Bailiang Wu

A Pilot Study of Social Competence Assessment Using Interaction Rating Scale Advanced

Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the validity of the Interaction Rating Scale Advanced (IRSA) as an evidence-based practical index of social skills. Methods. The participants in our study were 17 high school students. The participants completed the five-minute interaction session and were observed using the IRSA. Their teacher evaluated their social competence based on regular observation in school. Results. The results indicated the high correlation between IRSA scores and teachers practical evaluation. IRSA can measure social competence with high validity. Conclusion. The IRSA provides further evidence of the fact that in order to study social competence development, it is important to evaluate various features of the interaction like IRSA subscales.

Social Interaction and Dementia Prevention: Six-year Follow-up Study

This six-year follow-up study was designed to analyse the relationship between social interaction and the prevention of dementia. All participants (aged 65 years and above) lived in farming communities near major urban centers in Japan. The contents of the questionnaire covered social interaction (using an index of social interaction constituting 18 items), health status, physical function, age, and gender. Residents who needed care and had disease at baseline survey were excluded from analysis. After the baseline survey, 35 participants among 593 were diagnosed as dementia within the six-year period. Results showed that: (1) baseline age was related to dementia; (2) greater social interaction was positively related to reduced dementia; (3) the multiple logistic regression analysis adjusted for baseline age, gender indicated that high frequency of newspaper reading, health motivation, life style motivation, and active approach were related to dementia prevention. These findings highlight the importance of social interaction in dementia prevention.

Association between the older adults' social relationships and functional status in Japan.

Previous studies have shown that social relationships positively contribute to the functioning of older adults. However, the particular aspects of social relationships that are most predictive remain unknown. Consequently, the current study aimed to clarify what elements of social relationships impacted the maintenance of functioning among older adults.