Cross-cultural Development Research Articles

Cross-cultural development and validation of a patient self-administered questionnaire to assess quality of life in upper gastrointestinal disorders: The PAGI-QOL�

Summarize the Patient Assessment of Upper GastroIntestinal Disorders-Quality of Life (PAGI-QOL) development and provide results on its reliability and validity from the international psychometric validation in dyspepsia, GastroEsophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), and gastroparesis. Subjects completed the pilot PAGI-QOL at baseline and 8 weeks; and a subsample also at 2 weeks. Other assessments were: Patient Assessment of Upper Gastrointestinal Disorders-Symptom Severity Index, SF-36, number of disability days. 1736 patients completed the PAGI-QOL at baseline. The questionnaire was reduced, producing a 30-item final version covering five domains: Daily Activities, Clothing, Diet and Food Habits, Relationship (REL), and Psychological Well-Being and Distress. Internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach's alpha range: 0.83-0.96). Test-retest reproducibility was good: intraclass correlations coefficients were over 0.70 except for the REL scale (0.61). Concurrent validity between the PAGI-QOL total score and all SF-36 subscale scores was good with moderate (0.52) to strong (0.72) correlations. PAGI-QOL scores showed excellent discriminant properties: patients who had spent some days in bed, had missed some days at work, and were kept from usual activities had much lower PAGI-QOL scores than those who did not (p < 0.0001). The PAGI-QOL is a valid and reliable instrument assessing quality of life in patients with dyspepsia, GERD, or gastroparesis.

A ?Coca-Cola? Shape: Cultural Change, Body Image, and Eating Disorders in San Andr�s, Belize

Eating disorders have been associated with developing nations undergoing rapid social transition, including participation in a global market economy and heavy media exposure. San Andrés, Belize, a community with many risk factors associated with the cross-cultural development of eating disorders, has shown remarkable resistance to previously documented patterns, despite a local focus on female beauty. Drawing on longitudinal person-centered ethnography with adolescent girls, this article examines why this community appears exceptional in light of the literature. First, community beauty and body image ideals and practices are explicated. Then, a protective ethnopsychology is proposed as a key mediating factor of the rapid socio-cultural change among young women. Finally, possible nascent cases of eating disordered behavior are discussed in light of their unique phenomenology: that is, having to do more with economic opportunity in the tourism industry and less with personal distress or desire for thinness. Close, meaning-centered examination of eating and body image practices may aid understanding and prevention of eating disorders among adolescents undergoing rapid social change in situations of globalization and immigration.

Cross-Cultural Faculty Development: Initial Report of An American/Russian Experience

Background: Faculty development programs can improve the teaching skills of medical teachers. We pilot-tested the transportability of an American-based faculty development seminar program to a Russian academic medical center. Description: Four seminars, based on the 7 categories of the Stanford Faculty Development Program model, were presented to 14 teachers at Kazan State Medical University. The seminars included minilectures and reviews of actual videotaped teaching scenario reenactments. Evaluation was performed through participants' self-reported ratings of teaching ability based on a validated pretest–posttest questionnaire. Measurements at both 1 month and 12 months postintervention were completed. Evaluation: All 14 participants completed the evaluation. At both measured times, statistically significant improvements in the ratings of global teaching performance and specific teaching behaviors were reported. Conclusions: Our faculty development intervention was successfully transported across medical systems and demonstrated a positive, lasting affect on the teaching skills of a small number of Russian medical teachers.

Cross-Cultural Criticism and Development Ethics

Cross-Cultural Criticism and Development Ethics

Current issues in cross-cultural quality of life instrument development

Schmidt S, Bullinger M. Current issues in cross-cultural quality of life instrument development. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2003;84 Suppl 2:S29-34. As a result of an increased demand for international cooperation in health care, cross-cultural quality of life (QOL) measures have been developed and tested. At present, a considerable number of QOL instruments are available in various languages, and some have been validated and normed in specific countries. Different approaches highlighting specific tasks have been used, and standards and guidelines for cross-cultural development and testing are now available. However, specific populations, such as persons with disabilities or chronic health conditions as well as minorities, have been neglected in international research. This article presents the current issues confronting cross-cultural instrument development in QOL. It describes the steps of international QOL instrument development and highlights some of the challenges, referring in particular to an ongoing project devoted to children with disabilities and chronic conditions.

Leadership styles and cultural values among managers and subordinates: a comparative study of four countries of the former Soviet Union, Germany, and the US

This cross-cultural study utilized the full range leadership framework developed by Bass and Avolio and Hofstede's model of culture, and compared leadership styles and cultural values of over 4,000 managerial and non-managerial employees in ten business organizations in Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Germany, and the US. Regarding socio-cultural dimensions, the study found that, compared to Germany and the US, the four former USSR countries differed primarily by much lower levels of Power Distance, higher levels of Masculinity and much longer planning horizons. The results on leadership indicate that two dimensions - Contingent Reward and Inspirational Motivation - produced the highest scores in all four countries of the former USSR. Two less efficient leadership styles, Laissez-faire and Management by Exception, have received significantly higher scores in the four former USSR countries, than in the US and Germany. Finally, the study suggests that cross-cultural human resource development issues cannot be described in terms of simplified dichotomies between the East and West. For constructs measured in this study, significant differences were found not only between the two groups of countries but also between individual countries within these groups.

Staying the Course in Times of Change

This article describes how passage of Proposition 227 (P-227), the popular California initiative restricting bilingual education, has influenced teacher preparation to authorize specialized instruction for limited English proficient students. The knowledge base for bilingual cross-cultural language and academic development teacher education is grounded in an additive acculturation model, in contrast to assimilationist philosophy, which underlies policies mandating English immersion for language minorities. Federal court rulings upholding P-227 establish a sequential program to address English language learning as well as content learning and require school districts to provide specialized instruction until language minority students reach academic parity. Legal mandates continue to require teacher education to provide effective teacher preparation programs for schooling linguistically diverse student populations. The response to P-227 by San Diego State University’s College of Education is explored to illustrate the reaffirmation of a commitment to educational equity and ongoing program development to support multicultural teaching.

Cross-cultural leadership development

There has been much debate about the types of leaders needed in tomorrow's schools and about the optimal forms of leadership preparation. This study examined the applicability of the Boundary-Breaking Leadership Development Model to a cross-cultural travel study programme for Canadian and New Zealand graduate students in educational leadership programmes at two universities. The Canada-New Zealand travel study exchange was designed to foster participant understandings of educational issues that are prevalent in education internationally. Grounded theory data analysis techniques were used in the study. The information contained in the journals, field notes, reflective commentaries, and surveys was sorted and re-sorted into related categories until four broad groups of findings emerged. The categories focused primarily on the effects of the cross-cultural exchange on the graduate students' learning. The categories were the emotional experience of learning, the culture of critical enquiry, moving beyond self and developing agency. The study of the use of the Boundary-Breaking Leadership Development Model demonstrated and reinforced several key points. Firstly, in-depth reflection by students on their personal educational contexts is enhanced through examination of other educational contexts, both locally and internationally. Secondly, the breaking of boundaries between theory and practice, between university professors and students, between two nations, and between self and others, can foster the development of critically enquiring leaders. Finally, the article concludes that these leaders are likely to be critically reflective about the quality of education in their schools and to demonstrate the belief that they are able to make a difference to the quality of education offered.

Toward Theory Development and Measure Evolution for Studying Women's Relationships and HIV Infection

This commentary reviews and integrates selected empirical findings from this special issue of Sex Roles on Gender, Power, and Women's Relationships: Implications for HIV. Then the effects of current definitions of certain social science practices on theory development in these areas are considered. These practices especially hamper cross-cultural theory and measure development. New directions are proposed, centering on the relations between theory development, measurement, and application in the context of cultural variations. I conclude with a proposed strategy for local culture theory development. This strategy localizes measurement of theoretical constructs to adapt the theory to local cultural conditions, then localizes theory by indicating needed adjustments to the structure of theoretical linkages.

Teacher development: an opportunity for cross-cultural co-operation

This paper describes the work of PETRA (Primary English Teaching in Rural Areas), an aid-funded ELT project which was set up to improve the standards of English language teaching in black primary schools in rural areas in South Africa. The paper focuses on the first phase of the project, during which teachers attended an in-service training course leading to an externally-validated certificate. The structure and assesment procedures of the course are described, and the outcome of the course is assessed with reference to the report, of the external evaluators appointed by the funding agency. The article concludes by highlighting a number of lessons learnt from the in-service training course, notably the importance of well-defined tasks and the value of personal relationships, and suggests that these could be applied to any similar cross-cultural teacher development project.

Bibliographia Missionaria: Thermometer of Missiology

Can German Catholic missionary bibliographers find happiness in a French Catholic missionary order, and then adapt to working with conciliar and evangelical Protestant bibliographers? Bibliographia Missionaria's change from Italian to English also raises the problem of American cultural imperialism if all our reference tools are in English. Bibliographia Missionaria reflects the strengths and weaknesses of the modern missionary movement, especially cross-cultural development.

The role of international human resource in leading a company from a domestic to a global corporate culture

One of the biggest challenges facing HR is to help a company move from a domestic corporate orientation to working in a global business environment. Using the international human resource department as an example of where this transformation must occur first, the global paradigm shift is explored from the theoretical (international human resource management models) and practical (global HR competencies) perspectives. The discussion is supplemented with a cross-cultural HR development plan necessary to accomplish this cultural transformation.

A Health Service and Aboriginal &amp;amp; Torres Strait Islander Partnership to Develop and Plan Mental Health Services

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of an action research partnership between the Tweed Valley Health Service (TVHS) and the Aboriginal &amp; Torres Strait Islander community for the development and delivery of Aboriginal &amp; Torres Strait Islander Mental Health Services. This partnership was based upon Labonte's (1989) view of empowerment where it is suggested that to be empowered means to have increased capacity to define, analyse and act upon one's problems. It was proposed that the establishment of a 'partnership' based upon these principles would assist in operationalising Indigenous community participation in TVHS planning. To achieve this type of 'partnership', the health service had to be willing to enter the partnership and to give the authority to the Aboriginal &amp; Torres Strait Islander Health Outcome Council to seek and trial solutions on Aboriginal &amp; Torres Strait Islander Mental Health matters. Key outcomes were defined as the extent to which the re-organised services proved to be acceptable and utilised by the local Aboriginal &amp; Torres Strait Islander population. Outcomes were operationalised through measures of service utilisation and consumer satisfaction with accessibility, process and outcomes. The study trialed participatory action research as a method for Indigenous participation in Mental Health Service planning and development and concludes that it is a valid model for cross cultural research and health service development in a complex medical setting.

The challenge of cross-cultural quality of life assessment

As a result of an increased international cooperation in the health care field, the demand for cross-culturally applicable, patient-oriented instruments to assess the need for and to evaluate the outcome of medical interventions has also grown. However, basic problems exist in assessing health-related quality of life—one of the most prominent outcomes—across cultures. Conceptually it is unclear to which extent the quality of life construct is transferable from one cultural context to another. Methodologically, ways to assess the construct have to be sensitive to different cultures and practically, application of quality of life measures may be difficult. The current paper addresses these issues, presenting the current state of the art in cross-cultural development of health-related quality of life assessment instruments as well as a critical review thereof. Examples are provided from internationally active working groups in terms of the translation, psychometric testing and norming of quality of life questionnaires.

Cross-cultural Management Competence in Australian Business Enterprises

This paper identifies four critical cross-cultural management competencies derived from a larger study that examined the expatriate career management practices of twenty Australian business enterprises with a physical presence in the East Asian business region. Results point to the need to reassess existing cross-cultural management competency development practices pursued by Australian business enterprises, so that interactional management skills and transactional management communication skills are enhanced. Other cross-cultural management competency constructs identified included transformational management skills. In addition, while foreign language skills were also identified, the result was marginal. Evidence from this study confirms the need for stronger attention by Australian organizations to cross-cultural management competency development as well as more informed means of developing Australian expatriate managers prior to international career appointments.

Cross-cultural development of a quality of life measure for men with erection difficulties.

Erection difficulties have a profound effect on a man's quality of life, however, the emotional consequences are often overlooked in quantitative research where most sex-related questionnaires focus on a man's functional ability. Consequently, we developed a cross-cultural instrument to measure quality of life specific to male erection difficulties (QOL-MED). The items in the QOL-MED originated from interviewing forty men with erection difficulties In Seattle and Boston. Twelve men in the USA and 29 men in England helped us refine the instrument. Testing the QOL-MED's psychometric properties involved two administrations over a two-week period in the USA (n = 40) and the UK (n = 29). For discriminant validity, we predicted quality of life would worsen with increased self-perceived severity of the condition. After controlling for years with erection difficulties in a linear regression model, we found a significant negative association between self-perceived severity and quality of life for men in the UK only (p < 0.01). The expectation that the measure would produce evidence for convergent validity by being more closely correlated to well-being than functional status was not confirmed. Both the USA and UK instruments were internally consistent (Cronbach's alpha = 0.94 and 0.96, respectively), and reproducible (0.78 and 0.95, respectively). This instrument provides a promising tool for studying therapies and understanding quality of life in patients with erectile dysfunction.

Organizational development in the Arab world

The Arab world has been a centre of international attention since the discovery there of oil in the early 1990s. Issues related to Arab management styles, practices and work orientations are neither known nor understood outside the region. Cross cultural negotiations and organization development activities are therefore carried out less effectively than they otherwise could be. Addresses the application of organizational development (OD) in the Arab world, specifies the peculiarity of the change process in the Arab world, and identifies certain societal qualities and their implications for OD practitioners/consultants.

A modest proposal for a new specialty: Children's community psychology

A children's community psychology is proposed. A children's community psychology would provide a new way to conceptualize children's issues to complement and counter more traditional views of children as individuals without a social context. It would explore the interaction between children and communities, looking at children as experienced by communities, and communities as experienced by children. More specifically, it would examine children's unique environments, the effect of larger environments upon children, cross-cultural development, and preventive interventions with children and their communities. Finally, a children's community psychology would better focus work involving children and communities, and renew impetus for primary preventive research and action involving young people.

II Concurrent Sessions: Cross-cultural Development and Applications

II Concurrent Sessions: Cross-cultural Development and Applications

:Feminine Rhetorical Culture: Tudor Adaptations of Ovid's Heroides

Contents: FEMININE RHETORICAL CULTURE examines the cross-cultural development of female speakers by comparing translations of Ovid's Heroides by George Turberville and Michael Drayton. The book offers a fresh perspective on Renaissance translators of Ovid by looking at heretofore ignored connections between Ovid and the literary descendants. By focusing on feminine literary speech, the book examines a new dimension of Renaissance love poetry and rhetoric.