title: [Regulatory factors for images of the elderly among elementary school students assessed through secular trend analyses by frequency of inter-exchange with "REPRINTS" senior volunteers].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We have launched a new intervention study, called "REPRINTS" (Research of productivity by intergenerational sympathy) in which senior volunteers aged 60 years and over engage in reading picture books to school children, regularly visiting public elementary schools since 2004. The purpose of this study was to clarify characteristics of images of older people held by elementary school children and factors associated with such images, as well as to examine changes in images through intervention by "REPRINTS" senior volunteers (volunteers) for the initial one year period.
  
  
  METHODS
  
  
  
  METHODS
  Four to six volunteers as a group visited A elementary school in a suburb Kawasaki city (470 students) twice a week to read picture books. The baseline survey was conducted one month after launching the volunteer activity. First and second follow-up surveys were conducted at 6 month intervals after the baseline survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Grade, gender, short version of emotional-like image scale of older adults assessed by the SD (Semantic Differential) method (6 items in the subscale for "evaluation" and 4 items in the subscale for "potency/activity"), experience of living with grandparents, experience of interchange with older people, frequency of interchange with volunteers and the social desirability scale for children.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Related variables for a higher score in the subscale for "evaluation" included lower grade and abundant experience of interchange with older people such as grandparents. Those for "potency/ activity" included lower grade, male gender, and a higher social desirability scale for children in the multiple logistic regression model. Students were divided into two groups in terms of frequency of interchange with volunteers (low and high-frequency groups) through three surveys. In the subscale for "evaluation", the general linear model demonstrated a significant interaction between the group and number of surveys adjusted for confounding factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although emotional images of older people significantly decline with advancing grade, those of students with a high frequency of interchange with volunteers were here found to be maintained more positively over one year compared to those with a low frequency.
authors.affiliation: Research Team for Social Participation and Health Promotion, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology.
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Mariko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nishi
authors.forename: Sangyoon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohba
authors.forename: Hiroto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sakuma
authors.forename: Taro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukaya
authors.forename: Youko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kousa
authors.forename: Kazuko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Hidenori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Amano
authors.forename: Hayato
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.forename: Fumihiko
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kakuno
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shinkai
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012928:Social Desirability; D014838:Volunteers