Interpreting Differences in Questionnaire Scores in the Context of Cultural Location: A Country Case Study of Symptom Check List -90- Revised Data from Albania, Germany and the USA

Abstract

This paper explores inter-cultural differences using new SCL-90-R data from Albania and referential data from the USA and Germany. The considerable mean score differences are interpreted in terms of historical, cultural, and political factors in Albania may affect psychometric measures creating large intercultural score differences. The SCL-90-R was administered to a representative population sample in Tirana (N = 501). Global, subscale, and item score values from the Albanian sample were compared, where possible, to those from existing American and German samples. The Albanian data showed markedly higher means on the global scale and all subscales than the American and German values and differences at the item level from the German data (item data were not available for the USA). Differences were most marked on subscales of paranoid thinking, anxiety, and hostility. These findings are interpreted in terms of the cultural context of the country. Considerations are given to implications for therapists working with culturally diverse communities. Current mental health and psychotherapy practices do not sufficiently reflect research indicating complex relations between culture and psychopathology. Studies across cultures in new, concurrently collected data using psychometric methods to explore measurement invariance and its violations, are often not feasible. Simpler methods can be used with historical data to show marked differences and enhance intercultural psychotherapy research. Received: 12 March 2024 / Accepted: 23 June 2024 / Published: 02 July 2024