台灣與美國青少年心理健康泛文化比較之研究

A Comparison of Mental Health for Youth in Taiwan and the United States

研究目的：種族與文化的差異不但受到心理健康研究的重視且闡述其中，也應用於心理健康照護上。儘管如此，台灣在心理健康泛文化的研究上卻如此短缺，因此本研究主要目的在於比較美國與台灣青少年的心理健康狀況。研究方法：本研究以情緒症狀、問題行為、過動／注意力問題與同儕關係問題等四個心理健康指標，針對台灣教育長期追蹤資料庫與美國國家健康調查資料庫2001年的資料，透過單組設計與線性轉換等化資料並且採用多變項變異數分析進行考驗。總樣本數包括6228名12到17歲青少年，其中台灣有3166人，美國則是3062人。研究結果：本研究發現，台灣與美國青少年的心理健康狀況不同，心理問題型態的表現也不同，台灣青少年的心理問題型態表現在情緒症狀上，而美國青少年的心理問題型態則表現在注意力與同儕關係上。再者，性別與年齡對台灣與美國青少年的心理健康狀況之預測不同，台灣青少年心理健康女生比男生差與年長者比年輕者差，但美國並非如此。研究結論：本研究支持青少年的心理健康狀況與心理問題的表現形式，以及性別與年齡因子對青少年心理健康的預測，會因國家的不同而有差異。未來研究可以進一步探討其差異背後的影響因素，同時也建議台灣相關組織機構能夠針對女性與年長的青少年提供更多心理健康服務，尤其是社會技能與情緒調節能力的提升。

Purpose: Racial, ethnic, and cultural disparities have been documented in mental health studies and in application of mental health care. However, comparisons between Taiwan and the U.S. are lacking. The purpose of this study is to compare the mental health of youth in Taiwan and the U.S. to identify differences in the structure of mental health. Methods: Indicators of mental health in this study included emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, and peer-relation problems. Data were collected in 2001 through 2 research projects: the Taiwan Education Panel Survey (TEPS) and the America National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), and the total sample included 6228 (TEPS=3166, NHIS=3062) adolescents of the age between 12 to 17 years. The TEPS and NHIS data were linked and equated with single-group design and linear transformation, and then analyzed with a MANOVA. Results: Mental health and type of mental problems differed between youth in Taiwan and the United States. Taiwanese youths presented emotional symptoms, but Americans presented with hyperactivity and peer-relation problems. Taiwanese mental health differed by gender (females were worse than males) and age (seniors were worse than juniors), although American results did not. Conclusions: Nationality is an important factor in mental health and interacted with gender and age. The Taiwan results differed from the U.S. sample as well as from results represented in the related Western literature. Further research is needed to explore the reasons behind these differences. Implications of this research for policy in Taiwan include the suggestion that the relevant welfare organizations should provide more mental health services for girls and older youth, especially services promoting social skills for emotion regulation.