Date of Graduation

Fall 2018

Degree

Master of Science in Early Childhood and Family Development

Department

Early Childhood and Family Development

Committee Chair

Brittany M. Wittenberg

Abstract

Adolescents and young adults need psychosocial support in the hospital because of their developing abstract thinking skills that occur during puberty. In addition, it is important to understand the cultural differences of effective psychosocial interventions for adolescents between the United States of America (USA) and Japan. The purpose of this study is to determine perceptions of effective psychosocial interventions for Japanese adolescents based on the experiences of Certified Child Life Specialists (n = 8), who trained in the USA and were presently working in Japan. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from the CCLSs in Japan through a one-time online survey. Results indicated that providing educational resources, opportunities for emotional expression, and group activities were the interventions CCLSs in Japan perceived as most effective for adolescent patients. Moreover, results indicated that the biggest challenges to providing interventions for adolescent patients in Japan were the promotion of emotional expression in individual and group settings, lack of developmentally appropriate resources for adolescents, and low CCLS prioritization of adolescent patients due to the limited amount of CCLSs in Japanese hospitals. As implications for child life practice, the information discovered about the challenges Japanese CCLSs face can be further explored in future research so that solutions to the challenges can be found.

Keywords

psychosocial interventions, child life specialists, child life services, adolescents, Japan

Subject Categories

Education

Copyright

© Yukari Stickley

Download

Open Access

Included in

Education Commons

Share

COinS