Current Institutional Affiliation
Professor/Director, Institute for Education and Human Development, Ochanomizu University

Award Information

Abe Fellowship 2002
Institutional Affiliation (at time of award):
Assistant Professor, Center for Educational Research and Training, Kyoto University of Education
A Comparative Study of Adolescent's Health-Endangering Behaviors Between the United States and Japan

My study concerns the psycho-social determinants of health-related behaviors among adolescents. My research builds upon a body of literature that focuses on the mechanisms of adolescent health-endangering behaviors, and extends inquiries by examining cross-cultural influences on adolescents' health-related behaviors. I propose to conduct a comparative study of adolescents' health endangering behaviors between the U.S. and Japan. These countries will be compared because each of these cultural contexts has been considered to influence self-construction differently: self-enhancement in the U.S. and self-criticism in Japan. It is hypothesized that such differences in cultural contexts would change the patterns of relationships between psycho-social processes and health-endangering behaviors. I propose 24 months to complete the entire project, 12 months in the U.S. on fellowship and 12 months in Japan. Through this study, I hope to provide fundamental information to develop effective prevention programs for adolescents, which will ultimately address the need for such preventions for health care policy makers.

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