Relations between bedtime parenting behaviors and temperament across 14 cultures

ObjectivesThe present study examined parental sleep-supporting practices during toddlerhood in relation to temperament across 14 cultures. We hypothesized that passive sleep-supporting techniques (e.g., talking, cuddling), but not active techniques (e.g., walking, doing an activity together), would be associated with less challenging temperament profiles: higher Surgency (SUR) and Effortful Control (EC) and lower Negative Emotionality (NE), with fine-grained dimensions exhibiting relationships consistent with their overarching factors (e.g., parallel passive sleep-supporting approach effects for dimensions of NE). MethodsCaregivers (N = 841) across 14 cultures (M = 61 families per site) reported toddler (between 17 and 40 months of age; 52% male) temperament and sleep-supporting activities. Utilizing linear multilevel regression models and group-mean centering procedures, we assessed the role of between- and within-cultural variance in sleep-supporting practices in relation to temperament. ResultsBoth within-and between-culture differences in passive sleep-supporting techniques were associated with temperament attributes, (e.g., lower NE at the between-culture level; higher within-culture EC). For active techniques only within-culture effects were significant (e.g., demonstrating a positive association with NE). Adding sleep-supporting behaviors to the regression models accounted for significantly more between-culture temperament variance than child age and gender alone. ConclusionHypotheses were largely supported. Findings suggest parental sleep practices could be potential targets for interventions to mitigate risk posed by challenging temperament profiles (e.g., reducing active techniques that are associated with greater distress proneness and NE).Peer reviewe

What should I do and who’s to blame?:A cross-national study on youth’s attitudes and beliefs in times of COVID-19

The COVID-19 crisis has had a major impact on youth. This study examined factors associated with youth's attitudes towards their government's response to the pandemic and their blaming of individuals from certain risk groups, ethnic backgrounds, and countries or regions. In a sample of 5,682 young adults (Mage = 22) from 14 countries, lower perceived burden due to COVID-19, more collectivistic and less individualistic values, and more empathy were associated with more positive attitudes towards the government and less blaming of individuals of certain groups. Youth's social identification with others in the pandemic mediated these associations in the same direction, apart from the COVID-19 burden on attitudes, which had a positive indirect effect. No evidence of country-level moderation was found

Victimization by traditional bullying and cyberbullying and the combination of these among adolescents in 13 European and Asian countries

There has been a lack of studies on bullying in non-western low-income and middle-income countries. This study reported the prevalence of traditional victimization, cybervictimization, and the combination of these, in 13 European and Asian countries, and explored how psychiatric symptoms were associated with victimization. The data for this cross-sectional, school-based study of 21,688 adolescents aged 13-15 were collected from 2011 to 2017. The main outcomes were traditional and cybervictimization obtained from student self-reports. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was used to assess psychiatric symptoms. Generalized estimating equation and logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). The mean prevalence of any victimization was 28.9%, of traditional victimization only, this was 17.7%, and for cybervictimization only this was 5.1%. Cybervictimization occurred both independently, and in combination with, traditional victimization. The mean prevalence of combined victimization was 6.1%. The mean proportion of those who were cyberbullied only among those who were either cyberbullied only or bullied both traditionally and in cyber was 45.1%. The rates of prevalence varied widely between countries. In the total sample, those who experienced combined victimization, reported the highest internalizing symptoms (girls, OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.22-1.29; boys, OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.25-1.33). The study findings suggest that anti-bullying interventions should include mental health components and target both traditional and cyberbullying. Due to the overlap between these, targeting bullying should primarily focus on how to reduce bullying behavior rather than just focusing on where bullying takes place

Feeling Unsafe at School Among Adolescents in 13 Asian and European Countries: Occurrence and Associated Factors

Background: Research on perceived school safety has been largely limited to studies conducted in Western countries and there has been a lack of large-scale cross-national studies on the topic.Methods: The present study examined the occurrence of adolescents who felt unsafe at school and the associated factors of perceived school safety in 13 Asian and European countries. The data were based on 21,688 adolescents aged 13-15 (11,028 girls, 10,660 boys) who completed self-administered surveys between 2011 and 2017. Logistic regression analyses were used to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals.Findings: The number of adolescents who felt unsafe at school varied widely across countries, with a mean occurrence of 31.4% for the total sample: 31.3% for girls, and 31.1% for boys. The findings revealed strong independent associations between feeling unsafe and individual and school-related factors, such as being bullied, emotional and behavioral problems and feeling that teachers did not care. The study also found large variations in perceived school safety between schools in many countries.Conclusion: The findings emphasize the need to create safe educational environments for all students, based on positive relationships with teachers and peers. School-based interventions to prevent bullying and promote mental health should be a natural part of school safety promotion.</p

What Should I do and Who’s to blame? A cross-national study on youth’s attitudes and beliefs in times of COVID-19

The COVID-19 crisis has had a major impact on youth. This study examined factors associated with youth’s attitudes towards their government’s response to the pandemic and their blaming of individuals from certain risk groups, ethnic backgrounds, and countries or regions. In a sample of 5,682 young adults (Mage = 22) from 14 countries, lower perceived burden due to COVID-19, more collectivistic and less individualistic values, and more empathy were associated with more positive attitudes towards the government and less blaming of individuals of certain groups. Youth’s social identification with others in the pandemic mediated these associations in the same direction, apart from the COVID-19 burden on attitudes, which had a positive indirect effect. No evidence of country-level moderation was found

Links between television exposure and toddler dysregulation : Does culture matter?

Television exposure in early childhood has increased, with concerns raised regarding adverse effects on social-emotional development, and emerging self-regulation in particular. The present study addressed television exposure (i.e., amount of time watching TV) and its associations with toddler behavioral/emotional dysregulation, examining potential differences across 14 cultures. The sample consisted of an average of 60 toddlers from each of the 14 countries from the Joint Effort Toddler Temperament Consortium (JETTC; Gartstein & Putnam, 2018). Analyses were conducted relying on the multi-level modeling framework (MLM), accounting for between- and within-culture variability, and examining the extent to which TV exposure contributions were universal vs. variable across sites. Effects of time watching TV were evaluated in relation to temperament reactivity and regulation, as well as measures of emotional reactivity, attention difficulties, and aggression. Results indicated that more time spent watching TV was associated with higher ratings on Negative Emotionality, emotional reactivity, aggression, and attention problems, as well as lower levels of soothability. However, links between TV exposure and both attention problems and soothability varied significantly between cultures. Taken together, results demonstrate that increased time spent watching television was generally associated with dysregulation, although effects were not consistently uniform, but rather varied as a function of culturally-dependent contextual factors.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Cross-national differences in questionnaires do not necessarily reflect comparable differences in disorder prevalence.

PURPOSE: To examine whether the widely used Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) can validly be used to compare the prevalence of child mental health problems cross nationally. METHODS: We used data on 29,225 5- to 16-year olds in eight population-based studies from seven countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Britain, India, Norway, Russia and Yemen. Parents completed the SDQ in all eight studies, teachers in seven studies and youth in five studies. We used these SDQ data to calculate three different sorts of "caseness indicators" based on (1) SDQ symptoms, (2) SDQ symptoms plus impact and (3) an overall respondent judgement of 'definite' or 'severe' difficulties. Respondents also completed structured diagnostic interviews including extensive open-ended questions (the Development and Well-Being Assessment, DAWBA). Diagnostic ratings were all carried out or supervised by the DAWBA's creator, working in conjunction with experienced local professionals. RESULTS: As judged by the DAWBA, the prevalence of any mental disorder ranged from 2.2% in India to 17.1% in Russia. The nine SDQ caseness indicators (three indicators times three informants) explained 8-56% of the cross-national variation in disorder prevalence. This was insufficient to make meaningful prevalence estimates since populations with a similar measured prevalence of disorder on the DAWBA showed large variations across the various SDQ caseness indicators. CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between SDQ caseness indicators and disorder rates varies substantially between populations: cross-national differences in SDQ indicators do not necessarily reflect comparable differences in disorder rates. More generally, considerable caution is required when interpreting cross-cultural comparisons of mental health, particularly when these rely on brief questionnaires

Gender differences in child&#47;adolescent personality traits: Slovenes and Russians compared

The present study compared gender differences in parental perceptions of child personality trait expression across different age groups in Slovenia and Russia. The patterns of gender differences in adolescents were further explored using parent and self-rating methods of assessment. Employing the Inventory of Child Individual Differences (Halverson et al., 2003) reports on large samples of children&#47; adolescents (2 to 15 years) in both countries were obtained. Gender differences were small and similar across countries, and their patterns were closer to each other for the same data source across countries than they were for the two sources of information within the country. The parents in both countries concurred in rating daughters as somewhat more achievement orientated, compliant, considerate, and organized, whereas sons were assessed as slightly more active, antagonistic, and distractible. At the higher-order trait level, girls were perceived to be more conscientious and agreeable relative to the boys, especially from middle childhood onwards. Regarding self-reports, adolescent girls also scored significantly higher on Considerate and Positive Emotions scales than boys, while the former reported on higher agreeableness relative to the latter in Slovenia only. Gender differences were evident even in parental assessments of the youngest group but they did not systematically increase over children&#39;s age

Cross-informant symptoms from CBCL, TRF, and YSR: Trait and method variance in a normative sample of Russian youths

A large community-based sample of Russian youths (n = 847, mean age = 13.17, sd = 2.51) was assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist (mothers and fathers separately), Teacher’s Report Form, and Youth Self-Report. The multiple indicator-version of the Correlated Trait-Correlated (Method Minus One) [CT-C(M-1)] model was applied to analyze (1) the convergent and divergent validity of these instruments in Russia, (2) the degree of trait-specificity of rater biases, and (3) potential predictors of rater-specific effects. As expected, based on the published results from different countries and in different languages, the convergent validity of the instruments was rather high between mother and father reports, but rather low for parent, teacher, and self reports. For self- and teacher reports, rater-specific effects were related to age and gender of the children for some traits. These results, once again, attest to the importance of incorporating information from multiple observers when psychopathological traits are evaluated in children and adolescents