Testing Continuous Age as an Effect Modifier of the Association Between Diminished Ikigai and Psychological Distress in Two Long-Term Disaster Contexts in Japan.
- 1Faculty of Language Studies, Teikyo University, 359 Otsuka, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-0395, Japan.
- 2School of Marine Technology, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, 2-1-6 Etchujima, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-8533, Japan.
Abstract
Background/objectives
Mental-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
Secondary 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
In 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
Within 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.
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BibTeX
@article{omori2026testing,
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.}},
author = {Tetsushi Omori and Michiko Iwai},
journal = {Diseases (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/diseases14100364},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42929991},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Testing Continuous Age as an Effect Modifier of the Association Between Diminished Ikigai and Psychological Distress in Two Long-Term Disaster Contexts in Japan.
AU - Tetsushi Omori
AU - Michiko Iwai
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/02
JO - Diseases (Basel, Switzerland)
DO - 10.3390/diseases14100364
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42929991
AB - Background/objectives Mental-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 Secondary 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 In 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 Within 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.
SN - 2079-9721
ER -