Self-criticism and self-reassurance as mediators between mental health attitudes and symptoms: Attitudes toward mental health problems in Japanese workers

Japanese workers suffer high rates of mental health symptoms, recognised recently by the Japanese government, which has enacted workplace well-being initiatives. One reason for poor mental health concerns negative attitudes about mental health problems such as shame, which may be mediated by self-reassurance and self-criticism. This study aimed to evaluate shame-based attitudes toward mental health problems and explore the relationship between mental health attitudes, self-criticism, self-reassurance, and mental health symptoms. Japanese workers (n = 131) completed three measures: attitudes toward mental health problems, mental health symptoms, and self-criticism/reassurance. A high proportion of workers reported negative attitudes about mental health problems. There were strong relationships between mental health attitudes, mental health symptoms, self-criticism, and self-reassurance. Path analyses revealed that the total and indirect effects (through self-criticism and self-reassurance) of mental health attitudes on mental health were larger than the direct effect alone. Hated-self and family reflected shame were identified as predictors for mental health symptoms. The findings suggest the importance of self-criticism and self-reassurance in mental health and mental health attitudes. Implications for help-seeking behaviours also are discussed. Interventions aimed at reducing self-criticism and enhancing self-reassurance are recommended to improve mental health attitudes and increase help-seeking in Japanese workers.