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Identifying Patterns of Early Risk for Mental Health and Academic Problems in Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study of Urban Youth

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Abstract

This investigation examined profiles of individual, academic, and social risks in elementary school, and their association with mental health and academic difficulties in adolescence. Latent profile analyses of data from 574 urban youth revealed three risk classes. Children with the “well-adjusted” class had assets in the academic and social domains, low aggressive behavior, and low depressive symptoms in elementary school, and low rates of academic and mental health problems in adolescence. Children in the “behavior-academic-peer risk” class, characterized by high aggressive behavior, low academic achievement, and low peer acceptance, had conduct problems, academic difficulties, and increased mental health service use in adolescence. Children with the “academic-peer risk” class also had academic and peer problems but they were less aggressive and had higher depressive symptoms than the “behavior-academic-peer risk” class in the first grade; the “academic-peer risk” class had depression, conduct problems, academic difficulties, and increased mental health service use during adolescence. No differences were found between the risk classes with respect to adolescent outcomes.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Baltimore City Public Schools for their continuing collaborative efforts and the parents, children, teachers, principals, and school psychologists and social workers who participated. We also express our appreciation to Hanno Petras and Scott Hubbard, who made significant contributions to the data analysis and editing of the manuscript. This research was supported by National Institutes of Mental Health Grants RO1 MH42968 (Sheppard Kellam, Principal Investigator) and T-32 MH18834 (Nicholas Ialongo, Principal Investigator) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Grant R49/CCR318627–03.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Carmen R. Valdez

  2. Department of Psychology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    Sharon F. Lambert

  3. Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Nicholas S. Ialongo

Authors
  1. Carmen R. Valdez
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  2. Sharon F. Lambert
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  3. Nicholas S. Ialongo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carmen R. Valdez.

Appendix

Appendix

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Table 5 Logistic regression of adolescent outcomes on separate risk factors in first grade
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Valdez, C.R., Lambert, S.F. & Ialongo, N.S. Identifying Patterns of Early Risk for Mental Health and Academic Problems in Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study of Urban Youth. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 42, 521–538 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-011-0230-9

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