The Association of Sociodemographic Characteristics with Externalizing Disorders in the Behavior of Adolescents

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the occurrence of externalized behavioral disorders of adolescents, taking into account the sociodemographic characteristics of the subjects (type of school, age, gender, family integrity, general school performance and educational prevention measures in the previous school year). The study included 1342 students of first, second, third and fourth grades of secondary schools of Herzegovina-Neretva County. The selection of the department was made by accident. The age of the subjects ranges from 15 to 18 years, with the average age of the subjects being M=16.2 years (SD=1.16). Students usually achieve very good school performance (42.8%) with an average sample score of 3.9 (SD=0.86). Students are mostly exemplary (89.3%). For the purpose of collecting data, with the prior author’s approval, the Adolescent Risk Behavior Assessment Questionnaire was used (Livazović, 2011), which was modified (shortened) in a preliminary study where externalized behavioral disorders (aggressiveness, use of psychoactive agents, electronic abuse, risky sexual behavior, eating disorders, absentism (marking) from school) are measured). The findings of the research indicate that externalized behavioral disorders are largely manifested by vocational school students, students with lower school performance, young men and older students, while the difference with regard to family integrity, no statistically significant differences were found on any of the analyzed dimensions, except in the dimension of expression of mild deviant behavior, where students who do not live in an integral family exhibit more pronounced mild deviant behavior, compared to students from complete families.