Analyzing changes in help-seeking from mental and physical health professionals during COVID-19 in Japan

Japan witnessed the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in March - May 2020. We examined whether the impact of COVID-19 on people seeking help from mental and physical health professionals varied with changes in employment (from full-time employment to unemployment or leave of absence) and psychological predisposition to new-type depression (Interpersonal Sensitivity [IS]/Privileged Self [PS]) associated with the pandemic. An online survey was conducted in June 2020 (after the outbreak of COVID-19) among people who were full-time employees as of April 2019. Data from 1,053 individuals were analyzed. The survey asked about regular visits to health professionals one year prior to the survey (June 2019) and at the time of the survey. Employment status, personality traits, and demographic characteristics were also examined. We found that consultation rates changed little before and after the pandemic. Logistic regression analysis showed that after controlling for age and gender, being unemployed or absent from work after the pandemic and having higher scores for IS/PS were positively associated with regular visits to health professionals. Considering that COVID-19 has been shown to increase the incidence of physical and mental illness, the finding that the rate of consultations remained unchanged implies that consultations were withheld. Joblessness/absence from work and IS/PS had negative effects on physical and mental health, leading to fewer visits.

COVID-19 with stigma: New evidence from mobility data and "Go to Travel" campaign

The study modifies the stigma model for mobility behavior during COVID-19 by incorporating the impact of the Go to travel campaign. The basic stigma model suggests that people avoid going out due to a social stigma during a state of emergency. However, the study's extended model, using Go to travel campaign data, shows that the stigma effects are not dependent on policy and remain present but weaken in later stages. The evidence also suggests that the government's Go to travel campaign has a significant effect on increasing mobility behavior, countering the stigma effect caused by the emergency declaration. The analysis uses a panel data model with data on mobility, emergency declaration, Go to travel campaign, COVID-19 infection rates, and a weekend dummy control variable.

COVID-19, stigma, and habituation: evidence from mobility data

BACKGROUND

The Japanese government has restricted people's going-out behavior by declaring a non-punitive state of emergency several times under COVID-19. This study aims to analyze how multiple policy interventions that impose non-legally binding restrictions on behavior associate with people's going-out.

THEORY

This study models the stigma model of self-restraint behavior under the pandemic with habituation effects. The theoretical result indicates that the state of emergency's self-restraint effects weaken with the number of times.

METHODS

The empirical analysis examines the impact of emergency declarations on going-out behavior using a prefecture-level daily panel dataset. The dataset includes Google's going-out behavior data, the Japanese government's policy interventions based on emergency declarations, and covariates that affect going-out behavior, such as weather and holidays.

RESULTS

First, for multiple emergency declarations from the beginning of the pandemic to 2021, the negative association between emergency declarations and mobility was confirmed in a model that did not distinguish the number of emergency declarations. Second, in the model that considers the number of declarations, the negative association was found to decrease with the number of declarations.

CONCLUSION

These empirical analyses are consistent with the results of theoretical analyses, which show that the negative association between people's going-out behavior and emergency declarations decreases in magnitude as the number of declarations increases.

Self-restraint, subsidy, and stock market reactions to the coronavirus outbreak: Evidence from the Japanese restaurant industry

This study examined the stock market response of the Japanese restaurant industry to the announcement of the self-restraint request and subsidy for restaurants by the Japanese government during the coronavirus outbreak. Using the event study approach, it was found that the market reacted negatively to the self-restraint request and positively to the subsidy for restaurants. Following the announcement of the self-restraint request, investors in the restaurant industry responded positively to the government's stringent policy responses. Conversely, following the announcement on the "dining-out" subsidy, investors reacted negatively to the stringent government policies. Our findings provide useful information for policy makers and practitioners to mitigate losses in the hospitality industry during the pandemic.

Risk factors of hikikomori among office workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A prospective online survey

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has forced people to restrict their outings. In Japan, self-restraint behavior (SRB) has been requested by the government, and some of those decreasing their outings may shift to pathological social withdrawal; hikikomori. The purpose of this study was to examine the risk factors of hikikomori conducting an online prospective survey. An online survey was conducted in June 2020 and December 2020; (1) SRB-related indicators (degree of SRB, motivation for SRB, stigma and self-stigma toward COVID-19, anxiety and depressive feelings toward COVID-19) and (2) general mental health (hikikomori tendency, depressive symptoms, modern type depression (MTD) tendency, internet addiction) were collected. A cross-lagged effects model was performed to examine the association between these variables. Lack of emotional support and lack of socialization in June 2020 increased isolation in December 2020. Besides, MTD and hikikomori interacted with each other. Interestingly, although hikikomori tendency increased depressive tendencies, SRB itself did not have a significant path on any mental health-related variables. Poor interpersonal relationships, rather than SRB per se, are suggested to be a risk factor for increased isolation among office workers in the COVID-19 pandemic. Appropriate early interventions such as interpersonal or emotional support may prevent the transition to pathological hikikomori. The association between MTD and hikikomori seems to reveal the interesting possibility that MTD is a gateway to increased risk of hikikomori, and that hikikomori is a gateway to MTD as well. Future research is required to elucidate the relationship between hikikomori and MTD.