Ostrov E, Offer D, Howard K I
Hillside J Clin Psychiatry. 1986;8(2):183-92.
One context for understanding an adolescent's (or any other individual's) abnormal functioning is an appreciation of normal or modal functioning in the culture to which that adolescent belongs. After decades of research and clinical observation there is no consensus about what constitutes modal adolescent functioning in the United States. Much less is known about adolescent functioning in other cultures. Results were suggestive of large, cross-cultural differences in self-image among normal adolescents. In most areas American teenagers reported the best functioning while Bengali teenagers reported the worst. There were consistent gender differences in self-image across cultures, with adolescent girls showing poorer self-image than adolescent boys in many areas. Results are discussed from the point of view of difficulties in doing cross-cultural psychiatric research and the need for further research in this field.
理解青少年（或其他任何人）异常机能的一个背景是了解该青少年所属文化中的正常或典型机能。经过数十年的研究和临床观察，对于美国青少年典型机能的构成尚无共识。对于其他文化中青少年的机能了解更少。结果表明正常青少年的自我形象存在巨大的跨文化差异。在大多数方面，美国青少年报告的机能状况最佳，而孟加拉国青少年报告的状况最差。跨文化中自我形象存在持续的性别差异，在许多方面，青少年女孩的自我形象比青少年男孩更差。从跨文化精神病学研究的困难以及该领域进一步研究的必要性角度对结果进行了讨论。
