Prevalence of Behavioural Problems among Adolescents in Pakistan

Abstract

A large number of adolescents involved in high risk behaviours such as abuse, bullying, and self-harm have shown to have trajectory of the symptoms largely misunderstood in the schools and college settings as disciplinary problems. Particularly in Pakistani setting, where mental health issues among adolescents are on rise, an early identification and school based intervention can drastically reduce the emotional and behavioural problems and provide a healthy mechanism of coping for the students. This research fills the gap in the literature by examining prevalence of behavioural problems among students in high secondary schools and colleges of Pakistan. The research was cross sectional in nature and was carried out in 2018-2020. 1258 (male and female) students across different public sector colleges of Punjab and Federal Government Pakistan participated in study survey comprising of Youth Self Report Form to assess internalizing and externalizing behavioural problems. Results: The study revealed high scores on externalizing and internalizing behavioural problems. The findings revealed that among the current study's sample (n=1258), 19% exhibited internalizing behaviors (n = 239), 15% displayed externalizing behaviors (n = 199), 17.72% showed co-occurring behaviors (n = 223), and 47% were categorized as having no problems (n = 597).The presence of externalizing and internalizing behavioral is notably high within educational institutions in Pakistan. Thus, there is an urgent necessity for effective interventions to address these behavioral issues.