The empirical contribution presented in this paper aims to analyze the overall objective of the operation of a sample of preadolescents to highlight the spread of the conditions of emotional and relational distress in puberty and deepen the relationship between risk factors and behavioral difficulties, as well as to evaluate the impact of mental suffering on personal and interpersonal adaptation of pre-adolescent. The evaluation questionnaires and interviews are the "Child Behavior Checklist", for the assessment of social skills and emotional-behavioral problems and the "Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents and Children Global Assessment Scale", for the assessment of the overall operation of the subject. The main result found is that boys have more difficulties than girls in adaptive emotional functioning.