Relationship among object relation, identity, and borderline personality traits in adolescent women

This study examined the relationship among object relation, identity, and borderline personality traits in adolescent women. The results of Study 1 showed that the average borderline personality trait scale score for the youth who did not have object constancy was higher than that for the youth who had object constancy. Moreover, most of the youth who did not have object constancy also did not have a sense of ego and gender identity. The results of Study 2 showed that the parent–child relationship during childhood affected object relation, and object relation was related to the present personal relationship

The effect of sand color in Sandplay Therapy

Using sand is one of the therapeutic actions in Sandplay Therapy. This study investigated how sand colors influence the following two factors: subjective experience of producers using white or black sand for their productions and the impression ratings of the raters. First, the producers felt that black sand was stable; therefore, works could be produced freely. However, with white sand, the producers felt that the Sandplay spread endlessly; therefore, they felt limited while working with it. Second, each sand color gave the raters the same impression as that to the producers, and the raters estimated that the use of black sand felt more energetic than that of white sand. This study showed that sand colors influenced both the productions and impression ratings, and black sand played action like “frame” in Sandplay Therapy

Trends and Considerations in Identity Development among Clinical Psychologists

The current study reviewed the theories and models of identity development among clinical psychologists. Clinical psychologists commonly experience identity diffusion or confusion in their work, because of an absence of clear goals and approaches for providing support to clients. We propose that establishing a professional identity formation model for clinical psychologists could aid the development of methods for preventing identity diffusion. Research in our lab has revealed three main findings. First, clinical psychologists commonly experience identity diffusion in their work, but can recover from identity diffusion by relating to other clinical psychologists and people around them. Second, the cyclic model is useful in the development of professional identity formation models. Third, clients influence the identity development of clinical psychologists. Future research is needed to examine the specific relationships between clinical psychologists and people around them to find ways of preventing identity diffusion. There is also a need to investigate relationships between clinical psychologists and their clients, to understand the dynamics of therapeutic situations

Review and Considerations for Research on Self-Pluralism and Identity Formation in Adolescence

This study reviewed the trends of self-pluralism and identity formation studies. Recently, the study of self-pluralism has gained popularity and some researchers have suggested that self-pluralism has increased in today’s youth. Youth with self-pluralism easily adapted to various scenarios of the society. In Erikson’s identity theory, self-pluralism causes conflict. Intrinsically, self-pluralism was regarded as the opposite of identity. However, modern youth who are classified as having self-pluralism do not feel conflicted. In other words, the modern youth seem to have both a sense of identity and self-pluralism. These youth appear to have multiple identities. The purpose of this study is to consider multiple identities from various perspectives. Changes in society and Japanese culture are associated with multiple identities. The identity formation of modern Japanese youth cannot be explained by Erikson’s identity theory. Therefore it is necessary to examine identity and self-pluralism as a variety of forming processes in future studies

Examination of elementary and junior high school teachers’ children’s psychological experiences which parents occupation elicit: The factors that cause differences in children’s cognition towards mothers and mothers’ occupation

Issues of Japanese elementary and junior high school teachers’ stress and working pressure have been argued, but their working environment has not improved. Female teachers are particularly prone to various difficulties in achieving compatibility with family life, especially with child rearing. In this study, we conducted 1) the semi-structured interview for children whose mothers were elementary and junior high school teachers, and 2) the questionnaire survey towards mothers to investigate their environment of child rearing and the children’s unique psychological experiences. As a result, there are mainly two aspects of children’s unique psychological experiences. The one is related to mothers, such as their mothers’ free time and mental space to be in contact with them. And the other is related to evaluation from the surroundings, such as stereotyped as “a teacher’s child”. This unique psychological experiences of teachers’ children elicited children’s affirmative or evasive feelings towards mothers and mothers' occupations

Attachment to parents and dependency on someone other than parents in adolescence : Does attachment really regulate interpersonal relationship?

In this study, we investigated the relationship between attachment to parents, dependency on someone other than parents, and independence in adolescence. The subjects were 246 undergraduate students (110 males, 131 females, and 5 unknown). Participants who answered that their dependency was on someone other than their parents were 150 (77 males, 69 females, and 4 unknown). The hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that the dependency on someone other than their parents affects independence. In particular, dependency on someone other than parents has a buffering effect between attachment to parents and collaborative interpersonal relationships. Our results suggest that adolescents who have unstable attachments to their parents can be adaptive in their development, if they can request psychological support or obtain a stable and secure dependency object.本稿は第二著者である東山花子(旧姓:尾崎)の卒業論文を加筆修正したものである。本誌の投稿資格の関係で主任指導教員が筆頭著者となって公刊する

Mothers' process of understanding their developmental disordered children using after-school care service

The form of the Child Welfare Service changed drastically with the revision of the Child Welfare Act in 2012. In the Act, the section addressing day service for children changed, that is, after-school care for mild disordered children provides more diversified services. The purpose of this study was to clarify mothers' precess of understanding their developmental disordered children by semi-structured interview. The results indicated that mothers' needs and expectation to the service differed in accordance with psychological level of their understanding of their children. In addition, it was suggested that reconfirmation of the needs and expectation was effective for mothers who recognized the service negatively

Relationship between death anxiety and mental health in adolescents from the perspective of coping strategies for death anxiety

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between death anxiety and mental health in adolescents, with a focus on coping strategies for death anxiety. The result indicated that participants who do not cope at all with death anxiety have low death anxiety, but are in bad mental health. Moreover, it was indicated that participants who tried to be careful about their health and have a lifestyle in which every day was fulfilling showed lower scores for depression than those who frequently thought about death and talked about it with others. Furthermore, we found a significant positive collation between mental health and anxiety about dying with goals left unmet. We conclude that death anxiety has both negative and positive correlations with mental health, depending on coping strategies

An Exploratory Examination of Characteristic Patterns of Ego Function and Dream Experiences. <Article>

The objective of this research was to sort the dreams of examinees who varied along characteristic patterns of ego function and to identify characteristic experiences in the dreams. During this study, we surveyed 128 recurrent dreams, 164 unpleasant dreams and 199 impressive dreams. Five patterns of ego function and dream experience emerged. Dreamers with weak ego function and thin ego boundaries underwent more negative dream experiences. In contrast, those with strong ego function reported very positive dreams

How a disabled person's family recovered resilience through intervention by a daughter-in-law who became a companion for the disabled person <Article>

The purpose of this research was to study the family resilience recovery processes by which a woman who became the sister of a disabled person through marriage was able to improve the family's situation. The subject of the research was a 44 year-old female. She married her husband 25 years ago. Her husband's younger sister was disabled. In this research a single case study was done, through a semi-structured interview. The subject said that she had intervened on a problem of cruelty that the disabled person's family face. The family had been insular, but the subject led it to become one open to society. Furthermore, the disabled person was able to maintain a place in society, which also contributed to the recovery of her physical and emotional functions. In this way, the subject took on the role of recovering the family's resilience. However, this worsened the relation between her mother-in-law and the disabled person. This suggests that the subject's bearing everything on her shoulders was a major burden for her. In the future it is necessary to investigate the subject's life history and the husband's family and increase the number of case studies