Effects of Psychosocial Adversity on School Maladjustment: A Follow-up of Primary School Students

Abstract

School maladjustment (SM) is understood as a set of behavioral, social, and emotional difficulties that prevent students from meeting the expectations of their school context. Its appearance during the first years of schooling is linked to school failure and dropout, violent behaviors, mental health problems, and maladaptive trajectories that persist for the rest of an individual’s life. The goal of this study was to identify psychosocial adversity variables capable of predicting the appearance of SM during the first three years of school. By collecting data on school maladjustment, adverse childhood experiences and psychosocial dysfunction, a longitudinal follow-up process was applied to a cohort of 26,108 Chilean students (50.7% female) from the start of their schooling (6.3 years of age in 1st grade) until two years later (8.4 year age mean in 3st grade). Through binary logistic regressions, the results obtained show that mother’s adolescent pregnancy, biological father’s absence, mental pathology in a relative, psychosocial dysfunction, and teacher’s negative perception of students’ academic and behavioral performance predict the appearance of SM after three years in the school system. The article discusses these results and their implications for the development of preventive programs aimed at reducing SM and mental health problems during childhood.

Keywords

• School maladjustment
• Psychosocial adversity
• School mental health
• School-based prevention programs
• Longitudinal study