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Biomedical subjects

K Nihira

Publications and source records attributed to K Nihira.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Holding on and letting go: identity and acculturation among Chinese immigrants.

This study addresses the general question of whether ethnic identity and general acculturation would prove unique discriminators of quality of life for Chinese immigrants. Eighty-three Chinese immigrants served as participants. Survey data were collected regarding acculturation, Asian identity, and quality of life; observers provided ratings of certain home environment characteristics; and participants responded to open-ended interview questions about their immigration experiences that allowed for qualitative data analysis on perspectives of culture. Significant analysis of covariance and post hoc comparison results revealed meaningful main effects and interactions between acculturation and Asian identity in explaining the immigrants' quality of life and ecocultural aspects of their home environments. Interview responses illuminated important distinctions between groups distinguished by level of acculturation and ethnic identity. Findings are discussed in terms of methodological and conceptual issues in studying acculturation and ethnic identity in immigration experiences and practical implications for immigrants and those working with them.

Acculturation↗
PubMed1994

Ecocultural assessment in families of children with developmental delays: construct and concurrent validities.

Home interviews were conducted with 102 families of children with developmental delays to assess ecocultural family resources and constraints, values, and goals as well as proactive adaptive efforts to deal with their circumstances. Interview topics included (a) economic factors; (b) child safety, health, and education; (c) domestic and childcare workloads; (d) familial support networks; and (e) sociocultural influences. Factor analyses performed on the ecocultural measures revealed 12 salient factors. Results indicated that some of the ecocultural factors were unique and statistically independent of the traditional measures of home environment (e.g., child-rearing attitudes, cognitive stimulation of the child, and general psychosocial climate). Significant relations were found between certain ecocultural factors and child's developmental status. Both ecocultural factors and traditional family measures accounted for significant variation in child outcomes.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Family responses to young children with developmental delays: accommodation activity in ecological and cultural context.

In this study 680 accommodations or proactive efforts to sustain a family environment in 10 ecocultural domains were reliably scored for 102 Euro-American families of young children with developmental delays. The families reported substantial accommodation activity. Results showed that accommodations (a) in the domains of child care and service access were correlated with children's problems that impact the daily routine; (b) in the domains of subsistence changes, seeking information, and roles of fathers were related to parents' job and career circumstances, with more modest links to socioeconomic status; and (c) were not associated with child developmental test scores. Accommodation to children with delays and disabilities is a family-level variable that complements the more common research focus on individual parent stress and coping.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1988

Child-environment relationships: a cross-cultural study of educable mentally retarded children and their families.

A cross-cultural study was conducted to determine the generality of child-environment relationships in Japanese and American families with educable mentally retarded (EMR) children. A total of 90 families with EMR children in Japan and 93 families with EMR children in America participated. The Henderson Environment Learning and Process Scale, Family Environment Scale, and Home Quality Rating Scale were employed in home interviews and observations. The AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale was used to measure social competency and psychosocial adjustment of the children. The results indicated that the relation between cognitive opportunities at home and the child's social competency appeared similar between the two cultures. However, the relation between the affective aspects of home environment and the child's psychosocial adjustment appeared to differ between the two cultures.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1988

Taxonomy of family life styles: III. Replication with families with severely mentally retarded children.

The home environment and behavior of 97 families with severely mentally retarded children was examined in order to determine the presence of family types. Cluster analysis was performed on 16 measures of proximal home environment. Five unique family clusters were identified: cohesive, control-oriented, responsive-to-child, moral-religious-oriented, nonachievement-oriented, and achievement-oriented. Comparison among the clusters on other family and child characteristics and behaviors revealed significant differences. The family types identified in this study were similar to previously determined family types. These findings appear to support the establishment of a standard classification of families.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Homes of TMR children: comparison between American and Japanese families.

A cross-cultural study was conducted to examine the extent to which certain environment-child development relationships can be generalized across two cultures. Participants were 103 trainable mentally retarded (TMR) children and their families in Japan and 88 TMR children and their families in the United States. The relation between cognitive stimulation and cultural opportunities at home and the children's social competence appeared to generalize across both cultures; however, the relation between affective and emotional aspects of parental behavior and the children's emotional adjustment appeared to be culture-specific. The cross-cultural difference in home environment was interpreted in terms of qualitative difference in parental values and expectations regarding the children's behavior.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Direction of effects: family life styles and behavior of TMR children.

The direction of effects were examined between TMR children and their families in three previously determined family types: cohesive, harmonious; control oriented, somewhat unharmonious; and child-oriented, expressive. Child variables studied were measures of adaptive behavior, psychosocial adjustment, and self-esteem. Family variables included measures of cohesion and conflict, provision of cognitive stimulation, parental warmth and affection, quality of the residential environment, and openness with the interviewer. Cross-lagged panel analysis revealed different directions of effect in the three family types. In cohesive families the family tended to influence the child, whereas in control-oriented and child-oriented families, the child tended to influence the family. Possible reasons for these findings and implications for further research were discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Characteristics of home environment of families with mentally retarded children: comparison across levels of retardation.

To help fill the relative void of information about families of severely mentally retarded school children, we described 53 such families comparatively with 54 families of EMR and 50 of TMR children. All children resided in their natural homes; families were selected for study by identical means and interviewed at their home. Selection for comparison was made from larger samples to reduce mean age differences in the samples. Differences in age and SES among groups were controlled with analysis of covariance. The impact of the retarded child on adjustment of families with severely retarded children was greater than that of the other groups, but no differences occurred in the impact of the child on marital adjustment. Families with severely retarded children had the highest mean scores on all four scores of the Home Quality Rating Scale. They scored lower than others on the Cohesion, Independence, Moral-Religious Emphasis, and Organization subscales of the Family Environment Scale. Implications for assisting these families were discussed.

Child↗
PubMed1984

Predicting retarded students' short-term growth from home environment.

This investigation sought to determine whether change in mentally retarded students' developmental status and adjustment could be predicted by variables of the psychological home environment for periods of one and two years. Over 120 trainable mentally retarded (TMR) and over 220 educable mentally retarded and educationally handicapped (EMR-EH) children were subjects. Annual interviews were conducted in the homes. Environmental data consisted of the Caldwell HOME (for TMR) or Henderson HELPS (for EMR-EH), the Moos Family Environment Scale, and the Home Quality Rating Scale. Eight dependent student variables included three factor scores of the Adaptive Behavior Scale as indicators of developmental status. Five adjustment scores included the two maladaptive scores from the Adaptive Behavior Scale and impact on family, psychological adjustment and social adjustment scores. First year student scores were partialled out to permit prediction of second and third year scores from first year environment scores. Stepwise multiple regression showed that environmental variables significantly improved R2 for all eight student scores in the second year and six to eight in the third year for the TMR group and six of eight in the second year and all eight in the third for the EMR-EH group. Data were interpreted to favor a concept of parent-child relationships as a continuously interactive phenomenon.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Taxonomy of family life styles: II. Homes with slow-learning children.

A battery of instruments dealing with family social environment and family and child characteristics and behavior was administered to 218 families with slow-learning children in EMR and educably handicapped programs. Cluster analysis was performed on family environment variables. Seven unique family clusters, each with distinctive patterns of characteristics, were identified: child-oriented, cohesive; learning-oriented, high residential quality; low disclosure, unharmonious; disadvantaged, noncohesive; achievement-oriented, low residential quality; expression-oriented with few sociocultural interests; and outerdirected with little achievement-orientation. Comparisons among the clusters and ethnographic/interviewer observations revealed significant differences in other family and child characteristics and behavior. Development of a classification system for families with retarded children was discussed.

Achievement↗
PubMed1983

Taxonomy of family life styles: I. Homes with TMR children.

A battery of instruments dealing with family social environment and family and child characteristics and behavior was administered to 115 families with children in TMR classes. Cluster analysis was performed on the social environment variables. Five distinctive clusters of families, each with distinctive patterns of characteristics, were identified: cohesive, harmonious; control-oriented, somewhat unharmonious; low-disclosure, unharmonious; child-oriented, expressive; and disadvantaged, low morale. Comparisons among the clusters and ethnographic observations revealed significant differences in family characteristics and child adjustment at home and school.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1983

Reciprocal relationship between home environment and development of TMR adolescents.

The reciprocal relationship between home environment and social competency of 112 TMR adolescents was examined over a period of 3 years. Assessment of home environment included child-rearing attitudes, educationally relevant stimuli and opportunities available at home, and general psychosocial climate among family members. Measures of social competency included the child's adaptive behavior, psychosocial adjustment, and self-concept. Partial correlation and multiple regression analysis revealed significant bidirectional effects between home environment and psychosocial adjustment of TMR adolescents. The environmental effects on the adolescents appear to be broad and dynamic whereas the adolescents' effects on the home environment appear to be direct and specific.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Relationship between home environment and school adjustment of TMR children.

The relationship between the home environment and school adjustment of 104 TMR children was examined. Assessment of home environment included measurement of environmental process variables with Caldwell's HOME Inventory and psychosocial climate with Moos, Insel, and Humphrey's Family Environment Scale. Certain child-rearing attitudes and relevant demographic characteristics were also investigated. Measures of school adjustment included the child's social status, self-concept, and IQ and teacher's ratings of classroom behavior. Results revealed that specific factors of home environment were significantly related to the adjustment of TMR children in school including (a) harmony and quality of parenting, (b) educational and cognitive stimulation available at home, (c) emotional support for learning, and (d) cohesiveness of family members.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1976

Dimensions of adaptive behavior in institutionalized mentally retarded children and adults: developmental perspective.

Factor analyses were performed utilizing the subscale scores of the AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale, Part One, for 3,354 institutionalized mentally retarded children and adults. Eight different age groups were studied to determine (a) the underlying dimensions of adaptive behavior measured by the scale, (b) similarity of factor structure across ages, (c) whether there were developmental changes revealed by factor scores, and (d) the extent to which the above findings would be related to level of retardation. Three salient factorial dimensions--Personal Self-Sufficiency, Community Self-Sufficiency, and Personal-Social Responsibility--appeared across a wide span of age ranges from childhood through senility. The implication of these factors was discussed in terms of the critical period of development, rate of growth, and maximum level of growth of subjects grouped by level of retardation.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1975

Jeopardy in community placement.

As part of a broader research effort, a survey of the adaptive behavior of 424 community-placed retarded persons was conducted through small group, tape-recorded interviews with their 109 caretakers. From 1252 incidents of problem behavior cited, 203 were judged to contain jeopardy. Seventy-seven percent of these incidents involved jeopardy to health and/or safety, 4 percent to general welfare, and 18 percent contained legal jeopardy. In 79 percent of incidents, the client jeopardized himself, in 12 percent he jeopardized a fellow client, and in 9 percent he jeopardized a member of the community at large. The evidence exposes need for full examination of this problem and ways to minimize it.

Adult↗