Abstract:

Introduction:
It is well-attested that during adolescence is crucial to analyze externalizing tendencies because at this stage these problems normatively increase, and these trends could jeopardize their pathways over time (Zahn-Waxler et al., 2008). A variety of individual and contextual factors can influence youths’ adjustment, such as impulsivity, which conceives a general tendency to react to internal or external stimuli rapidly and without planning specific actions, ignoring the possible negative consequences associated with the acted reaction (Steinberg et al., 2013). High impulsivity is associated with externalizing, deviant, and delinquent behaviors (Eisenberg et al., 2001). Another crucial individual factor is individuals’ perception of their abilities in modulating behaviors and strengths because it can drive habits and tendencies, is goal-specific and goal-oriented, and can be improved through mastery experiences (Bandura et al., 2003). Self-regulatory self-efficacy represents the extent to which youths feel adequately capable of regulating behaviors toward transgressive activities or feel able to activate self-regulative skills against peer pressure (Caprara et al., 2008). One of the most significant contextual factors for youths is the school, in which they can improve social skills, and empower and validate their sense of being capable (Bandura et al., 2003; Bradford Brown & Larson, 2009). Teachers actively contribute to this, by empowering youths’ self-regulation skills, and those who contribute to a positive classroom climate could represent a protective factor against maladaptive behaviors (Pyżalski, 2015).

Aim:
We will consider youths’ individual and contextual characteristics, such as impulsivity and the role of teachers in empowering a positive climate in classrooms, as possible predictors, and youths’ self-efficacy beliefs in regulating behaviors as a possible mediator of the relationship with externalizing problems. Our focus is the role of teachers’ involvement and commitment to students in protecting adolescents from aggressive and rule-breaking behaviors in a short-time period.

Method and Results:
207 youths (38% girls; Mage=15) were considered at T1 and T2 (after two months). The partial-constrained multigroup-by-gender mediation model showed that: Impulsivity directly and positively predicted higher rule-breaking in boys, and teachers’ involvement directly and negatively predicted aggression in boys and girls. Beyond the indirect and positive effect of impulsivity on aggression in boys and rule-breaking in both genders, teachers’ involvement indirectly and negatively predicted aggression and rule-breaking in boys, by improving their self-regulatory self-efficacy. These results yielded controlling for youths’ age and class enrolled, and for the stability of both externalizing behaviors.

Discussion:
Our results evidenced the key and protective role of teachers’ commitment to improving a positive class climate, beyond the association between impulsivity impairments and the enactment of externalizing behaviors, especially for boys, that are normatively more at risk to show more externalizing problems than girls. If teachers care about their students and their problems, they can significantly increase boys' self-regulatory beliefs to effectively regulate their behaviors, that in turn could protect them from aggressive and rule-breaking behaviors.

Keywords:

Externalizing problems, Adolescence, School Climate, Teachers' Role.