A cross-cultural study on psychosocial factors of mental health and socialization of the adolescents.

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

We, the investigators, had four chances of meeting from 1988 to 1990 in Japan, Korea and USA. We discussed current mental health problems of the adolescent in the respective country. Mental health problems differ largely by ethnic group and by social status of the parent in USA; psychological stress of the entrance examination seemed most important in Seoul, Korea; and school phobia, anorexia nervosa, and ijime (violence or making isolate) have been serious problems in Japan. These problems originate from the respective cultural setting of the three countries, which could be made clear quantitatively by use of standardized questionnaires. THI-A, the Todai (Univ. of Tokyo) Health Index for adolescent was made and the English and Korean versions were prepared. THI-Junior was developed putting stress on the measurement of psychological and mental aspect of the adolescent, which has 110 questions and 10 scales translated also into English and Korea. How-are-you Questionnaire in Japanese was made and translated into English and Korea. THI-A was applied to 1,262 pupils of junior high and high schools in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. Simple statistics were made and the factor analysis was applied. Scales had made for adult were found valid even in the adolescent samples. Scale score of high school pupils was higher in almost all scales except aggressive and lie scales than that of middle school pupils. THI-A was applied also to 600 pupils in Seoul City, Korea, and 700 pupils in San Antonio City, Texas, USA. Scale scores were highest of the high school pupils in Korea.