Brief Report: Examining Children's Disruptive Behavior in the Wake of Trauma - A Two-piece Growth Curve Model before and after a school shooting

• NCJ Number: 249665
• Journal: Journal of Adolescence Volume: 44 Dated: October 2015 Pages: 219-223
• Author(s): Y. Liao; E. T. Shonkoff; E. Barnett; C. K. F. Wen; K. A. Miller; J. M. Eddy
• Date Published: October 2015
• Length: 5 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2013-JU-FX-0007
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Publication Format: Article; Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Using a longitudinal dataset in which a local school shooting occurred during the course of data collection, this study sought to investigate whether the trajectory of disruptive behaviors was affected by the shooting.

Abstract

School shootings may have serious negative impacts on children years after the event. Previous research suggests that children exposed to traumatic events experience heightened fear, anxiety, and feelings of vulnerability, but little research has examined potential aggressive and disruptive behavioral reactions. In the current study, a two-piece growth curve model was used to examine the trajectory of disruptive behaviors during the pre-shooting years (i.e., piece one) and post-shooting years (i.e., piece two). Results indicated that the two-piece growth curve model fit the data better than the one-piece model and that the school shooting precipitated a faster decline in aggressive behaviors. This study demonstrated a novel approach to examining effects of an unexpected traumatic event on behavioral trajectories using an existing longitudinal data set. (Publisher abstract modified)