Advances in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders

Mood and anxiety disorders are prevalent in all countries and cultures, which becomes obvious when standardized diagnostic and evaluation techniques are utilized. It is estimated that ~450 million people worldwide suffer from psychiatric illness. In the United States alone, epidemiologic research has identified that tens of millions of Americans suffer from major depressive disorder (MDD) annually, with many of them being in the prime of their adult lives. In addition to medical, personal, and social costs, depression is also believed to have a significant impact on work productivity. Further epidemiologic research indicates that nearly half of all individuals meeting lifetime criteria for MDD also have met criteria for a comorbid anxiety disorder. With an average age of 16 years for the onset of any lifetime anxiety disorder, anxiety disorders appear to predispose affected individuals to a substantial lifetime risk for MDD. In order to improve outcomes in depression and anxiety disorders, clinicians must enhance the entire process of recognition, diagnosis, and treatment

Differences Between Australian and Japanese Students in Decisional Self-Esteem, Decisional Stress, and Coping Styles

In this article, the effect of culture on decisional self-esteem, decisional stress, and self-reported decision coping styles is examined. Results of a questionnaire study of 743 Japanese and 309 Australian university students showed that for both cultural groups decisional self-esteem was positively correlated with the 'choice'' style of decision making, but was negatively correlated with decisional stress and the ''complacency,'' ''avoidance' '' and ''hypervigilance'' coping styles in personal decision making. Cultural differences were found, with Japanese students lower than Australian students on decisional self-esteem, higher on decisional stress, and higher on complacency, avoidance, and hypervigilance coping styles. These findings are related to cross-cultural differences between Australia (an individualistic culture) and Japan (a collectivistic or group-oriented culture)

Job embeddedness in Japanese organizations

In contrast to the vast literature on voluntary turnover, the job embeddedness theory describes why individuals choose to stay in their organizations. Because this theory has been developed and validated mainly in the USA, this study explores its applicability and functioning in Japanese organizations through 110 interviews with managers, employees and executive-search consultants. While the original theory provides a useful framework to explain the web of forces that embed people to their organizations, a distinctive set of cultural and institutional factors affected job embeddedness in Japanese organizations. In particular, on-the-job ties and sacrifices were important job embeddedness dimensions in Japanese organizations