Hiroki Uratani

After natural disasters and accidents and incidents, a certain percentage of children suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by those influences. So, many children need mental care. To prevent PTSD, learning the respiration control method, which relaxes the body and mind, is supposed to be efficient. Therefore, we developed a respiration leading stuffed toy, which leads children's respiration by the up-and-down movement of abdomen and help them relax. We executed a preliminary experiment to study the effects of respiration guidance by it. The participants were 48 children (26 boys and 22 girls) aged 4-12 years. Pulse waves and respiration waves were obtained as physiological measures. Overlap ratios were analyzed from respiration periods of respiration leading stuffed toy and of each participants. The results show that children were categorized into 2 groups; the well-synchronized group (20 children) and the poor-synchronized group (28 children). There are differences among age and sex. Age under 6 years and boys showed the trend not to be leaded. Further evaluation whether children can be relaxed by the respiration leading is needed.

After the earthquake at Tohoku-Kanto, the number of the patients with psychiatric symptoms who need mental care is increasing. Not only adults but many children also suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To prevent PTSD, learning the respiration control method, which relaxes the body and mind, is supposed to be efficient. Therefore, we decided to develop a stuffed toy, which can lead children's respiration and help them relax. Before developing the toy, we executed a preliminary experiment using a bear character on a computer display screen for respiration guidance. Seven girls and 5 boys aged 5 to 11 years participated in this experiment. Thus, we obtained 3 suggestions from the experiment. Firstly, it is recommended to start the respiration leading session from the respiration period, which is suitable for each child, because the most suitable respiration period for relaxing was different among children. Secondly, the amplitude of pulse rate variability can be used to estimate the respiratory periods, if the pulse wave is not disturbed. Thirdly, the pulse rate and pulse wave amplitude are suitable for assessing the degree of relaxation.