Behavioral and Emotional Problems among Adolescent Students

Abstract

Background & Objective(s): Emotional and behavioral problems among adolescents represent a considerable public health problem in developing countries. These problems are considered a source of stress for adolescents as well as their families, schools and community. Emotional health and wellbeing of young people have implications on their self-esteem, behavior, school attendance, educational achievement, social cohesion and future health and life chances. To estimate the prevalence of emotional and behavioral problems and to determine the association between these problems and socio-demographic variables among adolescent students in Assiut district. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in randomly selected secondary schools (2 urban and 2 rural) in Assiut district, and 400 students were included in the study. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect study data which included: personal data, socioeconomic status scale and self-reported version of Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) (Arabic version) which included 25 items divided into 5 subscales (conduct problems, hyperactivity, emotional symptoms, peer problems and prosocial behavior) Results: About 45 % of adolescents were identified with emotional and/or behavioral problems using the SDQ. These problems included conduct, emotional, peer problems, prosocial and hyperactivity difficulties (36.0%, 42.3%, 5.0%, 28.5% and 24.8% respectively). Emotional difficulties were significantly higher (p value= 0.02) among females (40.4%), while conduct difficulties were more prevalent among males (47.5%). The majority of students with emotional/ behavioral problems (90%) reported high negative impact of such problems that was significantly associated with female sex, rural residents, students of low socioeconomic level and whose mothers were housewives. Conclusion: Screening secondary school adolescents in Assiut district revealed high prevalence of emotional and behavioral problems that was associated with perceived enormous negative impact. Further studies and intervention programs are greatly needed to address adolescent mental health needs.

Association of Mental Health Problems and Socio-Demographic Factors Among Adolescents in Indonesia

“… 28 Adolescents whose fathers had only completed junior high school showed the highest prevalence in this study of conduct problems, which was consistent with findings from Egypt and China of higher SDQ subscale scores for adolescents with low paternal education levels. 6 , 7 Hu et al 29 also observed this correlation in a study in China, that is, people with high education have better job opportunities than people with low education. In addition, a study in the United States of America (USA) found that compared with high-income families, the hospitalization rate of children with conduct disorders in low-income families is 1.5 times higher.…”

“…The young people in this study whose mothers had low education showed a higher prevalence of abnormal mental health scores, consistent with multiple earlier previous findings of higher SDQ subscale scores among teens with low maternal education levels. 6 Based on this, the study also reported that parents with higher education are more likely to exhibit active parenting behavior, and this association is partly due to their increased ability and knowledge to obtain more resources. 28 Adolescents whose fathers had only completed junior high school showed the highest prevalence in this study of conduct problems, which was consistent with findings from Egypt and China of higher SDQ subscale scores for adolescents with low paternal education levels.…”

“…In a meta-analysis of 10 studies from sub-Saharan Africa of a sample of 9713 children and adolescents, 1 in 7 reported significant mental health difficulties, and in a survey of 51 Asian countries, prevalence’s ranged between 10% and 20%. 4 - 6 …”

“…In a meta-analysis of 10 studies from sub-Saharan Africa of a sample of 9713 children and adolescents, 1 in 7 reported significant mental health difficulties, and in a survey of 51 Asian countries, prevalence's ranged between 10% and 20%. [4][5][6] There could be high returns on investments in addressing adolescents' mental health issues. 7,8 The failure to recognize and address mental health problems in this population is a serious public health issue with important consequences for the achievement of basic development goals in low-and middle-income countries.…”

Transpersonal Gratitude, Emotional Intelligence, Life Contentment, and Mental Health Risk Among Adolescents and Young Adults

“…The reason for which could be the obvious depression, anxiety, stress observed by the both at-risk populations due to the challenges of transition from one age group to the next one (Collins & Munoz-Solomando, 2018;Nebhinani& Jain, 2019). The major challenges for adolescents constitute of bodily changes (i.e., development of secondary sex characteristics) (Kar, Choudhury, & Singh, 2015;McAteer et al, 2017;Pringle et al, 2016), peer group pressure Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 25 July 2020 doi:10.20944/preprints202007.0620.v1 (Moldes, Biton, Gonzaga, & Moneva, 2019;Singh, 2017;Tripathy, 2018), behavioral and emotional disturbances (Borba & Marin, 2018;Osman, Khalaf, Omar, & Ismail, 2019;Williams, Scott, & Aarons, 2018). The young adults, on the other hand, face challenges of transition from adolescent to adulthood (Fegert, Hauth, Banaschewski, & Freyberger, 2016;Switek & Easterlin, 2018), financial pressure (Dewilde, Hubers, & Coulter, 2018;Lennartz, Arundel, & Ronald, 2016;Stein et al, 2013), conflict at the stage of isolation vs. intimacy (Mackinnon, De Pasquale,, & Pratt, 2016), personal development (Bonnie et al, 2015), and change in outlook towards life (Switek & Easterlin, 2018).…”