Children
and adolescents from Jamaica
My graduate work at Michigan State University (1993-1999) focused on examining how different cultural socialization practices affect child and adolescent behaviors in Jamaica and the United States. Detailed information is available in project descriptions, and a couple of representative titles and abstracts are provided below. This is no longer an active part of my work.Behavior and emotional problems among adolescents of Jamaica and the U.S.: Parent, teacher, and self reports for ages 12-18
Jamaican and U.S. nonreferred adolescent samples ages 12-18 were compared via items on the Child Behavior Checklist, Teacher's Report Form, and the Youth Self-Report. No significant total problem score differences were found between Jamaican versus U.S. adolescents in reports by any informants. However, adolescents in both societies reported significantly more problems than their parents or teachers. Jamaican adolescents received higher problem ratings for most of the individual problem items on which nationality effects emerged, on the Withdrawn and Somatic Complaints syndromes, and on internalizing scores. Most of the significant nationality differences in parent, teacher, and self-ratings of competencies showed more favorable scores for U.S. adolescents. However, the competence items on which Jamaican adolescents rated themselves significantly higher reflected the customs (e.g., respect for family members) endorsed by Jamaican adults. The findings suggest that different clinical cut-points on competence scores may be needed for Jamaican than for U.S. adolescents.Race, migration, and psychological adjustment: A comparison of Jamaican immigrant children with nonimmigrant children of African descent in the U.S. and Jamaica
This study examined the prevalence of behavior problems in three different groups of non-clinic referred adolescents: Jamaican natives, U.S. natives, and Jamaican immigrants in the U.S. Questions of interest included: 1) Do Jamaican immigrant children have higher problem severity than their U.S. and Jamaican counterparts, and 2) Do Jamaican immigrant children exhibit different problem types from the other two groups? Dependent variables included individual problem items, eight syndrome scores, internalizing and externalizing groupings of syndrome scores, and the total problem score. These were analyzed separately in a 3 (ethnic status) X 2 (gender) X 3 (age level) Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVAs). Socioeconomic status (SES) was used as a covariate. The findings indicated very modest differences among the problems reported by parents in the three ethnic groups.
