Personal Problems Among Rural Youth and Their Relation to Psychosocial Well-Being

Abstract

To understand stressors experienced by rural adolescents and their relationship to psychosocial well-being, high school students completed the Personal Problems Checklist for Adolescents and three measures of well-being. The most frequently reported problems were in social/friendship and parental domains. The most commonly reported individual problem was "Not having any privacy." Analyses indicated significant associations between problems reported and well-being. As age increased, problems reported in parental, dating, and crisis domains decreased. Girls reported more problems than boys in the parental domain, as did participants in stepfamilies. Extension and 4-H programs may help ease the effects of stressors on rural youth.