柿沼 美紀

BACKGROUND: Determining when caregivers should take their children to a hospital is crucial in ensuring the health and safety of children. Because children cannot make these decisions on their own, caregivers bear the core responsibility for the wellness of their children. The aim of this study was to determine how disease, disability, and child behavior affect when and how often caregivers take their children to a hospital. METHODS: A structured anonymous online survey was circulated to pediatricians in Japan. Pediatricians were queried about the characteristics of their patients, including reactivity to pain, expression of pain, behavior at the hospital, and the timing of presentation. Patients were school-aged children and included those with autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Down syndrome, mental retardation, epilepsy, premature birth, and allergies. RESULTS: Sixty-eight of 80 pediatricians responded to the survey (85% response rate). The results indicated that caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and mental retardation took them to the hospital later than was optimal. Conversely, children born prematurely and those with allergies were taken to hospitals even when symptoms were mild. CONCLUSIONS: Caregivers make decisions on when to present to hospital on the basis of their child's expression of pain and behavior. Guidelines should be developed to assist caregivers in determining when to present for treatment at a hospital.

本稿は、文化・地域の異なる自閉症スペクトラム（ASD）児と定型発達（TD）児の子どもに社会的葛 藤場面を暗示する線画を提示して、視線の動きや母親との相互行為のなかでの発話や指さしの特徴を検討 した一連の研究を概観した。その結果、子どもたちがどのような要因を抱えていても、親は主導的に語り 子どもがそれに応じるという相互行為が成立していた。ASD児は、視線の動きが断続的で対象人物や対 象物を見る時間が短いことから、情報処理のあり方がTD児とは異なること示唆された。母親側の発話や 指さしにおいてもTD児の母親とは違いが示された。一方で、母子相互行為については、日本、中国、米 国間に、また日本国内の東京、山形、沖縄においても母子の語り内容や指さしに文化・地域差が示された。 このような語りや非言語行動の個人差は、社会的場面の情報処理のしかたや対処の枠組みの違いに反映す るものと考えられる。それぞれの子どもの生まれもった神経学的要因とその個体が生活する環境の文化的 要因によって個人差は形成されるが、この差異を多数者側の視点からのみとらえることなく、背景要因を 十分に理解した上でその特徴や発達を見据えていくことが必要と考えられる。

A longitudinal study of chimpanzee infants at Tama Zoo in Japan revealed a relationship between the mother's rearing behavior and the exploratory behavior of the offspring. We observed 8 chimpanzees (born since 1999) for the first 36 months of their lives. We compared their motor development, tool use, and separation from their mothers. Nervous mothers tended to spend time away from the social group, isolating their infant at an early stage and making them more cautious about being away from their mother. Developmental diversities in social, physical and cognitive abilities were also observed. Some were early developers in general, while others were early in social and physical aspects but late in cognitive development, while some were slow in general. Further data is needed for a more detailed analysis. Life at the zoo is different from life in the wild, but observing young zoo animals allows us to gain developmental data that would be more difficult to obtain in the wild.

Japanese and U.S. sixth, eighth, and tenth graders (N = 2141) responded to questionnaires asking whom they depended on in six contexts of need. These contexts were: morning awakening, physical illness, emotional upset, help with homework, causing a problem, and guidance in extracurricular activities. Findings indicated that, relative to culture, contextual effects exerted an equally if not more powerful effect on students' responses. In line with traditional cross-national theorizing, U.S. youth were, overall, more self-reliant than their Japanese peers. In contrast to such theorizing, U.S. students were more interdependent with family, and Japanese students were more interdependent with peers, than their counterparts in the other country. Furthermore, both Japanese and U.S. youth showed similar age-related decreases in interdependence with family and increases in interdependence with peers. Results are discussed in terms of active dyadic help-seeking versus conceptualized notions of social identity, and recent theories of development, culture, and the self. © 2008 The International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development.