Neurodiverse students frequently encounter distinct challenges that can adversely affect their mental well-being. This research aimed to investigate emotional distress, depression, and anxiety among neurodiverse students, examine the interrelationships among these factors, and assess the impact of participant characteristics.

To address the problem of lack of data pointed out in the neurodiversity research in Nigeria, this study aims to examine the emotional distress, depression, and anxiety in neurodiverse students.

A cross-sectional study was carried out involving 200 neurodiverse students in Nigeria. Participants filled out self-report questionnaires that measured emotional distress (Brief Emotional Distress Scale for Youth), depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Revised), and anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, Bayesian Mann-Whitney U tests, two-way ANOVAs, and Kruskal-Wallis tests.

Anxiety was found to have the highest prevalence (mean = 68.8), followed by depression (mean = 34.2) and emotional distress (mean = 26.3). Significant positive correlations were identified among all three mental health factors, with the strongest correlation observed between depression and anxiety (rho = 0.492, P < 0.001). Moderate evidence indicated gender differences in emotional distress (BF10 = 2.448). The interaction between educational environment and diagnosis had a significant effect on emotional distress (F = 3.106, P = 0.017). Kruskal-Wallis tests indicated significant variations in anxiety levels across different educational settings (P = 0.002), although post-hoc comparisons did not reveal significant differences among specific settings.

This research emphasizes the prevalence of mental health challenges among neurodiverse students, particularly concerning anxiety. The intricate relationships among emotional distress, depression, and anxiety highlight the necessity for thorough mental health support. The impact of educational settings and diagnoses on mental health outcomes stresses the importance of customized interventions. These findings are significant for educators, mental health professionals, and policymakers in formulating targeted support strategies for neurodiverse students.

This study examined the longitudinal association of perceived stress, ikigai, and having someone one can count on in middle age with the advanced-level functional competency in older age, which is crucial for the maintenance of independent life among older adults. The issue is especially relevant in super-aged countries like contemporary Japan, where more and more older people live in a household consisting only of older people.

Data were collected in 2019 from a total of 1692 retirees of the Aichi Workers' Cohort Study participants in which baseline survey including psychological factors was conducted during their employment in 2002. Japan Science and Technology Agency Index of Competence (JST-IC) was used to measure the advanced-level functional competency. Multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were obtained for having low JST-IC in later life by the degrees of psychological factors reported in the middle age adjusting for the presence of depressive mood in 2019.

Those who were not sure about ikigai (OR: 2.02, 95 % CI: 1.33 to 3.08) and who have no one to count on (OR: 2.19, 95 % CI: 1.52 to 3.16) in the middle age were significantly associated with low JST-IC after retirement. Having much stress was significantly inversely associated with a low JST-IC (OR: 0.69, 95 % CI: 0.50 to 0.97).

Having ikigai and someone reliable, and stress during middle age might play a role in preventing impaired advanced-level functional competency. Improved ikigai and increased social interaction and support might improve functional competency. Further research might explore avenues for improving ikigai.

Higher depressive symptoms have been reported in rotating shift workers compared with day workers. Depressive symptoms in adults who do not engage in night work have also been shown to be associated with chronotype and sleep duration. This study examines associations between depressive symptoms, morningness-eveningness (i.e. the degree to which people prefer to be active in the morning or the evening), sleep duration and rotating shift work. Japanese nurses (1252 day workers and 1780 rotating shift workers, aged 20-59) were studied using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire covered depressive symptoms, morningness-eveningness, sleep habits and demographic characteristics of the participants. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was used to determine the levels of depressive symptoms. A Japanese version of the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) was used to measure morningness-eveningness. The CES-D score of shift workers was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of day workers. The MEQ score was significantly (p < 0.05) lower (i.e. greater eveningness) in shift workers than in day workers. Sleep duration on the day shift was significantly (p < 0.05) shorter in shift workers than in day workers. Simple linear regression revealed that the MEQ score, sleep duration on the day shift and current work shift (i.e. rotating shift work) were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with the CES-D score. Multivariate linear regression indicated that greater eveningness and shorter sleep duration were independently associated with higher CES-D scores, while rotating shift work was not. These associations between the MEQ score, the sleep duration and the CES-D score were also confirmed in both day workers and shift workers when the groups were analyzed separately. These results suggest that greater eveningness and shorter sleep duration on the day shift were independently associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, which may explain associations between rotating shift workers and depressive symptoms. These findings have important implications for the development of novel strategies for preventing poor mental health in day workers and rotating shift workers.

The purpose of this study was to assess middle-aged Japanese workers for possible gender differences in the risk factors associated with depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. 5,878 workers (40-60 yr of age) (3,631 males and 2,247 females) were recruited from randomly selected companies in northern Japan. Demographic and lifestyle factors, suicidal ideation rate, and the data for the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies for Depression scale (CES-D) were obtained from the self-report questionnaires. After adjusting for possible confounding variables, marital status, absent of stress reduction technique and low job compatibility were significant independent risk factors for suicidal ideation among males. In females, marital status, feeling of insufficient sleep and absence of stress reduction techniques were significant independent risk factors after adjusting for all variables. Under the same adjustments, temporary employment also showed a protective effect against female suicidal ideation. In conclusion, our results suggest that factors related to suicidal ideation differed by gender. Different approaches for each gender might be useful in the development of suicide prevention programs. However, interpretation of work-related effects, such as temporary employment, interpersonal conflict and transportation industry, was hampered by lack of data concerning personal income, working hours and organizational commitment. Additional studies are needed to examine the longitudinal relationships between the risk factors associated with suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms.

In Japan, the annual number of deaths by suicide markedly increased in 1998 and leveled off at approximately 30,000 per year thereafter. The coping behaviors used to deal with stress may have implications for the prevention of depression and suicidal ideation. This study examined coping behaviors in relation to depression and suicidal ideation.

In this cross-sectional study, a total of 6762 workers (40-60 years of age; 4119 males and 2643 females) completed both the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D) and a questionnaire measuring suicidal ideation. A cut-off score of 19 was used to define probable depression for the CES-D. Stress-coping behaviors were surveyed via an inventory of 14 items that reflected of actual behaviors covering problem-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidant strategies.

In relation to depression, logistic regression analyses revealed that in both genders, the highest odds ratios (OR) for avoidant coping strategy and the lowest OR was associated with a problem-focused strategy after adjusting for covariates. After making the same adjustments, logistic regression analyses revealed that in both genders, the highest OR were for emotional distraction coping strategies in relation to suicidal ideation.

The cross-sectional nature of this study does not allow for causal assumptions regarding the sequential nature of the relationship between coping behaviors and the onset of depressive symptoms or suicidal ideation.

These findings indicate that coping behaviors may affect both depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. Furthermore, gender differences in coping behaviors among middle-aged workers were identified. Additional studies are needed to examine the relationships among coping behaviors, depression and suicidal ideation using a longitudinal design.

The rate of suicides markedly increased in 1998 and leveled off at approximately 30,000 per year thereafter. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the link between the different dimensions of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation among the middle-aged population in Japan.

A sample of 6848 middle-aged (40-60years of age) working individuals completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and a questionnaire measuring suicidal ideation. The responses on the four dimensions of depressive symptoms on the CES-D (depressed affect, lack of positive affect, somatic symptoms, and interpersonal problems) were entered into regression analyses that predicted the presence of suicidal ideation among the participants with probable depression (n=1704).

The factor score of depressed affect was significantly higher in females than in males, whereas that of interpersonal problems was significantly higher in males than in females. Among both males and females, depressed affect was a significant predictor of suicidal ideation. Among males, interpersonal problems also significantly predicted suicidal ideation. Contrary to the results of a previous study among adolescents, we did not find a relationship between lack of positive affect and suicidal ideation.

These findings indicate that the dimensions of depressive symptoms measured with the CES-D make different contributions to suicidal ideation. Although our results could not be generalizable to a clinical setting due to lacking clinical samples, the depressed affect dimension of CES-D might be useful for screening of suicide risk among community population. Furthermore, gender differences in the relationships between the dimensions of depressive symptoms in a middle-aged population were identified. Additional studies are needed to examine gender-specific relationships between the dimensions of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation.

Hearing impairment is a prevalent and chronic condition in older people. This study investigated the relationship between cognitive function and hearing impairment in a Japanese population.

A pure-tone average (0.5-2.0 kHz) was used to evaluate hearing impairment in 846 participants of the Iwaki Health Promotion Project who were aged at least 50 years old (310 men and 536 women). We also administered the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies for Depression (CES-D) scale, Starkstein's apathy scale (AS) and the Short Form Health Survey Version 2 (SF-36v2). A multiple linear regression analysis assessed the association between hearing impairment and mental correlates.

The overall prevalence of hearing impairment in this study population was 37.7%. The participants with hearing impairment were older and less educated compared to those with no hearing problems. We observed significant differences in the MMSE and AS scores between the mild/moderate to severe groups versus the non-impaired group. After adjusting for age, gender and amount of education, hearing impairment was significantly associated with MMSE and AS scores, but not with CES-D scores. Hearing impairment was significantly related to the social functioning (SF) and role emotional (RE) scores of the SF-36v2.

Hearing impairment is common among older people and is associated with cognitive impairment, apathy and a poor health-related quality of life. Screening for and correcting hearing impairments might improve the quality of life and functional status of older patients.