Childhood Prevalence and Latent Classes of Behavioral Issues in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development-Social Development Dataset

This study sought to identify latent classes of early-life behavioral issues among a sample of youth and compare to previous results obtained from a justice-involved youth sample. The first wave of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development-Social Development Study was analyzed. Latent class analysis was used to identify within-person latent clusters of behavioral issues (violence, stealing, substance use, being disruptive, cheating). A three-class model best fit the data. These three classes were characterized by low prevalence of all behaviors (Low), high prevalence of stealing (Stealing Only), and high prevalence of cheating and violence (Cheating and Violence). This finding demonstrated some similarities to classes identified in a justice-involved youth sample, but also some distinct differences.