Examination of the Japanese version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale among Adults Using Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory1, 2

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has impaired every aspect of life, especially causing much psychological damage—for instance, increasing the risk of suicide. Intense fear and anxiety are considered to play a central role in mental health problems. This study examined the psychological properties of the Japanese version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) using classical test theory (CTT) and item response theory (IRT). Five hundred fifty participants aged 18–69 years and from across Japan completed questionnaires, including the Japanese FCV-19S, the Japanese Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-15 (DASS-15), and the Japanese version of the Kessler 6 (K6). CTT showed that each item of the Japanese FCV-19S had no ceiling and floor effect and was close to the normal distribution, and IRT revealed that each item had an appropriate parameter of discrimination and difficulty. Finally, the Japanese FCV-19S was shown to have an acceptable reliability and moderate good concurrent validity. Consequently, the Japanese FCV-19S has robust psychometric properties and can be useful for early detection of adults impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Cognitive Training via a Mobile Application to Reduce Obsessive-Compulsive-Related Distress and Cognitions During the COVID-19 Outbreaks: A Randomized Controlled Trial Using a Subclinical Cohort

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a persistent psychiatric disorder causing significant impairment in functioning. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated OCD-related symptoms and interrupted access to treatment. Recent research suggests mHealth apps are promising tools for coping with OCD symptoms. This randomized controlled trial evaluated the effects of a CBT-based mobile application designed to reduce OCD symptoms and cognitions in community participants considered at high risk of developing OCD symptoms. Following initial screening (n = 924), fifty-five community participants scoring 2 standard deviations above the OCI-R mean were randomized into two groups. In the immediate-app use group (iApp; n = 25), participants started using the application at baseline (T0), 4 min a day, for 12 days (T0–T1). Participants in the delayed-app group (dApp; n = 20) started using the mobile application at T1 (crossover) and used the app for the following 12 consecutive days (T1–T2). Intention to treat analyses indicated that using the app for 12 consecutive days was associated with large effect-size reductions (Cohen’s d ranging from .87 to 2.73) in OCD symptoms and maladaptive cognitions in the iApp group (from T0 to T1) and dApp group (from T1 to T2). These reductions were maintained at follow-up. Our findings underscore the usefulness of brief, low-intensity, portable interventions in reducing OCD symptoms and cognitions during the pandemic.     

Troubles musculosquelettiques,pratique instrumentale et ressentis des musiciens d’orchestre professionnels en confinement dû à la COVID-19

IntroductionProfessional orchestra musicians frequently suffer from musculoskeletal disorders related to their working conditions. In the spring of 2020, the lockdown and the interruption of their professional activities because of the COVID-19 pandemic could have presented an opportunity for them to recuperate but could also have increased their professional uncertainty and been a source of negative emotions.ObjectiveThe first objective is to evaluate the evolution of musicians’ musculoskeletal disorders in relation to the interruption of their professional activities due to COVID-19. The second is to examine the impact of professional uncertainty caused by the pandemic on their instrument practice as a function of the emotions it generated.MethodA questionnaire concerning instrument practice and musculoskeletal disorders was completed by 439 French orchestra musicians in 2019 (period of professional activity). During lockdown (April 2020), a second questionnaire measuring these variables as well as professional uncertainty, emotions, emotional exhaustion, and the lockdown experience was completed by 172 musicians.ResultsInstrument practice and musculoskeletal disorders decreased between the periods of activity and lockdown. Professional uncertainty during lockdown correlated with negative emotions. Emotional exhaustion mediated the relations between uncertainty and the effort perceived when practicing one's instrument on the one hand and the pleasure experienced during practice on the other.ConclusionFor orchestra musicians in lockdown, uncertainty was related to negative emotions. Playing their instrument required more effort and was not associated with well-being, emphasizing the difficulties regarding the resumption of their professional activity in conditions which would limit the risk of injury.     

Gender associations in the twentieth-century English-language literature

Gender associations may be partly learned from print media, including literature. Using Google Books Ngram corpus, we explored the depiction of male and female characters in the twentieth-century English-language fiction. By analyzing adjective-noun bigrams, we examined adjectives used in association with “man”, “woman”, “boy”, and “girl”. Men were described in more positive terms than women. Girls were depicted more positively than boys at the beginning of the twentieth century, but the tendency reversed in the middle of the century. Boys were described in more masculine terms than girls; however, men were described in similarly masculine adjectives as women. Despite limitations of interpretability of the results, the study presents a possible approach of exploring past characterization of the two genders.     

Resistance to yielding and the expectation of cooperative future interaction in negotiation

The expectation of cooperative future interaction (ECFI) encouraged especially high joint benefit (the total of the two bargainers' individual outcomes) when resistance to yielding was high, but especially low joint benefit when resistance to yielding was low. Process data suggest that this finding can be explained as follows: When resistance to yielding is high, ECFI encourages problem solving and reduced contentious behavior; when resistance to yielding is low, ECFI encourages a collapse of aspirations. The results support Filley's (1975) dualconcern model and cast doubt on Deutsch's (1973) blanket assertion that a cooperative process leads to constructive conflict resolution.     

A developmental perspective on reading dysfunction: Accuracy and rate criteria in the subtyping of dyslexic children

Children referred with specific reading dysfunction were subtyped as accuracy disabled or rate disabled according to criteria developed from an information processing model of reading skill. Multiple measures of oral and written language development were compared for two subtyped samples matched on age, sex, and IQ. The two samples were comparable in reading fluency, reading comprehension, word knowledge, and word retrieval functions. Accuracy disabled readers demonstrated inferior decoding and spelling skills. The accuracy disabled sample proved deficient in their understanding of oral language structure and in their ability to associate unfamiliar pseudowords and novel symbols in a task designed to simulate some of the learning involved in initial reading acquisition. It was suggested that these two samples of disabled readers may be best described with respect to their relative standing along a theoretical continuum of normal reading development.     

The effect of context during word perception in schizophrenic patients

Hospitalized chronic and acute schizophrenics were compared with age- and social-status-matched controls on word perception tests to measure the effect of context on recognition thresholds. In Experiment 1 the method of J. Morton (1964, British Journal of Psychology, 55, 165-180) was adopted to see how related and unrelated contexts influenced word recognition thresholds when both context and stimulus word were presented visually. Experiment 2 was an auditory analog of Experiment 1 and in addition the chronic schizophrenics were selected on the basis of a presence or absence of auditory hallucinations. The influence of context on perceptual thresholds was quite normal in all schizophrenics. However, analysis of the incorrect responses elicited showed that some schizophrenic subjects do produce bizarre or irrelevant responses or perseveration to a greater extent than their controls. These results are explained in terms of automatic and strategic modes of information processing. The automatic processes responsible for the adjustment of perceptual thresholds operate normally in schizophrenics but response production which demands strategic selection and editing of responses is prone to malfunction which results in the observed deviations in the normal use of language.