NEWS

ICU Alumna and Faculty Member Receive a Research Presentation Award from the Japan Association for School Mental Health

Update: April 7, 2023

Tomomi GOTO (major: psychology), who graduated from ICU in March 2022, and Yasuo SHIMIZU (specialized fields: Health Education, Health Psychology, etc.), Senior Associate Professor of ICU, received a Research Presentation Award for Ms. Goto's excellent graduation thesis written as an undergraduate at the 26th Annual Conference of the Japan Association for School Mental Health held in Nagoya University in March 2023.

Research theme:
The research title was "The Study of Characteristics of Psychological Development in Siblings Who Have Differently Abled Siblings," and the subtitle was "Examination of Personality Characteristics, Life Course Selection, and Effect of Relationships with Their Parents."

Research outline:
This research focuses on children with a diffenretly abled sibling to analyze their personality traits, inner conflict at the stage of development, and concerns about life choices in comparison with those without a diffenretly abled sibling.

It is indicated that those with diffenretly abled siblings, who are expected, from a young age when they still need to be cared for, to support and take care of their diffenretly abled siblings (as a "young carer"), have been suffering various psychological problems.

This research aims to call parents' attention to their children at home and provide recommendations on how local communities can offer appropriate support to young carers and their families, by revealing major characteristics of children playing a role as young carers.

The research has found that children with a diffenretly abled sibling are more likely to lack assertiveness and feel conflicted about their relationships with their parents at the stage of development and about life choices.

Ms. Goto's comments after winning the award:
I'm very happy to receive a Research Presentation Award from the Japan Association for School Mental Health.

I feel most grateful that the content of the research I want to convey to society as a whole was recognized. This research theme was created by thoroughly pursuing my academic interests. I think I would not have been able to come up with it without diverse learning or encounter with various people at ICU. I will continue efforts to further deepen this research and broaden my field of research.

Taking this opportunity, I'd like to extend my appreciation to Senior Associate Professor Shimizu, who helped my thesis writing for about two years, those who cooperated in interviews and questionnaire surveys, and all those who supported my research.