title: The ecocultural context and child behavior problems: A qualitative analysis in rural Nepal.
abstract: Commonly used paradigms for studying child psychopathology emphasize individual-level factors and often neglect the role of context in shaping risk and protective factors among children, families, and communities. To address this gap, we evaluated influences of ecocultural contextual factors on definitions, development of, and responses to child behavior problems and examined how contextual knowledge can inform culturally responsive interventions. We drew on Super and Harkness' "developmental niche" framework to evaluate the influences of physical and social settings, childcare customs and practices, and parental ethnotheories on the definitions, development of, and responses to child behavior problems in a community in rural Nepal. Data were collected between February and October 2014 through in-depth interviews with a purposive sampling strategy targeting parents (N = 10), teachers (N = 6), and community leaders (N = 8) familiar with child-rearing. Results were supplemented by focus group discussions with children (N = 9) and teachers (N = 8), pile-sort interviews with mothers (N = 8) of school-aged children, and direct observations in homes, schools, and community spaces. Behavior problems were largely defined in light of parents' socialization goals and role expectations for children. Certain physical settings and times were seen to carry greater risk for problematic behavior when children were unsupervised. Parents and other adults attempted to mitigate behavior problems by supervising them and their social interactions, providing for their physical needs, educating them, and through a shared verbal reminding strategy (samjhaune). The findings of our study illustrate the transactional nature of behavior problem development that involves context-specific goals, roles, and concerns that are likely to affect adults' interpretations and responses to children's behavior. Ultimately, employing a developmental niche framework will elucidate setting-specific risk and protective factors for culturally compelling intervention strategies.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Department of Health, Behavior and Society, 624 N. Broadway, Hampton House 703, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Electronic address: mburkey1@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Matthew D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Burkey
authors.affiliation: Transcultural Psychosocial Organization-Nepal, Baluwatar, Kathmandu, Nepal. Electronic address: lajina538@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Lajina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ghimire
authors.affiliation: Transcultural Psychosocial Organization-Nepal, Baluwatar, Kathmandu, Nepal. Electronic address: radhikari@tponepal.org.np.
authors.forename: Ramesh Prasad
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Adhikari
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Electronic address: lwissow@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Lawrence S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Wissow
authors.affiliation: War Child Holland, Helmholtzstraat 61-G, 1098 LE Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: mark.jordans@warchild.nl.
authors.forename: Mark J D
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Jordans
authors.affiliation: Duke Global Health Institute, 310 Trent Dr, Durham, NC 27710, USA. Electronic address: brandon.kohrt@duke.edu.
authors.forename: Brandon A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Kohrt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009390:Nepal; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010553:Personality Development; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Attention deficit and disruptive behavior disorders; Child development; Culture; Nepal; Qualitative research