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.

COVID-19 has been associated with dysregulated immune responses, with increasing evidence indicating sustained inflammasome activation and subsequent pro-inflammatory cytokine production. This study aimed to characterize the temporal profile of inflammatory markers, particularly interleukin (IL)-1β, in post-COVID-19 patients compared with pre-pandemic healthy controls, using data from the Psychiatric Symptoms for COVID-19 Registry Japan (PSCORE-J). Blood samples were analyzed from 119 post-COVID-19 patients (median age 45 years) recruited during 2023 and 374 pre-pandemic healthy controls (median age 65 years). For post-COVID-19 patients, samples were collected at baseline, 3 months, and 9 months. Multiple inflammatory markers were assessed, including IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IFN-β, IP-10, ACE2, and eotaxin. Age- and sex-adjusted analyses were performed on log-transformed IL-1β levels. IL-1β levels were significantly elevated in post-COVID-19 patients compared with healthy controls across all age groups (under 30s: 0.69 ± 0.33 vs. 0.25 ± 0.03; 30s: 0.70 ± 0.63 vs. 0.26 ± 0.09; 40s: 0.84 ± 0.76 vs. 0.30 ± 0.23; 50s: 0.67 ± 0.65 vs. 0.26 ± 0.10; 60 or over: 0.54 ± 0.30 vs. 0.26 ± 0.23 pg/mL). This elevation was sustained throughout the 9-month follow-up (baseline: 0.500 [0.33-0.890]; 3 months: 0.630 [0.28-1.290]; 9 months: 0.54 [0.29-0.96] pg/mL) compared with controls (0.24 [0.21-0.27] pg/mL). Other inflammatory markers showed either no significant differences or were paradoxically lower in patients. SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with persistent elevation of IL-1β levels that remains stable over a 9-month period, suggesting sustained inflammasome activation. These findings provide novel insight into post-COVID-19 inflammatory processes and may have important implications for understanding both acute and chronic manifestations of the disease. Japan Registry of Clinical Trials: jRCT1030220711.

Background: Fear of negative evaluation (FNE) has been linked to dysfunctional parenting in childhood, but its influence during the perinatal period remains unexplored. The present study investigated whether FNE is longitudinally associated with lower perceived parenting competence and poorer child developmental outcomes as reported by mothers. It was further hypothesized that perceived criticism of one’s parenting would be related to higher levels of FNE and reduced parenting competence. Methods: A total of 1,739 pregnant women were recruited through a large internet research panel in Japan. Participants completed online surveys at four time points: during pregnancy and at 4, 26, and 56 weeks postpartum. Complete longitudinal data were available for 768 women. Measures included the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE), the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale (PSOC), and single-item maternal reports of child developmental indicators across regulatory, motor, social, and physical health domains, and perceived criticism. Results: Random intercept cross-lagged panel modeling (RI-CLPM) showed a negative trait-level association between BFNE and PSOC ( r = –.49, p < .001). Higher prenatal FNE predicted an increased likelihood that the child would require follow-up or specialist referral at the one-month health check. The associations between PSOC and child developmental ratings became strongest by 56 weeks postpartum, as did the relationships between perceived criticism and FNE. Conclusion: These findings suggest that reducing FNE during the early perinatal period may strengthen parenting competence and improve maternal perceptions of child development later in the postpartum period. Trial registration: This study was preregistered in the University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN-CTR; ID: UMIN000044079, Date of registration: April 30, 2021).