Understanding the nature of behavioural and emotional problems in adolescent students

Pages: 1782-1787
Supriya Dwivedi and Komilla Thapa (Department of Psychology, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh)

The present study aimed at understanding the nature of behavioural and emotional problems in early-adolescents (12 to 15 years) and late-adolescents (15 to 18 years). Schools are a central context of development and can also have a significant role in the emergence of behavioural and emotional problems in students. Therefore, two schools (CBSE) were approached in order to collect data. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted with two groups of teachers. The first group consisted of teachers of classes VI to VIII, and the second group comprised teachers of classes IX to XII. The FGDs were recorded and transcribed. Thematic analysis was used for interpreting the data. Codes were derived from the data and themes were generated on the basis of codes. Themes were defined in accordance with the nature of data. Aggression, defiance, disruptive behavior, truancy, recklessness and inattentiveness were the commonly found behavioural problems in early and late adolescent students. Fraudulence, stealing, impulsivity and lying were the behavioural problems found only in early-adolescents. Attention seeking, bullying, eve teasing and substance abuse were noticed only in late adolescents. Withdrawal, fear, shyness and sadness were the commonly found emotional problems in both the group of students. No age specific emotional problems were reported by the teachers.