Behavioral and Emotional Difficulties and Personal Wellbeing of Adolescents in Residential Care

Cristina Soriano-Díaz, Juan Manuel Moreno-Manso (), María Elena García-Baamonde, Mónica Guerrero-Molina and Pilar Cantillo-Cordero
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Cristina Soriano-Díaz: Department of Psychology, University of Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
Juan Manuel Moreno-Manso: Department of Psychology, University of Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
María Elena García-Baamonde: Department of Psychology, University of Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
Mónica Guerrero-Molina: Department of Psychology, University of Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
Pilar Cantillo-Cordero: Department of Psychology, University of Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: This work studies the emotional and behavioural difficulties and the personal wellbeing of adolescents under protective measures. The sample is made up of 151 adolescents in residential care between 11 and 17 years of age. The instruments used were the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI). The results indicate that a high percentage of adolescents have emotional and behavioural difficulties. We found a greater presence of behavioural rather than emotional problems in the adolescents. Similarly, we also found that females showed more emotional difficulties than the males. As for personal wellbeing, the results indicate that the adolescents are dissatisfied in several areas of their life, they feel insecure and have a pessimistic view of their future and of their achievements. Furthermore, those adolescents who were admitted to residential care due to something other than child abuse have a greater prosocial behaviour. It can be concluded that the more difficulties the adolescents experience (emotional, behavioural and with their peers), the lower the perception of their personal wellbeing will be. This study allows us to design interventions aimed at promoting psychological wellbeing among these adolescents.

Keywords: mental health; emotional problems; behavioural problems; personal wellbeing; residential care; adolescents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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