Epidemiology of behavioral and emotional problems among children of Jamaica and the United States: parent reports for ages 6 to 11.

Research on child behavior problems requires standardized methodology in order to identify similarities and differences between societies. The present study compared parent-reported behavior problems of 360 Jamaican and 946 U.S. children aged 6 to 11. It revealed few differences in individual, total, internalizing (e.g., depression), and externalizing (e.g., fighting) problem scores as a function of nationality, gender, or age. Findings from this and other studies indicate the feasibility of a common methodology in cross-national studies of children's problems, but also the need for further refinement.