Abstract
In a recent paper in this journal, I described the application of a decomposition technique from path analysis to the study of prevalence. Because of the rarity of comprehensive longitudinal data, I was forced to use aggregate level data in the application. In this comment I would like to demonstrate how this conceptualization applies to the study of chronic behaviors with individual-level data. The dictionary defines chronic as or recurring. The word is derived from Chronus, the god of time, and has no inherent pejorative connotation, although often used with bad behaviors to yield combinations like chronic delinquency, chronic illness, or chronic alcoholism. Duration and recurrence may be thought of as two components of chronicity. They fit precisely into the dictionary definition: duration refers to the ever-present nature of a chronic behavior, and recurrence to the pattern of repetition. But duration and recurrence are not just components in a verbal sense: they are mathematical components also. For a given population, duration and recurrence combine to form the total time engaged in the behavior for each individual, according to the formula:
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