Within- and between-person and group variance in behavior and beliefs in cross-cultural longitudinal data

Authors

Kirby Deater-Deckard, University of Massachusetts AmherstFollow
Jennifer Godwin, Duke UniversityFollow
Jennifer E. Lansford, Duke UniversityFollow
Dario Bacchini, Second University of NaplesFollow
Anna Silvia Bombi, University of Rome La Sapienza
Marc H. Bornstein, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human DevelopmentFollow
Lei Chang, University of MacauFollow
Laura Di Giunta, University of Rome La SapienzaFollow
Kenneth A. Dodge, Duke UniversityFollow
Patrick S. Malone, University of South CarolinaFollow
Paul Oburu, Maseno UniversityFollow
Concetta Pastorelli, University of Rome La SapienzaFollow
Ann T. Skinner, Duke UniversityFollow
Emma Sorbring, University West
Laurence Steinberg, Temple UniversityFollow
Sombat Tapanya, Chiang Mai UniversityFollow
Liane Peña Alampay, Ateneo de Manila UniversityFollow
Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Universidad San BuenaventuraFollow
Arnaldo Zelli, University of Rome
Suha M. Al-Hassan, Hashemite UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-2018

Abstract

This study grapples with what it means to be part of a cultural group, from a statistical modeling perspective. The method we present compares within- and between-cultural group variability, in behaviors in families. We demonstrate the method using a cross-cultural study of adolescent development and parenting, involving three biennial waves of longitudinal data from 1296 eight-year-olds and their parents (multiple cultures in nine countries). Family members completed surveys about parental negativity and positivity, child academic and social-emotional adjustment, and attitudes about parenting and adolescent behavior. Variance estimates were computed at the cultural group, person, and within-person level using multilevel models. Of the longitudinally consistent variance, most was within and not between cultural groups—although there was a wide range of between-group differences. This approach to quantifying cultural group variability may prove valuable when applied to quantitative studies of acculturation.

Recommended Citation

Deater-Deckard, K., Godwin, J., Lansford, J. E., Bacchini, D., Bombi, A. S., Bornstein, M. H., ... & Oburu, P. (2018). Within-and between-person and group variance in behavior and beliefs in cross-cultural longitudinal data. Journal of adolescence, 62, 207-217.