Modeling Contextual Effects in Longitudinal Studies

by Little; Todd D.

• ISBN13: 9780805850192
• ISBN10: 0805850198
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-03-21
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Modeling Contextual Effects in Longitudinal Studiesreviews the challenges and alternative approaches to modeling how individuals change across time and provides methodologies and data analytic strategies for behavioral and social science researchers. This accessible guide provides concrete, clear examples of how contextual factors can be included in most research studies. Each chapter can be understood independently, allowing readers to first focus on areas most relevant to their work. The opening chapter demonstrates the various ways contextual factors are representedas covariates, predictors, outcomes, moderators, mediators, or mediated effects. Succeeding chapters review "best practice" techniques for treating missing data, making model comparisons, and scaling across developmental age ranges. Other chapters focus on specific statistical techniques such as multilevel modeling and multiple-group and multilevel SEM, and how to incorporate tests of mediation, moderation, and moderated mediation. Critical measurement and theoretical issues are discussed, particularly how age can be represented and the ways in which context can be conceptualized. The final chapter provides a compelling call to include contextual factors in theorizing and research. This book will appeal to researchers and advanced students conducting developmental, social, clinical, or educational research, as well as those in related areas such as psychology and linguistics.

Author Biography

Todd D. Little is Director of the Research Design Unit and the Quantitative Psychology Doctoral training Program and a Professor of Psychology at the University of Kansas. He received his Ph.D. in developmental and quantitative psychology at the University of California - Riverside. Dr. Little has extensive experience in the use of longitudinal research methods, and he has edited several LEA books on the subject.
James A. Bovaird is an Assistant Professor in Educational Psychology at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. He received his Ph.D. in quantitative psychology at the University of Kansas. His quantitative interests are in the application of latent variable methodologies to novel substantive areas and the evaluation of these methodologies in situations of limited inference.
Noel A. Card is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Family Studies and Human Development at the University of Arizona. He received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from St. John’s University. His quantitative interests are structural equation modeling, longitudinal design and analysis, meta-analysis, and analyzing interdependent data.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Modeling Ecological and Contextual Effects in Longitudinal Studies of Human Development	p. 1
Statistical Analysis With Incomplete Data: A Developmental Perspective	p. 13
Alternatives to Traditional Model Comparison Strategies for Covariance Structure Models	p. 33
Impact of Measurement Scale in Modeling Developmental Processes and Ecological Factors	p. 63
The Incorporation of Categorical Measurement Models in the Analysis of Individual Growth	p. 89
Representing Contextual Effects in Multiple-Group MACS Models	p. 121
Multilevel Structural Equation Models for Contextual Factors	p. 149
Mixed-Effects Regression Models With Heterogeneous Variance: Analyzing Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) Data	p. 183
Structural Equation Modeling of Mediation and Moderation With Contextual Factors	p. 207
Moderating Effects of a Risk Factor: Modeling Longitudinal Moderated Mediation in the Development of Adolescent Heavy Drinking	p. 231
Modeling Complex Interactions: Person-Centered and Variable-Centered Approaches	p. 255
Accounting for Statistical Dependency in Longitudinal Data on Dyads	p. 285
Coupled Dynamics and Mutually Adaptive Context	p. 299
Modeling Intraindividual and Intracontextual Change: Rendering Developmental Contextualism Operational	p. 325
The Shape of Things to Come: Diagnosing Social Contagion From Adolescent Smoking and Drinking Curves	p. 343
A Dynamic Structural Analysis of the Impacts of Context on Shifts in Lifespan Cognitive Development	p. 363
Intrauterine Environment Affects Infant and Child Outcomes: Environment as Direct Effect	p. 387
Conceptualizing and Measuring the Context Within Person [Left Arrow][Right Arrow] Context Models of Human Development: Implications for Theory, Research and Application	p. 437
Author Index	p. 457
Subject Index	p. 469
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