andread.mata

Title of QTUG presentation:

Time Spent in Structured Activities Trajectories: The Role of Gender, Income, and Behavior Problems

List of Author and co-authors for QTUG presentation:

Andrea D. Mata and Manfred H. M. van Dulmen

Abstract Time spent in structured activities increases with age, and increases in time spent in structured activities is associated with child characteristics. It is not clear how time spent in structured activities changes across childhood, whether all children follow a similar trajectory, and whether trajectory membership is associated with child characteristics. The current study investigated developmental trajectories of time spent in structured activities utilizing the NICHD Study of Early Child Care data. Latent class growth analyses were conducted in Mplus 5.1 and identified four developmental trajectories of time spent in structured activities. Child’s family income was a differential predictor of the increasing high, decreasing low, and increasing moderate developmental trajectories. Child’s gender was a differential predictor of the increasing high and increasing moderate developmental trajectories. Child’s externalizing behavior problems was a differential predictor of the decreasing low trajectory.