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Developmental Pathways of Externalizing Behavior from Preschool Age to Adolescence: An Application of General Growth Mixture Modeling

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Dependent Data in Social Sciences Research

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics ((PROMS,volume 145))

Abstract

This study applies a developmental and life-course perspective on the data of the Erlangen-Nuremberg Development and Prevention Study (ENDPS; Lösel, Stemmler, Jaursch, and Beelmann, Monatsschrift für Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform 92:289–308, 2009) to find interindividual differences in intraindividual change of externalizing problem behavior. Based on a sample of N = 541 boys and girls, general growth mixture modeling (GGMM; Nagin, Psychological Methods 4:139–177, 1999; McArdle, The handbook of research methods in developmental psychology. New York: Blackwell Publishers, 2005) was applied. In a prospective longitudinal design measurements with multiple informants were analyzed from preschool to adolescence. The results of the GGMM showed five groups representing different developmental trajectories: (1) “high-chronics” (2.4 %; n = 13), who had the highest scores of externalizing behavior at all times; (2) “low-chronics” (58.8 %; n = 317) who were low on externalizing behavior throughout the years; (3) “high-reducers” (7.9 %; n = 43) who started out high, but reduced their externalizing behavior monotonically over time; (4) “late-starters-medium” who increased externalizing problems at later age (8.7 %; n = 47); and (5) “medium-reducers” whose problems decreased from an originally medium level (22.4 %; n = 121). The results are in accordance with international studies on developmental trajectories of offending and suggest that a perspective on a broad range of behavioral problems can be fruitful. The findings are discussed with regard to other studies on latent group-based modeling, non-statistical taxonomies, and practical applications.

This research was supported by a grant from the German Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Seniors, Women and Youth.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Friedrich-Alexander, University of Erlangen, Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany

    Mark Stemmler

  2. University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany

    Friedrich Lösel

  3. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Friedrich Lösel

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  1. Mark Stemmler
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  2. Friedrich Lösel
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Correspondence to Mark Stemmler .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany

    Mark Stemmler

  2. Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA

    Alexander von Eye

  3. Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology,College of Education, University Of Missouri, Columbia, USA

    Wolfgang Wiedermann

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Stemmler, M., Lösel, F. (2015). Developmental Pathways of Externalizing Behavior from Preschool Age to Adolescence: An Application of General Growth Mixture Modeling. In: Stemmler, M., von Eye, A., Wiedermann, W. (eds) Dependent Data in Social Sciences Research. Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics, vol 145. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20585-4_4

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