Is the development of recent children increasingly delayed or unbalanced?

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K02658
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 09030:Childhood and nursery/pre-school education-related
• Research Institution: Himeji University
• Principal Investigator: Goma Hideyo 姫路大学, 看護学部, 教授 (40234968)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 牛山 道雄 京都教育大学, 教育学部, 教授 (90397836)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 子ども / 発達 / 発達障害 / 環境 / 養育 / 発達促進 / 発達遅延 / 発達の変化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aimed to investigate the developmental trends and changes in Japanese children over 40 years. Data were collected using standardized testing materials. Individual assessment data were gathered for 1026 and 1655 children, aged 1～13 years years old, from 1983 and 2020, respectively. We compared the “50%-passing ages” for each of the 115 items in both samples. Results are as follows. Many test items demonstrated minimal change; however, several items in various developmental areas reported remarkable acceleration, while others showed conspicuous delay. Particularly, for naming the four colors development was found to be accelerated by 12 months. However, development of the origami tasks by 3～6 months and development of copying figures had been delayed by 9～11 months. These developmental changes were attributed to rapid social and nurturance environmental changes. It may be essential to observe and understand these changes and support them better in the future.

Free Research Field

小児神経

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、我が国の子どもの40年間の発達の変遷について、多くの発達課題では変化が少ないのに対し、特定の発達課題では発達の顕著な促進が、別の課題では顕著な遅延が認められた。これらの結果は、子どもの生活習慣や養育環境の変化によるものと考えられ、これからの子どものより良い成育環境を構築していくための政策を考え実施していく際の、大きな根拠となると思われる。また、変化の要因について、早急に詳細な究明が必要と考えられ、今後行っていく予定である。