Various studies show that stunting experienced in childhood has a psychological impact when entering adolescence. We used representative longitudinal data to measure the psychological condition of stunted adolescents with special attention to age, height, gender differences and education level. This research is a quantitative descriptive study with a sample of 353 stunted teenagers who were characterized by a height that did not meet WHO standards. The instrument used was a scale of psychological problems of stunted adolescents, which was processed descriptively. The results showed that the tendency for anxiety in the female group had a higher percentage value than in the male group; the aspect of low self-confidence in adolescents in the female gender group has a higher percentage value than in males; and aspects of abnormal hyperactive behavior in stunted adolescents in the female gender group have a higher percentage value than in the male group. The research results also compared the three aspects in terms of age group, school group and height. The research results show the need for special attention regarding psychological problems in stunted adolescents. Counseling interventions with information services and guidance groups are needed to help stunted adolescents overcome the psychological problems they face.
Afdal et al. (Sun,) studied this question.