Behavioral attitudes and distress in adolescents: Relationship to age and gender

Behavioral attitudes and the level of psychological distress have been estimated by means of the test BASE (Behavioral Attitudes and Search Evaluation) and the Talbieh Brief Distress Inventory on 143 Russian-speaking adolescents from the families of the new immigrants. The relationships between behavioral attitudes and distress level have been analyzed separately for both genders, and for younger (10-12 years old) and older (13-15 years old) adolescents. Results: 1. The general level of distress is higher in older than in younger adolescents. 2. The tendency to search activity is higher while the tendency to chaotic behavior is lower in the older group. 3. The tendency to chaotic behavior is higher in boys than in girls. 4. In the younger group tendencies to stereotyped behavior and search activity correspond to the low level of distress. 5. In the older group only the tendency to search activity corresponds to the low level of distress. Conclusion: in adolescents search activity increases with age and has a positive influence on the psychological state.