Potential categories and influencing factors of problem behaviours in high school students: Based on latent profile analysis

To explore the potential categories of problem behaviours among high school students and their relationships with parental support and optimism–pessimism, a cluster sampling method was utilized to survey 682 first- and second-year high school students. The results of the latent profile analysis indicated: (1) There were differences between male and female students across various dimensions of problem behaviours, with males scoring significantly higher in aggressive behaviour and delinquency, whereas females scored significantly higher in withdrawal behaviour, neuroticism and exam anxiety. (2) The study identified three latent categories of high school students based on their problem behaviours: the low-risk group, the moderate-risk group and the high-risk group. The majority of students with problem behaviours belong to the low and moderate-risk groups, suggesting that most high school students exhibit problem behaviours at a moderate or low level. (3) As environmental and individual factors, respectively, parental support and optimism–pessimism have a correlation with problem behaviours among high school students. The above research findings can assist educators in developing more targeted prevention and intervention strategies for different categories of high school students based on their levels of problem behaviours.