Patterns of problem behaviors in adolescents and the effect of risk and protective factors on these patterns of behavior

• Main Author: Bartlett, T. Robin
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Subjects: health sciences, nursing; psychology, behavioral

This study was designed to look for patterns of problem behaviors in adolescents and then to examine the relationships between these patterns of behavior and some risk and protective factors. This analysis used a person-oriented approach to look for clusters of problem behaviors in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health subjects at two time points. These clusters were tested for stability and their relationships to the demographics gender, race, age, and socioeconomic status. The clusters were also examined for their relationship to the risk and protective factors self-esteem, maternal support, paternal support, peer relationships, and AD/HD and/or learning problems. Significant interactions between the risk and protective factors and the demographic factors in relation to the problem behaviors were sought.
Based on this analysis the adolescents in the study clustered into three groups, a "normal", "problematic" and a "deviant" behaviors cluster. These clusters were stable over time. Even the adolescents in the "normal" behaviors cluster reported significant alcohol use, a behavior that puts them at risk for many negative outcomes.
The mean values for most of the behaviors in the "problematic" behaviors cluster were higher than those in the "normal" behaviors cluster and lower than those for the "deviant" behaviors cluster. Selling drugs and weapon use distinguished the "deviant" behaviors cluster from the others.
The clusters from Time 1 were different from each other based on each risk and protective factor except peer relationships. When the peer relationships variable was dichotomized into friendless vs. friends, the "normal" behaviors cluster had more friendless subjects than either of the other clusters, with the "deviant" cluster having the fewest friendless subjects. When comparing those who changed clusters to a less deviant cluster with those who changed to a more deviant cluster, those who changed to a less deviant cluster had significantly less paternal support. SES and gender modified the relationship between self-esteem and problem behaviors and age modified the relationship between both maternal and paternal support and problem behaviors. Each of these demographic variables was significantly related to each other, however, irrespective of the clusters.