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World J Clin Pediatr. Dec 9, 2026; 15(4): 117939
Published online Dec 9, 2026. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.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, 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 12.1 Hours
Revised: January 15, 2026
Accepted: March 5, 2026
Published online: December 9, 2026
Processing time: 274 Days and 12.1 Hours
Core Tip
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.