Growth models are among the core methods for analyzing how and when people change. Discussing both structural equation and multilevel modeling approaches, this book leads readers step by step through applying each model to longitudinal data to answer particular research questions. It demonstrates cutting-edge ways to describe linear and nonlinear change patterns, examine within-person and between-person differences in change, study change in latent variables, identify leading and lagging indicators of change, evaluate co-occurring patterns of change across multiple variables, and more. User-friendly features include real data examples, code (for Mplus or NLMIXED in SAS, and OpenMx or nlme in R), discussion of the output, and interpretation of each model's results.
Kevin J. Grimm, Nilam Ram, & Ryne Estabrook