Influence of Family and Teacher Factors On Early Disruptive and Bullying Behaviors: A Latent Profile Transition Analysis

Introduction: Family (e.g., parent involvement) and school (e.g., school climate) factors exert considerable influence on children’s early displays of disruptive and bullying behavior (Epstein et al., 2008). The goal of the current study was to examine profiles of disruptive behavior across the kindergarten year. Latent transition analyses (LTAs) were used to explore the influence of family and school factors on those profiles at two time points (Time 1: beginning of kindergarten, Time 2: end of kindergarten).

Methods: Data on 2,814 kindergarten children (52.1% male; 51.7% Black, 33.5% White) were collected from a longitudinal RCT of school-wide behavioral interventions. Information regarding disruptive behavior was collected from the Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation-Checklist (TOCA-C; Koth et al., 2009). Family and school factors were measured via the family problems and family involvement subscales of the TOCA-C and the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran  & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001).

Results: Latent profile analyses (LPAs) at both time points indicated that a three-group solution provided the most parsimonious fit to the data. The largest class (Time 1 n = 1378, 49%; Time 2 n = 1040, 41.5%) was low on disruptive and high on prosocial behaviors (well-adapted); the next largest class (Time 1 n = 1083, 38.5%; Time 2 n = 1010, 40.3%) was higher on disruptive behaviors than the well-adapted group (at-risk); the smallest class (Time 1 n = 351, 12.5%; Time 2 n = 457, 18.2%) was high on all problem behaviors (disruptive). High prosocial behaviors for the disruptive class also indicated that peers liked these children; therefore, this class may represent a group of children displaying early bullying behaviors. LTAs indicated continuity over time in disruptive behavior, as most children remained in the same profile across kindergarten (i.e., 38% were in the well-adapted group at both time points, 33% in the at-risk group, 13% in the disruptive group). However, some children transitioned between profiles (e.g., 5% moved from the at-risk to the disruptive group). Logit coefficients indicated lower family problems for the well-adapted (-.77, p < .001) and at-risk (-1.97, p < .001) groups at Time 1 when compared to the disruptive group. The well-adapted group at Time 2 also had more family involvement (.37, p < .01). Higher teacher efficacy (2.78, p < .01) was found for the well-adapted group at Time 1 when compared to the disruptive group.

Discussion: Findings indicated that early disruptive and bullying behaviors tended to persist across the kindergarten year. Family and teacher factors may be potentially effective intervention targets to prevent the development of increased disruptive behaviors across the school years.