PSYCHIATRY & PUBLIC HEALTH
MD, PhD, IFAPA
Psychiatrist and researcher in clinical psychiatry, psychiatric epidemiology and public health.
Zui C. Narita is a psychiatrist and researcher, and Chief of the Mental Function Research Section at the National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry (NCNP), Japan. He has held this position since 2022 and is board-certified in psychiatry.
His research spans clinical psychiatry and public health, with a focus on adolescent mental health, loneliness, suicide prevention, and the social and environmental determinants of mental health. He uses causal inference, longitudinal cohort studies, clinical trials, and meta-analysis to address questions relevant to prevention and clinical care.
He graduated from Kyoto University Faculty of Medicine, completed a master’s degree at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and undertook postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University and Stanford University. His clinical research has included early psychosis, neuromodulation, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
He was elected an International Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association in 2025, with the fellowship beginning in 2026. His publications include work in Nature Human Behaviour, JAMA Psychiatry, The Lancet Psychiatry, Molecular Psychiatry, and other journals.
Medical education
Medical degree, following secondary education at Nada Junior and Senior High School.
Clinical training
Clinical training with a focus on psychiatry, alongside experience in other medical specialties.
Clinical practice and research
Residency in psychiatry and clinical research; awarded a PhD in medicine before moving to the United States.
Public health
Master’s degree; Rotary Foundation scholar. Research on suicide epidemiology with Holly C. Wilcox.
Postdoctoral research
Clinical research in early psychosis with Akira Sawa.
Postdoctoral research
Clinical research in neuromodulation with Nolan R. Williams.
2022–present
Chief, Mental Function Research Section. Research includes clinical trials for PTSD and psychiatric epidemiology using large-scale data.
American Psychiatric Association — elected in 2025; fellowship from 2026.
Schizophrenia International Research Society — 2026.
Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH) — 2026.
Japanese Society of Schizophrenia — 2026.
Japanese Society of Schizophrenia — 2026.
Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (JSPN).
Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (JSPN).
Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (JSPN).
American Psychiatric Association — invited in 2019 as one of 50 selected young psychiatrists.
Selected in 2026 for the Japan Science and Technology Agency program “Molecular Mechanisms of Complex Environmental Exposures Shaping Present and Future Life [Exposome]”.
Society for Epidemiologic Research — 2026.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Nikkokyo Social Safety Research Foundation.
The Rotary Foundation.
Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO).
International Fellow.
Member.
ICD-11 Committee member.
Congress Organizing Committee member.
Member of the Epidemiology Education Promotion Working Group, Academic Committee.
Member of the Ethics Committee and the Clinical Trial Review Committee.
Member.
JAMA Psychiatry · 2025
Three key considerations for mediation analysis in psychiatric research: temporal plausibility, confounding beyond the exposure–outcome relationship, and exposure–mediator interaction.
Narita ZC*, Miyashita M, Furukawa TA, Nishida A. Key Considerations in Mediation Analysis for Psychiatric Research. JAMA Psychiatry. 2025;82(7):634–636. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.0566.
The Lancet Psychiatry · 2025
An examination of the misuse of prediction models in psychiatric research and approaches to appropriate causal inference.
Narita ZC*, Furukawa TA. Misuse of Prediction Models in Psychiatric Research. Lancet Psychiatry. 2025;12(1):6–7. doi:10.1016/S2215-0366(24)00352-3.
Nature Human Behaviour · 2026
Narita ZC*, Knowles G, Sawyer SM, Yamasaki S, Moreno-Agostino D, DeVylder J, Niimura J, Nakajima N, Yamaguchi S, Hosozawa M, Nakanishi M, Sawai Y, Nagaoka D, Sasaki R, Zhou R, Yamane N, Cosse J, Stanyon D, Goto H, Tanaka R, Uno A, Usami S, Ando S, Hiraiwa-Hasegawa M, Furukawa TA, Shinozaki T, Kasai K, Patel V, Nishida A, and the Bridging Divides Young Persons Advisory Group. Loneliness and desire for thinness explain sex differences in adolescent internalizing problems. Nat Hum Behav. 2026. doi:10.1038/s41562-026-02578-2.
BMJ Mental Health · 2026
Baba K, Narita ZC*, Yamasaki S, Shinozaki T, Niimura J, Nakajima N, Yamaguchi S, Knowles G, Devylder J, Ayaya S, Kumagaya S, Stanyon D, Oikawa N, Hosozawa M, Nakanishi M, Ando S, Kasai K, Miyashita M, Hiraiwa-Hasegawa M, Furukawa TA, Patel V, Sawyer SM, Nishida A. Effect of home visiting support on maternal psychosocial needs and postnatal depression: emulating a target trial. BMJ Ment Health. 2026;29:e302675.
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · 2026
Narita ZC*, DeVylder J, Knowles G, Yamasaki S, Miyashita M, Stanyon D, Yamaguchi S, Shinozaki T, Sasaki R, Zhou R, Ando S, Morgan C, Dazzan P, Furukawa TA, Kasai K, Kelleher I, Nishida A. Loneliness patterns across time and subsequent risk of psychotic experiences, depression, anxiety, and diminished well-being in adolescents. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2026;67(7):1095–1105. doi:10.1111/jcpp.70114.
Molecular Psychiatry · 2026
Miyashita M*, Narita ZC*, DeVylder J, Yamasaki S, Ando S, Toriumi K, Yamaguchi S, Nakanishi M, Hosozawa M, Koike S, Suzuki K, Baba K, Niimura J, Nakajima N, Anglin DM, Knowles G, Morgan C, Richards M, Hiraiwa-Hasegawa M, Furukawa TA, Kasai K, Nishida A, Arai M. Examining glycation as a mediator linking bullying to psychotic experience and depressive symptom in adolescents. Mol Psychiatry. 2026;31(7):3872–3879. doi:10.1038/s41380-026-03521-7.
Nature Human Behaviour · 2025
Narita ZC*, Knowles G, Yamasaki S, Kasai K, Nishida A. The silent crisis in girls' mental health. Nat Hum Behav. 2025;9(12):2409–2410. doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02322-2.
Communications Psychology · 2025
Narita ZC*, DeVylder J, Knowles G, Ando S, Yamasaki S, Miyashita M, Stanyon D, Yamaguchi S, Furukawa TA, Kasai K, Nishida A. Problematic online gaming mediates the association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity and subsequent mental health issues in adolescents. Commun Psychol. 2025;3:117. doi:10.1038/s44271-025-00296-5.
Schizophrenia Bulletin · 2024
Narita Z*, Ando S, Yamasaki S, Miyashita M, DeVylder J, Yamaguchi S, Hosozawa M, Nakanishi M, Hiraiwa-Hasegawa M, Furukawa TA, Kasai K, Nishida A. Association of Problematic Internet Use with Psychotic Experiences and Depression in Adolescents: A Cohort Study. Schizophr Bull. 2024 Dec 20;51(1):198–207. doi:10.1093/schbul/sbae089.
Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences · 2024
Narita Z*, Shinozaki T, Goto A, Hori H, Kim Y, Wilcox HC, Inoue M, Tsugane S, Sawada N. Time-varying living arrangements and suicide death in the general population sample: 14-year causal survival analysis via pooled logistic regression. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. 2024. 23;33:e30.
Clinical Nutrition · 2024
Narita Z, Hidese S, Kanehara R, Tachimori H, Hori H, Kim Y, Kunugi H, Arima K, Mizukami S, Tanno K, Takanashi N, Yamagishi K, Muraki I, Yasuda N, Saito I, Maruyama K, Yamaji T, Iwasaki M, Inoue M, Tsugane S, Sawada N. Association of sugary drinks, carbonated beverages, vegetable and fruit juices, sweetened and black coffee, and green tea with subsequent depression: a five-year cohort study. Clin Nutr. 2024;43(6):1395-1404.
Psychological Medicine · 2024
Narita Z*, DeVylder J, Yamasaki S, Ando S, Endo K, Miyashita M, Yamaguchi S, Usami S, Stanyon D, Knowles G, Hiraiwa-Hasegawa M, Furukawa TA, Nishida A. Uncovering associations between gender nonconformity, psychosocial factors, and mental health in adolescents: a birth cohort study. Psychol Med. 2024;54(5):921-930.
Translational Psychiatry · 2022
Narita Z, Nozaki S, Shikimoto R, Hori H, Kim Y, Mimura M, Tsugane S, Sawada N. Association between vegetable, fruit, and flavonoid-rich fruit consumption in midlife and major depressive disorder in later life: the JPHC Saku Mental Health Study. Transl Psychiatry. 2022;12;412.
Supervising translator
システマティック臨床精神医学 — 4つの多元的観点による治療体系化
Supervising translator: Zui Narita. Editorial supervision: Akira Sawa. Japanese edition published by Chugai-Igakusha, June 2024. ISBN 978-4-498-22960-0.
View on Amazon Japan
Contributing author
Tasman’s Psychiatry Fifth Edition.
Berlin: Springer. 2023.
Chapter 128: Medications for Anxiety Disorders
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Contributing author
Managing treatment-resistant depression Road to Novel Therapeutics.
Cambridge, Massachusetts: Academic Press Books-Elsevier. 2022.
Chapter 17: Transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment-resistant depression.
View on AmazonSelected for JST PRESTO in the Exposome research area.
Activity report (Japanese)Research on loneliness, desire for thinness, and sex differences in adolescent internalizing problems published in Nature Human Behaviour.
Read the paperInterviewed by NHK about worsening adolescent mental health.
Activity report (Japanese)Spoke at a Tokyo forum on the future of children, with Governor Yuriko Koike and other participants.
Activity report (Japanese)Spoke to Governor Yuriko Koike and Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials about mental health in a digital society.
Activity report (Japanese)Attended the American Psychiatric Association ceremony recognizing new International Fellows.
Activity report (Japanese)Spoke as a representative of Japan at the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists congress.
Activity report (Japanese)Launched Kokoro no Noise Cancelling, a JFN radio program sharing mental-health research with a general audience.
Radio and podcast (Japanese)Invited lecture at King’s College London on research methods and adolescent mental health.
Activity report (Japanese)Briefed the State Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare and members of Japan’s National Diet on mental health in Japan.
Activity report (Japanese)