To investigate the relationship between marital relations and children's depression, as mediated by family functioning and parental attitudes toward child rearing, a questionnaire survey was carried out using a mailed questionnaire. Questionnaires completed by the father, mother, and children (average age of fathers, 43 years; mothers, 39. 8 years; children, 10. 2 years) were received from 313 families out of 1,360 families originally contacted. Mothers and fathers were asked to answer independently questions regarding their marital relations, family atmosphere, family cohesion, and attitudes toward childrearing. Children's depression was measured by a self-administered depression scale. The results supported the hypothesis that higher scores on the marital love scale were related to better family functioning and warmer parental attitudes toward child rearing, and that the marital love scale was negatively correlated with children's depression. The mother's warm attitude toward their children was correlated with lower depression in the children; no significant correlation of depression with attitude was found for fathers.

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In order to participate in lifelong learning, students need both active involvement (i. e., hard study at a particular time) and volition (i. e., the will power to continue studying for a long time). In Study 1, a questionnaire was completed by 879 students of 1 open university (lectures televised to the general public) and 9 regular universities; measures of active involvement, volition, and learning motivation with 5 orientations as subscales were constructed. The main motivation that enhanced active involvement in learning was special task orientation; the motivations that enhanced volition were self-improvement orientation and special task orientation. In Study 2, in order to investigate how these 2 motivations came to enhance lifelong learning, interviews were conducted with 13 older students of the open university. Self-improvement orientation started in adolescence with dissatisfaction with learning, and was strengthened through challenge on the job and through a comparison with more capable persons, until it led to volition. Special task orientation was nourished through the experience of dealing with tasks in school or outside of the job, and strengthened active involvement.

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The purposes of the present study were to propose a structure that illustrates the actual use of reading strategies, to investigate the validity of that structure, and to examine differences in strategy use among different age groups. Study 1 showed that reading strategies can be classified into 7 categories: clarifying, control, grasping the points, memorizing, monitoring, noticing the text structure, and utilizing knowledge. From those 7 categories, 3 factors were extracted: local understanding strategy, learning contents strategy, and deepening understanding strategy. These factors were affected by the factor “general tendency to use strategies.” In Study 2, the concurrent validity of this structure was examined, using “think-aloud” protocols. Study 3 investigated cross validity of the strategy structure and age differences in the use of strategies. The results showed that use of 3 of the strategy categories (grasping the points, noticing the text structure, and utilizing knowledge) differed among age groups. This result suggests that those strategies are developed as readers get older and/or have more experience reading.

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The effect of knowledge about the relation between the target and incidental context on selective attention and the development of control of attentional switching between perceptual and conceptual relationships were investigated in the present study. In Experiment 1, selective attention tasks, using 3 stimuli, were given to children (4-and 6-year-olds) and adults. For these stimuli, either the participants already knew the conceptual relationship or the perceptual relationship between the target and the incidental context, or the conceptual relationship was not known to them. The results suggest that the incidental context improved selective attention, irrespective of age, when participants had knowledge about the relationship between the target and the incidental context. In Experiment 2, stimuli depicting the conceptual or the perceptual relationship between the target and the incidental context were presented. Participants were required to switch attention, according to the selective attention tasks. The 6-year-olds and adults switched their attention accordingly, but the 4-year-olds did not. This suggests that the development of selective attention involves 2 attention-control systems.

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The present study aimed at exploring an effective, time-efficient, motivating repetition-learning method, based on a reactivation theory of spacing effects. From the theory, 2 principles for realizing such a method were derived:(1) to sort all items by their recall rates in ascending order for the subsequent session, at the end of each learning session;(2) to omit items whose recall rate had reached a criterion level. In Experiment 1, the effectiveness of a repetition-learning method employing the first principle, the “Low-First Method”, was examined. Participants (university freshmen: 12 women, 28 men) evaluated the method for 4 motivation-related criteria. The results showed that the Low-First-Method was very effective and also was highly evaluated on some of the criteria. In Experiment 2, the effect of adding the second principle to the Low-First Method was examined (participants were university freshmen: 15 women, 25 men). Comparison of the data from Experiments 1 and 2 revealed that the 2 principles, especially when combined, significantly enhanced the method's effectiveness and time-efficiency, and produced higher evaluations on all criteria. Finally, the relationship among the first principle and retrieval effects, rehearsal, and levels of processing, and the motivating function of the Low-First Method are discussed.

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Distraction is considered to be an effective strategy for improving a depressed mood. However, distraction can also produce a reverse effect, and dependence on distraction may itself become a problem. The present study focuses on the distraction process, in order to obtain information as to when it can be an effective intervention. 276 college students completed a questionnaire that measured various features of distraction when they had significantly stressful events. The results, analyzed using a covariance structure model, were as follows: Poor concentration on the distraction enhanced bad moods, and bad moods enhanced dependence on distraction. Students who had a high level of confidence in the feeling that they could regulate their moods reported enhanced concentration on distraction. Their concentration, and the effects of distraction, were influenced by the intention of the distraction, which included clarifying a goal, alleviating their mood, or no goal. These results suggest that one's confidence in being able to regulate one's moods, concentration on distraction, and clarification of goals are important factors in whether a distraction intervention is effective.

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The purpose of the present study was to examine a model for the occurrence of secondary responses in the psychological stress processes of junior high school students. Questionnaires to assess school stressors, primary responses (i. e., emotional responses), and the responses assumed to be secondary responses (i. e., withdrawal, dependence, interpersonal mistrust, lack of self-confidence, helplessness, hopelessness, and aggression) were completed by 540 junior high school students. To assess these 7 categories of secondary responses, an exploratory factor analysis of the items was done; 4 factors were identified: aggression, withdrawal, helplessness, and dependence. In order to examine the theoretical relations among school stressors, emotional responses induced by them, and these 4 factors, the hypothesized model was tested by covariance structure analysis. The model assumed the paths that school stressors finally resulted in aggression, withdrawal, helplessness, and dependence responses, mediated by emotional responses. The results of the covariance structure analysis were not contradictory to the hypothesized model. It was also revealed that the path coefficients of secondary responses differed slightly, depending on the type of secondary response.

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The present study investigated the relation of ability and power factors of coordination to coordination activities in team support for high school students. A coordination activities scale and a coordination ability and power scale, developed based on interviews with teachers and school counselors, and on the records of actual cases in which students were supported, were completed by chief teachers, school counselors, and student guidance, educational counseling, and health teachers at 110 high schools. The results suggested that coordination activities at the student support team level could be explained by 4 factors: explanation, parent-teacher cooperation, assessment and decision making, and use of professional helpers, and, at the support system level, by 4 factors: management, public relations, information gathering, and networking. Moreover, coordination ability and power factors could be explained by 5 factors: professional knowledge, ability to assess the situation, ability to make up a support team, ability in team discussion, and power based on the person's role. The ability and power factors influence coordination activities differently, depending on the person's role in the school organization. The ability to make a support team was influential across all roles.

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The main purposes of the present study were to construct a narcissistic personality questionnaire measuring grandiose traits and hypersensitive traits, and to examine the structure of the narcissistic personality. A 67-item questionnaire was administered to 545 undergraduates, together with 10 subscales of the Yatabe-Guilford (Y-G) Personality Inventory. Promax factor analyses on the narcissistic personality questionnaire yielded 7 factors:“Hypersensitivity,”“Hesitation,”“Sense of grandiosity,”“exhibitionism,”“Sense of powerlessness,”“Authority-manipulation,” and “Narcissistic rage.” The internal consistency of each subscale was assessed with item-total correlations and Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The relation between the subscales and the Yatabe-Guilford Personality Inventory was examined. The results confirmed the concurrent validity of the narcissistic personality questionnaire. Next, covariance structure analyses were carried out to investigate 2 hypotheses: Hypothesis 1, that narcissistic personalities have 2 latent factors,“randiosity” and “Hypersensitivity,” and Hypothesis 2, that grandiose self-image and powerless self-image influence narcissistic vulnerability. The results showed that all coefficients relating to both hypotheses were statistically significant, but the goodness of fit index was high enough only for Hyopothesis 2. The present results suggest a comprehensive point of view of the narcissistic personality.

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The purpose of the present study was to develop a scale to measure individual differences in school-life skills in junior high school students. School-life skills were defined as ones needed to solve the developmental and educational tasks faced by students during their junior-high-school years. The scale was based on the framework of school psychology for supporting students, which includes 4 aspects: academic, psychological/social, career, and health. Skill items were collected from 3 sources: the Life-Skills Development Scale-Adolescent Form, semi-structured interviews with 17 teachers, and skill descriptions provided by 108 junior high school students. Content validity was examined and preliminary study was conducted to select the items included in the scale. Then, a questionnaire of the 57 chosen items was completed by 809 junior high school students. As a result, a 54-item School-Life Skills Scale-Junior High School Student Form was developed. Factor analysis yielded 5 subscales: self-study skills, career decision skills, group activity skills, health maintenance skills, and peer communication skills. The results also showed that the scale was moderately reliable and valid for measuring school-life skills in junior high school students.

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The present article aims to provide a theoretical framework for promoting a partnership among the school, the family, and the community by giving the school the function of an anchor point (i. e., an element that facilitates transaction between the person and the environment) in the residents' structuring of their local community. First, the entire system, including the school and the local community, should be considered. Ecological perspectives are useful in this step. Second, the school's role as the first and, if possible, the primary or most significant anchor point in structuring should be explored. Various types of evaluation of the school's involvement are essential in this step. Third, the school should make educational efforts to be one of the positive anchor points in the local community. These efforts include approaches to enhancing the development of the children and the local community. Positive outcomes cannot be expected without long-term practice. Examples of children's environmental transitions are discussed, followed by a description of practical implementation methods for planting anchor points in local communities.

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The present study examined the effect of dispositional envy, domain importance, and the obtainability of desired objects on the selection of coping strategies. In Study 1, a dispositional envy scale for children (DESC) was constructed. Factor analysis of data from 879 elementary and junior high school pupils indicated a single factor for the 8 items on the scale. Reliability, construct validity, and concurrent validity of the scale were confirmed. In Study 2,915 elementary and junior high school pupils completed a questionaire. Factor analysis of coping strategies revealed 3 factors:“constructive solution,”“destructive engagement,” and “intenional avoidance.” Path analysis indicated that those who believed that desired objects could very likely be obtained tended to feel envy and to use a “constructive solution” coping strategy, while those who indicated that both obtainability and domain importance were low tended to use an “intentional avoidance” coping strategy. The perception of domain importance evoked greater situational envy in junior high school pupils than in elementary school pupils.

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