A Study on Factors Affecting Behaviour of Adolescents

Adolescence is a crucial transitional period of the human life cycle in which the concretization of the behaviour and personality of a person takes place. Now-adays, adolescents are facing behavioural problems largely. Family environment has a great influence on adolescents' psychological, emotional and social well-being. A positive home environment has a positive impact on motivating adolescents and is supportive towards facing challenges in life and developing self-efficacy The present study was conducted to assess different factors that influences the behaviour of the adolescents of 14-17 years age group. From both the urban and rural areas of the Hisar district, 60 adolescent school students were selected randomly for the study from each. The personal and socio-economic factors and home environment were independent variables and behavioural problems were dependent variables. The self-made questionnaire and the Family Environment Scale were used to assess the personal and socio-economic status and the home environment of the respondents, respectively. The behaviour of adolescents was measured by using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The collected data was analysed by calculating mean, frequency, standard deviation, z-test, chi-square and correlation test. The results revealed a higher prevalence rate of behaviour problems in adolescents of rural area than that of urban area. Behaviour problems of adolescents were positively associated with place of residence and parental education. The behaviour problems of adolescents were found to be influenced by parental education, family environment and socioeconomic status of the family. The data in this study was collected only through the survey which gave only quantitative results. Other methods such as interview design, longitudinal case studies and observations can be introduced to gather the information comprehensively.