Positive childhood experiences and their association with behavioral problems in Thai early adolescents

doi:10.5409/wjcp.117939

Advanced Search

BPG is committed to discovery and dissemination of knowledge

Home / Archive / Volume 15, Issue 4

This Article

(0)

Peer-Review Report of This Article

CrossCheck and Google Search of This Article

Academic Rules and Norms of This Article

Citation of this article

Corresponding Author of This Article

Research Domain of This Article

Article-Type of This Article

Open-Access Policy of This Article

Times Cited Counts in Google of This Article

Journal Information of This Article

Publication Name

World Journal of Clinical Pediatrics

ISSN

2219-2808

Publisher of This Article

Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA

- Full Article (XML)

Observational Study

Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.

World J Clin Pediatr. Dec 9, 2026; 15(4): 117939
Published online Dec 9, 2026. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.117939

Positive childhood experiences and their association with behavioral problems in Thai early adolescents

Thitaporn Vivattanasinchai, Prakasit Wannapaschaiyong

Thitaporn Vivattanasinchai, Prakasit Wannapaschaiyong, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand

Author contributions: Vivattanasinchai T contributed to the conception and design of the study, and acquisition, analysis and interpretation of the data, and wrote the initial draft of the manuscript; Wannapaschaiyong P contributed to the conception and design of the study, supervised the analysis and interpretation of the data, critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content, and approved the final version of the manuscript; both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

AI contribution statement: The English language in this manuscript was polished using ChatGPT and Grammarly to enhance the clarity of the sentences. All the scientific content was written by the author team. ChatGPT and Grammarly were only used to improve the language expression, not to generate any part of the text content. The design of the research, data analysis, and interpretation of the results were all independently completed by the authors. All the charts and images were created by the authors.

Institutional review board statement: This study adhered to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, and the Institutional Review Board of the Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, approved the study (No. Si 219/2025).

Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from the parents/guardians of all participating adolescents, and assent was obtained from the adolescents before enrollment.

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.

Data sharing statement: The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Due to patient confidentiality, raw data are not publicly available.

Corresponding author: Prakasit Wannapaschaiyong, MD, Lecturer, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, 2 Prannok Road, Bangkoknoi, Bangkok 10700, Thailand. prakasit.wan@mahidol.ac.th

Received: December 18, 2025
Revised: January 15, 2026
Accepted: March 5, 2026
Published online: December 9, 2026
Processing time: 274 Days and 11 Hours

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Positive childhood experiences (PCEs) may promote resilience and reduce behavioral and emotional problems, but evidence from Asian low- and middle-income countries is limited.

AIM

To describe PCE prevalence and its associations with parent-reported behavioral and emotional problems among early adolescents in Bangkok, Thailand.

METHODS

A cross-sectional school-based survey in Bangkok enrolled adolescents aged 10-13 years and their parents (n = 540). Adolescents completed a Thai-validated 7-domain PCE measure; parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression estimated adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Receiver operating characteristic analyses evaluated the discrimination of PCE counts.

RESULTS

Participants’ mean age was 11.4 years; 54.8% were female, and 81.1% reported ≥ 4 PCEs. Parent-reported the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire risk/problem prevalence ranged from 13.0% to 22.2%. In multivariable models, mentorship was associated with a lower odds of emotional problems (aOR = 0.14, 95%CI: 0.06-0.32), hyperactivity (aOR = 0.35, 95%CI: 0.16-0.77), and low prosocial behavior (aOR = 0.09, 95%CI: 0.04-0.20). The opportunity to share ideas with caregivers was also protective for emotional problems (aOR = 0.13, 95%CI: 0.05-0.35) and hyperactivity (aOR = 0.07, 95%CI: 0.03-0.17). Having ≥ 4 PCEs was associated with lower odds of emotional problems (aOR = 0.26, 95%CI: 0.08-0.83) and hyperactivity (aOR = 0.32, 95%CI: 0.11-0.98). Receiver operating characteristic analyses showed acceptable-to-good discrimination; for the emotional problems area under the curve was 0.835 (95%CI: 0.790-0.881).

CONCLUSION

PCEs, particularly mentorship and caregiver-child idea sharing, were robustly associated with fewer behavioral and emotional difficulties in Thai early adolescents, supporting culturally relevant resilience-promoting strategies.

Keywords: Positive childhood experiences; Behavioral problems; Early adolescents; Protective factors; Thailand

Core Tip: Positive childhood experiences (PCEs) are increasingly recognized as resilience factors, yet evidence from Southeast Asia is scarce. In a Bangkok school-based sample, we mapped seven PCE domains and linked them to the parent-rated Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire outcomes. Mentorship and caregiver-child opportunity to share ideas showed the strongest, consistent protection across emotional and hyperactivity domains. A higher cumulative PCE count also meaningfully distinguished adolescents with emotional difficulties in receiver operating characteristic analysis (area under the curve). These findings highlight actionable relational targets for early prevention.