Classifying Korean children’s behavioral problems and their influencing factors: a latent profile analysis

The purpose of this study is to find patterns in the latent profiles of behavioral problems of children aged 4, 5, and 6, in the child and caregiver variables that affected the composition of the latent profile group, and in the differences in children’s social skills by latent profile groups. The study relies on a sample of 1461 children enrolled in the Panel Study on Korean Children. Fostering children’s social abilities has been stressed in recent policy documents in Korea, including the Character Education Promotion Act and the recently introduced Nuri curriculum. Therefore, the current paper investigates factors influencing children’s behavior problems via a longitudinal analysis. A latent profile analysis was performed and resulted in three profile models. Our findings are as follows: First, according to the latent profile of children’s behavior problems, we came up with three group models that best fit the data. Group 1, named the non-problem group, had at all ages below standard scores for behavioral problems. Group 2, named the normal group, had average or slightly above average scores for behavioral problems, though such problems decreased as the child got older. Group 3, named the in-danger group, had average or above standard scores for externalizing behavioral problems, while the scores for internalizing behavioral problems were above the subclinical standard point at age 4 and at the clinical standard point at ages 5 and 6. Second, after exploring the influencing factors (at child and parent levels) for children belonging to the in-danger group, the study found that the child was more likely to belong to the in-danger group if female, if the level of activity and sociality was low, if the mother’s parenting stress was high, and if the family income was low. Lastly, the study looked into whether there were any group differences in young children’s social skills. The findings show that regarding capacity for cooperation and self-control, the scores of the non-problem group were higher than those for the in-danger group. Regarding capacity for exhibiting assertiveness and responsibility, the lowest scores among the three groups belonged to the in-danger group.