The purpose of this study is to grasp the present situation of family functions of couples raising babies zero to three years old and discuss how to support their child care. Seven hundred and twenty-six questionnaires were sent to 363 couples raising babies and 246 mothers and fathers answered. Both the mothers (average age: 31.74±3.92) and fathers (33.03±4.40) of sixty couples answered and their answers were analyzed. Family-function and self-esteem scales were used and analysis was made by means of t-tests and correlation coefficients. The cohesion of family functions of the mothers and that of the fathers were 39.45±6.52 and 38.28±6.48, respectively, showing no significant difference. The adaptability of the mothers and that of the fathers were 30.13±6.32 and 28.50±5.49, respectively, showing again no significant difference. Regarding the relation between the family functions and self-esteem, significant correlation was observed between the condensation and adaptability of the mothers, suggesting that their ability to deal with family bonds and cope with family crises was always changing in the same direction. On the other hand, significant correlation was observed between the cohesion and self-esteem of the fathers, suggesting that family bonds had effect on the improvement of their own assessments.

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The aim of the present study was to clarify the relationship of menstrual symptoms with menstruation support function and self care in order to obtain suggestions regarding the acquisition of self care skills for reducing menstrual symptoms in university female students. The modified Japanese version of the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MMDQ) was conducted on female university students regarding menstrual symptoms, menstruation support function and self care, and valid responses from 187 students were analyzed. Based on the results of exploratory factor analysis, reliability coefficient and confirmatory factor analysis regarding menstruation support function, 4 factors and 10 items were extracted, overall internal consistency was confirmed, the model showed high goodness of fit and construct validity was also confirmed. Comparison of the implementation or absence of self care and MMDQ scores revealed that students using analgesics had significantly higher scores on the MMDQ. Comparison of the implementation or absence of self care and menstruation support function revealed significantly higher support scores for students implementing self care in the six extracted items, while scores for students who simply tolerated symptoms were significantly lower. These findings suggest the need for an educational system that includes menstruation support in order to encourage students to perform self care.

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