A cohort-sequential multivariate latent growth curve analysis of normative CBCL aggressive and delinquent problem behavior: Associations with harsh discipline and gender
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online September, 2006
A cohort-sequential multivariate latent growth curve analysis of normative CBCL aggressive and delinquent problem behavior: Associations with harsh discipline and gender
The aim of this study was to examine the normative developmental trajectories of
aggressive and delinquent behavior in young children. Cohort-sequential univariate
latent growth modeling (LGM) analyses were employed to conceptualize and analyze
intraindividual changes in children's aggressive and delinquent behavior
and interindividual differences in these changes. A multivariate model was tested
that related the two developmental trajectories to each other and to harsh
discipline. The longitudinal data included mother and father ratings on the Child
Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (Achenbach, 1991), the “Leuvens Instrument voor
Coërcief Opvoedingsgedrag” (Leuvens Instrument of Coercive
Parenting Behavior, LICO) (Hellinckx et al., 2000) and the Parenting Scale (Arnold,
O'Leary, Wolff, & Acker, 1993) of 674 school-aged boys and girls of
a proportional stratified general population sample, assessed annually for three
years. A significant nonlinear decline in aggressive and a significant linear
decline in delinquent problem behavior were found both in the mother and in the
father ratings. A multivariate latent growth analysis indicated that trajectories in
aggressive and delinquent problem behavior were positively associated. The
association was stronger for boys than for girls. Parenting behaviors were
differentially related to children's aggressive and delinquent problem
behavior. Coercion was significantly related to aggressive behavior but not to
delinquent behavior. Higher scores on coercion were related to higher initial levels
and a slower decrease of aggressive behavior. High scores on overreactivity were
associated with higher initial levels of aggressive and delinquent problem behavior
but not with the growth rates. Boys were higher than girls in initial status.
Conversely, the rate of change was not related to gender. The results were
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