Internalizing Problems during Adolescence

The development of psychopathology during adolescence has been perhaps the single most studied area in the field of adolescence (Steinberg & Morris, 2001). Extensive focus has been on depression, conduct disorder, and related subclinical problems and symptoms that fall under the categories of internalizing and externalizing behaviors. In undertaking the task of reviewing the literatures that fall under the heading of internalizing problems, it was striking to observe how many studies focused on what they called internalizing behaviors or problems and how few actually define the term. Internalizing problems are generally considered to belong to the subgroup of psychopathology that involves disturbances in emotion or mood, whereas externalizing problems have tended to refer to dysregulations in behavior. The affect versus behavior distinction between internalizing and externalizing problems is not clear cut, but the general identification of internalizing problems as focused on emotional components such as sadness, guilt, worry, and so forth is consistent across several definitions. More specifically, depression and anxiety disorders and the subclinical problems in these areas typically comprise discussions of internalizing problems and disorders (see Kovacs & Devlin, 1998, and Zahn–Waxler, Klimes–Dougan, & Slattery, 2000, for recent reviews of internalizing problems and disorders in childhood and adolescence, and the chapter by Farrington in this volume for a discussion of externalizing problems during adolescence).