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Updated: Sep 7, 2025
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Published on: December 2, 2015
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A Multi-Country Study of Risk and Protective Factors for Emotional and Behavioral Problems Among Early Adolescents
Shoshanna L Fine1, Rashelle J Musci2, Judith K Bass2
1Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland; Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
Summary
Childhood adversity, bullying, and unsafe schools are key risk factors for emotional and behavioral problems in early adolescence globally. Interventions targeting these social environmental factors can improve youth psychosocial adjustment.
Area of Science:
- Global Health
- Adolescent Psychology
- Developmental Science
Background:
- Early adolescence (ages 10-14) is crucial for psychosocial development.
- Limited research exists on risk factors for psychosocial challenges in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate social environmental factors contributing to emotional and behavioral problems in early adolescents across four LMICs.
- To identify distinct patterns of these problems and associated risk/protective factors.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from 10,437 early adolescents in six urban settings across the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Indonesia, and China.
- Employed multivariate latent class regression to analyze associations between problems and factors at family, peer, school, and neighborhood levels.
Main Results:
- Childhood adversity, peer bullying, and perceived lack of school safety consistently predicted emotional and behavioral problems.
- Peer substance use and perceived neighborhood safety were also significant risk factors, with some country-specific variations.
- Associations were strongest for adolescents with co-occurring emotional and behavioral issues.
Conclusions:
- Findings highlight generalizable risk factors for early adolescent psychosocial adjustment across diverse LMIC settings.
- Multicomponent, school-based interventions addressing bullying and school safety are recommended.
- Bolstering psychosocial adjustment in early adolescence has broad cross-national applicability.
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