Longitudinal associations between deviant peer affiliation and externalizing behavior in Chinese preadolescence: Differentiating between-person effects from within-person effects.

Perceived economic stress and deviant peer affiliation are risk factors for adolescents' bullying victimization. However, the longitudinal relations among perceived economic stress, deviant peer affiliation, and bullying victimization remain unclear. To fill this gap, the current study used the random intercept cross-lagged model to clarify the relations among them. A total of 2407 Chinese adolescents (M age = 12.75, SD = 0.58, age range 11-16, 50.23% girls at baseline) from 7 schools participated in the study. Perceived economic stress, deviant peer affiliation, and bullying victimization were measured annually over 3 years. Results showed that significant positive between-person correlations were found among perceived economic stress, deviant peer affiliation, and bullying victimization. At the within-person level, significant positive bidirectional associations were found between perceived economic stress and bullying victimization. Bullying victimization positively predicted later deviant peer affiliation at the within-person level. The differences of sex were observed in the relations between deviant peer affiliation and bullying victimization. Specifically, girls who experienced more bullying victimization than usual were more likely to affiliate with deviant peers than boys. And, girls affiliating with more deviant peers than usual tended to experience more bullying victimization, whereas this effect was not seen among boys. The present study contributes to our understanding of the associations among perceived economic stress, deviant peer affiliation, and bullying victimization by disaggregating within- from between-person effects. Moreover, the result, which differs between within- and between- person levels, highlights the necessity to differentiate the between- and within-person effects in complex constructs.

This study aims to investigate whether higher levels of depression predict increased physical frailty over time and whether worsening physical frailty predicts higher levels of depression over time, at both the between-person and within-person levels. A longitudinal study. A total of 269 patients who underwent cardiac surgery were included in this study at T1 (admission). We followed up depression and physical frailty at T2 (the seventh day after surgery), T3 (the day before discharge), and T4 (the three-month follow-up). To determine the temporal order of the association between depression and physical frailty at both between-person or within-person levels, we employed the cross-lagged panel model (between-person effects), and random intercept cross-lagged panel model (within-person effects). The cross-lagged panel model findings revealed a time-dependent shift in directionality: physical frailty initially predicted depression between T1 and T2, whereas depression subsequently emerged as a significant predictor of physical frailty from T2 to T4. These between-person effects suggest that the dominant direction of influence may vary across different perioperative stages. Notably, the random intercept cross-lagged panel model results identified a robust unidirectional within-person effect, indicating that increases in depression consistently predicted subsequent increases in physical frailty over time, while the reverse pathway was not statistically significant. This finding underscores the potential causal role of depression in driving physical frailty progression, beyond the influence of stable between-person characteristics. This study advances understanding of the depression-physical frailty relationship in middle-aged and older cardiac surgery patients by delineating temporal precedence and disentangling within- and between-person effects. Depression emerges as a key driver of physical frailty, underscoring the need to prioritize its management in postoperative care protocols. Future research should explore mechanisms linking intraindividual depression to physical frailty progression and evaluate integrated psychosomatic interventions to optimize recovery outcomes. We have adhered to the STROBE guideline. This study did not include patient or public involvement in its design, conduct, or reporting.

Prior cross-sectional and unidirectional longitudinal research has investigated the associations among academic achievement, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation without distinguishing between-person effects from within-person effects. Our study aimed to examine the longitudinal relations among academic achievement, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation in a sample of elementary school children at the within-person level using cross-lagged panel models (CLPMs) and random intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs). Also, multiple models replicated these findings by using three measures of academic achievement (i.e., objective academic achievement, subjective academic achievement, and teacher-assigned academic achievement). A sample of 715 Chinese elementary schoolchildren completed self-report measures of subjective academic achievement, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation on five occasions, using 6-month intervals. Objective academic achievement data were obtained from school records and teacher-assigned academic achievement data were reported by teachers. The results showed that: (a) In CLPMs, objective academic achievement negatively predicted suicidal ideation. However, RI-CLPMs supported the negative effect of suicidal ideation on objective academic achievement. (b) The CLPMs revealed reciprocal associations between subjective and teacher-assigned academic achievement and depressive symptoms, respectively. However, RI-CLPMs only provided support for the negative effect of depressive symptoms on subjective academic achievement. (c) Both the CLPMs and the RI-CLPMs showed bidirectional relations between depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. These findings highlight that mental health problems (e.g., depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation) serve as antecedents of academic performance and that it is beneficial to distinguish between between-person and within-person effects in research informing the development of prevention and intervention programs.

Young adulthood is characterized by many life changes. Especially for young men with problems across different life domains (i.e., multi-problem), these changes may entail obstacles. Incidences of psychopathology increase during young adulthood and at the same time important shifts in social networks – such as changing relations with peers and parents, isolation, or deviant peer affiliation – take place. The present study examined the longitudinal interplay between psychopathology and social network characteristics over the course of 1 year in multi-problem young adults, at both between-person and within-person level. A sample of 696 multi-problem young adult men (age 18–27) participated in this three wave study. We used traditional cross-lagged panel models (CLPM) to examine how social network characteristics and psychopathology are related at the between-person level, and random intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPM) to examine within-person links. Between-person associations between internalizing problems and social networks were bidirectional, and externalizing problems were related to problematic social network characteristics, but not vice versa. At the within-person level, no such cross-lagged paths were found. Overall, results indicated that in multi-problem young adults, social network characteristics and psychopathology are related. However, looking at within-person processes this relation is not reciprocal.

The extensive literature on the contact hypothesis reports a positive association between intergroup contact and outgroup attitudes, yet it remains unknown whether this association reflects within-person (i.e., situational changes within individuals) or between-person (i.e., stable differences between individuals) effects. To investigate this question, we applied (random-intercept) cross-lagged panel models in two studies featuring different samples, measurements, and contexts. We found longitudinal contact–attitude associations in cross-lagged panel models, which cannot differentiate within-person and between-person effects. In random-intercept cross-lagged panel models, we identified between-person effects but not within-person effects. These results conflict with the contact hypothesis, which assumes that contact leads to intra-individual attitude change. We further investigated whether between-person effects represent spurious correlations caused by potential confounders (demographic characteristics, personality, and intergroup ideologies), but found that this was not the case. Our findings highlight the need to further investigate within-person effects and potential explanations of between-person differences in contact and attitudes.

Abundant studies have explored the relations among deviant peer affiliation, self-control, and aggression without separating within-person from between-person effects. Moreover, it is unclear whether self-control mediates the associations between deviant peer affiliation and aggression during early adolescence. This longitudinal study used Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model to examine the dynamic relations among deviant peer affiliation, self-control, and aggression within individuals, including examining whether self-control mediated the relations between deviant peer affiliation and aggression. A total of 4078 early adolescents (54% boys, Mage=9.91, SD=0.73) completed questionnaires on four occasions across 2years. Results indicated: (a) Deviant peer affiliation and aggression positively predicted each other; (b) Self-control and aggression negatively predicted each other but were unstable; (c) Deviant peer affiliation and self-control negatively predicted each other; and (d) Self-control mediated the path from aggression to deviant peer affiliation, but not vice versa. The results more precisely identify the relations among deviant peer affiliation, self-control, and aggression within individuals, providing valuable information for prevention and intervention programs targeted at alleviating early adolescent aggression.

BackgroundThe directionality of longitudinal associations between children’s food fussiness and parental feeding behaviors remains contested. This study aimed to assess the dynamic relationship between children’s food fussiness and feeding behaviors.MethodsTo disentangle these effects, this study employed cross-lagged panel models (CLPMs) and random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs) using longitudinal data from 588 Chinese children (Mean age = 3.7 years, SD = 0.3, 51.7% boys) across three waves over two years. CLPMs capture between-person associations, while RI-CLPMs isolate within-person dynamics over time. Within-person effects represent how temporary deviations predict subsequent changes beyond stable traits, whereas between-person effects reflect enduring cross-family differences.ResultsAnalyses revealed distinct patterns depending on the feeding behavior and model type: for restrictions, the CLPM showed parent-driven effects (restrictions at 3.7 years→ fussiness at 4.8 years, β = −0.104, p = 0.003), whereas the RI-CLPM identified child-driven effects (fussiness at 4.8 years → restrictions at 5.7 years, β = 0.179, p = 0.033). Both models consistently revealed child-driven effects for pressure to eat (CLPM: β = 0.151, p = 0.002; RI-CLPM: β = 0.218, p = 0.013). Food as a reward showed bidirectionality in CLPM (reward at 4.8 years → fussiness at 5.7 years: β = 0.112, p < 0.001; fussiness at 4.8 years→ reward at 5.7 years: β = 0.144, p = 0.005) but no significant cross-lagged paths in the RI-CLPM. Notably, the multi-group analysis revealed no moderating effect of child sex.ConclusionsAfter accounting for stable between-person differences, RI-CLPM findings reveal that child food fussiness prospectively drives increases in parental use of restriction and pressure to eat at the within-person level. This suggests that these specific feeding behaviors may function more as reactive responses to children’s eating behaviors than as caregiver-initiated strategies.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12966-025-01830-8.

Previous studies have almost exclusively examined the between-person associations between couple communication and marital satisfaction. However, relationship dynamics have also been theorized at the within-person level. This study examined the bidirectional associations between routine communication and marital satisfaction at the between-person (interindividual) level and within-person (intraindividual) level using three annual waves of data from 268 Chinese newlyweds (Mage = 29.59, SD = 3.25 for husbands; Mage = 28.08, SD = 2.51 for wives). Participants reported separately on their experiences of routine communication and marital satisfaction. The cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) was applied to examine between-person concurrent and lagged effects, and the random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI_CLPM) was applied to examine within-person concurrent and lagged effects. Results from the CLPM revealed unidirectional lagged between-person associations from positive routine communication to marital satisfaction (instead of reciprocal associations). Results from the RI_CLPM showed a unidirectional lagged within-person association from positive routine communication to marital satisfaction (husbands only). Additionally, significant concurrent associations emerged in both models. This study provides additional insight into the within-person examination of non-conflict communication processes and highlights the importance of disaggregating between-person and within-person effects in understanding the nature of the dynamic association between routine communication and marital satisfaction.

Although there are theoretically expected associations between problematic smartphone use (PSU) and materialism, there is a lack of research that examines these associations using a longitudinal design, focusing on both within-person and between-person effects. Clarifying this relationship may inform interventions for these related conditions. Accordingly, data from three annual waves collected from a substantial group of Chinese adolescents (N = 3029, Mage = 12.26 ± 2.36, male: 50.00%) were used to assess within-person and between-person effects in the association between PSU and materialism. Traditional cross-lagged panel models were utilized to analyze the data, which consistently showed reciprocal positive associations between PSU and materialism across all waves. In contrast, the random intercept cross-lagged panel model revealed that PSU and materialism exhibited reciprocal associations over time at the between-person level. However, no significant cross-lagged linkage was observed between PSU and materialism at the within-person level. These findings enhance our understanding of the temporal dynamic relationship between PSU and materialism and underscore the necessity to disaggregate within-person and between-person effects to elucidate the nature of the longitudinal associations between PSU and materialism. The study also has implications for theoretical and practical understanding.

Self-compassion refers to a positive and healthy self-attitude in times of distress and life difficulties. Abundant research has shown that self-compassion robustly contributes to adolescents’ psychological well-being. Recent research has begun to discuss the interpersonal and social benefits of self-compassion. This study examined whether and how self-compassion would be longitudinally associated with two significant other-oriented constructs: gratitude and prosocial behavior. Using a three-wave longitudinal design, a large sample of Chinese adolescents (Time 3, N = 1026; Mage = 14.41, SDage = 0.59) was measured annually at three time points. We employed both a cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) and a random intercepts cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) to investigate the longitudinal associations between self-compassion, gratitude, and prosocial behavior at both between-person and within-person levels. Both the CLPM and RI-CLPM suggested that self-compassion positively predicted gratitude and prosocial behavior over time. The CLPM indicated that gratitude and prosocial behavior were bidirectionally related to each other at the between-person level, while the RI-CLPM did not find a significant longitudinal association between them at the within-person level. Also at the between-person level, the CLPM further suggested that gratitude mediated the longitudinal relation between self-compassion and prosocial behavior, while prosocial behavior mediated the relationship between self-compassion and gratitude. This study enriches understanding of the adaptive functions of self-compassion for adolescents’ social development. Self-compassion is not selfish but rather enhances feelings of gratitude toward other people and promotes the development of prosocial behavior.

Between-person and within-person effects in the temporal relationship between depressive symptoms and cognitive function

Research identifies parental maladaptive behaviors, such as psychological control and harsh punishment, as key risks for adolescent involvement with deviant peer groups. However, bidirectional dynamics between these specific parenting practices and deviant peer affiliation at the within-person level remain underexplored, particularly regarding sex differences. Our study addresses this gap using a four-wave longitudinal design with 4,731 Chinese adolescents (44.9% girls; Mean age = 10.91, SD = 0.72), assessed biannually. The random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) was applied to disentangle between- and within-person effects. The RI-CLPM results revealed that increases in parental psychological control or harsh punishment were positively associated with subsequent increases in deviant peer affiliation. Conversely, changes in peer affiliation were not associated with later variations in maladaptive parenting. Notably, boys demonstrated greater susceptibility to the influence of harsh punishment on deviant peer involvement compared to girls. These findings underscore the critical need to differentiate within-person processes from between-person differences in this domain and advocate for sex-specific intervention strategies to enhance effectiveness and improve developmental trajectories for both sexes.

In virtually all areas of psychology, the question of whether a particular construct has a prospective effect on another is of fundamental importance. For decades, the cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) has been the model of choice for addressing this question. However, CLPMs have recently been critiqued, and numerous alternative models have been proposed. Using the association between low self-esteem and depression as a case study, we examined the behavior of seven competing longitudinal models in 10 samples, each with at least four waves of data and sample sizes ranging from 326 to 8,259. The models were compared in terms of convergence, fit statistics, and consistency of parameter estimates. The traditional CLPM and the random intercepts cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) converged in every sample, whereas the other models frequently failed to converge or did not converge properly. The RI-CLPM exhibited better model fit than the CLPM, whereas the CLPM produced more consistent cross-lagged effects (both across and within samples) than the RI-CLPM. We discuss the models from a conceptual perspective, emphasizing that the models test conceptually distinct psychological and developmental processes, and we address the implications of the empirical findings with regard to model selection. Moreover, we provide practical recommendations for researchers interested in testing prospective associations between constructs and suggest using the CLPM when focused on between-person effects and the RI-CLPM when focused on within-person effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Adolescents face increased academic demands and lower structure as they move from high school to college. Good relationships with teachers are considered a crucial factor linked with adaptive academic behavior. However, few longitudinal studies have investigated the association between teacher-student relationships and academic adaptation over time in the higher education context, especially focusing on freshmen and separating the between-person and within-person effects. This study aimed to fill the said gaps based on the developmental-contextual perspective of psychosocial adjustment. Participants were 1578 Chinese freshmen who just transitioned from high school to college (Mage = 18.72 years, SD = 0.92). Data were collected at the 2nd (T1), 4th (T2), and 8th (T3) months upon college entry. Both cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) and random intercept, CLPM (RI-CLPM) were used to examine the focal association. Findings of CLPM revealed bidirectional associations between teacher-student relationships and academic adaptation over time. Findings from RI-CLPM suggested that at the between-person level, teacher-student relationships were significantly related to academic adaptation, echoing the results of CLPM. At the within-person level, however, the findings revealed a unidirectional effect, such that the within-person changes in teacher-student relationships at T2 predicted corresponding changes in academic adaptation at T3. Findings of CLPM and RI-CLPM were robust after controlling for T1 covariates. The association between teacher-student relationships and academic adaptation is due mainly to the stable, trait-like difference between individuals and due partly to state-like variations within individuals. Enhancing teacher-student relationships appears a promising avenue to facilitate academic adaptation among college freshmen.

Previous studies have found a significant association between campus exclusion and depression, yet the directionality and underlying mechanisms of this relationship remain unclear. This study examined the longitudinal relationship between campus exclusion and depression, as well as the mediating role of experiential avoidance between the two. Our study aims to examine the longitudinal reciprocal relationships among these variables using the cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) and random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM). A total of 589 Chinese adolescents (50.9％girls; Mage = 12.82; SD = 0.92) completed self-reported questionnaires containing measurements of studied variables thrice, using 4-month intervals. The results of CLPM models showed a bidirectional relationship between campus exclusion and depression, and that experiential avoidance was a mediating mechanism for these relationships. The results of RI-CLPM models showed that at the between-person level, the random intercepts of campus exclusion, experiential avoidance, and depression all significantly correlated with each other. At the within-person level, T1 campus exclusion positively predicted T2 experiential avoidance and T2 depression. T1 and T2 experiential avoidance positively predicted T2 and T3 campus exclusion. Moreover, T2 experiential avoidance positively predicted T3 depression, while T2 depression also positively predicted T3 experiential avoidance. These findings reveal a vicious cycle of mutual influence between campus exclusion, experiential avoidance, and depression, highlighting the significance of distinguishing between-person and within-person effects in order to design prevention and intervention programs aimed at reducing the incidence of depression during adolescence.