International comparisons of the dysregulation profile based on reports by parents, adolescents, and teachers

Abstract

Our objective was to examine international similarities and differences in the Dysregulation Profile (DP) of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Teacher's Report Form (TRF), and Youth Self-Report (YSR) via comparisons of data from many societies. Primary samples were those studied by Rescorla et al. (2012): CBCL: N = 69,866, 42 societies; YSR: N = 38,070, 34 societies; TRF: N = 37,244, 27 societies. Omnicultural Q correlations of items composing the DP (from the Anxious/Depressed, Attention Problems, and Aggressive Behavior syndromes) indicated considerable consistency across diverse societies with respect to which of the DP items tended to receive low, medium, or high ratings, whether ratings were provided by parents (M Q = .70), adolescents (M Q = .72), or teachers (M Q = .68). Omnicultural mean item ratings indicated that, for all 3 forms, the most common items on the DP reflect a mix of problems from all 3 constituent scales. Cross-informant analyses for the CBCL-YSR and CBCL-TRF supported these results. Aggregated DP scores, derived by summing ratings on all DP items, varied significantly by society. Age and gender differences were minor for all 3 forms, but boys scored higher than girls on the TRF. Many societies differing in ethnicity, religion, political/economic system, and geographical region manifested very similar DP scores. The most commonly reported DP problems reflected the mixed symptom picture of the DP, with dysregulation in mood, attention, and aggression. Overall, societies were more similar than different on DP scale scores and item ratings.