The Transition to Adolescence: the Role of Gender and Stress in Problem Behavior and Competence

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Abstract
Abstract– The differential change of boys and girls across pre‐adolescence, early adolescence, and middle adolescence was examined. The participants were 259 children, their mothers, and their social studies teachers. The children completed a measure of internalizing problems and adults completed measures of the child's externalizing and internalizing problems and competence. Relative to girls, boys had more problems and less competence at pre‐ adolescence and/or less problems and more competence by mid‐adolescence. A stressor, parental divorce, did not exacerbate the gender by developmental age period interaction. The differential vulnerability of boys and girls at different developmental periods is considered.