Gender Differences in Internalized and Externalized Behavioral Problems among School Going Children

Problem behaviour is a form of deviant behaviour which deteriorates the mental health of school children. Some behavioral problems are transitory in nature or expected of children of a certain age whereas few other problem behaviours are severe and require more complex multi-level interventions. The purpose of the research was to study gender ditferences among school children on internalized and externalized behaviour problems. The sample of this study consists of 120 school children aged 11 to 14 years. Both boys and girls were selected in euqal numbers trom nuclear families with middle socio-economical status. The behaviour problems were assessed using Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) developed by Achenbach and Rescoria (2001). The analysis of One-way ANOVA revealed significant gender differences on both internalized and externalized behaviour problems. The results showed significant gender differences for all behavioural problems namely, withdrawn/depressed, anxiety/depressed, somatic complaints, social problem, attention problem, aggressive behaviour, rule-breaking behaviour and thought problem. It was noted that the internalized behaviour problems such as withdrawn/depressed, anxiety/depressed, somatic complaints, and social problem were higher among female children than male children. In contrast, externalized behaviour problems such as attention problem, aggressive behaviour, rule-breaking behaviour and thought problem were higher among male children than female children.