The present study aimed to examine the relationship of the Japanese translation of the Profile of Mood States second edition (POMS 2®) to the first edition (POMS®). A combined POMS and POMS 2 questionnaire was administered to 248 healthy medical students aged 19 to 24 years. Complete responses were obtained from 186 students (75% response rate). In summary, the test results were:
1) Correlation coefficients between scores on six POMS subscales (i.e., Tension-Anxiety, Depression-Dejection, Anger-Hostility, Vigor-Activity, Fatigue-Inertia, and Confusion-Bewilderment) and those on the corresponding POMS 2 subscales were high for the full-length version (r = 0.996 or above, p < 0.001) as well as for the short version (r = 0.864 or above, p < 0.001). This suggests that POMS 2 and POMS are equivalent on these subscales.
2) Scores on the Friendliness subscale, newly established in POMS 2, were most strongly correlated with those on Vigor-Activity subscale of POMS for both the full and short versions (r = 0.407 and 0.779, respectively, p < 0.001). Friendliness reflects a positive mood as does Vigor-Activity.