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editorial
. 2023 May 1;24(3):93–94. doi: 10.5152/alphapsychiatry.2023.080523

Commentary: Internalizing Problems in Childhood and Adolescence: The Role of the Family

Chow Soon Ken 1, Ng Chong Guan 1,✉
PMCID: PMC10334622  PMID: 37440898

The concept of “externalizing” and “internalizing” behaviors has been well known in the field of child psychiatry.1 Externalizing behaviors are exerted outwards to the physical environment, such as aggression, defiance and conduct disorder.2 Internalizing behaviors are, on the other hand, directed inwards towards oneself, such as: sadness, worry, somatic symptoms, avoidance and teenage suicide.3,4 Internalizing behaviors are more challenging to be detected as the impact towards the external environment might not be as apparent as externalizing behaviors.5 Previous studies centered on parenting styles and internalizing behaviors consistently revealed significant associations between authoritarian and neglectful parenting styles with heightened internalizing behaviors.6,7

The authors of the current study took a step beyond and evaluated the association of both maternal and paternal roles towards internalizing behaviors. Numerous findings were elicited such as: the significant associations between loVDwer parental support, involvement, communication, limit setting, and autonomy – with increased internalizing behaviors. The results of the current study were presented unequivocally, which could be invaluable in designing parental educational programs. Compared to similar previous studies,8,9 which could be verbose and technical, the current study is concise and to the point - ideal to be incorporated in contemporary parenting modules.

Most of the findings in the current study were congruent to previous studies,6-9 whereby striking a balance between control and support, while encouraging communication and autonomy - ultimately lead to lower internalization behaviors. Nonetheless, intriguingly for this study, father’s role orientation was found to be significantly linked with increased internalization problems. A plausible explanation is the lack of readiness and acceptance of parental role orientation by fathers; and hence potentially leading to more familial conflicts and subsequent internalizing behaviors of children. This hypothesis could be supported by the findings that: mothers generally scored higher in positive parental behaviors than fathers in two studies in the States and Spain.10,11

There is still very limited evidence examining the differences between maternal and paternal roles in parenting, in contribution to internalizing behaviors. The authors of the current study are to be commended for contributing to the limited arsenal of research regarding paternal parenting role, in addition to maternal parenting role. My suggestion would be to conduct future studies which aim at evaluating the acceptance and readiness of paternal parenting role, and their associated factors in contribution to children’s mental health. This direction of research would be in line with the growing recognition of paternal parenting in contributing to a healthy family dynamics and child development.12,13

This commentary is written for the article titled “Internalizing Problems in Childhood and Adolescence: The Role of the Family”.14

Footnotes

Author Contributions: Concept – C.S.K., N.C.G.; Design – C.S.K., N.C.G.; Supervision – N.C.G.; Materials – C.S.K., N.C.G.; Literature Search – C.S.K.; Writing –C.S.K., N.C.G.; Critical Review – N.C.G.

Declaration of Interests: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Funding: The authors declared that this study has received no financial support.

References

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