1992 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

School adjustment of the returned children : A developmental-clinical study

Research Project

Project/Area Number	03610051
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Psychology
Research Institution	HYOGO UNIVERSITY OF TEACHER EDUCATION
Principal Investigator	ASAKAWA Kiyoshi Associate Prof. Hyogo Univ. of Teacher Education, 学校教育学部, 助教授 (00136029)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	KOGAWA Masafumi Associate Prof. Hyogo Univ. of Teacher Education, 学校教育センター, 助教授 (80153518) NATUNO Yoshiji Associate Prof. Hyogo Univ. of Teacher Education, 学校教育学部, 助教授 (10198369)
Project Period (FY)	1991 – 1992
Keywords	Environmental transition / Adjustment / The returned child / Psychological Distance Map / Microgenesis / Interpersonal network
Research Abstract	Returning from foreign countries to Japan is a sort of critical environmental transition. The present study was proposed to clarify and to describe the returned children's adjustment processes to their new school. Six of those children and 177 their classmates were took part in this study. Mothers of the returned child were also interviewed. To investigate the returned children's interpersonal network in the classroom, the Psychological Distance Map (PDM) was administered to each subjects. This was repeated 6 times from April, 1991 to Februrary, 1992. Results were as follows : (1) The returned children had a anchor person, who was a core of their interpersonal networks. (2) Their interpersonal network were microgenetically developed after entering new school. (3) The returned children tended to choose classmate with higher Isss as friends. As for interviews with mothers of the returned child, it was revealed that their anxieties concerning their child's adjustment to new school were gradually weakened, but that their deep concern with entrance examination to middle school were growing eventually. Some analysis of the interview with the returned children indicated that most of them were well abjusted to new school at the time when sis months had passed after transition to new school. These findings were discussed from viewpoints of an organismic developmental theory.