Effects of individual differences, society, and culture on youth‐rated problems and strengths in 38 societies

Abstract

Background Clinicians increasingly serve youths from societal/cultural backgrounds different from their own. This raises questions about how to interpret what such youths report. Rescorla et al. (2019, European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 1107) found that much more variance in 72,493 parents’ ratings of their offspring’s mental health problems was accounted for by individual differences than by societal or cultural differences. Although parents’ reports are essential for clinical assessment of their offspring, they reflect parents’ perceptions of the offspring. Consequently, clinical assessment also requires self‐reports from the offspring themselves. To test effects of individual differences, society, and culture on youths’ self‐ratings of their problems and strengths, we analyzed Youth Self‐Report (YSR) scores for 39,849 11–17 year olds in 38 societies. Methods Indigenous researchers obtained YSR self‐ratings from population samples of youths in 38 societies representing 10 culture cluster identified in the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavioral Effectiveness study. Hierarchical linear modeling of scores on 17 problem scales and one strengths scale estimated the percent of variance accounted for by individual differences (including measurement error), society, and culture cluster. ANOVAs tested age and gender effects. Results Averaged across the 17 problem scales, individual differences accounted for 92.5% of variance, societal differences 6.0%, and cultural differences 1.5%. For strengths, individual differences accounted for 83.4% of variance, societal differences 10.1%, and cultural differences 6.5%. Age and gender had very small effects. Conclusions Like parents’ ratings, youths’ self‐ratings of problems were affected much more by individual differences than societal/cultural differences. Most variance in self‐rated strengths also reflected individual differences, but societal/cultural effects were larger than for problems, suggesting greater influence of social desirability. The clinical significance of individual differences in youths’ self‐reports should thus not be minimized by societal/cultural differences, which—while important—can be taken into account with appropriate norms, as can gender and age differences.

Cultural contributions to adults' self-rated mental health problems and strengths: 7 culture clusters, 28 societies, 16 906 adults

“…We know of no other studies that have tested the effects of societal and cultural effects on adults' self-ratings of mental health problems. We know of one such study of parent ratings of children (Rescorla et al, 2019) and one of youth self-ratings (Ivanova et al, 2022). The results converge in three ways.…”

“…A similar analytic approach was applied in two studies of ASR-related measures of child/youth mental health problems. For 11–18-year-olds' self-ratings, individual differences accounted for 92.5% of variance across 17 problem scales, societal differences 6.0%, and cultural differences only 1.5%, indicating modest effects of society and culture (Ivanova et al, 2022). For 6–18-year-olds rated by their parents, individual differences accounted for 90% of the variance across problem scales, societal differences 6%, and cultural differences 4% (Rescorla, Althoff, Ivanova, & Achenbach, 2019).…”

Longitudinal studies of child mental disorders in the general population: A systematic review of study characteristics

“…With or without potentially eligible non-English studies, longitudinal studies were conducted in all continents, with European and North American being the most common and South American and African countries being the least common. This may have implications for meta-analytic research about longitudinal relationships between mental disorders and other variables at a global level, as we know that there are cultural differences in mental disorder perceptions, mental health literacy, and help-seeking behaviours in children (Ivanova et al, 2015(Ivanova et al, , 2022Pescosolido, 2007). Some studies noted connections to similar studies in other countries or mentioned being part of cross-national consortium studies.…”