International Comparisons of Behavioral and Emotional Problems in Preschool Children: Parents' Reports From 24 Societies

Abstract

International comparisons were conducted of preschool children's behavioral and emotional problems as reported on the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1½–5 by parents in 24 societies (N = 19,850). Item ratings were aggregated into scores on syndromes; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–oriented scales; a Stress Problems scale; and Internalizing, Externalizing, and Total Problems scales. Effect sizes for scale score differences among the 24 societies ranged from small to medium (3–12%). Although societies differed greatly in language, culture, and other characteristics, Total Problems scores for 18 of the 24 societies were within 7.1 points of the omnicultural mean of 33.3 (on a scale of 0–198). Gender and age differences, as well as gender and age interactions with society, were all very small (effect sizes < 1%). Across all pairs of societies, correlations between mean item ratings averaged .78, and correlations between internal consistency alphas for the scales averaged .92, indicating that the rank orders of mean item ratings and internal consistencies of scales were very similar across diverse societies.

Notes

Note: Complete references for each sample are available from the first author. UAE = United Arab Emirates; USA = United States of America.

^a Response rates, which were calculated by the investigators who provided the data for each society, represent the ratio of completed forms to the target sample; in some societies, settings in which data were collected (e.g., different schools) may have varied widely in response rate.

^b Samples in which the investigator indicated that referred children had been excluded are coded “yes”; for all other samples, it is assumed that some referred children may have been included and these samples are coded “no”.

^c The overall response rate for Taiwan was the weighted average of the response rates of the two subsamples.

^d The overall response rate for Turkey was the weighted average of the response rates of the two subsamples.

Note: CBCL = Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000); DSM = Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–Fourth Edition (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).

^a All analyses utilized raw data for all participants in each society.

^b Omnicultural mean (standard deviation) obtained by averaging 24 society means.

^c Omnicultural standard deviation obtained by averaging 24 society standard deviations.

^d Number of items per scale.

Note: CBCL = Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000); S = Society; G = gender; A = Age; DSM = Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–Fourth Edition (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). No Gender × Age or Society × Gender × Age interactions were significant at p < .001.

Note: For all items, 0 = not true, 1 = somewhat or sometimes true, 2 = very true or often true.

^a Number of societies for which item was in its “top 10” list.

^b Percentage of children rated 1 across the full sample of 19,850.

^c Percentage of children rated 2 across the full sample of 19,850.