title: Developmental trajectories of externalizing behaviors in childhood and adolescence.
abstract: This article describes the average and group-based developmental trajectories of aggression, opposition, property violations, and status violations using parent reports of externalizing behaviors on a longitudinal multiple birth cohort study of 2,076 children aged 4 to 18 years. Trajectories were estimated from multilevel growth curve analyses and semiparametric mixture models. Overall, males showed higher levels of externalizing behavior than did females. Aggression, opposition, and property violations decreased on average, whereas status violations increased over time. Group-based trajectories followed the shape of the average curves at different levels and were similar for males and females. The trajectories found in this study provide a basis against which deviations from the expected developmental course can be identified and classified as deviant or nondeviant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC--Sophia Children's Hospital Rotterdam, The Netherlands. i.l.bongers@erasmusmc.nl
authors.forename: Ilja L
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Bongers
authors.forename: Hans M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Koot
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van der Ende
authors.forename: Frank C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Verhulst
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D010553:Personality Development; D012737:Sex Factors; D012919:Social Behavior; D012928:Social Desirability