Cultural Context of Human Development and Mental Health: Implications for Community that Care (CTC) Programme for Development of Mental Health Amongst Adolescents and Youths
Keywords:
Culture, Human Development, Mental Health, Community That CareAbstract
The present article offers an overview of a cultural context of human development and its relationship to the mental health of youths and adolescents. The article traces the context of human development by comparing collectivist and individualistic social patterns and how theses affect human development in terms of values, autonomy, responsibility, achievement and self-reliance. These cultural developmental patterns are underpinned by an integrative perspective of human development in a cultural context. The article brings to light current trends and prevalence of mental health amongst adolescents and youths from a global perspective. By so doing, the articles posits a strong relationship between culture and mental health. Accordingly evidence points to the fact that cultural factors are critical determinants of mental health. Hence there are cultural criteria for determining mental illness in relation to dysfunction, distress, deviance and disorder. The paper concludes by recommending the Community That Care (CTC) approach in mitigating mental problems amongst adolescents and youths. In this regard, CTC is an evidence-based, comprehensive, multi-tiered system of support that encourages the collection and systematic use of community-level data to identify areas of strength and need and to guide plans for preventive strategies based on a community’s specific profile.
References
1. Bayne, G. (2000). The relationship between individualism/collectivism and locus of control and sense of coherence. Rand Afrikaans University. Johannesburg.
2. Berry, J. W. & Dasen, P. R. (1994). Culture and Psychology: Reading in Cross cultural Psychology. London: Methuen.
3. Blum, R. W. & Nelson-Mmari, K. (2004). The health of young people in a global context. Journal of Adolescent Health, vol. 35, pp. 402-418.
4. Bradshaw, C. P., E. T. Pas, A. Goldweber, M. Rosenberg and P. Leaf (2012). Integrating school-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports with tier 2 coaching to student support teams: The PBISplus Model. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 177-193
5. Bradshaw, C. P., L. M. O’Brennan and C. A. McNeely (2008). Core competencies and the prevention of school failure and early school leaving. In N. G. Guerra, and C. P. Bradshaw (Guest Editors), Core competencies to prevent problem behaviors and promote positive youth development. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, No. 122, pp. 19-32, doi: 10.1002/cd.226
6. Bradshaw, C. P., M. M. Mitchell and P. J. Leaf (2010). Examining the effects of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports on student outcomes: Results from a randomized controlled effectiveness trial in elementary schools. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 133-148
7. Dasen, P. R. (2003). Theoretical frameworks in cross-cultural developmental psychology: An attempt at integration. In T. S. Saraswathi (Ed.), Crosscultural perspectives in human development: Theory, research, and applications (pp.128-165). New Delhi: Sage India.
8. Dasen, P. R. (2011) Culture, Cognition and Learning In Nsamenang, A. B. &Tchombe, T. M. S. (Eds) Handbook of African Educational Theories And Practices: A Generative Teacher Education Curriculum. Human Development Resource Centre. Bamenda. Pp 159 – 174
9. Fagan, A. A., M. W. Arthur, K. Hanson, J. S. Briney and J. D. Hawkins (2011). Effects of Communities That Care on the adoption and implementation fidelity of evidence-based prevention programs in communities: results from a randomized controlled trial. Prevention Science, vol. 12, pp. 223-234.
10. Hawkins, J. D. and R. F. Catalano (2004). Communities that Care: Prevention strategies guide. South Deerfield, MA: Channing Bete
11. Hawkins, J. D., R. F. Catalano and M. W. Arthur (2002). Promoting science-based prevention in communities. Addictive Behaviors, vol. 27, pp. 951- 976.
12. Kessler, R., P. Berglund, O. Demler, R. Jin and E. E. Walters (2005). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archive of General Psychiatry, vol. 62, pp. 593-602.
13. Kitayama, S., Ishii, K., Imada, T., Takemura, K., & Ramaswamy, J.(2006). Voluntary settlement and the spirit of independence: Evidence from Japan’s ‘‘Northern frontier.’’ Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 369–384.
14. Kitayama, S., Mesquita, B., & Karasawa, M. (2006). Cultural affordances and emotional experience: Socially engaging and disengaging emotions in Japan and the United States. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 890–903.
15. Leighton, A., & Hughes, J. (1961). Cultures as causative of mental disorder. In Causes of mental disorders: A review of epidemiological knowledge. New York: Milbank Memorial Fund.
16. Lynne-Landsman, S. D., C. P. Bradshaw and N. S. Ialongo (2010). Testing a developmental cascade model of adolescent substance use trajectories and young adult adjustment. Development and Psychopathology, vol. 22, pp. 933-948. doi:10.1017/S0954579410000556.
17. Markus, H.R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224–253.
18. Marsella, A.J. (1982). Culture and mental health: An overview. In A.J. Marsella & G. White (Eds.), Cultural conceptions of mental health and therapy (pp. 359–388). Boston, MA: G. Reidel Press
19. Marsella, A.J., & Yamada, A. (2007). Culture and psychopathology. In S. Kitayama, & D. Cohen, (Eds.) Handbook of cultural psychology (pp. 3–26). New York: Guilford Publications.
20. Nisbett, R.E., Peng, K., Choi, I., & Norenzayan, A. (2001). Culture and systems of thought: Holistic vs. analytic cognition. Psychological Review, 108, 291–310.
21. Patel, V., R. Araya, S. Chatterjee, D. Chisholm, A. Cohen, M. De Silva, … M. van Ommeren (2007). Treatment and prevention of mental disorders in low-income and middle-income countries. The Lancet, vol. 370, No. 9591, pp. 991–1005. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61240-9
22. Reddy, S. P., S. James, R. Sewpaul, F. Koopman, N. I. Funani, S. Sifunda, J. Josie, P. Masuka, N. S. Kambaran, R. G. Omardien (2010). Umthente Uhlaba Usamila: The South African Youth Risk Behaviour Survey 2008. Cape Town: South African Medical Research Council. Available from: http://www.mrc.ac.za/healthpromotion/healthpromotion. htm. Accessed on 13 September 2013
23. Stormshak, E., K. Bierman, C. Bruschi, K. Dodge and J. D. Cole (1999). The relation between behavior problems and peer preference in different classroom contexts. Child Development, vol. 70, No. 1, pp. 169-182.
24. Super, C.M., & Harkness, S. (1997). The cultural structuring of child development. In J. W. Berry, P. R. Dasen and T. S. Saraswathi (Eds.), Handbook of crosscultural psychology, second edition. Vol. 2: Basic processes and human development (pp. 1-39). Boston: Allyn and Bacon
25. Triandis, H.C. (1989). Cross-cultural studies of individualism and collectivism. In R.A. Dienstbier & J.J. Berman (Eds.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation: Vol. 37. Cross-cultural perspectives. (pp. 41–133). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
26. United Nations (2014). Mental health matters: social inclusion of youth with mental health conditions. Division for Social Policy and Development Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
27. United Nations (2014). Mental health matters: social inclusion of youth with mental health conditions. Division for Social Policy and Development Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
28. World Health Organization (2008). The Global Burden of Disease: 2004 Update. Geneva. ISBN 978 92 4 156371 0. Available from: http://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/2004_report_update/en/. Accessed on 19 July 2013.
