Effects of a short-stay vacation on the mental health of Japanese employees

ABSTRACT

Many studies have focused on the effects of tourism on mental health. This study revealed that short-stay vacations at mental health rejuvenation facilities could reduce Japanese employees’ stress levels. We conducted two studies with two groups of participants (N = 34 and 26, respectively), in order to obtain both objective and subjective evaluations. The results suggested that taking a short-stay vacation at a mental health rejuvenation facility was effective for helping employees to maintain good mental health, and that stress reduction was particularly evident in the highly stressed group. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed with a view to providing suggestions for addressing work-related stress in Japanese employees.

KEYWORDS:

• Short-stay vacation
• mental health
• stress
• mental health tourism
• heart rate variability

Acknowledgments

We thank Mr K. Itao and Mr. M. Komazawa for their technical assistance with use of the measurement device. We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.jp) for English language editing.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI [grant number 26283017].