Relationships Between the Components of Sense of Coherence (SOC) and Stress Responses Among Upper-Grade Elementary School Children —Differences in the Level of SOC—

In terms of the health status of upper-grade elementary school children, previous studies have indicated that pupils with a high level of Sense of Coherence (SOC) have less stress responses. However, it remains unclear how each component of SOC (comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness) is related to stress responses according to the level of SOC. Therefore, this study investigated the relationships between the components of SOC and stress responses among upper-grade elementary school children according to the level of SOC.

An anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted on 402 pupils in 4th to 6th grade at a public elementary school in Kanagawa, Japan. Based on data from 312 respondents, the SOC scores (total score and each score for “comprehensibility”, “manageability” and “meaningfulness”), the stress responses scores (each score of “physical symptoms”, “feelings of depression and anxiety”, “feelings of displeasure and anger” and “apathy symptoms”) and individual attributes (grade and sex) were used for analyses. The pupils were classified into three groups (high, middle and low) based on their SOC total score. The relationships among the scores for each SOC component and the stress responses scores in the three groups were assessed by partial correlation analyses controlled by attributes.

The findings revealed that the component factors of SOC related to stress responses varied according to the level of SOC. For pupils with high or middle SOC, the sense of meaningfulness was related to reduced increases in unpleasant feelings and the loss of vigor or motivation. In contrast, for pupils with low SOC, the sense of comprehensibility was related to reduced increases in sluggishness, headache, depression, and the loss of vigor or motivation. To reduce stress responses among upper-grade elementary school children, it is important to strengthen specific components of SOC, depending on each pupil’s level of SOC.