Research for understanding life course effect of childhood environment on health in later life among community-dwelling older people

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K01864
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Applied health science
• Research Institution: Hokusho University
• Principal Investigator: Kozakai Rumi 北翔大学, 生涯スポーツ学部, 教授 (20393168)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 幼少期 / 家庭環境 / ライフヒストリー / テキストマイニング / 高年齢者

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of the present study was to characterize life experiences in childhood, and to demonstrate relationships between these life experiences and health in old age among community-dwelling older people in Japan. The participants in the main analysis were 966 community-dwelling people aged 60 years and older in Hokkaido. A principal component analysis provided a three-factor solution. The first factor, the second factor and the third factor were labelled “Had fun with physical activities”, “Awareness of the function of household responsibility” and “Respect for parents”, respectively. The analysis of variance showed that the third factor score was higher in participants with more happiness or better health. Life history showed that participants had watched their parents working hard and had helped them in their childhood. These experiences may lead them to respect or trust their parents, and that may support their well-being in later life.

Free Research Field

応用健康科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

幼少期の困難が高齢期の健康阻害に関連するといった知見が報告され，心身機能の発達やその関連要因の長期的な影響が注目されている．本研究では，高齢者の個々の経験を掘り起こし，1000名近い高齢者の検証を経て幼少期の家庭環境の要素を集約し高齢期の健康との関係を示した．本成果は，生涯を通じた健康の維持増進にむけた高齢者への対策だけでなく，子ども達の生活環境への理解と改善にむけた一助となり得る．社会におけるライフサイクルのあり方を考える視点を得て，次世代に向けたより豊かな社会の実現に貢献していけるものと考える．