[Identity Development, Family Relations, and Symptomatology in Adolescents from Seven Countries]. / Identitätsentwicklung, Familienbeziehungen und Symptombelastung bei Jugendlichen aus sieben Ländern.

Identity Development, Family Relations, and Symptomatology in Adolescents from Seven Countries This study analyzed identity development and parental rearing in adolescents from seven countries. In a sample of 2,259 adolescents (M = 15 years; 54 % female) from France, Germany, Turkey, Greece, Peru, Pakistan, and Poland, maternal parenting (support, psychological control, anxious rearing), identity development (exploration, commitment and ruminative exploration) and psychopathology was assessed. Adolescents from central Europe (France and Germany) were characterized by quite low scores in most identity dimensions, compared to adolescents from all other countries. Particular high were scores in exploration and commitment among adolescents from Turkey, Greece, Peru and Pakistan. In some countries, adolescents described the family relations as characterized by high levels of anxious rearing and psychological control, which was, however, not associated with elevated levels of total symptomatology. The findings show that what is adaptive in one cultural context is depending on cultural norms and family traditions. This information is helpful in designing interventions.

Culture beats gender? The importance of controlling for identity- and parenting-related risk factors in adolescent psychopathology.

This study analyzed the unique effects of gender and culture on psychopathology in adolescents from seven countries after controlling for factors which might have contributed to variations in psychopathology. In a sample 2259 adolescents (M = 15 years; 54% female) from France, Germany, Turkey, Greece, Peru, Pakistan, and Poland identity stress, coping with identity stress, maternal parenting (support, psychological control, anxious rearing) and psychopathology (internalizing, externalizing and total symptomatology) were assessed. Due to variations in stress perception, coping style and maternal behavior, these covariates were partialed out before the psychopathology scores were subjected to analyses of variance with gender and country as factors. These analyses leveled out the main effect of country and revealed country-specific gender effects. In four countries, males reported higher internalizing and total symptomatology than females. Partialing out the covariates resulted in a clearer picture of culture-specific and gender-dependent effects on psychopathology, which is helpful in designing interventions.

The hierarchical structure of childhood personality in five countries: continuity from early childhood to early adolescence.

Childhood personality is a rapidly growing area of investigation within individual differences research. One understudied topic is the universality of the hierarchical structure of childhood personality. In the present investigation, parents rated the personality characteristics of 3,751 children from 5 countries and 4 age groups. The hierarchical structure of childhood personality was examined for 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-factor models across country (Canada, China, Greece, Russia, and the United States) and age group (3-5, 6-8, 9-11, and 12-14 years of age). Many similarities were noted across both country and age. The Five-Factor Model was salient beginning in early childhood (ages 3-5). Deviations across groups and from adult findings are noted, including the prominent role of antagonism in childhood personality and the high covariation between Conscientiousness and intellect. Future directions, including the need for more explicit attempts to merge temperament and personality models, are discussed.

Personality structure as derived from parental ratings of free descriptions of children: the inventory of child individual differences.

Based on over 50,000 parental descriptors of children gathered in eight different countries, we used a combination of focus group sorting of descriptors in each country and factor analyses of instruments developed in four of the countries (United States, China, Greece, and the Netherlands) to describe children ages 3 to 12 years to select items for an instrument that would work well across countries to access personality. Through many factor analyses of indigenous items in each country, a core set of 141 items was used in three of the countries, with over 3000 parents responding to our instruments in China, Greece, and the United States. Much cross-comparative research analysis has resulted in 15 robust midlevel scales that describe the structures of parental descriptors that are common to the three countries. The data on the English (U.S.) sample are presented in detail. Links to temperament and behavior problems are presented and discussed.