Review and considerations for research on resilience: Environmental factors and meaning making

Research in psychology has traditionally focused on individuals experiencing crisis and adversity in an attempt to understand the various mental illnesses resulting from such events. However, in recent years, the importance of individual adaptability has been increasingly emphasized. Resilience, which focuses on the “individual characteristics necessary for recovery” and the “recovery process” has been the subject of much recent research attention. However, because the history of resilience research is relatively short and its definition is not yet unified among researchers, resilience is currently not organized as a comprehensive research field. The current study sought to clarify trends in resilience research in Japan and to clarify future issues and prospects, after examining the various definitions of resilience. Resilience research often regards resilience as a trait necessary for recovery and a process resulting from the interaction of protective factors that are internal and external to the individual. In addition, resilience studies are characterized by considering an individual’s adaptive state and degree of psychiatric dysfunction as indicators of recovery. Resilience research in Japan has often focused on individual characteristics. It is important to examine dynamic interactions between individual and environmental factors, considering social background and the contextual nature of the recovery process. In addition, it may be necessary to capture recovery not only in terms of the degree of symptoms, but also to examine the aspects of recovery of individuals in detail from the perspective of “meaning making”

Reduced prefrontal hemodynamic response in pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder as measured by near-infrared spectroscopy.

Recent developments in near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) have enabled non-invasive clarification of brain functions in psychiatric disorders. Functional neuroimaging studies of patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) have suggested that the frontal cortex and subcortical structures may play a role in the pathophysiology of the disorder. Twelve treatment-naïve children with OCD and 12 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects participated in the present study after giving consent. The relative concentrations of oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb) were measured with prefrontal probes every 0.1 s during the Stroop color-word task, using 24-channel NIRS machines. During the Stroop color-word task, the oxy-Hb changes in the OCD group were significantly smaller than those in the control group in the prefrontal cortex, especially in the frontopolar cortex. The present study suggests that children with OCD have reduced prefrontal hemodynamic response as measured by NIRS.博士（医学）・乙第1315号・平成25年7月22

A Trial of Nutrition Education for Elementary School Children Using Their Dietary Survey Records (Case Study)

学童期の栄養教育の一方法として,食事秤量調査結果の懇切な還付による教育の有用性について検討するために,小学校4・5年生5名を対象に事例研究な行った。実態把握と効果判定のための両調査成績およびアンケート記述内容の解析により,次の結果を得た。(1)穀類摂取量増加の指導効果はみられなかったが,油脂・肉類摂取量が適正域へ減じ,魚介類のそれが増え,摂取脂肪酸組成比と動物性タンパク質比の有意な改善が認められ,摂取栄養充足率は概して適正域へ移行した。(2)3群基礎食品の知識の改善率に応じて食事内容が充足し,食事バランスが上昇する傾向がうかがわれた。(3)対象児と母親の調査終了後の反応より食意識啓発の様相をうかがうことができた