Internalizing and externalizing behaviors in high school adolescents in a northern border city of Mexico and their type of family

Objective: Identify externalizing and internalizing behaviors in high school adolescents in three schools in a northern border city in Mexico and their type of family.Design: Cross-sectional survey.Location: Three schools in the city of Tijuana, Mexico: two public and one private.Participants: 454 baccalaureate students 14-19 years old.Main measurements: We utilized Youth Self Report Scale, adapted and validated in Spanish, that measure internalization behaviors (anxiety, depression, isolation or somatic complaints), and externalization behaviors (verbal aggressiveness, delinquent behavior and attention-seeking). For dichotomous discrimination between deviant and nondeviant scores, we use the borderline clinical range by classifying YSR scale's T scores >= 60, and to analyze the relationship between behavior problems or competencies and living or not in a nuclear family we utilized multiple logistic regression.Results: 55% were female, mean age 16.4 years +/- 0.98, and 62.3% came from a nuclear family. Prevalence of internalizing behaviors was 15.6%, and externalizing behaviors 14.8%. Women had statistically higher mean scores in depressive, anxious and verbally aggressive behavior, somatic complaints, and thought problems. The prevalence of internalizing behaviors in ado-lescents with nuclear family was 11.7% (n = 33), and for adolescents with another type of family was 22.2% (n = 38), OR 2.17 (CI 95% 1.30-3.61, p = 0.003), but no differences was observed for externalizing behaviors and family type. When adjusted for sex, age, and public or private school, internalizing behaviors and specifically depressive behavior remained significant.Conclusions: We detected a moderate prevalence of internalizing behaviors in Mexican adolescents, predominantly among women, and also observed that not living with a nuclear family increases the odds of presenting internalizing behaviors. It is important that parents, teachers, and healthcare workers remain vigilant to detect these problems in a timely manner and develop interventions to improve the mental health and well-being of adolescents.(c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This study aimed to identify externalizing and internalizing behaviors among high school students in three schools in a northern border city in Mexico and their family types. The results showed a moderate prevalence of internalizing behaviors, with higher rates among females. Living in a non-nuclear family was associated with increased odds of experiencing internalizing behaviors. It is crucial for parents, teachers, and healthcare workers to be aware of these problems and implement interventions to improve adolescents' mental health and well-being.