Behavioral and emotional problems among Thai and American adolescents: parent reports for ages 12-16

We studied adolescents' behavioral and emotional problems in the United States and in Thailand, a Buddhist country in which, reportedly, aggression is discouraged and self-control, emotional restraint, and social inhibition are encouraged. Standardized parent reports on 118 problems revealed 45 Thai-U.S. differences. Thai adolescents were reported to show more overcontrolled problems (e.g., shyness, compulsivity, inhibition of talking, fearfulness, and constipation) than American adolescents (p < .0001). The two groups did not differ reliably in total undercontrolled problems, but Americans showed higher levels of direct, overt, and interpersonally aggressive undercontrol (e.g., fighting and bullying), whereas Thais showed more indirect and subtle undercontrol that was not interpersonally aggressive (e.g., sulking and sullenness). The findings suggest that different cultures may be linked to different styles of adolescent problem behavior.