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Children
Special Issues
Problematic Behaviors and Psychological Wellbeing in Children and Adolescents
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Problematic Behaviors and Psychological Wellbeing in Children and Adolescents

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 684

Editor

Dr. Stefano Eleuteri

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Human and Social Sciences, Universitas Mercatorum, 00186 Rome, Italy
Interests: psychological wellbeing; problem behavior; mental health; resilience; education; sexuality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Childhood and adolescence are crucial periods for the development of psychological wellbeing. Optimal development in these areas during early life is associated with enhanced social and cognitive abilities, social relationships, a reduced risk of behavioral problems (internalizing or externalizing) and social exclusion, and higher rates of overall wellbeing. This Special Issue aims to explore problematic behaviors and psychological wellbeing in children and adolescents, and will focus on the active promotion of psychological wellbeing and avoidance of problematic behaviors through the implementation of educational and/or clinical programs. Articles that bring forth interesting insights and important contributions regarding child and adolescent development in these domains are welcome. I invite authors to explore what schools and other agencies can do to contribute to the psychological wellbeing of children and adolescents, engaging with how these agencies can develop these aspects.

Dr. Stefano Eleuteri
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • behavioral problems
  • psychological wellbeing
  • children
  • adolescents
  • prevention programs

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

11 pages, 261 KB  
Article
Bullying in Physical Education During Compulsory Primary Education: Prevalence, Typologies and Differences by Sex and Year Group
by Rafael Clavero-Prados, Flavia Estefanía Amar-Cantos, Javier Murillo-Moraño, José Manuel Armada-Crespo, Álvaro Morente-Montero and Juan de Dios Benítez-Sillero
Children 2026, 13(7), 970; https://doi.org/10.3390/children13070970 - 22 Jul 2026
Viewed by 280
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Bullying represents a serious threat to the physical, psychological, and social well-being of students, with particular relevance in Physical Education (PE) contexts, where the physical and competitive nature of the setting may facilitate specific forms of aggression. Despite growing research interest, evidence [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Bullying represents a serious threat to the physical, psychological, and social well-being of students, with particular relevance in Physical Education (PE) contexts, where the physical and competitive nature of the setting may facilitate specific forms of aggression. Despite growing research interest, evidence on the prevalence and distribution of bullying roles and typologies within PE remains limited, particularly in primary education. This study aimed to analyse the prevalence of bullying victimisation, perpetration, and bully-victim profiles among primary school pupils in PE, as well as to examine differences by sex and year group across the different forms of bullying behaviour. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with an analytical sample of 831 pupils from Year 3 to Year 6 of compulsory primary education in Córdoba, Spain. Bullying roles and typologies were assessed using a validated self-report instrument. Differences by sex and year group were examined through appropriate inferential analyses. Results: A total of 21.1% of pupils were identified as victims, 5% as perpetrators, and 8.5% as bully-victims. The most frequent form of perpetration was exclusion/rejection (7.9%), surpassing physical and verbal aggression. Boys showed greater physical victimisation and a higher tendency towards the pure perpetrator role, whilst exclusion showed no significant differences by sex. Physical and verbal behaviours decreased as year group advanced, whereas exclusion remained stable throughout the entire primary stage. The bully-victim profile was more prevalent in lower year groups. Conclusions: The findings highlight the particular relevance of exclusion/rejection as the predominant form of bullying in PE, which persists across year groups regardless of sex. These results underscore the need to design inclusive groupings, promote cooperative tasks, and implement early intervention strategies. Specific training for PE teachers in bullying detection and intervention is identified as a priority to address this phenomenon effectively within the PE context. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Problematic Behaviors and Psychological Wellbeing in Children and Adolescents)
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