Department of Educational Psychology, Ball State University Muncie, IN, USA.
Front Psychol. 2011 May 13;2:98. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00098. eCollection 2011.
The study reported in this manuscript used a mixture item response model with data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2009 (N = 16,410) to identify subtypes of adolescents at-risk for engaging in unhealthy behaviors, and to find individual survey items that were most effective at identifying such students within each subtype. The goal of the manuscript is twofold: (1) To demonstrate the utility of the mixture item response theory model for identifying subgroups in the population and for highlighting the use of group specific item response parameters and (2) To identify typologies of adolescents based on their propensity for engaging in sexually and substance use risky behaviors. Results indicate that four classes of youth exist in the population, with differences in risky sexual behaviors and substance use. The first group had a greater propensity to engage in risky sexual behavior, while group 2 was more likely to smoke tobacco and drink alcohol. Group 3 was the most likely to use other substances, such as marijuana, methamphetamine, and other mind altering drugs, and group 4 had the lowest propensity for engaging in any of the sexual or substance use behaviors included in the survey. Finally, individual items were identified for each group that can be most effective at identifying individuals at greatest risk. Further proposed directions of research and the contribution of this analysis to the existing literature are discussed.
本研究报告使用混合项目反应模型，利用 2009 年青少年风险行为调查的数据（N=16410），识别有风险行为的青少年亚组，并找到在每个亚组中最有效识别此类学生的个别调查项目。本研究报告的目的有两个：（1）展示混合项目反应理论模型在识别人群中的亚组以及突出使用特定于群体的项目反应参数方面的效用；（2）根据青少年参与性行为和物质使用风险行为的倾向，确定青少年的类型。结果表明，人群中存在四类青年，他们在性行为和物质使用方面存在差异。第一组有更大的倾向从事危险的性行为，而第二组更有可能吸烟和饮酒。第三组最有可能使用其他物质，如大麻、冰毒和其他改变思维的药物，而第四组最不可能从事调查中包括的任何性行为或物质使用行为。最后，为每个组确定了可以最有效地识别高危个体的个别项目。进一步提出了研究方向以及该分析对现有文献的贡献。
