Masaya Ito

Masaya Ito
National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry · National Center for Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Research

Ph.D.

About

86
Publications
48,799
Reads
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2,360
Citations
Introduction
Masaya Ito currently works at the National Center for Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Research, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry. Masaya does research in Behavioural Science, Clinical Psychology and Emotion. Their most recent publication is 'Positive emotion in distress as a potentially effective emotion regulation strategy for depression: A preliminary investigation'.
Additional affiliations
April 2012 - present
National Center for Cognitive-Behavior Therapy and Research, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Japan
Position
  • National Center for Cognitive-Behavior Therapy and Research
April 2008 - March 2009
National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry
April 2003 - March 2007
University of Tsukuba

Publications

Publications (86)
Article
Importance Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) is an evidence-based treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there is little evidence on the efficacy of CPT in East Asia. Objective To evaluate whether CPT is effective in treating PTSD among outpatients in a Japanese medical setting. Design, Setting, and Participants This random...
Article
Full-text available
Background Attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, including executive function, emotional regulation, and motivation, can persist into adulthood and are often associated with mental illnesses. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may help ADHD adults in Japan, but the lack of studies and the variability in group CBT approaches make...
Article
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The aim of this scoping review was to synthesize published studies and ongoing clinical trials of psychological interventions for mental health problems associated with COVID‐19 infection. The study protocol was developed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) Extension for Scoping Reviews. We c...
Preprint
BACKGROUND ince the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the prevalence of mental health disorders among children in Japan has increased rapidly, and mental healthcare for children is an increasingly important part of pediatric healthcare delivery. We previously developed a smartphone-based self-monitoring application to deliver cognitive behavioral...
Preprint
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Background: Many individuals who engage in mindfulness techniques experience decreased anxiety. Yet some who engage in mindfulness, particularly those with panic disorder (PD) or elevated anxiety sensitivity (AS) note heightened anxiety when focusing on particular sensations. The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) is the most widely utiliz...
Preprint
The psychological network approach, which conceptualizes mental disorders as complex systems and provides a statistical toolbox to estimate symptom networks, has evoked innovations in psychopathology research. This perspective paper discusses how to implement this approach in real-world clinical settings, emphasizing that clinical scientists should...
Article
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Grief reactions to the bereavement of a close individual could involve empathy for pain, which is fundamental to social interaction. To explore whether grief symptoms interact with social relatedness to a person to whom one directs empathy to modulate the expression of empathy, we administered an empathy task to 28 bereaved adults during functional...
Article
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Background As a mental health issue, suicide is a growing global concern, with patients who have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) being at particularly high risk. This study aimed to investigate whether the link between PTSD and suicidal ideation is mediated by trauma-related guilt. Methods Data were obtained from Wave 1, Time 1 (November 201...
Article
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Introduction: Mental health symptoms such as depression, anxiety and sleep problems are commonly observed in individuals suffering from acute COVID-19 infection to post-COVID-19 syndrome. Studies have provided preliminary evidence for the efficacies of cognitive behavioural therapy, mindfulness-based interventions, acceptance and commitment therap...
Article
Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) is one of the most widely tested evidence‐based treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, most studies on CPT have been conducted in Western cultural settings. This open‐label, single‐arm trial investigated the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of CPT for treating Japanese pa...
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Objective Several prognostic models of suicide risk have been published; however, few have been implemented in Japan using longitudinal cohort data. The aim of this study was to identify suicide risk factors for suicidal ideation in the Japanese population and to develop a machine-learning model to predict suicide risk in Japan. Materials and Meth...
Presentation
本研究では国内における成人期ADHDへの認知行動療法の実践状況に関する実態を把握し、提供可能な形式を探索的に調査した。 国内で現在行われているプログラム内容から共通因子を見出し、普及のための実施可能な実施形態やノウハウを見出した。
Article
Affective styles are assumed to play an important role in maintaining negative affect, including anxiety and depression. However, little is known about the longitudinal relationship between affective styles and symptoms. Therefore, we conducted a longitudinal study to examine the influence of affective styles, assessed using the Affective Style Que...
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Background The efficacy of the unified protocol of the transdiagnostic treatment for emotional disorders (UP) has been poorly studied in patients with depressive disorders. This study aimed to examine the efficacy of UP for improving depressive symptoms in patients with depressive and/or anxiety-related disorders. Methods This assessor-blinded, ra...
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Objective: The association between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicidal ideation (SI) is well-known. However, a few studies have investigated the associations between PTSD symptom clusters based on the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and changes in suicide risk longitudinally. Methods...
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(1) Background: The efficacy of the Unified Protocol (UP), a transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral therapy, with trauma-focused exposure has not been sufficiently demonstrated for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with multiple comorbidities. This study examined the effects of UP treatment with trauma-focused exposure on symptoms of PTSD and com...
Article
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At present, there is no established cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for treating emotional disorders in Japanese children. Therefore, we introduced the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Children (UP-C) in Japan and adapted it to the Japanese context. We then examined its feasibility and preliminary efficacy...
Preprint
BACKGROUND Adolescent health promotion is important in prevent risk behaviors and improve mental health. Health promotion in adolescence has been shown to contribute to the prevention of later onset of the mental health disease. However, scalable interventions have not yet been established. OBJECTIVE This study was designed to test the efficacy of...
Article
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Background: Adolescent health promotion is important in preventing risk behaviors and improving mental health. Health promotion during adolescence has been shown to contribute to the prevention of late onset of the mental health disease. However, scalable interventions have not been established yet. Objective: This study was designed to test the...
Article
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Patients with mental disorders often suffer from comorbidity. Transdiagnostic understandings of mental disorders are expected to provide more accurate and detailed descriptions of psychopathology and be helpful in developing efficient treatments. Although conventional clustering techniques, such as latent profile analysis, are useful for the taxono...
Article
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This commentary discussed the psychological issues related to bereavement in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we addressed two aspects in the context of Japanese culture. The first relates to the psychological distress of members of the bereaved family who could not visit their loved ones who had COVID-19 before or after their death...
Preprint
Although many individuals who engage in mindfulness endorse less anxiety, others experience heightened anxiety when focusing on particular sensations. This study aimed to determine whether specific mindfulness items related to observing internally or externally differ in individuals with panic disorder (PD) or elevated anxiety sensitivity (AS). We...
Article
Full-text available
Background: The diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) differ between DSM-5 and ICD-11, which may affect the estimation of prevalence. Objective: To investigate the concordance of ICD-11 and DSM-5, as compared to ICD-10 and DSM-IV, regarding PTSD caseness among Japanese people who had experienced different potentially traumati...
Article
Objective: No prior studies have used a single sample of bereaved families of cancer patients to compare multiple scales for assessing Complicated Grief. Here, we compare the two measures. Methods: We sent a questionnaire to the bereaved families of cancer patients who had died at 71 palliative care units nationwide. Results: The analysis incl...
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Purpose Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are prescribed to treat psychiatric diseases. However, many guidelines recommend limiting the use of BZDs because of side effects and lack of evidence regarding long-term efficacy. Moreover, reducing BZDs’ use is difficult because of dependency and the severity of withdrawal symptoms. The efficacy of cognitive behavio...
Article
Background Emotion regulation (ER) is associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). However, most findings are from cross-sectional studies and are hence unable to clarify whether deficits in ER longitudinally contribute to the worsening and maintenance of PTSS. In addition, no studies consider the process of how ER affects PTSS. To further...
Article
Background Expressive suppression (ES) of emotion is considered a moderator that reduces the efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT); however, whether and how ES moderates the efficacy of the unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders (UP), a version of CBT targeting aversive/avoidant responses to emotions, includ...
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This paper discusses how positive emotions can help maintain and improve mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak, taking into account examples of social interaction and positive psychology research efforts in Japanese context. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Article
Background While posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) are categorized into four clusters, emerging studies suggest the disorder is best characterized by seven symptom clusters: re-experiencing, avoidance, negative affect, anhedonia, externalizing behaviors,...
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Behavioral activation and mindfulness have both been shown to engender improvement of functional impairment in patients with major depressive disorder. In behavioral activation, the practice of engaging with the direct experience of the present moment is central, especially when targeting avoidance. Consequently, mindfulness affects changes of avoi...
Article
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Purpose We developed a Japanese version of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ-CA) and examined its reliability and validity across three studies. Patients and Methods In Study 1, the Japanese version of ERQ-CA was developed and administered to 389 children aged 8–12 years. In Study 2, the questionnaire was admin...
Article
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Importance Recent conceptualizations in Research Domain Criteria have indicated that anhedonia, 1 of 2 core symptoms of depression, which can be treatment resistant, is associated with deficits in the positive valence system, and inaudible high-frequency sound therapy has been shown to enhance reward-related brain circuitry. Hence, cognitive behavi...
Article
Objectives: About 10% of those who lose a loved one in hospice or palliative care settings will experience a mental health condition characterized by severe, prolonged grief responses. Criteria for this condition have evolved; we refer to this condition as Complicated Grief (CG) because it is one of the more common names. While there are some indic...
Article
Background The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist (PCL) is a widely used self-report measure of PTSD. The reliability/precision and validity of the updated PCL version for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (PCL-5) have only been evaluated in limited populations. This study aimed to examine t...
Article
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The 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) is commonly used to monitor anxiety symptoms. However, its factor structure has been inconsistent among competing models: unidimensional, two-dimensional, or higher order models. Additionally, it is unknown whether the scale has measurement invariance between populations with and without self-re...
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The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) is commonly used to screen for depressive disorder and for monitoring depressive symptoms. However, there are mixed findings regarding its factor structure (i.e., whether it has a unidimensional, two-dimensional, or bi-factor structure). Furthermore, its measurement invariance between non-clinical and clin...
Article
Objectives: Emotion regulation utilizing positive emotion during negative emotional states might be one of the effective ways to alleviate depression and anxiety problems among people with emotional disorders. This study examined the psychometric properties and incremental validity of the Positive Emotion In Distress Scale (PEIDS), a newly develop...
Article
Anxiety and depression are comorbid conditions with significant functional impairment. This study examines the temporal changes in the network structure of the functional impairment associated with anxiety and depression. A clinical sample (n = 1,667) of individuals from Japan completed a battery of self-report instruments to assess the degree and...
Chapter
Growing evidence supports the importance of culturally adapting evidence-based interventions to increase their effectiveness and prevent treatment dropout. This chapter discusses several strategies for tailoring treatment to culturally diverse individuals and summarizes two cultural adaptations of the Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatm...
Article
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Introduction Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) is widely regarded as a safe and effective first-line treatment for individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, no comparative studies have been conducted to examine the treatment outcomes in an Asian population. The aim of the present trial is to investigate the efficacy of CPT (...
Article
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Aims: This study investigated the efficacy of structured writing on reducing self-harm ideations and enhancing emotion regulation. Methods: Japanese university students (N=22) participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to the structured writing group (n=10; 70% female), or an assessment only control group (n=12; 67% female)....
Article
Background: The Emotion Regulation Skills Questionnaire (ERSQ) comprehensively assesses nine aspects of emotion regulation skills: awareness, clarity, sensation, understanding, compassionate self-support, modification, acceptance, tolerance, and readiness to confront. However, it is unknown about the levels of emotion regulation skills in various...
Article
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Objectives This study evaluated the feasibility of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for Japanese Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients with depression. To increase cultural acceptability, we developed the CBT program using manga, a type of Japanese comic novel. Methods Participants included 19 non-demented PD patients who had depressive symptoms (GR...
Article
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Unified protocol (UP) is a transdiagnostic cognitive behavior therapy for emotional disorders. It remains unknown whether UP is applicable for use in non-Western countries and for depressive disorders. We therefore examined its feasibility for a Japanese clinical population using this clinical trial design, which is multicentered, open-labeled, and...
Article
Full-text available
Background The unified protocol for the transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders is a promising treatment approach that could be applicable to a broad range of mental disorders, including depressive, anxiety, trauma-related, and obsessive-compulsive disorders. However, no randomized controlled trial has been conducted to verify the efficacy...
Article
Full-text available
Background: The Overall Depression Severity and Impairment Scale (ODSIS) is a brief, five-item measure for assessing the frequency and intensity of depressive symptoms, as well as functional impairments in pleasurable activities, work or school, and interpersonal relationships due to depression. Although this scale is expected to be useful in vari...
Article
Full-text available
Background Affective styles are assumed to be one of the underlying processes of depression and anxiety maintenance. However, little is known about the effect of depression and anxiety and the cultural influence of the factor structure. Here, we examined the cross-cultural validity of the Affective Style Questionnaire and its incremental validity f...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Little is known about the association between quality of end-of-life care of a patient and complicated grief among bereaved family members. Objective: This study aims to examine the impact of quality of end-of-life care on complicated grief among bereaved family members in a Japanese general population sample. Methods: A mail-based...
Article
Sources of self-esteem (SSS) among Japanese university students were investigated and a scale to assess contingency and contentment of SSS was developed. Japanese university students (N=923) participated in a questionnaire survey. In Study 1, which consisted of a free-description survey, 17 sources of self-esteem were identified and arranged into a...
Article
Although scales specific to resilience are available and widely used, qualities of resilience could be culturally sensitive. This study aimed to develop a concise scale of resilience for Japanese populations, and compare its validity to that of the Resilience Scale 14-item version (RS-14), one of the most widely used scales for measuring resilience...
Article
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Violent death, such as homicide, accident, and suicide, is sudden, unexpected, and caused by intentional power, The prevalence of complicated grief among those bereaved by violent death is 12.5% to 78.0%. The factors affecting this prevalence rate are considered to be comorbid mental disorders, lack of readiness for the death, difficulty in making...
Article
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Complicated grief, which is often under-recognized and under-treated, can lead to substantial impairment in functioning. The Brief Grief Questionnaire (BGQ) is a 5-item self-report or interview instrument for screening complicated grief. Although investigations with help-seeking samples suggest that the BGQ is valid and reliable, it has not been va...
Data
English version of Brief Grief Questionnaire. (TIFF)
Data
Japanese version of Brief Grief Questionnaire. (TIFF)
Article
The present research investigated whether the relationship between alexithymia and complicated grief was different from the relationship between alexithymia and general depressive symptom according to the seriousness of complicated grief in the Japanese general population. In the Japanese general population sample, 948 participants between 40 and 7...
Article
The authors responded to criticisms raised recently by Giannini (2010) of the authors' 2009 study in which cross-age differences were examined in the sense of authenticity. Comments address three aspects of the criticism, interpretation of the results, and misunderstanding of the method used as well as the concepts. In particular, future research l...
Article
Bereavement is a severe stressor that typically incites painful and debilitating symptoms of acute grief that commonly progresses to restoration of a satisfactory, if changed, life. Normally, grief does not need clinical intervention. However, sometimes acute grief can gain a foothold and become a chronic debilitating condition called complicated g...
Article
Previous research and theory (Crocker & Wolfe, 2001; Kernis, 2003) suggests that adaptive self-esteem stems from just being oneself, and is characterized by a sense of authenticity (SOA). Maladaptive self-esteem is derived from meeting external standards and social comparisons, and is characterized by a sense of superiority (SOS). Thus, the qualita...
Article
Bereavement is a severe stressor that typically incites painful and debilitating symptoms of acute grief that commonly progresses to restoration of a satisfactory, if changed, life. Normally, grief does not need clinical intervention. However, sometimes acute grief can gain a foothold and become a chronic debilitating condition called complicated g...
Article
Few epidemiological studies have examined complicated grief in the general population, especially in Asian countries. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the prevalence and predictors of complicated grief among community dwelling individuals in Japan. A questionnaire survey regarding grief and related issues was conducted on community dwelling i...
Article
This study examined age differences on the sense of authenticity and its relation with mental health measured on the General Health Questionnaire. Participants were 963 Japanese (M age = 51.5 yr., SD = 19.5). Scores on the Sense of Authenticity Scale increased across age cohorts. Correlations of -.45 to -.75 were observed between the sense of authe...
Article
This study investigated the relation of important subjective life experiences with sense of authenticity for 238 Japanese university students who responded to the Sense of Authenticity Scale and provided free descriptions regarding their important life experiences. Analyses suggested a group with high scores on the Sense of Authenticity Scale tende...
Article
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of sense of authenticity (SOA) and contingent self-esteem (CSE) in college athletes' self-development on their mental health. University students (n =241) answered the sense of authenticity scale (SOAS) and the contingent self-esteem scale (CSES) administered as indicators of self-development, an...
Article
This study examined the relationship between the sense of authenticity and affectivity, which is under the control of the cultural construal of the self. Japanese university students (N=287) rated themselves on the Sense of Authenticity Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and the Scale for Independent and Interdependent Construal of t...
Article
The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of sense of authenticity, global self- esteem, and contingent self-esteem on intentional self-development (autonomy, self-cultivating motivation, and self-improvement motivation). University students (N = 220) answered a questionnaire. Using back-translation, a Japanese version of the Conti...
Article
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships of a sense of authenticity with various kinds of daily life activities and interpersonal relationships. Two hundred seventy-nine Japanese university students completed the Sense of Authenticity (SOA) Scale, Daily Life Activity Inventory for university student, and Interpersonal Relation...
Article
Full-text available
Sense of authenticity (SOA) refers to one's sense of being true to one's core self. The purposes of the present study were to develop a Sense of Authenticity Scale (SOAS) and to investigate the effect of sense of authenticity on subjective and psychological well-being. The items for the Scale were developed in a pilot study. Undergraduate students...
Article
Full-text available
The validity and the reliability of the Sense of Authenticity Scale (SOAS), as well as the effects of the sense of authenticity on the stress-response and on stress-coping were examined. Jap