Ryoichiro Iwanaga

Background: In clinical settings, clinicians’ context-specific trust in AI is associated with individual factors. This is particularly relevant in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) screening, where diagnostic criteria are complex, heterogeneous, and inherently uncertain. Although some AI systems demonstrate high sensitivity, clinicians are not always convinced of their utility. Therefore, examining potential biases in context-specific trust and achieving well-calibrated trust are critical. Objective: This study aimed to examine the individual factors associated with professionals’ context-specific trust in AI-assisted ASD screening systems. Methods: Fifty-five professionals involved in ASD assessment participated in the study. We used an AI-based ASD screening method based on a geometric shape-drawing task that assesses children’s motor function and has demonstrated high sensitivity for identifying children with ASD. Expert clinicians selected 2 ambiguous screening scenarios for evaluation. Participants made independent judgments while considering the AI output and rated their context-specific trust in each decision on a 7-point Likert scale. A linear mixed model (LMM) examined the associations between context-specific trust in AI decisions and participant characteristics while accounting for the nested data structure. Results: LMM analysis revealed significant between-participant variability in context-specific trust. Years of professional experience ( t _46.3 =−2.20; P =.03) and the length of education required to obtain professional credentials ( t _47.6 =−2.67; P =.01) were significantly and negatively associated with context-specific trust in AI-based screening. Dispositional trust in AI was significantly and positively associated with context-specific trust ( t _46.1 =2.78; P =.008). Confidence in participants’ own assessments was significantly and positively associated with context-specific trust ( t _91.0 =5.67; P <.001). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that more experienced clinicians tend to exhibit greater skepticism toward AI, consistent with observations in other medical fields such as oncology. To support the effective integration of AI into clinical practice, professional education should include training on AI principles and strategies for appropriate human-AI collaboration. Future studies with larger and more diverse samples, multimodal assessment approaches, and real-world clinical settings are needed to validate these findings and inform the implementation of AI-assisted ASD screening.

Assessing motor imagery (MI) vividness for specific tasks is essential for effective MI training; however, no task-specific method is available for children. This study examined the usefulness of the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for assessing MI vividness in children. Thirty-three right-handed typically developing children participated in two sessions meant to assess VAS convergent validity and responsiveness. To assess convergent validity, a shirt-donning task was assigned, and Pearson’s correlation was used to test the relationship between mental chronometry and VAS scores during imagined performance. For responsiveness, pre- and post-training changes in VAS scores during the ball rotation task (BRT) were examined using paired t -tests. A significant correlation was found between mental chronometry and VAS scores for shirt donning ( r = −.518, p = .002). Post-training, BRT performance improved, and VAS scores increased significantly ( p < .001). These findings provide preliminary evidence of the potential usefulness of the VAS for assessing task-specific MI vividness in children.

Objective: Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a neurodevelopmental condition marked by impaired motor coordination despite the absence of an underlying neurological condition affecting movement (e.g., cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, and degenerative disorder). Motor imagery training (MIT) has recently gained attention as a rehabilitation approach for children with DCD. Effective implementation of MIT requires accurate assessment of motor imagery (MI) abilities; however, no comprehensive evaluation tool for children exists in Japan. This study is aimed at developing a Japanese version of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire for Children (MIQ‐C) and examining its reliability and responsiveness. Methods: Thirty‐three children (18 males and 15 females; mean age 10 ± 0.9 years) participated. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach′s alpha. Test–retest and interrater reliability were examined using intraclass correlation coefficients. Responsiveness was evaluated by examining changes in MIQ‐C scores before and after training tasks. Results: The Japanese version of the MIQ‐C demonstrated strong internal consistency (Cronbach′s α = 0.82). Test–retest and interrater reliability showed moderate to strong agreement. No significant changes were observed in response to specific tasks, supporting appropriate responsiveness. Conclusions: The Japanese version of the MIQ‐C is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing MI abilities in Japanese children, providing a useful tool to support the implementation of MIT in clinical and educational settings.

Introduction: Motor imagery training (MIT) has gained attention as an occupational therapy tool for children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Although MIT has shown some effectiveness in children with DCD, intervention methods for DCD can still be improved. Further, occupational therapists should update their knowledge of motor imagery (MI) and MIT for children with DCD and understand their application. Objective: The objective of this study is to survey the existing evidence on MI and MIT in children with DCD and comprehensively identify what is known and the problems that have been identified. Methods: We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta‐Analyses extension for Scoping Review and American Occupational Therapy Association guidelines for data collection and quality assessment. We searched for articles that included the words “developmental coordination disorder” and “motor imagery, motor imagery training (mental practice).” We searched the PubMed, Scopus, Medline, and the Cochrane Library databases; the search end date was March 12, 2024. Findings: In total, 30 articles, including seven clinical studies and 23 fundamental studies, were eligible for this review. We surveyed (1) methods for assessing MI ability or clarity in children with DCD, (2) what is known about MI in children with DCD, and (3) the methodology of MIT for children with DCD. Conclusion: Children with DCD have reduced MI ability compared to that had by typically developing children. Thus, MIT is recommended as a means of reducing the behavioral consequences of internal modeling deficits in children with DCD. On the other hand, information on the methodology used in MIT for children with DCD is inadequate, and no clear intervention measures have been proposed. In the future, it is important to clarify the amount of load when performing MIT and clarify the combination with other programs through more advanced research methods.

Participation is important for children’s quality of life (QOL). This study aimed to identify participation factors that influence QOL among Japanese children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Ninety-two Japanese parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders participated in this study. The parents completed the parent version of the Kid- and Kiddo-KINDL health-related QOL questionnaire and the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth. The data were examined using the random forest algorithm to analyze the participation factors that affected the children’s QOL. The analyses revealed that school and community environmental factors that affected participation were the most important predictors of QOL among children. As school and community environments can significantly impact the QOL of children with neurodevelopmental disorders, greater focus should be placed on participation in environmental contexts.

Strategies are critical to promote child participation in important life activities. This study analyzed the participation strategies of the parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Ninety-two Japanese elementary children with neurodevelopmental disorders and their parents were recruited. The parents completed the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY) questionnaire. Strategy text data obtained from the PEM-CY were analyzed with the co-occurrence network and correspondence analyses. The co-occurrence network analysis showed that the commonality of strategies to enable participation at home, school, and community settings was able to explain the child’s characteristics when involved in each setting. The correspondence analysis also suggested the need for specific strategies in each setting. The importance of strategies to improve the attitudinal environment and promote the participation of children with neurodevelopmental disorders was evident. Reducing stigma is important in all environments, especially in the public sphere. In addition, specific strategies are needed in each setting, suggesting the importance of context-specific approaches.

Challenging behavior (CB), the most common example being extreme self-injurious or aggressive/destructive behavior, is often observed as a major behavior issue in individuals with severe intellectual disabilities. This study investigated how CB changed among residents of a facility for people with disabilities before and after it was restructured from a traditional format single room shared by two to three individuals with approximately 20 residents lived together to a format featuring private areas with two rooms per resident and a unitcare system. Twenty-one residents of Care Home A, which was rebuilt in the new care format, were selected. Care staff completed a questionnaire one month before, one month after, and six months after residents moved to the new facility. Scores were compared among each time point. The results revealed significant reductions in residents’ aggressive, stereotyped, and targeted behaviors, such as hitting their own head and fecal smearing. The major features of the restructured facility were a living space consisting of two private rooms per resident and a shift to unit care for the entire ward. These new features enabled residents to reduce destructive stimuli and made it easier to understand what to do in each private room.

This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the effects of being swayed in a sway bed on children with severe motor and intellectual difficulties by examining potential differences in their autonomic and emotional responses, as well as their muscle hardness, and by comparing them with “a control condition without any stimulation”. Children’s heart rate variability, rectus femoris hardness, and passive hip abduction range of motion (ROM) were measured in two experimental conditions, differentiated by the presence of a 5-min sway stimulus. In each condition, the children’s faces were video-recorded and retrospectively rated subjectively by their homeroom teacher concerning the visible expression of eight emotions. Significant intervention-related effects were observed on the heart rate variability and the “Relax” item of the emotional response indicators but not on muscle hardness or hip ROM. Our findings provide evidence that using a motorized sway bed can promote relaxation in children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities by influencing their autonomic response.

Burnout among kindergarten teachers is a subject of great concern. Although burnout is reported to be significantly associated with turnover intention and work engagement, few studies have examined factors associated with burnout among these teachers. Therefore, in the present study, we performed a cross-sectional survey of burnout and associated factors among kindergarten teachers. We distributed 3363 questionnaires to all 205 authorized kindergartens and childcare institutions in Nagasaki Prefecture and received 1086 responses (response rate: 32.3%). The participants were limited to full-time female class teachers. After excluding survey forms with incomplete content, we ultimately examined valid responses from 442 participants. The survey examined burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory, MBI), teacher stress (Nursery Teacher’s Stress Scale, NTSS), coping behaviors (Brief Scales for Coping Profile, BSCP), and social support (Social Support Scale, SSS). A multiple regression analysis revealed that all 3 MBI subscales were positively associated with “understanding of how to handle children” on the NTSS and negatively associated with “superiors” on the SSS. “Emotional exhaustion” was significantly associated with “interpersonal relations at work” and “lack of time” on the NTSS, and “avoidance and suppression” on the BSCP. “Depersonalization” was significantly associated with age, “disconnect in working conditions” on the NTSS, and “proactive problem solving” and “venting emotions to others” on the BSCP. “Diminished professional accomplishment” was significantly associated with age, “lack of time” on the NTSS, and “proactive problem solving” and “change in perspective” on the BSCP. These results suggest that support from superiors that enables teachers to better understand children and handle them appropriately is necessary to prevent burnout.