Adult Perspectives on Behavior and Emotional Problems in African American Children

Abstract

Using vignettes describing African American children with internalizing (e.g., withdrawal) versus externalizing (e.g., quarrels) problems, parents, teachers, and clinicians made judgments regarding problem seriousness, prognosis, etiology, referral, and intervention needs. Opinions of parents, teachers, and clinicians differed markedly, especially with regard to judgments about children with externalizing problems. Black raters' ratings significantly differed from those of Whites, especially for seriousness and prognostic judgments with regard to the problems. The findings suggest that interventionists who address problems that African American youth present should attend to the attitudes and judgments of adults who report on such problems. Clinicians can simultaneously harness appropriate judgments and attitudes and decrease counterproductive beliefs and behavior in their interventions with Black children.Child mental health referrals often involve problems that children exhibit or experience at various points in their development, but children's problems may vary according to factors such as ethnicity, gender, and the sociocultural

Behavioral and Emotional Problems Among Jamaican and African American Children, Ages 6 to 11: Teacher Reports Versus Direct Observations

“…These findings are also reminiscent of a recent study that compared adults' thresholds of tolerance toward emotional and behavioral problems found in African American youth (Lambert, Rowan, et al, 1998). This Shifting our focus from the specific findings to the general differences in observers' versus teachers' reports across the two countries, we are tempted to raise the question as to which of the two is more accurate.…”

“…Thus, despite their similarity in 1eritage, children of African descent in :ach country are placed in very different school-based situations. For example, < famaican children are almost always .. educated by teachers from their own eth-1 1Îc group, whereas African American t children are usually educated by teach-( :rs from other ethnic groups, and espe-c -ially by teachers of European descent z 'Lambert, Puig, et al, 1998). The value f systems and thresholds toward behavf oral problems of teachers who are from J :he same socioethnic background as s :heir pupils may vary considerably i Tom those of teachers that are not I Tom similar backgrounds.…”

Parents’ Conceptualization of Adolescents’ Mental Health Problems: Who Adopts a Psychiatric Perspective and Does It Make a Difference?

“…Minority parents are often found to have a higher threshold for concern or distress about certain behaviors (Weisz and Weiss 1991), to be less likely to medicalize behavioral problems (Arcia and Fernandez 2003;Leslie et al 2007;McKay and Bannon 2004), and more reluctant than Caucasian parents to seek MH treatment for their children (Bussing et al 2003(Bussing et al , 2005Cauce et al 2002;dosReis et al 2007;Ho et al 2007;McMiller and Weisz 1996). Cross-cultural differences in problem recognition or in help-seeking are often explained as related to minorities' greater distrust of labels and social services and/or lack of culturally competent services (Breland-Noble 2004;Forehand and Kotchick 1996;Hervey-Jumper et al 2008;Lambert et al 2001).…”

Immigrant Youth at Risk for Disorders of Mood: Recognizing Complex Dynamics

“…When the youth displays externalizing behaviors such as aggression, hyperactivity, oppositionalism, anger, or rage, parents are strongly encouraged to seek help for their youngster. However, internalizing behaviors such as sadness, anxiety, quietness, or withdrawal are oftentimes ignored or viewed as nonproblematic (Alegria et al, 2004;Lambert, Puig, Lyubansky, Rowan, & Winfrey, 2001). Unfortunately, internalizing behaviors can be more serious and representative of early symptoms of psychopathology including mood disorders and psychosis.…”