Abstract:

School maladjustment can be understood as the students’ broad pattern of psychological uneasiness in the school context, which can be caused by different factors. Taking into account the relevance of the school context in children’s and adolescents’ lives, it is important to analyze their adjustment. This study explores school maladjustment in 1843 children and adolescents aged 11 to 18 from public and grant-assisted private schools in the Autonomous Region of the Basque Country (Spain). The students filled out the self-report of the Behaviour Assessment System for Children (BASC). Results showed that clinically significant school maladjustment increased considerably in the age ranges of 13-14 and 17-18 years old. Moreover, statistical analysis supported that especially boys aged 13-14 scored higher in school maladjustment. Different predictive factors of school maladjustment were found, depending on the age ranges, although some factors were present in all age groups: atypicality and sense of inadequacy were risk factors, while good relationships with parents acted as a protective factor. Implications of these results for the design of intervention and prevention programs in the school context are discussed.

Keywords:

School maladjustment, school, children, adolescents.