Many families worldwide have at least one member with a behavioral or mental disorder, and yet the majority of the public fails to correctly recognize symptoms of mental illness. Previous research has found that Mental Health Literacy (MHL)—the knowledge and positive beliefs about mental disorders—tends to be higher in European and North American cultures, compared to Asian and African cultures. Nonetheless quantitative research examining the variables that explain this cultural difference remains limited. The purpose of our study was fourfold: (a) to validate measures of MHL cross-culturally, (b) to examine the MHL model quantitatively, (c) to investigate cultural differences in the MHL model, and (d) to examine collectivism as a predictor of MHL. We validated measures of MHL in European American and Indian samples. The results lend strong quantitative support to the MHL model. Recognition of symptoms of mental illness was a central variable: greater recognition predicted greater endorsement of social causes of mental illness and endorsement of professional help-seeking as well as lesser endorsement of lay help-seeking. The MHL model also showed an overwhelming cultural difference; namely, lay help-seeking beliefs played a central role in the Indian sample, and a negligible role in the European American sample. Further, collectivism was positively associated with causal beliefs of mental illness in the European American sample, and with lay help-seeking beliefs in the Indian sample. These findings demonstrate the importance of understanding cultural differences in beliefs about mental illness, particularly in relation to help-seeking beliefs.

Aim Being subjected to childhood maltreatment has devastating long-term adverse effects and is a major risk factor for mental health problems in adult life. There is empirical support that socio-political factors can be risk factors for childhood maltreatment. Here we examine whether socio-political context predicts self-rated childhood maltreatment in a sample of the German population. Methods Data were drawn from surveys of representative samples of the East and West German population, including participants born 1980 or earlier (5836 participants; 3146 women). Childhood maltreatment was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Screener, the German short screening version of the childhood trauma questionnaire. To examine whether socio-political context is a predictor of childhood maltreatment in women and men, we conducted logistic regression analyses. Results We found that in women, socio-political context (West Germany) significantly predicted childhood maltreatment (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] 1.7 [1.2–2.5], 1.6 [1.1–2.3], 2.5 [1.6–4.1] and 1.8 [1.3–2.5] for emotional neglect, and emotional, physical and sexual violence, respectively). In men, the socio-political context (West Germany) was a predictor of physical and sexual violence (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] 1.8 [1.2–2.7] and 2.5 [1.4–4.5]), respectively. Concerning emotional neglect and violence, socio-political context was not a significant predictor in men. The examination of differential item functioning revealed that our results could not be attributed to differential response behaviour between East and West Germans caused by item bias. Conclusions The results suggest that socio-political context is an important determinant to consider when examining childhood maltreatment. Future research should continue to focus on risk and protective factors at the societal level, such as legal frameworks addressing gender equality and child protection laws, to create further evidence for population-wide prevention strategies ensuring safe, nurturing and thriving environments for children and families.

Stimulus overselectivity occurs when one aspect of the environment controls behavior at the expense of other equally salient aspects. Stimulus overselectivity can be reduced for some individuals with learning disabilities, if they engage in an observing response in which they point to, touch, or name each of the stimuli prior to selecting the one requested. To see whether this would apply to another population, a total of 55 participants with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) were trained on match-to-sample (MTS), or simple discrimination tasks, to determine whether overselectivity could be eliminated by using an observing response. MTS tasks were presented in a table-top format as well as on a computer. The observing-response procedure did not eliminate overselectivity for any of the participants, regardless of age, task, or format of presentation. These results are interpreted to call to question the effectiveness of this procedure in this context for individuals with ASD.

Many repatriates find it challenging to readjust to their heritage culture after spending a significant period of time abroad. Research on predictors of readjustment, however, remains limited. The present study in particular investigated the identification of third culture individuals (TCIs) – that is, individuals who spent their formative years outside of their heritage culture - with an abstract, third culture. Our findings demonstrated that TCIs’ identification with the third culture was empirically distinct from that of the heritage and host cultures. The present study further examined whether several variables – sojourner type (TCI vs. non-TCI), perceived conflict between heritage and host culture, perceived cultural distance, and cultural identification with heritage and other cultures – predicted psychological readjustment (stress, anxiety, depression and overall psychological readjustment). The results showed that strong heritage culture identification was associated with better psychological readjustment, whereas cultural conflict was generally associated with poorer readjustment. Furthermore, sojourner type significantly moderated the latter association, such that cultural conflict predicted the stress aspect of psychological readjustment for non-TCIs, but not for TCIs. As the present investigation is the first study to empirically establish identification with a ‘third culture’ we discuss implications for the literature on third culture individuals and psychological adjustment upon re-entry.