A longitudinal study of the associations between social relationships and school adjustment among twins in middle childhood

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K18099
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Childhood science (childhood environment science); Educational psychology
• Research Institution: Hirosaki University
• Principal Investigator: NOZAKI MARI 弘前大学, 教育学部, 講師 (90710278)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 双生児 / 思春期 / 質問紙 / きょうだい関係 / 仲間関係 / 抑うつ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This project aimed to investigate the effects of social relationships on school adjustment among twins in adolescence. Questionnaire surveys was conducted to examine the association between social relationships (sibling and peer) and social adjustment (depression). The results showed that there was no difference in the effects of sibling and peer relationships on depression by zygosity, and that peer relationships had a greater effect on depression than sibling relationships.In general, in adolescence, children begin to see their peers as others who provide more emotional support than their families. A similar result was found in twins.

Free Research Field

発達心理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

思春期は精神疾患が多く発症する時期であり、心理学的に見ると非常に不安定で危機的な時期である。しかしながら、思春期の子どもを対象とした心理学的研究は、乳幼児・成人の研究に比してこれまで非常に少なかった。加えて、双生児の心理発達の特色を明らかにしようとする研究は国際的に見ても数少ない。本研究は、思春期の双生児が適応的な生活を送る上での仲間関係の重要性を定量的に明らかにした。思春期の子ども、双生児の子ども本人及びその周囲の人にとって重要な知見を提供したと言える。