The Japanese Journal of Developmental Psychology

Young Children's Narratives about Positive and Negative Events Nominated by Parents or Children

Tomoko Oyama, Makiko Naka

Article type: Article
2013 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 1-12
Published: March 20, 2013
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.24.1

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A sample of 50 preschoolers (28 five-year olds and 22 six-year olds) and their mothers participated in a study of how young children talk spontaneously about emotional events. Mothers were first asked to provide two positive and two negative events that their child had experienced, and one activity that the child routinely performed. Children were then individually asked to talk freely about five events. Three of these events were those generated by the mothers (one positive event, one negative event, and the routine activity), but children also provided one positive and one negative event about which they wanted to talk. Events suggested by mothers and positive events were more likely to be specific events, whereas negative events and events that the children provided were more often recurring events. Children talked more about the mother-provided and positive events. In particular, they provided more information about places and objects for the positive events, and about places, subjects, objects, and activities for events the mother generated. Children also used more emotionally positive words than negative words.

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Development of Handwriting Patterns in Elementary School Children Using Digital Pens

Rumi Hirabayashi, Toshihiro Kono, Kenryu Nakamura

Article type: Article
2013 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 13-21
Published: March 20, 2013
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.24.13

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Researchers have assessed handwriting speed and accuracy as a way to estimate writing difficulties. However, these measurements fail to illustrate the process of handwriting. Information, such as letter stroke finishing, or the number of characters written at one time, provides clues to possible difficulties. Digital pens can aid this type of analysis. Elementary school students (grade 1-6, N=615) participated in the study. It was found that the hovering time (when the pen is not touching the paper) before the movement between segments was longer than the time within segments, for students in the 2nd through 5th grade. It follows that there were two stages of development related to the input process of handwriting. Additionally, three particular patterns appeared to emerge during the process of writing. Pattern A consisted of "letter by letter," while pattern B was "word by word" and pattern C was a "continuous" pattern. 55.1% of the 6th grade students followed pattern B, 39.3% pattern C, and 5.6% followed pattern A. The results suggest that students who maintain pattern A in upper elementary school may have difficulties in handwriting.

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Middle-Aged Mothers' Maturity Process in Their Childcare Experiences: Interviews regarding Their Successes and Failures

Kiyomi Oshima

Article type: Article
2013 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 22-32
Published: March 20, 2013
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.24.22

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This article examined how middle-aged mothers who have young adult children feel about their experiences with childcare. Data collected in semi-structured interviews with 22 mothers were categorized and analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. Many mothers began to rear their children in the way they thought would be best for the children based on "model mothers" they had read about. They often gave their children higher priority than they gave themselves. Occasionally, overwhelmed by a sense of obligation to take care of children, they took a self-centered approach to childcare. Having gained support from people close to them, having committed themselves to helping children handle problems, and having learned from their children as well as teaching them during the years they were raising them, in middle age recognized that during those years they had gained in maturity, as their children supported their individual initiatives and sought to emulate their way of life.

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Causal Relationships between Identity and Romantic Relationships among University Students : A Three Panel Study with University Students Having a Boyfriend, or a Girlfriend

Yasumasa Kosaka

Article type: Article
2013 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 33-41
Published: March 20, 2013
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.24.33

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The goal of this study was to investigate reciprocal causal relationships between identity and romantic relationship among university students having a boyfriend or a girlfriend. A three-wave panel study was conducted at approximately three-month intervals. Structural Equation Modeling on the cross-lagged effect model used panel data obtained from 126 university students (38 males and 88 females) who completed the Multidimensional Ego Identity Scale (MEIS; Tani, 2001) and an Effects of Romantic Relationships scale (Kosaka, 2010). The results suggest that relationship anxiety had positive causal effects on identity. The investigation further suggests the ego-developmental meaning of having a boyfriend or girlfriend in adolescence.

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Facilitation of 3-Year-Old Children's Spontaneous Emotion Regulation by Preschool Teachers

Akari Tanaka

Article type: Article
2013 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 42-54
Published: March 20, 2013
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.24.42

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This study focused on preschool teachers' behaviors in children's emotional settings, particularly in settings when children stumbled, to explore the role of preschool teachers in children's emotion regulation. Observations were conducted of interactions between 3-year olds (AT= 26) and their two teachers at a preschool. The observations and interview data with teachers were analyzed by the method of psychological ethnography. Functional analysis of the teachers' behaviors revealed that their behavior involved staying out of the children's way. Additional analysis of the functions of teachers' behaviors showed that the teacher's behavior "got children to settle down," "cultivated a feeling of sadness and frustration," and "changed their manner of expressing emotions." These findings led to the conclusion that teachers' staying out of the children's way enabled children to face problems and afforded them the opportunity to regulate their emotions.

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Parents' Marital Trust, Positive Parenting, and Young Adults' Mental Health

Kiyomi Oshima

Article type: Article
2013 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 55-65
Published: March 20, 2013
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.24.55

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It is widely recognized that parents' marital relationship has an influence on their children's mental health, but few studies have examined whether this relation differs by the gender of the parent or child. The present study investigated how marital trust and positive parenting affect the psychological well-being of young males and females. Young adults (140 males and 153 females with a mean age of 22.4 years) and their parents completed questionnaires. The results showed that the level of marital trust among parents affected how well parents supported young adults. It was also found that sons understood the importance of their relationship with their fathers only after the father stated that the relationship was important. On the other hand, daughters recognized that they were supported by their fathers when their mothers had a strong level of trust in their husbands and the marriage. These findings suggest that the recognition of positive parenting contributes to the well-being of sons and daughters, and makes them less likely to be depressed.

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Development of a Scale of Relationship-Focused Coping for Marital Couple Stress

Tai Kurosawa, Michiyo Kato

Article type: Article
2013 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 66-76
Published: March 20, 2013
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.24.66

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Successful coping involves maintenance of relationships during time of stress, through a process called relationship-focused coping. This article reports the development of a Scale of Relationship-Focused coping, and an examination of its validity and test-retest reliability. Participants were 117 Japanese parents, contacted through two kindergartens, who were engaged in child rearing. Factor analysis confirmed three aspects associated with maintaining relationships: "escape-avoidance," "active engagement," and "protective buffering." Frequency of escape-avoidance was negatively related to marital satisfaction. Frequency of active engagement was positively related to empathy, marital satisfaction, and well-being, but was negatively related to age. In addition, these three aspects of relationship-focused coping discriminated healthy vs. at-risk groups of parents. The scale showed test-retest reliability. These findings suggest the effectiveness of active engagement and the ineffectiveness of escape-avoidance for Japanese couples.

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How Do Children Understand the Function of Emotional Similes as Effectively Transmitting Their Emotions to Others?

Kaori Kuraya

Article type: Article
2013 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 77-87
Published: March 20, 2013
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.24.77

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This study examined how children understand the function of emotional similes. An emotional simile has the function of clearly and effectively transmitting speakers' emotions to others. It was verified first that adults correctly recognize this function. To examine whether children can also understand the function of an emotional simile, 265 elementary school students, including 91 2nd graders (36 boys and 55 girls), 78 4th graders (30 boys and 48 girls), and 96 6th graders (48 boys and 48girls) took part in this study. Children read stories in which the main character had an emotion (happiness, sadness, or anger), and then answered this question: "What will the main character say in order to transmit his/her emotion clearly and effectively to other people?" There were no grade-level differences in understanding of the function of emotional similes, but older children more often used emotional similes when they expressed their own emotions than did younger children. The results suggest that the basis for understanding the function of emotional similes is attained during childhood.

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Meaning Making by Preschool Children during Pretend Play and Construction of Play Space

Satoshi Nagahashi

Article type: Article
2013 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 88-98
Published: March 20, 2013
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.24.88

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This study explored the nature and the characteristics of the preschool children's peer play from the viewpoint of the Vygotsky's play theory. The emergent process of preschool children's collaborative pretend play on the theme of a hospital was investigated for a month. The children's process of constructing play space for pretend play by using play materials such as blocks was also explored through micro-genetic analysis.Children gradually began to enact proper make-believe activities and role-play scenarios related to the hospital. The Discussion focused on the interdependency between children's play activity and the process of their construction of play space.

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Development of the Self among Japanese Late Adolescents and Young Adults, Based on Kegan's Constructive-Developmental Theory in Relation to Erikson's Psychosocial Crisis

Makoto Saitoh, Ken Kameda, Hideharu Sugimoto, Kenji Hiraishi

Article type: Article
2013 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 99-110
Published: March 20, 2013
Released on J-STAGE: July 28, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.24.99

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This study examined tendencies development of the self among Japanese in late adolescence and young adulthood, based on Kegan's constructive-developmental theory. Japanese versions of the Subject-Object Interview (SOI) and the Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory (EPSI) were administered to 40 late adolescents and 40 young adults (ages=25-35 years). Most participants were found to be at a transition between stages 3 and 4 of Kegan's structural-developmental stages. A positive relationship was found between age and Kegan's stage scores, and between Kegan's stage scores and the total as well as sub-scale scores for Industry and Identity on the EPSI. These results were discussed in terms of Kegan's views on development of the self and Erikson's views on identity development in late adolescence and young adulthood.

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