Interaction Rating Scale (IRS) as an Evidence-Based Practical Index of Children’s Social Skills and Parenting

Background: The purpose of this paper is to describe the features of the Interaction Rating Scale (IRS) as an evidence-based practical index of children’s social skills and parenting.Methods: The participants in our study, which was conducted as part of a Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) project, were 370 dyads of children (aged 18, 30, and 42 month) and 81 dyads of 7-year-old children with their caregivers. The participants completed the five minute interaction session and were observed using the IRS.Results: The results indicated that the IRS can measure children’s social skill development and parenting with high validity. Along with the discriminate validity for pervasive development disorder (PDD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), abuse and maltreatment, a high correlation with the SDQ (Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire), and high reliability, the IRS is effective in describing features of social skill development.Conclusions: The IRS provides further evidence of the fact that in order to study children’s social skill development, it is important to evaluate various features of the caregiver-child interaction as a predictor of social skills

Social Interaction and Longevity: An Eleven-Year Longitudinal Study of Older Persons in a Japanese Village

Many studies around the world have demonstrated the relationship between various dimensions of social interaction and outcomes related to morbidity and mortality among older adults. The current study examines these relationships between social participation and morbidity and mortality in a Japanese sample across an eleven year period. Results demonstrate that greater dependence in mobility, sensory, and activities of daily living were negatively related to survival over 11 years. The overall analysis revealed that most indicators of social interaction were positively related to survival. And, even after controlling for the effects of age, gender, disease, moving function, sensory function, and ADL function, many types of social activities were significantly related to survival. Overall, the relationship between social integration, in a wide variety of ways it can be measured, has a complex, but crucial role in increasing not just the length, but the quality of the lives of older people

Does Night Care Affect Development? A Five-year Follow-up

Japanese regulations have aimed to monitor night care for children since 1981, when a tragic accident took the life of a child in an unauthorized child care center. Nevertheless, concerns persist about the efficacy of the care of children outside the home during the nighttime hours. This longitudinal project assessed the development and adaptation of children who had been in night care for a period of five years. Parents and child care professionals completed surveys: The former about the home environment and their own perceptions of their experience of childrearing, and the latter about the children’s development. The results suggest that factors in the home environment, rather than center-based care, explain developmental risks

Social Relationships and Onset of Functional Limitation Among Older Adults with Chronic Conditions: Does Gender Matter?

Objective: This study aimed to examine the longitudinal association between social relationships and physical functioning among community-dwelling older adults with chronic conditions. Methods: Self-reported questionnaires were distributed and collected between 2014 and 2017 from participants aged 65 years and older. The Index of Social Interaction was used to evaluate social relationships, and the instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) subscale of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence was used to examine functional status. Data from 422 participants (190 men and 232 women) were included in the final analysis. Results: High social relationships demonstrated significant adverse effects (OR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.64 – 0.93) on the decline of IADL in the overall sample, particularly for women (OR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.55 – 0.93) but not for men ( p = 0.131). Conclusion: The finding suggests that functional limitation was influenced by social relationships among the disabled older adults, and the influence of social relationships on functional limitation differed based on gender. Keywords: Interpersonal Relations; Functional Status; Gender; Aged; Chronic Disease; Longitudinal Studies; Health Behaviour