1. Research & Initiatives
  2. Research Centers & Labs
  3. Research Labs
  4. Preventive Interventions Team: Collaborative Research on Engagement and Wellbeing
  5. Cross-Cultural Mental Health Project

Cross-Cultural Mental Health Project

  • Research Project

What We Do

The Cross-Cultural Mental Health project studies the extent to which measures and interventions developed in high-income country settings are valid and hold utility in low- and middle-income country settings.

Much of the research on student mental health and wellbeing, school climate, and related experiences has been driven by research and conceptualization from high-income countries such as the US. We study the extent to which measures and interventions developed in these settings are valid and hold utility in low- and middle-income country settings. Activities in this area include literature review, needs assessment, statistical examination of cross-cultural alignment and instrument validity, and evaluation of social and behavioral interventions.

Project Team

Partners: Judy Bass & Sarah Murray (JHU), Mercedes Gabriela Orozco Solis (Guadalajara)
Amanda Nguyen

Amanda Nguyen

  • Research Associate Professor

Select Publications:

  • Raval, V., Baiden, P., Espinosa-Hernandez, M., Magis-Weinberg, L., Nguyen, A. J., Titzmann, P., & Zheng, Y. (2023, In Press). Perspectives of Majority World researchers to promote diverse and global psychological science. American Psychologist.
  • Nguyen, A. J., Roe, J., Jeharsae, R., Samankasikorn, W., & Bullock, L. (2021). Exploring the daily lives and well-being of orphaned adolescents affected by the armed conflict in Thailand’s Deep South. Journal of Adolescent Research, 00(0), 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1177/07435584211043294. Online ahead of print 2021 Sept 18.
  • Nguyen, A. J., Dang, H. M., Bui, D.†, Phoeunn, B.†, & Weiss, B. (2020). Experimental evaluation of a school-based mental health literacy program in two Southeast Asian nations. School Mental Health, 12, 716-731.https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-020-09379-6. PMID: 35496672. 
  • Larson, K., Nguyen, A. J., Orozco, G. M., Humphries, A., Bradshaw, C., & Lindstrom-Johnson, S. (2020). A systematic literature review of school climate in low- and middle-income countries. International Journal of Education Research, 102, 101606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101606. 
  • Nguyen, A. J., Bradshaw, C. P., Townshend, L., & Bass, J. (2020). Prevalence and correlates of bullying victimization in four low-resource countries. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 3519-20), 3767-3790. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260517709799. Online ahead of print 2017 May 29. PMID: 29294770.
  • Waasdorp, T., Orozco, G. M., Nguyen, A. J., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2019). Cross-national differences in bullying dynamics: Comparing Latinx Youths’ experiences in Mexico and the USA. International Journal of Bullying Prevention, 1, 161-169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42380-019-00013-x.
  • Nguyen, A. J., Bradshaw, C. P., Gross, A. L., Townshend, L., & Bass, J. (2019). It gets better: attenuated associations between latent classes of peer victimization and longitudinal psychosocial outcomes in four low-resource settings. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48(2), 372-385. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0935-1. Online ahead of print 2018 Oct 8. PMID: 30298223.
  • Shukla, K., Waasdorp, T., Lindstrom Johnson, S., Orozco, G. M. , Nguyen, A. J., Rodriguez C, & Bradshaw, C. P. (2019). Does school climate mean the same thing in the U.S. as in Mexico? A focus on measurement invariance. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 37(1), 55-68. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0734282917731459. Online ahead of print 2017 Sept 15.

Translation of Research for Practitioners:

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