A Study on the Latent Classes of Adolescent Risk Behaviors

Purpose: Adolescent health is gaining increased attention, necessitating systematic analysis of the diversity and complexity of adolescent risk behaviors among middle school students. This study aims to examine the data characteristics and latent categorical distributions of these behaviors, identify high-risk populations and associated factors, and provide evidence to inform targeted interventions and prevention strategies. Methods: The data used in our study are derived from China’s first public dataset on adolescent health. It is produced by a project that has carried out a multiwave survey of 99,327 middle and high school students from 2015–2021[1][2]. In our study, taxometrics and latent class analysis (LCA) were used to study the latent classes of risk behaviors of middle school students (n = 14,662) in a cross-sectional study conducted in 2020. Results: The results of taxometrics indicate that adolescent risk behaviors of middle school students present a continuous dimension. Additionally, we further explored the latent classes of the risk–behavior groups. There are four latent classes: (1) high-risk behavior group (13.62%); (2) moderate-risk behavior group (athletics sport) (17.17%); (3) moderate-risk behavior group (electronic products) (14.16%); and (4) low-risk behavior group (55.05%). The high-risk group is driven by multiple cooccurring factors, whereas the moderate-risk subgroup is correlated primarily with physical inactivity or electronic overuse, which are linked to environmental, familial, and cognitive influences. Conclusions: Adolescent risk behaviors in middle school students form four latent classes: the predominant low-risk group, a high-risk group requiring prioritized intervention for multiple factors, and a moderate-risk group where physical inactivity outweighs electronic product use as a risk. Additionally, smoking and drinking were significantly related.