Risk and protective factors influencing adolescent problem behavior: A multivariate latent growth curve analysis

This study examined the dynamic relations between adolescent-problem behavi ors (alcohol, marijuana, deviance, academic failure) over time and predicto rs of these behaviors. Data from the National Youth Survey (1) included 1,0 44 adolescents (53.5% male; mean age at year 1 = 13.20). Dependent measures were adolescent alcohol use, marijuana use, deviance, and academic failure , assessed annually over 4 years. Independent measures included age, gender ; marital status, income, family time, family support, time with friends, f riend deviance, knowledge of friends, activities, and neighborhood problems . An associative latent growth modeling (LGM) analysis showed significant i ncreases and relations between the four behaviors in both initial status an d development. Second-order multivariate LGM analyses indicated that the fo ur behaviors could be modeled by a higher-order problem behavior construct. Significant effects on the common problem behavior intercept or slope incl uded time with friends, deviant friends, age, marital status, family time, and support. Additional effects were found to be specific to the initial st atus and slopes of individual problem behaviors. Overall, results indicate the importance of assessing the relations between adolescent problem behavi ors as they change over time and identifying the risk and protective factor s that have both common and individual influences on these behaviors.