Multicultural Understanding of Child and Adolescent Psychopathology: Implications for Mental Health Assessment

336 Pages·2006·1.95 MB·English

by  Thomas M. Achenbach

MULTICULTURAL UNDERSTANDING
OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

Multicultural Understanding
of Child and Adolescent
Psychopathology
Implications for Mental Health Assessment
THOMAS M. ACHENBACH
LESLIE A. RESCORLA
THE GUILFORD PRESS
New York London
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Achenbach,ThomasM.,1940–
Multiculturalunderstandingofchildandadolescentpsychopathology:
implicationsformentalhealthassessment/ThomasM.Achenbach,
LeslieA.Rescorla.
p.;cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-10:1-59385-348-3 ISBN-13:978-1-59385-348-8(cloth:alk.paper)
1. Childpsychopathology—Cross-culturalstudies. 2. Adolescent
psychopathology—Cross-culturalstudies. I. Rescorla,Leslie. II. Title.
[DNLM: 1. MentalDisorders. 2. Adolescent. 3. Child. 4. Cross-Cultural
Comparison. 5. Psychopathology—methods. WS350A177m2006]
RJ499.M852006
618.92′89—dc22
2006022956
About the Authors
Thomas M. Achenbach, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology, is
Director of the Center for Children, Youth, and Families at the University
of Vermont Department of Psychiatry. He received his PhD from the Uni-
versityofMinnesotaandwasapostdoctoralfellowattheYaleChildStudy
Center.BeforemovingtotheUniversityofVermont,Dr.Achenbachtaught
at Yale and was a research psychologist at the National Institute of Men-
tal Health. He has been a DAAD Fellow at the University of Heidel-
berg, Germany; an SSRC Senior Faculty Fellow at Jean Piaget’s Centre
d’Epistémologie Génétique in Geneva; Chair of the American Psychologi-
cal Association’s Task Force on Classification of Children’s Behavior; and
a member of the American Psychiatric Association’s Advisory Committee
onDSM-III-R.Hehasgivenover230invitedpresentationsin30countries
and has authored over 250 publications, including Developmental Psycho-
pathology; Research in Developmental Psychology: Concepts, Strategies, Methods;
Assessment and Taxonomy of Child and Adolescent Psychopathology; Empirically
Based Taxonomy; Empirically Based Assessment of Child and Adolescent Psycho-
pathology (with Stephanie H. McConaughy); and manuals for the Child
Behavior Checklist, Teacher’s Report Form, Youth Self-Report, and other stan-
dardized assessment instruments for adults as well as for children. The
assessment instruments have been translated into over 70 languages and
theirusehasbeenreportedinover6,000publicationsfrommorethan65
cultures. Dr. Achenbach’s honors include the Distinguished Contribution
Award of the American Psychological Association’s Section on Clinical
Child Psychology, the University Scholar Award of the University of Ver-
v
vi | About the Authors
mont, selection for the Institute for Scientific Information’s Most Highly
CitedAuthorsintheWorldPsychiatry/PsychologyLiterature,andelection
tofellowshipstatusinfourdivisionsoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssoci-
ation.
Leslie A. Rescorla, PhD, Professor of Psychology at Bryn Mawr College,
was Director of the Clinical Developmental Psychology doctoral program
for20yearsandChairofthePsychologyDepartmentfor10years,andhas
beenDirectoroftheBrynMawrSchoolPsychologyCertificationProgram
since 1985. Dr. Rescorla is Director of the Child Study Institute of Bryn
Mawr,whichprovidesclinicalservicestochildrenandfamilies.Sheisalso
Director of the Bryn Mawr Early Childhood Programs, which include the
PhebeAnnaThorneSchoolfortypicallydevelopingchildrenandtheLan-
guageEnrichmentProgramforchildrenwithlanguagedelays.Dr.Rescorla
didaclinicalinternshipattheYaleChildStudyCenterandthencontinued
her clinical training at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Center and the
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Before joining the faculty at Bryn
Mawrin1985,shewasaresearchassociateattheYaleChildStudyCenter
and a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania. Her honors include the
McPhersonAwardforoutstandingperformanceandservicetoBrynMawr
College.Dr.RescorladevelopedtheLanguageDevelopmentSurvey(LDS),
ascreeningtoolforidentifyinglanguagedelayinyoungchildren.Shewon
the Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders Editor’s Award in 1989 for her
paper introducing the LDS, and she has served as an Associate Editor for
theJournalofSpeechandHearingResearch.Shehaspresentedfindingsfrom
her15-yearlongitudinalstudyonlatetalkersatmanynationalandinterna-
tional conferences as well as in numerous publications. Dr. Rescorla is a
licensedclinicalpsychologistandacertifiedschoolpsychologist.Shemain-
tains a clinical practice at the Child Study Institute, where she works with
children and their families and consults with schools. In addition to her
researchonlanguagedelaysinyoungchildrenandinlongitudinalpatterns
of school achievement, Dr. Rescorla conducts research on empirically
based assessment of emotional and behavioral problems in children, ado-
lescents, and adults. She has given many research presentations and train-
ing workshops on empirically based assessment, both in the United States
and abroad.
Preface
A
roundtheworld,manyforcesareatworktobringpeopleofdiffer-
entculturestogether.Theseforcesincludebothvoluntarymigrationto
seek new opportunities and involuntary migration to escape intolera-
ble conditions. As people from different cultures encounter one
another, the results vary enormously. One kind of positive result is the
blending of diverse cultural characteristics into vibrant new combina-
tions. Another kind of result is peaceful coexistence without much
blending.Lesspositiveresultsincludechronictensionsbetweendiffer-
ent groups and outbreaks of bloody strife.
Decisions about migration and about relations with other groups
are usually made by adults. However, tens of millions of children must
cope with the consequences of these decisions. The consequences for
immigrant and minority children include immersion in educational,
social welfare, and mental health systems that may be ill equipped to
evaluate and help them. Unfortunately, prevailing theories of chil-
dren’s development and functioning that stem from only a handful of
cultures may not be applicable to children from diverse cultures.
In this book we bring together findings from many cultures. Our
purpose is to examine similarities and differences between cultures in
the problems reported for children, the prevalence of such problems,
the patterning of the reported problems, and the correlates of the
problems. Comprehensive understanding of normal development and
of its perturbations requires knowledge of cultural variations in chil-
dren’s problems. This understanding is especially urgent in these days
of both cultural blending and cultural clashes.
vii
viii | Preface
Because what is known depends heavily on how it is known, we
present multicultural aspects of psychopathology from two perspec-
tives: the empirically based and the diagnostically based approaches.
Both of these approaches have generated impressive amounts of inter-
national research. Although there are important differences between
the empirically based and diagnostically based approaches, the two
approaches need not be mutually exclusive. On the contrary, multicul-
tural findings from both perspectives can contribute to new ways of
understanding, assessing, preventing, and treating psychopathology.
Thisbookisintendedforallwhocareaboutchildren’sbehavioral,
emotional, and social problems and their cultural variations. Because
thebookmakesextensiveuseofresearchfindings,readerswouldbene-
fit from having some familiarity with the language of research in the
behavioral sciences. However, the main issues, findings, and conclu-
sions can be understood without such knowledge.
As will be evident from reading the book, researchers from many
cultures have contributed to the knowledge base. We have been privi-
leged to work with wonderful colleagues from amazingly diverse cul-
tures. We have also been privileged to have exceptional collaborators
in all aspects of our research and to have benefited greatly from com-
mentsonthemanuscriptbyDrs.HectorBird,LeventDumenci,Masha
Ivanova, Stephanie McConaughy, Barry Nurcombe, Michael Sawyer,
and Frank Verhulst. We are especially grateful to Rachel Bérubé, who
prepared the manuscript and its many changes with great care and
patience.
Contents
CHAPTER1. Why Should We Do Multicultural Research 1
on Children’s Problems?
CHAPTER2. The Empirically Based “Bottom-Up” Approach 13
to Psychopathology
CHAPTER3. The Diagnostically Based “Top-Down” Approach 47
to Psychopathology
CHAPTER4. Multicultural Findings on Scores Obtained 69
with Empirically Based Assessment Instruments
CHAPTER5. Multicultural Findings on Correlates 95
of Empirically Based Scale Scores
CHAPTER6. Multicultural Findings on Patterns of Problems 156
in Empirically Based Assessment Instruments
CHAPTER7. Multicultural Findings on the Prevalence 178
of Diagnostically Based Disorders
CHAPTER8. Multicultural Findings on Correlates 210
and Comorbidity of Diagnostically Based Disorders
CHAPTER9. Comparisons of Empirically Based 228
and Diagnostically Based Findings
ix
x | Contents
CHAPTER10. Meeting Challenges Posed by Multicultural 252
Research on Children’s Problems
CHAPTER11. Contributions of Multicultural Research 273
to Understanding, Assessing, Preventing,
and Treating Child Psychopathology
References 283
Author Index 309
Subject Index 317