The Effects of Individual, Family, and Peer Factors on the Internalizing and Externalizing Problem Behavior of Adolescents

Abstract

This study investigated the relationships among individual factors, family factors, peer relationships and the internalizing and externalizing behaviors of adolescents. The data were obtained from a sample of 417 7th and 8th grade students. These data were collected with questionnaires and analyzed by using a t-test, Pearson’s correlation, and a multiple regression analysis with SPSS ver. 18.0. The results can be summarized as follows. There is a significant difference in an adolescent’s self-control, their father’s rejective rearing, peer pressure, and the peer relationship between boys and girls. The results showed that boys had higher self-esteem and father’s rejective rearing than girls. On the other hand, girls had higher peer pressure and more intimate peer relationships than boys. The results revealed that the 7th grade students had higher self-esteem and mother’s warmth rearing than the 8th graders. Furthermore, the 8th grade students showed higher shame, mother’s rejective rearing, marital conflict, internalizing behavior, and externalizing behavior than the 7th graders. The internalizing behavior in boys was influenced by shame, marital conflict, and peer pressure. In the case of girls, the internalizing behavior was affected by shame, mother’s warmth rearing, and peer pressure. The externalizing behavior in boys was influenced by self-control and shame. In the case of girls, the externalizing behavior was affected by self-control, shame, marital conflict, and peer pressure. Adolescents who exhibited higher levels of shame than others and higher peer pressure showed internalizing problem behaviors. Adolescents who had less self-control and more shame, experienced more externalizing behavior problems. Keywords: individual factors, family factors, peer factors, internalizing problem behavior, externalizing problem behavior