Premium
Using latent class analysis to identify aggressors and victims of peer harassment
Author(s) -
Giang Michael T.,
Graham Sandra
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
aggressive behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.223
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1098-2337
pISSN - 0096-140X
DOI - 10.1002/ab.20233
Subject(s) - latent class model , harassment , psychology , stalking , nomination , clinical psychology , social psychology , developmental psychology , psychiatry , statistics , mathematics , political science , law
This study used latent class analysis (LCA) to identify and classify individuals into aggressor and victim latent classes. Participants were over 2,000 sixth grade students who completed peer nomination procedures that identified students who had reputations as perpetrators and/or victims of physical, verbal, or relational harassment. Results showed five latent classes. Consistent with previous research, LCA identified latent classes of victims, aggressors, and socially adjusted students. However, rather than a single aggressive‐victim subgroup, LCA identified latent classes of highly‐victimized aggressive‐victims and highly‐aggressive aggressive‐victims. Comparisons showed differences in mean profiles and classification criteria between LCA and traditional dichotomization approaches. Adjustment outcomes showed that highly‐victimized aggressive‐victims generally experienced greater negative psychological and social adjustment outcomes than highly‐aggressive aggressive‐victims. Implications of these findings for better assessment of victim and aggressor subgroups were discussed. Aggr. Behav. 34:203–213, 2008.© 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.