Summary
Professionals in somatic and mental health care have to adjust their methods, knowledge and skills to the needs of immigrant children and their parents in order to provide adequate care. Cross-cultural comparisons on the prevalence of emotional and behavioral problems and the factors that increase or reduce the risks for these problems will support clinical reasoning and practice. Described are two studies in which the prevalence of and risk factors for emotional and behavioral problems in multiple cultures are compared while using the Child Behavior Checklist, a parent checklist that produces problem scores.
Dutch children and adolescents show low levels of emotional and behavioral problems in comparison to children in eleven other cultures measured with similar methodology. However, Dutch adolescents score remarkably high on attention problems and this score is above the omni-cultural mean. Sweden and Germany score lower on all syndromes indicating that opportunities exist for Dutch youth to reduce the levels of emotional and behavioral problems.
Turkish immigrant children and adolescents score higher than Dutch children on internalizing and externalizing and higher than Turkish children on externalizing. The difference between Turkish immigrant children and Dutch children is larger than the difference between immigrant and Turkish children. Marked are these differences on the cbcl syndrome anxious/depressed where immigrant children score the highest. Support is found for the notion that increase in integration will lead to reduction in levels of problems in immigrant children and adolescents. Mental disorders in parents, convictions and incarceration, marital problems, poverty, and overburdening of mothers increase the risk for emotional and behavioral problems.
Samenvatting
Werkers in de somatische en geestelijke gezondheidszorg moeten hun methoden, kennis en vaardigheden aanpassen om adequate zorg te verlenen aan migrantenkinderen en hun ouders. Onderzoek naar de prevalentie van emotionele stoornissen en gedragsstoornissen in verschillende culturen, en naar de factoren die het risico op deze stoornissen verhogen of juist verlagen, ondersteunt het klinisch denken en handelen. Beschreven worden twee studies waarin de prevalentie van deze stoornissen en de risicofactoren in verschillende culturen vergeleken worden, gebruikmakend van de Child Behavior Checklist ( CBLL), een oudervragenlijst die probleemscores oplevert.
Nederlandse kinderen en adolescenten vertonen weinig emotionele stoornissen en gedragsstoornissen in vergelijking met kinderen in elf andere landen, gemeten met dezelfde methodologie. Nederland springt er echter negatief uit met het niveau van aandachtsproblemen, dat boven het gemiddelde van alle kinderen in alle culturen tezamen ligt. Zweden en Duitsland scoren in alle gevallen lager, hetgeen aangeeft dat er ook voor de Nederlandse jeugd nog ruimte is om het niveau van emotionele problemen en gedragsproblemen te verlagen.
Turkse migrantenkinderen en adolescenten in Nederland scoren hoger dan Nederlandse kinderen op zowel internaliseren als externaliseren en hoger dan kinderen in Turkije op externaliseren, alle gemeten met de cbcl. Het verschil tussen migrantenkinderen en Nederlandse kinderen is groter dan het verschil tussen migrantenkinderen en kinderen in Turkije. Uitgesproken zijn de verschillen op het cbcl–syndroom angstig/depressief, waar migrantenkinderen het hoogst scoren. Ondersteuning wordt gevonden voor de gedachte dat toename van de integratie leidt tot reductie van problemen. Psychische stoornissen bij de ouders, veroordelingen en gevangenschap, echtelijke problemen, armoede en overbelasting van de moeders verhogen het risico op emotionele problemen en gedragsproblemen bij migrantenkinderen aanzienlijk.
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Dr. A.A.M. Crijnen, kinder- en jeugdpsychiater, prof.dr. F.C. Verhulst, kinder- en jeugdpsychiater, Erasmus Medisch Centrum Rotterdam/Sophia, Vakgroep Kinder- en Jeugdpsychiatrie, Postbus 2060, 3000 CB Rotterdam.
Correspondent: Dr. A.A.M. Crijnen, Erasmus Medisch Centrum Rotterdam/Sophia, Vakgroep Kinder- en Jeugdpsychiatrie, Postbus 2060, 3000 CB Rotterdam. Tel. 010−4636033, fax: 010−4636803. E-mail:
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Crijnen, A.A.M., Verhulst, F.C. Een cross-culturele vergelijking van emotionele problemen en gedragsproblemen bij Nederlandse kinderen en Turkse migrantenkinderen. KIND 69, 56–62 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03061330
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03061330