Comparing American and Chinese Primary School Students' Psychosocial Symptoms: Psychometric Network Analysis With Pediatric Symptom Checklist‐17

This study aimed to compare the American and Chinese primary school students' psychosocial problems, utilizing the psychometric network analysis. American (n = 71, M_age = 36.93 years, SD = 10.52 years, all females) and Chinese (n = 74, M_age = 35.70 years, SD = 7.89 years, 85.92% females) primary school teachers were recruited to evaluate children's internalizing, externalizing, and attention problems using the Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17 (PSC-17). Each teacher evaluated 9 children in their classes. A total of 639 American students (M_age = 8.88 years, SD = 2.02 years, 55.56% females) and 666 Chinese students (M_age = 12.88 years, SD = 9.34 years, 57.96% females) were evaluated. Psychometric network analysis revealed distinct structures for American and Chinese children's psychosocial problems. In America, three distinct communities emerged, aligning with the theoretical constructs of the PSC-17. Conversely, while three communities were identified in China, three items assessing attention problems showed strong associations with those assessing internalizing problems, merging into the same community. The remaining two items assessing attention problems and the items assessing externalizing problems formed two other distinct communities. Moreover, in both cultures, the top three nodes with the highest centralities ('Distracted easily,' 'Blame others for his or her troubles,' and 'has trouble concentrating') are similar and all relate to externalizing and attention problems. However, the highest centralized node in the two cultures differed, with "Distracted easily" in America and "Blames others for his or her troubles" in China. In conclusion, the observed patterns in American and Chinese networks highlight the significant impact of culture on children's psychosocial issues. Although PSC-17 is a widely used screening tool in many languages, its application should be carefully considered in different cultural contexts, particularly when making cultural comparisons.