International Comparisons of Emotionally Reactive Problems in Preschoolers: CBCL/1½–5 Findings from 21 Societies

Abstract

Our goal was to conduct international comparisons of emotion regulation using the 9-item Emotionally Reactive (ER) syndrome of the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1½–5. We analyzed parent ratings for 17,964 preschoolers from 21 societies, which were grouped into 8 GLOBE study culture clusters (e.g., Nordic, Confucian Asian). Omnicultural broad base rates for ER items ranged from 8.0% to 38.8%. Rank ordering for mean item ratings varied widely across societies (omnicultural Q = .50) but less so across culture clusters (M Q = .66). Societal similarity in mean item rank ordering varied by culture cluster, with large within-cluster similarity for Anglo (Q = .96), Latin Europe (Q = .74), Germanic (Q = .77), and Latin American (Q = .76) clusters, but smaller within-cluster similarity for Nordic, Eastern Europe, and Confucian Asian clusters (Qs = .52, .23, and .44, respectively). Confirmatory factor analyses of the ER syndrome supported configural invariance for all 21 societies. All 9 items showed full to approximate metric invariance, but only 3 items showed approximate scalar invariance. The ER syndrome correlated . 65 with the Anxious/Depressed (A/D) syndrome and .63 with the Aggressive Behavior syndrome. ER items varied in base rates and factor loadings, and societies varied in rank ordering of items as low, medium, or high in mean ratings. Item rank order similarity among societies in the same culture cluster varied widely across culture clusters, suggesting the importance of cultural factors in the assessment of emotion regulation in preschoolers.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Members of the International ASEBA Consortium: Niels Bilenberg - University of Southern Denmark; Gudrun Bjarnadottir - Glaesibaer Health Clinic, Iceland; Christiane Capron - University of Montpellier, France; Sarah De Pauw - Ghent University, Belgium; Pedro Dias - Portuguese Catholic University; Anca Dobrean - Babes-Bolyai University, Romania; Manfred Döpfner - University of Cologne, Germany; Michel Duyme - University of Montpellier, France; Elaheh Esmaeili - Tehran Institute for Exceptional Children, Iran; Lourdes Ezpeleta - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain; Alessandra Frigerio - Scientific Institute E. Medea, Italy; Daniel S.S. Fung - Institute of Mental Health, Singapore; Miguel Gonçalves - University of Minho, Portugal; Halldór Guðmundsson - University of Iceland Suh-Fang Jeng - National Taiwan University; Roma Jusiene - Vilnius University; Young-Ah Kim –Huno Consulting, Korea; Solveig Kristensen - University of Southern Denmark; Jianghong Liu - University of Pennsylvania; Felipe Lecannelier - Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile; Patrick Leung - Chinese University of Hong Kong; Bárbara César Machado - Portuguese Catholic University; Rosario Montirosso - Scientific Institute E. Medea, Italy; Kyung- Ja Oh - Yonsei University, Korea; Yoon Phaik Ooi - Institute of Mental Health, Singapore; Julia Plück - University of Cologne, Germany; Rolando Pomalima - Peruvian National Institute of Mental Health; Jetishi Pranvera - University of Dardania; Mimoza Shahini - University Clinical Center of Kosovo; Jaime Silva -Universidad de la Frontera; José Valverde - Peruvian National Institute of Mental Health; Jan van der Ende - Erasmus University Medical Center-Sophia’s Children’s Hospital; Karla Van Leeuwen - Leuven University; Frank C. Verhulst - Erasmus University Medical Center-Sophia’s Children’s Hospital; Yen-Tzu Wu - National Taiwan University; Sema Yurdusen - Middle East Technical University; Stephen R. Zubrick - Curtin Centre for Developmental Research, Curtin University of Technology

Disclosure statement

The first and third author receive compensation from the University of Vermont non-profit Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families, which publishes the CBCL/1½-5.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher's website.