beyond the intervention period and provide descriptive statistics on sex, depression, quality of life, and autistic scores in relation to the intervention outcomes. The full analysis set and per protocol set will be used for statistical analysis.Conclusions: This study is essential for the development of CBT interventions in accordance with Japan's healthcare system that are tailored to the unique needs of its population.

The group format of the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (UP) shows promise as a efficient method for delivering established and effective psychological treatments for emotional disorders. The implementation of psychological treatment in a group format varies according to a country’s local circumstances, policies, and culture. To date, there are no comprehensive reviews of aspects related to settings, participants, providers, and interventions for applying the UP in a group context. Therefore, we have prepared a scoping review protocol to clarify the fields, participant characteristics, intervention structures, and therapist training methods related to group-format UP, aiming to facilitate its implementation across diverse regions and contexts. Based on this protocol, the scoping review will follow the Joanna Institute guidelines and PRISMA statement extensions for scoping reviews. The review will include studies of the group format of UP that describe symptoms of emotional disorders in adults. The following databases will be searched: PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and ClinicalTrials.gov. The selected data will be organized according to four predefined research questions. This scoping review will provide suggestions to promote the application and implementation of the UP in a group format and contribute to disseminating evidence-based psychological treatment.