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

BACKGROUND: It is unknown how much variation in adult mental health problems is associated with differences between societal/cultural groups, over and above differences between individuals. METHODS: To test these relative contributions, a consortium of indigenous researchers collected Adult Self-Report (ASR) ratings from 16 906 18- to 59-year-olds in 28 societies that represented seven culture clusters identified in the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavioral Effectiveness study (e.g. Confucian, Anglo). The ASR is scored on 17 problem scales, plus a personal strengths scale. Hierarchical linear modeling estimated variance accounted for by individual differences (including measurement error), society, and culture cluster. Multi-level analyses of covariance tested age and gender effects. RESULTS: Across the 17 problem scales, the variance accounted for by individual differences ranged from 80.3% for DSM-oriented anxiety problems to 95.2% for DSM-oriented avoidant personality (mean = 90.7%); by society: 3.2% for DSM-oriented somatic problems to 8.0% for DSM-oriented anxiety problems (mean = 6.3%); and by culture cluster: 0.0% for DSM-oriented avoidant personality to 11.6% for DSM-oriented anxiety problems (mean = 3.0%). For strengths, individual differences accounted for 80.8% of variance, societal differences 10.5%, and cultural differences 8.7%. Age and gender had very small effects. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, adults' self-ratings of mental health problems and strengths were associated much more with individual differences than societal/cultural differences, although this varied across scales. These findings support cross-cultural use of standardized measures to assess mental health problems, but urge caution in assessment of personal strengths.

Emotional Dysregulation in Adults from 10 World Societies: An Epidemiological Latent Class Analysis of the Adult-Self-Report.

Background/Objective: Emotional dysregulation (ED) is a dimensional psychological domain, previously operationalized by instruments of the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) for children and adolescents; however, its cross-cultural and bottom-up characteristics among adult populations are still unknown. Method: We examined scores obtained on the Adult Self-Report (ASR) by 9,238 18- to 59-year-olds from 10 societies that differed in social, economic, geographic, and other characteristics. A Latent Class Analysis was performed on the data from each society. Results: In each society, a dysregulated class (DYS) was identified, which was characterized by elevated scores on most ASR syndromes. The mean prevalence of DYS was 9.2% (6.1-12.7%). The best models ranged from three to five latent classes in the different societies. Conclusions: Although the number of identified classes and the prevalence of ED varied across societies, a DYS class was found in each society, suggesting the need to adopt a dimensional view of psychopathology and a cross cultural perspective also in adult populations.

Contexto/Objetivo: La desregulación emocional (DE) es un ámbito dimensional en Psicología, previamente operacionalizado por los instrumentos del Sistema de Evaluación Basado Empíricamente de Achenbach (ASEBA, por sus siglas en inglés) para niños y adolescentes; sin embargo, aún se desconocen sus características interculturales y su enfoque ascendente en su aplicación a la población adulta. Método: Examinamos las puntuaciones obtenidas en el Autoinforme de Adultos (ASR, por sus siglas en inglés) por 9.238 personas de 18 a 59 años de edad pertenecientes a 10 sociedades que diferían en cuanto a sus características sociales, económicas, geográficas y de otro tipo. Se realizó un Análisis de Clases Latentes con los datos de cada sociedad. Resultados: En cada sociedad se identificó una clase desregulada (DES), que se caracterizaba por puntuaciones elevadas en la mayoría de los síndromes ASR. La prevalencia media de DES fue del 9,2% (6,1-12,7%). Los mejores modelos oscilaron entre tres y cinco clases latentes en las diferentes sociedades. Conclusiones: Aunque el número de clases identificadas y la prevalencia de DE variaron entre las diversas sociedades, se encontró una clase DES en cada sociedad, lo que sugiere la necesidad de adoptar una visión dimensional de la psicopatología y una perspectiva intercultural también en las poblaciones adultas.

Syndromes of Self-Reported Psychopathology for Ages 18-59 in 29 Societies.

This study tested the multi-society generalizability of an eight-syndrome assessment model derived from factor analyses of American adults' self-ratings of 120 behavioral, emotional, and social problems. The Adult Self-Report (ASR; Achenbach and Rescorla 2003) was completed by 17,152 18-59-year-olds in 29 societies. Confirmatory factor analyses tested the fit of self-ratings in each sample to the eight-syndrome model. The primary model fit index (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation) showed good model fit for all samples, while secondary indices showed acceptable to good fit. Only 5 (0.06%) of the 8,598 estimated parameters were outside the admissible parameter space. Confidence intervals indicated that sampling fluctuations could account for the deviant parameters. Results thus supported the tested model in societies differing widely in social, political, and economic systems, languages, ethnicities, religions, and geographical regions. Although other items, societies, and analytic methods might yield different results, the findings indicate that adults in very diverse societies were willing and able to rate themselves on the same standardized set of 120 problem items. Moreover, their self-ratings fit an eight-syndrome model previously derived from self-ratings by American adults. The support for the statistically derived syndrome model is consistent with previous findings for parent, teacher, and self-ratings of 1½-18-year-olds in many societies. The ASR and its parallel collateral-report instrument, the Adult Behavior Checklist (ABCL), may offer mental health professionals practical tools for the multi-informant assessment of clinical constructs of adult psychopathology that appear to be meaningful across diverse societies.

Syndromes of collateral-reported psychopathology for ages 18-59 in 18 Societies.

The purpose was to advance research and clinical methodology for assessing psychopathology by testing the international generalizability of an 8-syndrome model derived from collateral ratings of adult behavioral, emotional, social, and thought problems. Collateral informants rated 8,582 18-59-year-old residents of 18 societies on the Adult Behavior Checklist (ABCL). Confirmatory factor analyses tested the fit of the 8-syndrome model to ratings from each society. The primary model fit index (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation) showed good model fit for all societies, while secondary indices (Tucker Lewis Index, Comparative Fit Index) showed acceptable to good fit for 17 societies. Factor loadings were robust across societies and items. Of the 5,007 estimated parameters, 4 (0.08%) were outside the admissible parameter space, but 95% confidence intervals included the admissible space, indicating that the 4 deviant parameters could be due to sampling fluctuations. The findings are consistent with previous evidence for the generalizability of the 8-syndrome model in self-ratings from 29 societies, and support the 8-syndrome model for operationalizing phenotypes of adult psychopathology from multi-informant ratings in diverse societies.