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Comparisons of problems reported by parents of children in 12 cultures: total problems, externalizing, and
A A Crijnen1, T M Achenbach, F C Verhulst
1Sophia Children's Hospital, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. CRIJNEN@PSYS.AZR.NL
Objective:
To compare parent-reported problems for children in 12 cultures.
Method:
Child Behavior Checklists were analyzed for 13,697 children and adolescents, aged 6 through 17 years, from general population samples in Australia, Belgium, China, Germany, Greece, Israel, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States.
Results:
Comparisons of 12 cultures across ages 6 through 11 and 9 cultures across ages 6 through 17 yielded medium effect sizes for cross-cultural variations in Total Problem, Externalizing, and Internalizing scores. Puerto Rican scores were the highest, while Swedish scores were the lowest. With great cross-cultural consistency, Total and Externalizing scores declined with age, while Internalizing scores increased; boys obtained higher Total and Externalizing scores but lower Internalizing scores than girls. Cross-cultural correlations were high among the mean item scores.
Conclusions:
Empirically based assessment provides a robust methodology for assessing and comparing problems reported for children from diverse cultures. Age and gender variations are cross-culturally consistent. Although clinical cutoff points should not necessarily be uniform across all cultures, empirically based assessment offers a cost-effective way to identify problems for which children from diverse cultural backgrounds may need help.