Adolescents' family models: A cross-cultural study

Die vorliegende kulturvergleichende Arbeit befasst sich mit den Familienmodellen Jugendlicher in zehn Kulturen auf Basis eines typologischen Ansatzes und eines Mehrebenenansatzes. Sie leistet damit einen empirischen Beitrag zur Theorie der Familienmodelle im kulturellen Wandel nach Kagitcibasi (2007). Diese Theorie postuliert die Existenz dreier idealtypischer Familienmodelle: ein Familienmodell der Independenz, das in industrialisierten westlichen Gesellschaften vorherrscht, ein Familienmodell der (vollständigen) Interdependenz, das in nicht-industrialisierten agrarischen Kulturen zu finden ist, und als Synthese aus den beiden genannten ein Familienmodell der emotionalen Interdependenz. Letzteres entwickelt sich der Theorie zufolge, wenn nicht-industrialisierte kollektivistische Kulturen Modernisierungsprozessen ausgesetzt sind. Traditionelle Kulturen mit einem Familienmodell der (vollständigen) Interdependenz sollen sich also im Zuge gesellschaftlicher Modernisierungsprozesse nicht notwendigerweise hin zum Familienmodell der Independenz entwickeln, sondern zu einem emotional-interdependenten Modell, das erlaubt, Autonomie mit enger interpersoneller Verbundenheit zu vereinen. Diese Annahme steht im Widerspruch zu klassischen modernisierungstheoretischen Annahmen und wurde in bisherigen Studien nur unzureichend geprüft. In einem typologischen Mehrebenen-Ansatz sollen Profile allgemeiner und familienbezogener Werthaltungen Jugendlicher identifiziert werden, die mit den drei idealtypischen Familienmodellen theoretisch verbunden werden können. In einem zweiten Schritt sollen diese Wertemuster durch verhaltensnähere Familienmodellindikatoren validiert werden. Die Daten für diese Arbeit stammen aus der von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft geförderten kulturvergleichenden und interdisziplinären Value of Children and Intergenerational Relations Studie (Trommsdorff, 2001) und umfassen eine Stichprobe von 2566 Jugendlichen aus der Volksrepublik China, Deutschland, Frankreich, Indien, Indonesien, Israel, Japan, Südafrika, der Schweiz und der Türkei. Zur Identifikation der angenommen Familienmodell-Werteprofile wurden Cluster-Analysen auf der Kultur- und auf der Individualebene durchgeführt. Auf beiden Analyseebenen zeigten sich drei Werteprofile, die dem erwarteten Muster der drei idealtypischen Familienmodelle entsprachen. Das Familienmodell der emotionalen Interdependenz zeigte dabei bezüglich der Werthaltungen, die emotionale Interdependenzen in der Familie widerspiegeln ähnlich hohe Werte wie das Familienmodell der (vollständigen) Interdependenz, dagegen zeigte es ähnliche Werte wie das Familienmodell der Independenz in Bezug auf Autonomie und materielle Interdependenz widerspiegelnde Werte. In Kulturen, die auf der Kulturebene ein bestimmtes Familienmodell-Werteprofil aufwiesen befanden sich zudem überwiegend Jugendliche, die das jeweils korrespondierende Werteprofil auf der individuellen Analyseebene aufzeigten. Zur Validierung der erhaltenen Familienmodell-Werteprofile wurden diese zu verhaltensnäheren Merkmalen von Familienmodellen in Beziehung gesetzt. Die Vorhersage erfolgte auch hier jeweils getrennt für die Kultur- und Individualebene. Mit Hilfe multinomialer logistischer Modelle wurde zunächst der Effekt der Familienmodell-Werteprofile auf die Bereitschaft der Jugendlichen überprüft, ihren Eltern bei der Hausarbeit zu helfen. Die Ergebnisse zeigten einen starken Effekt der Familienmodell-Werteprofile auf beiden Analyseebenen: fast alle Jugendlichen mit einem Familienmodell der (vollständigen) Interdependenz würden ihren Eltern helfen statt sich wie geplant mit ihren Freunden zu treffen, wohingegen nur zwei Drittel bzw. nur ein Drittel der Jugendlichen mit einem Familienmodell der emotionalen Interdependenz bzw. der Independenz der Bitte der Eltern folgen würde. In Bezug auf die familienbezogenen Zukunftsorientierungen Jugendlicher zeigte sich für die Pläne für eine zukünftige Heirat/Beziehung, dass Jugendliche mit einem Familienmodell der (vollständigen) Interdependenz den stärksten Heiratswunsch hatten. Jugendliche mit einem Familienmodell der emotionalen Interdependenz waren bezüglich dieser Frage am unsichersten, und Jugendliche mit einem Familienmodell der Independenz äußerten die stärkste Ablehnung in dieser Frage. In Bezug auf Pläne, später eigene Kinder zu haben zeigten sich ähnliche Effekte, die aber insgesamt schwächer ausfielen. Insgesamt zeigte sich trotz der Unterschiede eine hohe familienbezogene Zukunftsorientierung in allen Familienmodell-Werteprofilen sowie in allen Kulturen. Bezüglich der Sohn- bzw. Tochterpräferenz zeigten sich keine Effekte der Familienmodell- und Kulturzugehörigkeit. Die Ergebnisse der Studie stärken die umstrittene Validität insbesondere des Familienmodells der emotionalen Interdependenz. Ob es sich hierbei im Sinne der Theorie von Kagitcibasi um ein synthetisches Konvergenzmodell oder eher um ein Übergangsmodell handelt, muss zukünftige Forschung zeigen.

Study design, baseline patient characteristics and intervention in a cross-cultural framework: results from the ADORE study

OBJECTIVE : To describe the methodology and to present the baseline findings of the Attention-deficit/hyperactivity Disorder Observational Research in Europe (ADORE) study, the primary objective of which is to describe the relationship between treatment regimen prescribed and quality of life of children with ADHD in actual practice. METHODS : In this 2-year prospective observational study, data on diagnosis, prescribed treatment and outcomes of ADHD were collected at seven time points by paediatricians and child psychiatrists on 1,573 children recruited in 10 European countries. The data presented here from the 1,478 patients included in the analyses describe the baseline condition, initial treatment regimen prescribed and quality of life of families with children with ADHD. RESULTS : Patients had a mean age of 9.0 years (SD 2.5) and 84% were male. Physicians diagnoses were made using DSM-IV (43 %), ICD-10 (32%) and both DSM-IV and ICD-10 (12 %). Mean age of awareness of a problem was 5.1 years, suggesting an average delay of approximately 4 years between awareness and diagnosis of ADHD. Baseline ADHD rating scale scores (physicianrated) indicated moderate to severe ADHD. Parent-rated SDQ scores were in agreement and suggested significant levels of co-existing problems. CGI-S, CGAS and CHIPCE scores also indicated significant impairment. Patients were offered the following treatments after the initial assessment: pharmacotherapy (25 %), psychotherapy (19 %), combination of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy (25 %), other therapy (10 %) and no treatment (21 %). CONCLUSION : The ADORE study shows that ADHD is similarly recognised across 10 European countries and that the children are significantly impaired across a wide range of domains. In this respect, they resemble children described in previous ADHD samples.

Gender and language in online job advertisements - a cross-cultural study

The aim of this project is to investigate the use of gender-fair language from a cross-linguistic perspective. Specifically, we are interested in whether the use of gender-fair language correlates with socio-economic rankings of gender equality and with structural features of a language. We decided to analyze online job advertisements, as they reflect common language use and can easily be compared across languages. Moreover, formulations in job advertisements have been shown to impact personnel selection via the way target groups are addressed and referred to. In the present study we examined to what extent job advertisements are formulated in a gender-fair way and how this correlates with factors such as language, culture as well as status and gender-typicality of the job advertised. The data consisted of job advertisements published online in four European countries which occupy different positions in socio-economic rankings of gender equality (World Economic Forum, 2011): Switzerland (10), Austria (rank 34), Poland (42), and Czech Republic (75). We randomly selected 100 job advertisements from four lines of business characterized by different proportions of female employees – steels/metals, science, restaurants/food services, and health care. The advertisements were analyzed with regard to the linguistic form of the job title and the remaining text; we also noted indicators of job status, reference to gender-typical traits, pictures of women/men and other information which might be relevant to the use of gender-fair language (e.g., equal opportunity policies). A first analysis of the data indicates that the phrasing of job titles is closely related to the gender-typicality of a profession. While mainly gender-fair forms are used in healthcare, masculine forms are used more often in the domain of steels and metals. Feminine forms only, however, are almost never used. Cultural differences as well as correlations with associated variables will be discussed.

Family change theory: A preliminary evaluation on the basis of recent cross-cultural studies

Family change theory (Kagitcibasi, 1996, 2007) is an approach which can be used to explain how modernisation and globalisation processes affect the family. The most important assumption of the theory is that when traditional interdependent cultures modernise, they need not necessarily develop in the direction of the independent family model typical of Western individualistic societies. Instead, they may develop towards a family model of emotional interdependence that combines continuing emotional interdependencies in the family with declining material interdependencies and with rising personal autonomy. In this chapter a preliminary evaluation of the empirical status of family change theory is given based on a review of recent cross-cultural studies. It will be shown to what extent the few studies that have been systematically conducted in this respect have found results either supporting or not supporting aspects ofthe theory, and where the strengths and problems of this research lie.

Cross-cultural perspectives on adolescents’ religiosity and family orientation

This chapter explores cultural and individual religious roots of adolescents' family orientation on the basis of multilevel analyses with data from 17 cultural groups. Religion and the family are seen as intertwined social institutions. The family as a source of social support has been identified as an important mediator of the effects of religiosity on adolescent developmental outcomes. The results of the current study show that religiosity was related to different aspects of adolescents' family orientation (traditional family values. value of children, and family future orientation), and that the culture-level effects of religiosity on family orientation were stronger than the individual-level effects. At the cultural level, socioeconomic development added to the effect of religiosity, indicating that societal affluence combined with nonreligious secular orientations is linked to a lower family orientation, especially with regard to traditional family values. The authors suggest that individual religiosity may be of special importance for adolescents' family orientation in contexts where religiosity has lost some significance but religious traditions are still alive and can be (re-)connected to.

Adolescents' value of children and their intentions to have children: A cross-cultural and multilevel analysis

This study contributes to research regarding the value of children (VOC) by comparing adolescents' VOC and their intentions to have children across 12 cultures and by exploring the relations between these constructs at the individual and cultural levels using multilevel modeling. A total of 3,348 adolescents from 12 cultures participated in this study. On average, adolescents reported that they intended to have about two children and also reported emotional VOC as being highly important. Adolescents from cultures with a low as compared to a high level of economic development reported a higher importance of the utilitarian-normative VOC. Results of the multilevel analyses showed that the reported emotional VOC was positively related to the number of children adolescents intended to have at the individual level, whereas the utilitarian-normative VOC was not related to adolescents' intention to have children. At the cultural level, the VOC dimensions were only partly related to adolescents' intention to have children. The results are discussed with regard to adolescents' future family orientation and in relation to the VOC approach.

Cross-cultural analysis of type D (distressed) personality in 6222 patients with ischemic heart disease: a study from the International HeartQoL Project

BACKGROUND Type D (distressed) personality, the conjoint effect of negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI), predicts adverse cardiovascular outcomes, and is assessed with the 14-item Type D Scale (DS14). However, potential cross-cultural differences in Type D have not been examined yet in a direct comparison of countries. AIM To examine the cross-cultural validity of the Type D construct and its relation with cardiovascular risk factors, cardiac symptom severity, and depression/anxiety. METHODS In 22 countries, 6222 patients with ischemic heart disease (angina, 33%; myocardial infarction, 37%; or heart failure, 30%) completed the DS14 as part of the International HeartQoL Project. RESULTS Type D personality was assessed reliably across countries (αNA>.80; αSI>.74; except Russia, which was excluded from further analysis). Cross-cultural measurement equivalence was established for Type D personality at all measurement levels, as the factor-item configuration, factor loadings, and error structure were not different across countries (fit: CFI=.91; NFI=.88; RMSEA=.018), as well as across gender and diagnostic subgroups. Type D personality was more prevalent in Southern (37%) and Eastern (35%) European countries compared to Northern (24%) and Western European and English-speaking (both 27%) countries (p<.001). Type D was not confounded by cardiac symptom severity, but was associated with a higher prevalence of hypertension, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, and depression. CONCLUSION Cross-cultural measurement equivalence was demonstrated for the Type D scale in 21 countries. There is a pan-cultural relationship between Type D personality and some cardiovascular risk factors, supporting the role of Type D personality across countries and cardiac conditions.

Gender stereotypes and the attribution of leadership traits. A cross-cultural comparison

In this study, we analyzed cultural variations of managerial gender typing, that is, that managers are perceived as possessing traits that are part of the masculine stereotype. Management students of both sexes from three different countries—Australia, Germany, and India—estimated the percentage to which one of three stimulus groups, that is, executives-in-general (no gender specification), male executives, or female executives, possesses person-orientedand task-oriented leadership traits. Participants also rated the importance of these characteristics for the respective group. Furthermore, another group of participants described themselves regarding the two types of traits and their importance for themselves. Altogether, the results indicate a less traditional view of leadership compared to previous findings, which is very similar in all three countries. Nevertheless, there exists an interculturally shared view of a female-specific leadership competence according to which women possess a higher person orientation than men. The self-descriptions of the female and male management students regarding person- and task-oriented traits were found to be very similar.

A cross cultural study of vaginal practices and sexuality: Implications for sexual health

Between 2005 and 2006, we investigated vaginal practices in Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Tete, Mozambique; KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; and Bangkok and Chonburi, Thailand. We sought to understand women's practices, their motivations for use and the role vaginal practices play in women's health, sexuality and sense of wellbeing. The study was carried out among adult women and men who were identified as using, having knowledge or being involved in trade in products. Further contacts were made using snowball sampling. Across the sites, individual interviews were conducted with 229 people and 265 others participated in focus group discussions. We found that women in all four countries have a variety of reasons for carrying out vaginal practices whose aim is to not simply 'dry' the vagina but rather decrease moisture that may have other associated meanings, and that they are exclusively "intravaginal" in operation. Practices, products and frequency vary. Motivations generally relate to personal hygiene, genital health or sexuality. Hygiene practices involve external washing and intravaginal cleansing or douching and ingestion of substances. Health practices include intravaginal cleansing, traditional cutting, insertion of herbal preparations, and application of substances to soothe irritated vaginal tissue. Practices related to sexuality can involve any of these practices with specific products that warm, dry, and/or tighten the vagina to increase pleasure for the man and sometimes for the woman. Hygiene and health are expressions of femininity connected to sexuality even if not always explicitly expressed as such. We found their effects may have unexpected and even undesired consequences. This study demonstrates that women in the four countries actively use a variety of practices to achieve a desired vaginal state. The results provide the basis for a classification framework that can be used for future study of this complex topic.