This study sought to develop a scale to measure parental problem-solving with respect to adolescents’ problems and to examine the scale’s reliability and validity. This study also sought to examine the relationship between parental problem-solving and adolescents’ tendency to socially withdraw and self-efficacy. Five patterns of parental problem-solving were assumed to exist: scolding, self-blame, indifference, willful blindness, and running in circles. First, adolescents were asked open-ended questions about these patterns, and a parental problem-solving scale was developed based on their responses. Second, the relationship between parental problem-solving and adolescents’ self-efficacy and tendency to socially withdraw was examined by surveying high school and university students. According to factor analysis, the parental problem-solving scale consisted of three factors: respect for one’s child, blame/rebuke, and indifference. Reliability was determined using internal consistency (α =.81 to .88), and validity was determined through correlation with the Japanese-language version of the Parental Bonding Instrument. A comparison of the models for each school type using multiple population analysis indicated that, in both groups, blame/rebuke increased the tendency to socially withdraw through self-efficacy and that indifference directly increased part of the tendency to socially withdraw. Parental problem-solving may predict the tendency for children to socially withdraw.

　　The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the experience of caregiving and family functioning among young carers and to examine how the two influence benefit finding. Participants were 200 former young carers (56 males and 144 females, mean age 35.64 years, SD=9.32). The hypothesized model was tested using structural equation modeling, and results indicated a good fit of the model; care to improve a family member’s physical functioning was associated with benefit finding via family functioning while care to address a family member’s mental health issues was inversely associated with benefit finding via family functioning. The current results suggest that there are both positive and negative aspects of benefit finding among young caregivers and that utilizing resources outside the family is useful in addressing a family member’s mental health issues.

　　There is little research on the disillusionment associated with marital relationships among Japanese couples. The aim of this study was to develop a Japanese version of the Relationship Disillusionment Scale. The validity and reliability of the scale were examined. The scale was administered to 590 adults. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the Japanese version had a single-factor structure. Moreover, the scale had sufficient internal consistency, re-test reliability, and criterion-referenced validity. Furthermore, the scale distinguished married participants from divorced ones. Thus, the results demonstrated that the Japanese version of the scale has adequate validity and reliability among Japanese adults.

　　The current study examined mother-grandmother interactions related to emotional socialization in response to the negative emotional references of the eldest son A and the eldest daughter B (who are in the upper grades of primary school), based on observations of dinnertime conversations over a 7-month period among three generations, including a set of three school-aged siblings. The mother’s and grandmother’s emotional socialization responses were focused on (1) emotion suppression and regulation, (2) appropriate expression of emotions, and (3) understanding of their own and others’ emotions. As a result, many of the responses related to “cause modification” in (2) were common to both mothers and grandmothers across all topics. In addition, the mothers’ and grandmothers’ responses had complete or partial agreement on 69.0% of the topics at the category level of (1) to (3). These topics indicated that the mothers and grandmothers were collaborating and focusing on responses considered important in socialization based on a shared perspective. In these exchanges, the mother’s additional responses to the grandmother’s references (Topic 1), the grandmother’s and mother’s persuasive responses to each other’s references (Topic 4), and the mother’s agreement with the grandmother (Topic 2) were also observed. Moreover, the topic where the mother and grandmother‘s responses did not agree (Topic 5) indicated that the mother and grandmother expanded their perspectives and interpretations of the event based on their respective points of view regarding a single topic. Furthermore, analysis of these interactions indicated that the grandmother’s words, actions, and presence may have played a role in the interaction between mother and child and in reducing emotional conflicts between the siblings. Overall, results suggested that conversations about negative emotional references among three generations, including grandmothers, play an important role in the development of emotional competence through emotional socialization.