Relation Between Daydreaming and Well‑Being: Moderating Effects of Otaku Contents and Mindfulness

The relationship between daydreaming and well-being were examined with mindfulness and consumption of Otaku contents (animations and games) as potential moderators. Recent theory suggests that both the context and contents of daydreaming matter in determining the beneficial effects of daydreaming. Mindfulness is a candidate for the former, whereas Otaku contents represent one for the latter. Metacognitive awareness and intentionality of daydreaming, and accepting relationship with the same, may facilitate such beneficial effects. As Otaku consumers obsessively engage in the imaginative contents, they will be adept at enjoying daydreaming of favorite contents. In Study 1, a survey of a large adult sample (n = 800), hierarchical regression analysis was employed to predict wellbeing from the three-way interaction of daydreaming × mindfulness × Otaku consumption. Significant three-way interactions emerged, predicting both life satisfaction and psychological well-being. Those high on either the non-judging facet of mindfulness or Otaku consumption showed a positive relationship between daydreaming and life satisfaction. Those low on both non-judging mindfulness and Otaku consumption showed a negative relationship between daydreaming and psychological well-being. In Study 2 (n = 104), priming of Otaku contents was employed in lieu of individual differences in Otaku consumption. Without Otaku priming, higher mindfulness revealed a positive relationship between daydreaming and life satisfaction. In addition, Otaku priming with short stimulus viewing time showed a positive relationship between daydreaming and subjective well-being (life satisfaction/positive mood). The results suggested that both contents and context of daydreaming affect well-being.This study was supported by a JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) to the first author (No. 26380929) and a JSPS Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows to the second author (No. 13J40120).The online version of this article (https ://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-019-00123 -9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Common Factors of Meditation, Focusing, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Longitudinal Relation of Self-Report Measures to Worry, Depressive, and Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms Among Nonclinical Students

Meditation has a long tradition with substantial implications for many psychotherapies. It has been postulated that meditation may cultivate therapeutic processes similar to various psychotherapies. A previous study used joint factor analysis to identify five common factors of items of scales purported to capture psychological states cultivated by meditation, focusing, and cognitive behavioral therapy, namely, refraining from catastrophic thinking, logical objectivity, self-observation, acceptance, and detached coping. The present study aimed to extend previous research on these five factors by examining their longitudinal relationship to symptoms of depression, obsession and compulsion, and worrying, with two correlational surveys without intervention. Potential mediators of their effect on worrying were also explored. Longitudinal questionnaire studies from two student samples (n=157 and 232, respectively) found that (a) detached coping was inversely related to obsessive-compulsive symptoms about 5 weeks later; (b) detached coping was inversely related to depressive symptoms about 5 weeks later; (c) refraining from catastrophic thinking was inversely related to worrying, while self-observation was positively related to worrying about 2 months later; and (d) the relation of refraining from catastrophic thinking to worrying was mediated by negative beliefs about worrying, while the relation of self-observation to worrying was mediated by negative beliefs about worrying and monitoring of one’s cognitive processes. As refraining from catastrophic thinking involves being detached from one’s negative thinking and detached coping involves distancing oneself from external circumstances and problems, the results suggest that distancing attitudes are useful for long-term reduction of various psychological symptoms.This research was supported by a grant from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and MEXT

The Dual Effects of Critical Thinking Disposition on Worry

This study investigated the relationship between disposition (people’s consistent motivation) toward critical thinking (CT) and worrying. In spite of its connection to psychopathology, worry is thought to represent an effort at problem-solving. Moreover, worry has been found to be underpinned by cognitive development, leading us to predict a positive relationship between worry and CT disposition. On the other hand, cognitive behavioral therapy, which involves techniques similar to CT, has been shown to be effective in reducing worrying, suggesting that increasing CT disposition decreases worrying. This study attempted to reconcile these seemingly contrasting predictions about the relationship between CT disposition and worrying by using multiple mediator analysis. A model was proposed wherein the mediators, responsibility to continue thinking and detached awareness of negative thinking, were related to two opposing predictions. The former is thought to lead to enhanced worrying and the latter to reduced worrying, with both positively related to CT disposition. A questionnaire study with university students (N = 760) revealed that CT disposition enhanced worrying by obliging people to continue thinking about a problem, but that it also reduced worrying by enhancing the detached and objective awareness of their negative thoughts. This study thus demonstrated the dual effects of CT disposition on worrying through different mediators. Thus, when enhancing CT disposition, it is important for educators to be aware of possible disadvantages apart from its worry-reducing effect. Future studies should therefore examine the underlying mechanisms of these two effects of CT disposition.This research was supported by a MEXT Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) No. 19730427

Metacognitive, Emotional, and Avoidance Predictors of Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Predictors of worrying and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) were compared. First, variables related to a version of inner experience were examined. Specifically, we examined whether negative appraisals about worrying and emotions can be considered subfacets of the overarching construct of experiential avoidance. Second, we examined the relative predictive power of responsibility to continue thinking (i.e., beliefs about the need for prolonged thinking about stressful problems), a construct relating worrying to problem-solving. In two studies, consistent predictors of worrying and GAD were negative metacognitive beliefs, fear of emotions, and responsibility to continue thinking, even after controlling for neuroticism in Study 2. Experiential avoidance did not explain the independent variance in worry. The structural equation model that experiential avoidance explained negative appraisals about worrying and emotions did not fit the data well. Negative metacognitive beliefs evidenced strong predictive power, therefore, requiring particular attention in treatment. Nonetheless, fear of emotions and perceived need for perseverative thinking are candidate additional components that deserve continued investigation.This study was supported by a JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (No: 26380929). There are no conflicts of interests to declare

Socially anxious individuals with low working memory capacity could not inhibit the goal-irrelevant information

Socially anxious individuals are interfered by distractors. Recent work has suggested that low working memory capacity and inappropriate temporary goal induce attention to distractors. We investigated the effects of working memory capacity and temporary goal on attention to distractors in social anxiety. Participants viewed a rapid serial visual presentation, in which participants reported the identity of a single target letter drawn in red. Distractors appeared before the target was presented. When the color of distractors was red (i.e., goal-relevant stimuli), low-capacity individuals were strongly interfered by the distractors compared to high-capacity individuals regardless of social anxiety. When the color of distractors was goal-irrelevant, low-capacity and high socially anxious individuals were strongly interfered by the distractors. These results suggest that socially anxious individuals with low working memory capacity could not inhibit the goal-irrelevant information and direct attention to distractors

Impaired Attentional Disengagement from Stimuli Matching the Contents of Working Memory in Social Anxiety

Although many cognitive models in anxiety propose that an impaired top-down control enhances the processing of task-irrelevant stimuli, few studies have paid attention to task-irrelevant stimuli under a cognitive load task. In the present study, we investigated the effects of the working memory load on attention to task-irrelevant stimuli in trait social anxiety. The results showed that as trait social anxiety increased, participants were unable to disengage from task-irrelevant stimuli identical to the memory cue under low and high working memory loads. Impaired attentional disengagement was positively correlated with trait social anxiety. This impaired attentional disengagement was related to trait social anxiety, but not state anxiety. Our findings suggest that socially anxious people have difficulty in disengaging attention from a taskirrelevant memory cue owing to an impaired top-down control under a working memory load.This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellowship (10J06078)

Well-Being and Generalized Anxiety in Japanese Undergraduates: A Prospective Cohort Study

Psychological well-being is thought to protect against common mental health problems. This study investigated the buffering effects of psychological well-being on the relationships between cognitive vulnerabilities (fear of anxiety and negative beliefs about worry) and GAD symptoms among 297 Japanese undergraduates (female = 62%, age = 18.91 ± 1.61) in a two-wave prospective cohort study. Participants completed the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire for DSM-IV, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, anxiety control subscale of Affective Control Scale, negative belief about worry subscale of Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire, and Nishida’s psychological well-being scale. A moderated regression analysis tested the buffering effect of psychological well-being sub-dimensions on the relationship between cognitive vulnerabilities and generalized anxiety symptoms. Fear of anxiety (β = 0.16, p＜0.01) and negative beliefs about worry (β = 0.16, p＜0.01) at baseline predicted generalized anxiety at follow-up, after controlling for baseline symptoms, and three interaction terms significantly predicted generalized anxiety symptoms. Purpose in life and autonomy buffered the negative relationship between cognitive vulnerabilities and generalized anxiety symptoms. Contrary to the hypothesized relationship, positive relationships with others at baseline facilitated a positive relationship between fear of anxiety and generalized anxiety symptoms. Those results suggested that enhanced Purpose in life and Autonomy dimension of Psychological well-being may be useful in preventing GAD, while the enhanced positive relationship with others dimension of Psychological well-being may facilitate generalized anxiety, as a function of fear of anxiety. In a primary prevention setting, it may be useful to consider the dimensions of Psychological well-being.This study was supported by a Research Fellowships for Young Scientists (DC2) (13J01136, 16K17352) awarded to YT from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or manuscript preparation

Mindfulness as a Moderator in the Relation Between Income and Psychological Well-Being

The relation between income and life satisfaction has been found to be weak, albeit positive (r = 0.10–0.20). This study introduced psychological well-being (PWB) as a dependent variable predicted by income in addition to life satisfaction. Furthermore, individual differences might determine the strength of this relation, that is, act as moderators. Thus, this study introduced mindfulness as one such possible moderator. Participants (N = 800, 50% women, aged 20–59 years) completed an Internet questionnaire. Of them, 734 reported income and were included in the analyses. Income had weak, yet positive, zero-order correlations with life satisfaction and PWB (r = 0.13 and 0.11). Hierarchical regression controlling for demographics indicated that the relation between income and PWB was moderated by mindfulness facets. Specifically, among those low in not judging or describing of experiences, PWB was positively related to income. On the other hand, those high in these mindfulness dimensions indicated higher PWB irrespective of income

BODY SHAPE AND CENTER OF MASS ESTIMATION USING MULTI-VIEW IMAGES

This study presents a method for estimating human 3D body shape in action. We propose a method for estimating 3D human body shape motion that uses multiple view images and visual hulls. Related methods necessitated lengthier preparations, such as camera calibration, which would require several tries before actually capturing the image. We solve this issue by combining state-of-the-art computer vision methods to automatically process the required inputs and parameters, so that camera images are the only resource needed for estimation. In our experiments, we applied our method to a video of human subject kicking a soccer ball to left and right side of a goal; we successfully acquired the subject’s 3D body shape. In addition, we verified that the application’s automatically obtained body shape successfully provides the subject’s center of mass

Effect of maximum grip strength on controlled force exertion measured by a computer-generated sinusoidal waveform in young adult males

Context: It is important to develop a method to accurately measure controlled force exertion (CFE). Objectives: This study aimed to examine the effect of maximum grip strength on CFE measured by a sinusoidal waveform in 81 right-handed young males aged 15-29 years. Methods: On the basis of grip strength measurements, participants were divided into the following three groups: low (males 20; mean age 19.5 years; standard deviation (SD) = 5.0 years), medium (males 41; mean age 22.8 years; SD = 4.2 years), and high (males 20; mean age 23.7 years; SD = 3.4 years). Participants adjusted the submaximal grip strength of the dominant hand with changes in the demand values that were displayed as a sinusoidal waveform with a frequency of 0.1 Hz on a computer screen. The abovementioned test was performed three times with a 1-min interval after one practice trial. Each trial lasted 40 s. The sum of the differences between the demand value and grip exertion strength value for 25 s was considered as the evaluation parameter. Results: Controlled force exertion values demonstrated insignificant correlations with age and maximum grip strength in all groups (r = 0.07; r = -0.12; p > 0.05). No significant differences were found between CFE mean scores that was adjusted for age and varying maximum grip strength in the three groups (F = 1.95; p > 0.05). Conclusions: Based on the sinusoidal waveform display, we inferred that maximum grip strength has little effect on CFE evaluation in young males. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Italia