Mental health in childhood has attracted significant social and academic interest in recent years. In 2020, our research group received funding from the Ministry of Health through the Government Delegation for the National Plan on Drugs (2020/014) to develop, implement, and evaluate the “Empecemos Universal” program, aimed at preventing emotional and behavioral problems during the early years of primary education.
A few days ago, an article presenting data from this project was published. The study examines how students’ social position within the classroom relates to the presence of emotional and behavioral problems.
The results show that boys exhibit more behavioral problems than girls, while no sex differences were observed regarding emotional problems. Differences in sociometric status also emerged at these early ages: girls were more frequently identified as Preferred by their peers, whereas boys were more likely to be classified as Controversial (high levels of both acceptance and rejection).
Using a latent profile analysis (LPA) of behavioral problem indicators, four groups were identified: Normative, Internalizing, Externalizing, and Comorbid. The latter—characterized by the co-occurrence of emotional and behavioral difficulties—was strongly associated with a higher likelihood of belonging to the Rejected sociometric status.
These findings highlight the need to consider sociometric status within the classroom to identify risk groups at early ages, allocate resources more effectively, and design more targeted preventive interventions.
The full article is available at the following link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-08641-x.
