[Problem and Purpose] PTG (Posttraumatic Growth) [REMARK #1] expresses the idea that people can grow from painful experiences such as trauma. This study surveyed the reality of PTG among young students from the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster area, and aimed to find suggestions from the perspective of PTG for teacher support for these young students by investigating the relationship between young students’ PTG and resilience, self-esteem, and social support based on a hypothetical model.

[Methods] An anonymous, self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted from January to February 2014, targeting fourth through sixth graders from four elementary schools and seventh through ninth graders from three middle schools, for a total of 1,387 students from Prefectures A and B, which suffered great damage from the tsunami of the Great East Japan Earthquake. The questionnaire was composed of a children’s version of the PTG scale, a resilience scale, a self-esteem scale, and a social support scale.

[Results] Factor analysis of each scale and the average scores of each item on the PTG scale showed differences by gender and type of school for the average values on each subscale and differences by grade level on the average scores of the PTG scale. Additionally, the hypothesis model on the relationship between PTG and resilience, self-esteem, and social support was supported by covariance structure analysis.

[Discussion] The cultural and religious context of Japan, as well as the effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake can be inferred from the average scores of the PTG scale. The change in PTG scores through grade-level progression shows a trend similar to that of Japanese children’s self-esteem; the fact that PTG scores, which drop as grade levels increase, actually rise in ninth grade points to the importance of conveying to children the possibilities and hopes for the future. Additionally, covariance structure analysis results suggested that it will be important to comprehensively nurture resilience, self-esteem, and social support in children, and that self-esteem will become a fundamental basis for supporting PTG.

Recently, the number of school counselors dispatched to elementary schools is rising, and there is a great variety of support being sought. For offering such support, techniques for smoothly building relationships with elementary school students [REMARK#1] are needed. This study aimed to investigate techniques for reciprocal communication and relationship building [REMARK#2] with elementary school students using the reciprocal division-and-coloring method, taking cases involving students using the reciprocal division-and-coloring method as one such technique.

As school counselors, the authors of this study presented four cases involving the use of the reciprocal division-and-coloring method during intake interviews with elementary school students, and examined the effectiveness of this technique based on their involvement with the students and the completed artwork from that time.

Results showed that in order to promote smooth reciprocal communication and build positive relationships, it is helpful to use the reciprocal division-and-coloring method with young students who display a strong objection to teachers and school counselors, who are unable to relate properly to other children, and who have difficulty with verbal expression.

[Problem and Purpose] Specific support for students with developmental disabilities or students who have not been diagnosed but have developmental disability tendencies is a serious issue in the regular classroom. While there has been many studies on teachers’ efforts,¹⁾ the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology indicates the possibility that teachers do not have an adequate understanding of instructional methods for these children and students.²⁾ This study aimed to clarify the differences between teachers’ understandings and the self-cognition of students with developmental disability characteristics, regardless of whether they have been diagnosed.

This study is comprised of study 1 “In regards to self-cognition characteristics, for students with developmental disability tendencies, why are there problems that they are easily aware of and problems that they have difficulty being aware of ?” and study 2 “The inner problems of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) tendencies that are difficult for teachers to notice.”³⁾ It is possible that teachers have difficulty understanding these matters, and they are important for being able to deeply understand students with developmental disability tendencies.

[Methods] The targets were high school students enrolled in regular classes and their homeroom teachers. In study 1, a questionnaire survey was conducted targeting 250 high school students and 7 teachers. In study 2, a questionnaire survey was conducted targeting 651 high school students and 16 teachers. Tests were performed to find the differences in average values for the results of each survey.

[Results] In study 1, between the group with developmental disability tendencies and the group without, differences were found in the items that the person found difficult and items that other people found difficult, but the person did not. In study 2, among the items on school maladaptation, the ones with differences in student responses between the group with ASD tendencies and the group without were maladaptive symptoms, communication skills, need for approval, and relationships with friends. In teacher responses, these were maladaptive symptoms and communication skills.

[Discussion] In study 1, it became clear that students indicated by teachers to have developmental disorder tendencies found it easy to understand problems that troubled themselves, yet they found it difficult to recognize problems that did not trouble themselves, even if they involved actions that bothered other people. In study 2, it became clear that teachers are possibly not able to identify the students with ASD tendencies who are dealing with inner problems such as the need for approval and subtleties of relationships with friends.

[Problem and Purpose] Teachers, staffs managing health of students (Yogo), and school counselors (SC) cooperate in their interactions with students who injure themselves. However, there is little understanding as to what knowledge or awareness these responding staffs possess regarding self-injurious behavior and what emotions they experience during the interactions. Therefore, this study sought to better understand the responsesand backgrounds by conducting a questionnaire survey of the staffs in middle and high schools; additionally, this study investigates whether answering patterns were affected by occupation and breadth of the responding experience.

[Methods] A questionnaire survey was administered to teachers, Yogo, and SC from middle and high schools, asking for respondent information (occupation and the total number of self-injuring students that were responded to), knowledge and awareness of self-injurious behavior, and their emotions accompanying a response. Using the 319 answers obtained, the differences between the teacher and Yogo–SC groups were analyzed, as well as differences in the number of students responded to in the teacher group.

[Results] A comparison of the teacher and Yogo–SC groups found significantly more respondents in the Yogo–SC group who understood self-injurious behavior to be a method of controlling one’s feelings. In contrast, there were significantly more respondents in the teacher group who experienced specific emotions, such as surprise, shock, and fear. Furthermore, an analysis of the number of students responded to found that these emotions were felt more strongly among teachers with less experience in responding.

[Discussion] These results suggest that differences in occupation (teacher, Yogo, and SC) result in differences in awareness and emotions regarding responses to self-injurious behavior. Furthermore, as seen in the teacher group, the breadth of responding experience has a positive effect. If fellow staffs can complement one another with a consideration of these differences in awareness and emotions, it may result in better cooperation.

[Subject and Aims] Female students undergo a demanding job-search process. In an attempt to examine such students’ mental health and sense of coherence, as well as the changes therein and connection between the two, a longitudinal survey was conducted. It spanned the time before they began their job searches until after they found employment.

[Method] Questionnaire-based surveys were conducted at a women’s university before, during, and after students’ job searches, beginning in September 2010 and continuing until six to twelve months later. As a result, a longitudinal analysis of twenty female students was possible.

[Results] The average GHQ12-based General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) score was significantly higher during the students’ job searches (6.3, SD 2.5) compared with before them (3.3, SD 3.0), and significantly lower after (3.1, SD 3.6) compared with during. However, the average SOC score was significantly higher after their job searches (130.9, SD 20.8) compared with before them (118.8, SD 21.7). Applied to individuals, it increased more than 10% for 11 of the 20 people (55%). Furthermore, a significant negative correlation was found between the GHQ and SOC scores before, during, and after their job searches.

[Analysis] Based on the changes in the GHQ scores before, during, and after students’ job searches, it can be surmised that female students overcame a very tense situation arising from stress factors brought about by their job searches. The fact that the SOC score increases after their job searches suggests the possibility that overcoming a job search strengthens one’s SOC. Furthermore, as it appears that a strong SOC is effective for maintaining a good level of mental health, there is the possibility that by strengthening one’s SOC before engaging in a demanding job search, one can overcome it in a more healthy mental state.