When Change Is the Question: Leveraging Latent Growth Modeling to Advance Adolescent Mental Health Research

Sometimes we want to see how people change over time, as in studies of human development and lifespan. When we test the same group of individuals repeatedly over an extended period of time, we are conducting longitudinal research. Longitudinal research is a research design in which data-gathering is administered repeatedly over an extended period of time. For example, we may survey a group of individuals about their dietary habits at age 20, retest them a decade later at age 30, and then again...

Carol Dweck introduced the term mindset to describe individuals' beliefs about their intellectual and personal capabilities. These beliefs significantly influence psychological processes such as motivation, goal-setting, and perseverance, ultimately shaping academic and life outcomes. Individuals generally possess one of two mindsets- a fixed or a growth mindset—each promoting different responses to success, failure, and challenge.Fixed vs. Growth MindsetA fixed mindset assumes that one's...

Exponential models are essential for describing rapid, multiplicative changes in natural systems, such as population growth. When a population doubles at regular intervals, the process can be modeled using a suitable base. For instance, a bacterial culture that doubles every three hours follows the model n(t)=n0⋅2t/3, where n(t) is the population at the time t.A more general model uses the natural base e, especially for continuous growth. This takes the form n(t)=n0⋅ert, where r is the relative...

Regression toward the mean (“RTM”) is a phenomenon in which extremely high or low values—for example, and individual’s blood pressure at a particular moment—appear closer to a group’s average upon remeasuring. Although this statistical peculiarity is the result of random error and chance, it has been problematic across various medical, scientific, financial and psychological applications. In particular, RTM, if not taken into account, can interfere when researchers try to extrapolate results...

Longitudinal studies are also widely used in other medical and social science fields. For instance, in cardiovascular research, they can monitor patients' health over decades to identify risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol or smoking, and evaluate the long-term effectiveness of preventive measures. Similarly, in mental health studies, researchers might follow individuals from adolescence into adulthood to understand the development and progression of conditions like...

During adolescence, individuals experience significant cognitive development that enhances their understanding of others' emotions and thoughts, known as cognitive empathy. This period is marked by an increased ability to adapt to others' perspectives and a more nuanced understanding of others' mental states, a skill that is foundational for social problem-solving and conflict avoidance. The development of cognitive empathy relies heavily on the theory of mind — the recognition that people have...