
Hiroaki KumanoWaseda University | Sōdai · Faculty of Human Sciences
Hiroaki Kumano
Doctor of Medicine / Doctor of Philosophy
About
391
Publications
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Introduction
Hiroaki KUMANO is a professor of clinical psychology and is a director of Institute of Applied Brain Sciences at Waseda University. He is a psychosomatic physician as well as a clinical psychologist. His current research interests are mindfulness, mind wandering, attention, and meta-cognition. Methods and techniques he uses are psychometric measures such as ecological momentary assessment and questionnaires, and neurocognitive measures including EEG, NIRS, and eye-tracking.
Publications
Publications (391)
This study aimed to develop a multi-dimensional index to evaluate present experiences comprehensively using single-item measures. The index includes psychological aspects such as negative and positive mood states related to depression and anxiety, repetitive thinking, and mindfulness. Data were collected through an online survey encompassing psychi...
Background
Dietary management in diabetic patients is affected by psychosocial factors and the social-environmental context. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) allows patients to consistently report their experiences in real-time over a certain period and across different contexts. Despite the importance of dietary management, only a few EMA stu...
This study was designed to investigate the relationships between self-focused attention (SFA), other-focused attention (OFA), scanpath length, and fixation count during free speech tasks in the context of social anxiety and metacognitive beliefs. Thirty-nine participants undertook speech tasks while an advanced eye tracker traced each participant’s...
Background:
Self-focused attention (SFA) is a major maintenance factor of social anxiety disorder. The two types of SFA, the observer perspective and self-focus on body sensation, increase anxiety in individuals with high levels of social anxiety. However, the triggers of each SFA remain unclear. This study used ecological momentary assessment to...
Absorption in mind-wandering (MW) may worsen our mood and can cause psychological disorders. Researchers indicate the possibility that meta-awareness of MW prevents these mal-effects and enhances favorable consequences of MW, such as boosting creativity; thus, meta-awareness has attracted psychological and clinical attention. However, few studies h...
University students, especially those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), experience distress due to procrastination. However, the existing treatment for adult ADHD does not adequately address procrastination. A brief procrastination-focused cognitive behavioral therapy program was developed for the current study, and its effects...
In this study, we aimed to use ecological momentary assessment to capture state loneliness in everyday life situations, examine the impact of self-compassion, which is thought to reduce feelings of loneliness, at the state level, and investigate how disclosure resistance influences the mental health problems caused by state loneliness. After 26 uni...
Aa core determinant of dieting behavior, self-evaluation beliefs are understood to positively correlate with non-structured dieting, indicative of excessive dieting. Conversely, it has been demonstrated that an increase in the frequency of high-quality shared meals serves to suppress dieting behavior. Furthermore, interventions utilizing Acceptance...
In neuroimaging studies of anxiety disorders, exaggerated reactivity has been observed in brain regions such as the amygdala, posterior cingulate cortex, and anterior insular cortex during emotion provocation tasks. On the other hand, eudaimonic well-being has been positively correlated with the structural thickness of the right insular cortex. The...
Introduction
Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is maintained by factors such as self-focused attention, fear of evaluation by others, and post-event processing (PEP). SAD individuals often take an observer perspective when they focus on themselves, viewing themselves through the eyes of others, and exhibit heightened bodily self-awareness. Fear of nega...
Recent attention has been drawn to the strategy of social camouflage behavior aimed at concealing behaviors associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), with reported implications for deteriorating mental health. However, there is a lack of research focusing on neurotypical individuals. Therefore, this study aims, firstly, to examine the factors...
The depth of self-disclosure and the degree of motivation and resistance toward self-disclosure vary depending on the recipient (Tanno & Maruno, 2010; Enomoto, 1997; Endo, 1996). Previous research has not concurrently compared multiple types and positions of recipients regarding differences in motivation, resistance, and depth of self-disclosure. T...
It is known that depression serves as a risk factor for physical diseases and that depression itself independently increases the morbidity and mortality of various physical diseases (Nishida et al., 2008). Among the symptoms of depression, feelings of worthlessness and excessive or inappropriate guilt can be indicative of moderate to severe depress...
In this study, we developed a scale to measure the episodic perspective involved in the onset and maintenance of PTSD symptoms. We incorporated elements of self-compassion, known to reduce avoidance symptoms and promote adaptive emotion regulation in individuals with trauma, into the existing "Episodic Perspective Function Scale" (Yamaguchi, 2017)....
This study aimed to examine the relationship between MW's intentionality, emotional valence, and meta-awareness and pupil diameter, analyzing the pupils separately for each eye. During a sequential version of the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), questions related to MW, termed thought probes, were posed, and the pupil diameter immediate...
This is an intervention study that examined the effect of defusion on binge eating.
Engaging in rumination about anger can exacerbate feelings of anger. There are various coping strategies for anger, including suppression, expression, and control. Suppression and expression are maladaptive coping strategies, while control is an adaptive coping strategy. It is known that there are metacognitive beliefs associated with anger ruminat...
This study used ecological momentary assessment to examine the effects of two types of behavioral processes of defusion from the perspective of relational frame theory-framing of self distinctively or hierarchically from one's own thoughts-on subsequent behavior and psychological state. A total of 40 undergraduate and graduate students were asked t...
Abnormal self-referential processing, such as ruminating and worrying, has been shown to sustain internalising symptoms including depression and anxiety. However, examinations of the specific types of dysfunctional mind wanderings (MWs), which are real-time and fluctuating internally-oriented thoughts that trigger abnormal self-referential processi...
This study investigates how traveling in auspicious directions can promote behavioral activation, reduce experiential avoidance as emphasized in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and improve quality of life (QOL) and daily conditions.
Previous studies suggested that self-focused attention (SFA), implicated in social anxiety disorder (SAD), correlates with heightened activity in the right frontopolar area (rFPA), which is the right prefrontal cortex just behind the forehead. Transcranial static magnetic field stimulation (tSMS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation method capable o...
This study was undertaken to translate the Standardised Assessment of Personality – Abbreviated Scale (SAPAS) into Japanese and to evaluate its validity and reliability. SAPAS is one of the most rapid tools for assessing personality disorder (PD) and has excellent sensitivity and good specificity, whereas other PD assessment tools require such a si...
Background
Psychological inflexibility is a core concept of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), which is a comprehensive, transdiagnostic interpretation of mental health symptoms. Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a condition that affects male sexual performance, involving the inability to achieve and maintain a penile erection sufficient for satis...
Many psychotherapies improve metacognitive awareness by enhancing attentional and executive functions. The
computational approach is a research method to understand the brain’s and mind’s operating principles by explicitly
mathematical modeling of the brain’s information processing processes (Kunisato et al., 2019). The reinforcement learning
model...
Background
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a multifactorial disorder with both psychogenic and organic components, but psychosocial factors are usually neglected.
Objective
The purpose of this study was to develop a smartphone application targeting psychosocial factors of ED and to examine its feasibility, acceptability, and treatment response to det...
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and its subthreshold, high worriers, manifest with severe social dysfunction. Theories regarding cognitive-behavioral risk factors for social dysfunction in patients with GAD and high worriers are in a state of flux and have been independently assessed. However, the possibility of integration within a framework of...
Background: Imagery rescripting (IR) is a technique used in cognitive-behavioral therapy and schema therapy, the treatment process of which has not been empirically verified despite being implemented for various mental disorders. This study aims to examine the experiential process of patients who undergo IR.Methods: Schema therapy sessions were vid...
Introduction
Migraine and tension-type headache (TTH) are chronic diseases associated with significant socioeconomic losses and social and psychological impact (current global prevalence: 10% and 38%, respectively). Thus, they require accurate identification and classification. In clinical practice, validated screening tools able to quickly determi...
Background
It is generally assumed that erectile dysfunction (ED) under the age of 40 is primarily driven by psychosocial factors.
Aims
This cross-sectional study evaluated ED, depression, anxiety, and quality of life among young Japanese men.
Materials and Methods
We used an online survey to gather data from a wide range of community samples. ED...
Metacognitive therapy (MCT) is one of the effective psychotherapies for over-adaptation and alexithymia. MCT focuses on metacognitive beliefs (i.e., beliefs about cognitive processes) and instrumental beliefs (i.e., beliefs about coping behaviors). These beliefs are maintaining factors for mental disorders. Matsuda et al. (2021) developed two scale...
Adults Who Stutter (AWS) are more likely to have Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and more difficulty with speech (Menzies et al., 2008). The social anxiety of AWS is associated with maladaptive coping patterns, which may contribute to the maintenance of SAD (Tomisato et al., 2022). Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) focuses on the transformation of these un...
Many psychotherapies improve metacognitive awareness by enhancing attentional and executive functions. The computational approach is a research method to understand the operating principles of the brain and mind by explicitly mathematical modeling of the brain's information processing processes (Kunisato et al., 2019). The reinforcement learning mo...
Patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) tend to engage in experiential avoidance, and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is used to treat SAD. In ACT, there are three senses of self; the conceptualized self, the self-as-awareness, and the observer self. Research has employed questionnaires to reveal the relationship between the experience...
Patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) tend to engage in experiential avoidance, and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is used to treat SAD. In ACT, there are three senses of self; the conceptualized self, the self-as-awareness, and the observer self. Research has employed questionnaires to reveal the relationship between the experience...
Rumination is defined as reputative thinking about negative and depressive things. It's a major risk factor for depression. It affects depression not only directly but also indirectly through sleep. This study aimed to compare the effects of depressive rumination which is a rumination about depression and negative rumination which is a hypernymy of...
In clinical behavior analysis, the focus is on maximizing the Quality of Life (QOL) by emphasizing commitment to life, rather than merely reducing symptoms. The goal is to help clients increase and expand their behavioral repertoire to obtain positive reinforcement. To achieve this objective, value serves as a central element in commitment, and it...
This research examined the reliability and validity of the Change Agenda Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (CA-IRAP). Change agendas that lead people to think that “reducing or removing undesirable thoughts and feelings will solve problems and lead to a more successful life” are considered unworkable in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT...
Among adults with ADHD, one of the most common problems in daily life is procrastination. ADHD is characterized by attention as well as suboptimal decision-making deficits, indicating difficulty in making long-term reward choices. However, little is known about the relationship between suboptimal decision-making or temporal discounting (TD) and pro...
Testosterone plays an important role in maintaining both physical and mental function. Age-related testosterone depletion contributes to the development of angina, arteriosclerosis, obesity, metabolic syndrome, dementia, frailty, and a range of other conditions. A condition involving age-related testosterone depletion and the associated clinical sy...
The intentionality and content dimensions of mind wandering (MW) are important determinants of its costs and benefits. However, the relationship of intentionality with various combinations of different content dimensions has never been examined. In this study, we aimed to examine whether the content of intentional and unintentional MW differs in te...
The Cognitive Attentional Syndrome Scale 1 Revised (CAS‐1R) is a 10‐item self‐report measure designed to assess dysfunctional metacognition, a transdiagnostic predictor of psychological disorders (e.g., generalized anxiety disorder, major depression disorder). Dysfunctional metacognition is classified into “cognitive attentional syndrome” and “meta...
BACKGROUND
Psychological inflexibility is a core concept of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), which is a comprehensive, transdiagnostic interpretation of mental health symptoms. Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a condition that affects male sexual performance, involving the inability to achieve and maintain a penile erection sufficient for satis...
Tension-type headaches (TTHs) are characterized by compressive or constrictive persistent pain as the main symptom, and peripheral and central mechanisms are thought to be involved in their pathogenesis. TTHs have a worldwide prevalence of 42% and negatively impact both the psychological and social wellbeing of those who suffer from them.
The diagn...
Procrastination is associated with various maladaptations. The function of procrastination varies with the context. Since procrastination behavior is measured using trait obtained through questionnaires, few behavioral indices that take into account the context of daily life are developed. Therefore, this study developed an index for measuring proc...
Self-focused attention (SFA) and other-focused attention (OFA) are central maintenance factors of social anxiety, but few studies have investigated both simultaneously in social situations. In this review, we introduced our studies of Tomita et al. (2020) and Tomita & Kumano (2021), in which we aimed to measure both that could be compared by visual...
Background Tension-type headaches and migraines are prevalent conditions; however, no reliable biological markers have been identified for screening. A validated screening tool for epidemiological studies would aid in carrying out large-scale epidemiological studies. Therefore, there is a need to develop a screening tool in the Japanese language ba...
In anxiety disorders, the hyperactivity of the subcortical regions, which generate learned (via amygdala) and non-learned (via PAG) anxiety and fear against aversive stimuli and transmit them to the hypothalamus (via BNST), and that of the cortical regions belonging to the salience network (midcingulate cortex and anterior insular cortex) are obser...
In this study, we analyzed the process of maintaining and changing thoughts and behaviors between the experience of failure in a specific game and the next game based on the technique of TEM, and we named and discussed the contents of the synthesized TEM diagram from the perspective of metacognitive therapy (MCT). We interviewed nine sports competi...
Objectives
The 14-item Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory-short form assesses mindfulness, and enhanced mindfulness is beneficial for reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms. This study aims to develop a Japanese version of the measure (J-FMI) and examine its reliability and validity in a clinical population.
Methods
Patients (N = 340) with mainly de...
Self-compassion is regarded as a mediating or moderating variable in mindfulness-based interventions (MBI). However, few studies have investigated the role of self-compassion on MBI. Therefore, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine whether (1) MBI decreases depression and trait anxiety, while increasing trait mindfulness, trait self...
Introduction
While anticipatory anxiety is a psychological factor of erectile dysfunction (ED), the problem of experiential avoidance, which is an attempt to avoid heightened anxiety and tension associated with anticipatory anxiety, has recently been highlighted (Stephenson, 2019). Experiential avoidance becomes a problem when one worsens his or he...
Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) is one of the effective psychotherapies for over-adaptation. MCT focuses on metacognitive beliefs which are beliefs about cognitive processes and instrumental beliefs which are beliefs about coping behaviors. Metacognitive and instrumental beliefs are considered to maintain the mental illness. Takeda et al. (2018) indica...
Mind Wandering (MW) is described as task unrelated thought which occurs when one's attention is diverted from the task or external environment one is currently engaged to unrelated internal representations. It has been noted that unintentional MW may be more likely to interfere with task performance. We believe that differences in the direction of...
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) is sometimes used to treat Eating disorder (ED) these days. Previous studies have examined the relationship between ED and ACT's behavioral processes such as experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion. However, most of the previous studies were examined by characteristic measurement using a single questionnaire s...
Mind wandering (MW) is a phenomenon in which a person is distracted from the external environment and ongoing tasks. Among these, unintentional MWs are known to be associated with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Although some aspects of MWs are expected to have a negative influence on ADHD, the relationship between MW and contents...
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is one of the treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Studies have used questionnaires to reveal the relationship between OCD symptoms and variables in ACT at the trait level. However, few studies examine the impact of experiential avoidance and defusion on OCD symptoms in daily life. Thus, this s...
A previous study that manipulated metacognitive beliefs of the patients with generalized anxiety disorder resulted in the transformation of the Big Five attributes. However、 enhancing the attention control function is also expected to transform the Big Five traits. This study also examined the effects of enhancing attention control because synergis...
Social camouflaging behaviors consist of compensation, masking, and assimilation. Social camouflaging behaviors are associated with low self-esteem and poor mental health. However, studies suggest that social camouflaging behaviors also have positive functions. This study examined the relationship between mental health deterioration and low self-es...
Overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) is considered a risk factor for depression. Previous studies have established the relationship between passive attention control and OGM. However, there are only a few studies examining the relationship between OGM and voluntary attention control. Thus, the current study aims to examine the relationship bet...
A previous study that manipulated metacognitive beliefs of the patients with generalized anxiety disorder resulted in the transformation of the Big Five attributes. However、 enhancing the attention control function is also expected to transform the Big Five traits. This study also examined the effects of enhancing attention control because synergis...
Self-focused attention is a maintenance factor of social anxiety disorder (SAD). Focusing on self taking an observer’s perspective is associated with increased anxiety. The triggers of self-focused attention from an observer perspective remain unclear. Studies have shown that metacognitive therapy (MCT), which targets a perseverative thinking style...
Background
A brief measure of dispositional mindfulness is important for applied research on mindfulness. Although short forms of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), which measures the five aspects of mindfulness (i.e., observing, describing, acting with awareness, non-judging, and non-reactivity), have been developed worldwide, the va...
Background:
The Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) model of human functioning uses the behavioral processes of acceptance, mindfulness, and values, which together compose psychological flexibility, the ability to contact the present moment more fully as a conscious human being and to either change or persist when doing so serves valued ends....
Objective: Mindfulness meditation might improve the ability of disengagement from mind-wandering (MW), that is, the ability to shift attention from MW. Disengagement from MW could mediate the relationship between mindfulness and reduced depression. However, no studies have confirmed this relationship because of limitations in measurement methodolog...
The purpose of this study was to examine the causal relationship between rumination in ambiguous rejection situations and the perception and anticipation of rejection. Thirty university students with high rejection sensitivity were presented with ambiguous rejection situations and were asked to maintain or reduce their rumination. Hierarchical mult...
Background: The Cognitive Attentional Syndrome Scale 1 Revised (CAS-1R) is a 10-item self-report measure designed to assess dysfunctional metacognition, which is a transdiagnostic predictor of psychological disorders. Dysfunctional metacognition can be broadly classified into “cognitive attentional syndrome” and “metacognitive beliefs.” In the pres...
Self-focused attention plays an essential role in social anxiety disorder, which is reported to be accompanied by overactivation of the right frontal pole. In this study, we explore the possibility that suppressing over-activation of the right frontal pole would lead to the mitigation of self-focused attention. We used transcranial static magnetic...
Overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) is considered a risk factor for depression. Previous studies have established the relationship between passive attention control and OGM. However, there are only a few studies examining the relationship between OGM and voluntary attention control. Thus, the current study aims to examine the relationship bet...
Regulative Music Therapy (RMT) is one of the passive music therapy, where we practice focusing on three areas: the music, the body, the thoughts, feelings, and moods while listening to prescribed classical music. The effect of RMT was shown in which improvement in anxiety and mood was reported. Furthermore, it has been pointed out that the essence...
This study created an attention training technique (ATT) with sound stimuli that induced self-focused attention (SFA) and compared the effects with a standard ATT. We recruited and assigned a total of 30 undergraduate students with social anxiety tendencies to the SFA-ATT and standard ATT groups. Each ATT was performed for two weeks and the changes...
Background: The symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are known to exacerbate the effect of cognitive-behavioral impairments on emotional burden. Although adults with ADHD frequently experience procrastination and internalizing symptoms such as depression and anxiety, few studies have examined whether the association between p...
The proceeding of the lecture given at the Annual Convention of the Japanese Psychological Association in 2018 on Nozomi TOMITA's doctoral dissertation "A unified understanding of self-focused attention and attention bias in social anxiety" (in Japanese), and the table of contents of six published papers corresponding to 6 studies of her dissertati...
Self-focused attention (SFA) and other-focused attention (OFA) are central maintenance factors of social anxiety. Tomita et al., Cognitive Therapy and Research 44:511–525, 2020 investigated brain activities when manipulating SFA and OFA during speech tasks, after controlling for social anxiety, using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and eye-tracki...
Metacognitive therapy aims at a state of detached mindfulness (DM), in which unpleasant thoughts and feelings are left unaddressed. To achieve DM, it is important to improve attention ability. In addition, it has been suggested that it is necessary to address beliefs about maladaptive coping behaviors to promote DM in clinical settings. However, th...
Sleep problems are common in the daily life of university students. A variety of sleep problems have been shown to be interrelated with daytime mood and mental health problems. However, few studies have examined which sleep problems influence mood states and which mood states influence sleep problems in the daily life of university students. Theref...
While personality or the integration of psychological characteristics is hard to change,psychotherapies, such as Metacognitive Therapy(MCT) ,can reduce trait anxiety. Therefore,it is possible that the intervention techniques of MCT would work on the personality aspects,and it is necessary to conduct research to examine changes in personality traits...
The results of this study suggest that self-focused attention is a more dominant maintaining factor than attention bias, which may support the theory of Clark & Wells (1995). Brain functional abnormality in social anxiety individuals evident in social situations may correspond to dysfunctional hyperactivities induced by maladaptive psychological st...