Latent profile similarity of middle and high school youth risk and needs

Abstract

Research concerning school success and completion has grown increasingly complex with the number of proposed associated risk and needs domains. As the number of domains expands, various data analytical techniques have been employed to understand them, including the modeling of latent profiles, to better understand how risks and needs aggregate at the level of individual persons. Latent profile analysis helps identify individuals' subgroups based on salient combinations of characteristics. The present study used latent profile analysis and a systematic profile similarity approach to examine the profiles across middle and high school student cohorts. The study replicates the profiles of previous work with high school students and extends this to middle school students. We used two independent cohorts to replicate a 3-profile solution for middle and high school samples. Results supported a similar 3-profile solution for both samples, with minor discrepancies. Results are discussed with respect to the replication and extension of the 3-profile model and its application to efforts to improve outcomes for youth in both grade level cohorts.