{
  "abstract": "Background/objectives\n\nMental-health research often represents chronological age as a threshold or adjustment variable, although psychosocial associations may vary across adulthood. We tested whether continuous age modified the association between a context-specific single-item indicator of diminished ikigai and psychological distress in two Japanese communities with long-term disaster consequences. The ikigai indicators differed by context and were not treated as equivalent multidimensional measures.Methods\n\nSecondary cross-sectional analyses used Miyakejima 2020/21 (N = 158; complete-case n = 147) and Okuma 2024 (N = 134; 111 valid 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) classifications; complete-case n = 110). Age-by-ikigai interactions were primary; fixed <65/≥65 analyses and robustness checks were secondary or exploratory.Results\n\nIn Miyakejima, the estimated interaction odds ratio (OR) was 2.00 per 10 years (95% confidence interval [CI] [1.03, 3.91], p = 0.042; likelihood-ratio p = 0.029), with substantial uncertainty at age extremes; the threshold interaction was unsupported. In Okuma, low/absent ikigai was associated with GHQ-28 high-risk status (OR = 12.94, 95% CI [4.96, 33.8], p < 0.001), while age modification was not detected (interaction OR = 0.88, 95% CI [0.44, 1.76], p = 0.711). The historical Miyakejima reanalysis also did not provide detectable evidence of corresponding modification.Conclusions\n\nWithin these context-specific samples, continuous-age modelling yielded preliminary evidence of heterogeneity in Miyakejima not captured by a 65-year threshold. Larger longitudinal studies should evaluate this signal's precision and transferability.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Faculty of Language Studies, Teikyo University, 359 Otsuka, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-0395, Japan.",
    "School of Marine Technology, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, 2-1-6 Etchujima, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-8533, Japan."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Tetsushi Omori",
      "orcid": "0009-0001-8933-0676"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Michiko Iwai",
      "orcid": "0009-0002-2279-0990"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/72p9r2wzs7zcs.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/diseases14100364",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13703247",
  "id": "72p9r2wzs7zcs",
  "issns": [
    "2079-9721"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42929991",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "3207|Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7216477481",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13703247?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13703247",
  "pmid": "42929991",
  "published": "2026-10-02",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/72p9r2wzs7zcs.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:22:01Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42929991",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42929991"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "journal-openalex:F27",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Testing Continuous Age as an Effect Modifier of the Association Between Diminished Ikigai and Psychological Distress in Two Long-Term Disaster Contexts in Japan.",
  "title_text": "Testing Continuous Age as an Effect Modifier of the Association Between Diminished Ikigai and Psychological Distress in Two Long-Term Disaster Contexts in Japan.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:22:01Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/72p9r2wzs7zcs",
  "venue": "Diseases (Basel, Switzerland)",
  "versions": []
}