Posttraumatic growth and wellbeing in three countries after COVID-19: analysis using a random intercept cross-lagged panel model.

Problematic alcohol use and mental health problems co-occur frequently. However, the longitudinal, reciprocal relationship between depressive symptoms and problematic alcohol use is not fully understood. This study examined the bidirectional longitudinal association between depressive symptoms and problematic alcohol use. A total of 14,569 adults participated in a panel survey, with data collected annually at three time points (2022, 2023, and 2024). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale (11-item version). Problematic alcohol use was assessed using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) (10-item version). A random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) with three time points was used to determine the reciprocal relationship between depressive symptoms and problematic alcohol use. The sample consists of 6,406 men and 8,134 women, with a mean (standard deviation) age of 57.7 (19.5) years. At the between-person level, random intercepts of depressive symptoms and problematic alcohol use showed no significant correlations (B = 0.117, P = .566). At the within-person level, depressive symptoms at a given time point were positively associated with problematic alcohol use in the following year (B = 0.050, P = .005). Similarly, problematic alcohol use at a given time point was positively associated with depressive symptoms in the following year (B = 0.062, P = .012). Significant covariance between depressive symptoms and problematic alcohol use were observed across the survey waves. This study found a bidirectional longitudinal relationship between depressive symptoms and problematic alcohol use at the within-individual level. Policy interventions should adopt an integrated approach that addresses mental health issues and problematic alcohol use simultaneously.

Few studies have investigated the causal link between social support and posttraumatic growth. Using a four-wave longitudinal design, the present study examined the reciprocal relationship between posttraumatic growth and social support in family and school contexts. A total of 285 adolescents (61.3% female) were recruited to complete self-report questionnaires 12, 18, 24, and 30 months after the Wenchuan earthquake. The data were analyzed using a random intercept cross-lagged panel model. Results revealed a trend for total social support initially promoting posttraumatic growth, followed by no influence, and finally a hindering of growth. This pattern varied between different sources of support. Specifically, the influence of support from parents and peers was consistent with the pattern for total support, whereas that from teachers and others prevented posttraumatic growth during later stages. These results suggest that timing is an important issue in posttraumatic growth and that providing more support for a prolonged period following a traumatic event constrains adolescents' autonomy and thus inhibits posttraumatic growth.

Developmental theories suggest affect-biased attention, preferential attention to emotionally salient stimuli, emerges during infancy through coordinating individual differences. Here we examined bidirectional relations between infant affect-biased attention, temperamental negative affect, and maternal anxiety symptoms using a Random Intercepts Cross-Lagged Panel model (RI-CLPM). Infant-mother pairs from Central Pennsylvania and Northern New Jersey (N = 342; 52% White; 50% reported as assigned female at birth) participated when infants were 4, 8, 12, 18 and 24 months of age. Infants completed the overlap task while eye-tracking data were collected. Mothers reported their infant's negative affect and their own anxiety symptoms. In an RI-CLPM, after accounting for between-person variance (random intercepts representing the latent average of a construct), it is possible to assess within-person variance (individual deviations from the latent average of a construct). Positive relations represent stability in constructs (smaller within-person deviations). Negative relations represent fluctuation in constructs (larger within-person deviations). At the between-person level (random intercepts), mothers with greater anxiety symptoms had infants with greater affect-biased attention. However, at the within-person level (deviations), greater fluctuation in maternal anxiety symptoms at 12- and 18 months prospectively related to greater stability in attention to angry facial configurations. Additionally, greater fluctuation in maternal anxiety symptoms at 18 months prospectively related to greater stability in attention to happy facial configurations. Finally, greater fluctuation in maternal anxiety symptoms at 4- and 12 months prospectively related to greater stability in infant negative affect. These results suggest that environmental uncertainty, linked to fluctuating maternal anxiety, may shape early socioemotional development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The relation between nonword repetition and vocabulary has been the focus of a theoretical controversy for several decades. The point of contention is whether the ability underlying nonword repetition drives vocabulary growth or vice versa. The present study examines longitudinal interrelations between nonword repetition and vocabulary from age 3 to 5 with random intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs). RI-CLPMs have the advantage of separating within-child dynamic processes from more stable differences between children, including time-stable unmeasured confounders. For n = 260 monolingual German-speaking children assessed at three time points with a lag of eleven months, RI-CLPM and, for comparison purposes, "classical" cross-lagged panel models (CLPMs) were estimated. The ill-fitting CLPMs in which cross-lagged effects combine within-child processes and stable differences between children yielded evidence consistent with reciprocal effects between nonword repetition and vocabulary (without covariates) or from nonword repetition to vocabulary (with covariates). Adding a random intercept markedly improved model fit. All within-child cross-lagged effects in the RI-CLPM were nonsignificant. Thus, the results provided no evidence consistent with within-child processes such as nonword repetition affecting vocabulary or vice versa for preschool-age children. Instead, results are more consistent with, for example, third variable explanations, within-child processes fading out by age 3 or occurring on a time frame that is not captured with a lag of approximately 1 year. (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.

Research on posttraumatic growth has been marred by the ubiquity of retrospective perceived growth assessments that lack construct validity. However, one justification for assessing perceived growth is that such perceptions may be a catalyst for subsequent change. We examined this question using a measurement-burst design in a representative midlife sample who had experienced a major negative life event in the past year (Wave 1: N = 804). Participants completed three waves of retrospective measures of perceived growth (Posttraumatic Growth Inventory), current-standing measures of posttraumatic growth domains, and experience-sampling assessments of state manifestations of growth-relevant domains twice a day for 3 weeks ( Nassessments = 32,099) over 6 months. In random-intercept cross-lagged panel models, perceived growth did not predict subsequent observed change in current standing or aggregated state assessments of growth. Overall, perceived growth does not appear to serve as a catalyst for positive change in the short term.

This study investigates whether lower self-regulation (SR) facets are risk factors for internalizing symptoms (vulnerability models), consequences of these symptoms (scar models), or develop along the same continuum and thus share common causes (spectrum models) during middle childhood. To analyze these models simultaneously, a random intercept cross-lagged panel model was estimated using Mplus. Data were assessed at three measurement time points in a community-based sample of N = 1657 (52.2% female) children in Germany, aged 6-13. Internalizing symptoms were measured via parent report by the emotional problems scale of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Seven SR facets were assessed behaviorally, via parent report and teacher report. At the within-person level, internalizing symptoms were concurrently associated with emotional reactivity at all measurement time points, while no cross-lagged paths reached significance. At the between-person level, internalizing symptoms were associated with working memory updating (r = -.29, p < .001), inhibitory control (r = -.29, p < .001), planning behavior (r = -.49, p < .001), and emotional reactivity (r = .59, p < .001). As internalizing symptoms and SR facets were primarily associated at the between-person level, the results lend support to spectrum models suggesting common causes of internalizing symptoms and impaired SR.

The present study employed the cross-lagged panel model and the random intercepts cross-lagged panel model to investigate the longitudinal association between deviant peer affiliation and externalizing behavior in Chinese preadolescents. A sample of 1987 students, comprising 56.10% male participants with a mean age of 12.32 years (SD = 0.53), from Guangdong and Shandong provinces, completed the Deviant Peer Affiliation Scale and the Externalizing Behavior Scale in biannual surveys. The surveys were conducted in the autumn semester of 7th grade, the spring semester of 7th grade, and the autumn semester of 8th grade. The cross-lagged panel model illustrated a bidirectional association between adolescents' involvement with deviant peers and externalizing behavior. Conversely, the random intercepts cross-lagged panel model indicated a positive association between deviant peer affiliation and externalizing behavior at the between-person level. At the within-person level, a significant predictive correlation was identified between the association with deviant peers and subsequent externalizing behavior, whereas the reverse pathway was determined to be statistically insignificant. To comprehend the connection between deviant peer association and externalizing behavior in preadolescence, it is essential to differentiate between between-person and within-person effects and utilize a sophisticated research methodology.

Cross-lagged models are by far the most commonly used method to test the prospective effect of one construct on another, yet there are no guidelines for interpreting the size of cross-lagged effects. This research aims to establish empirical benchmarks for cross-lagged effects, focusing on the cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) and the random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM). We drew a quasirepresentative sample of studies published in four subfields of psychology (i.e., developmental, social-personality, clinical, and industrial-organizational). The dataset included 1,028 effect sizes for the CLPM and 302 effect sizes for the RI-CLPM, based on data from 174 samples. For the CLPM, the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of the distribution corresponded to cross-lagged effect sizes of .03, .07, and .12, respectively. For the RI-CLPM, the corresponding values were .02, .05, and .11. Effect sizes did not differ significantly between the CLPM and RI-CLPM. Moreover, effect sizes did not differ significantly across subfields and were not moderated by design characteristics. However, effect sizes were moderated by the concurrent correlation between the constructs and the stability of the predictor. Based on the findings, we propose to use .03 (small effect), .07 (medium effect), and .12 (large effect) as benchmark values when interpreting the size of cross-lagged effects, for both the CLPM and RI-CLPM. In addition to aiding in the interpretation of results, the present findings will help researchers plan studies by providing information needed to conduct power analyses and estimate minimally required sample sizes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Physical activity promotes life satisfaction via attitude toward own aging: Evidence from a three-wave random intercept panel study of older adults.

Researchers in psychology often use longitudinal data to estimate cross-lagged effects—that is, how a variable at one time point (e.g., X_(t-1)) influences another at a later time point (e.g., Y_t). In a recent critique, Lucas (2023) argued that the traditional cross-lagged panel model is “almost never the right choice” because it fails to account for stable trait factors. As an alternative, he recommends models incorporating latent variables, such as the random-intercept cross-lagged panel model. In this comment, we challenge the view that including random intercepts is inherently superior or necessary for estimating cross-lagged effects. We distinguish between two strategies for addressing confounding: (1) adjusting for observed covariates, and (2) modeling latent variables to capture unmeasured, time-invariant influences. We argue that blanket recommendations to always include random intercepts are premature and potentially misleading. In many research contexts, adjusting for observed covariates remains a reasonable and defensible approach.

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.

BackgroundIn this study we compare results obtained when applying the monozygotic twin difference cross‐lagged panel model (MZD‐CLPM) and a random intercept cross‐lagged panel model (RI‐CLPM) to the same data. Each of these models is designed to strengthen researchers' ability to draw causal inference from cross‐lagged associations. We explore differences and similarities in how each model does this, and in the results each model produces. Specifically, we examine associations between maladaptive parenting and child emotional and behavioural problems in identical twins aged 9, 12 and 16.MethodChild reports of 5698 identical twins from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) were analysed. We ran a regular CLPM to anchor our findings within the current literature, then applied the MZD‐CLPM and the RI‐CLPM.ResultsThe RI‐CLPM and MZD‐CLPM each enable researchers to evaluate the direction of effects between correlated variables, after accounting for unmeasured sources of potential confounding. Our interpretation of these models therefore focusses primarily on the magnitude and significance of cross‐lagged associations. In both the MZD‐CLPM and the RI‐CLPM behavioural problems at age 9 resulted in higher levels of maladaptive parenting at age 12. Other effects were not consistently significant across the two models, although the majority of estimates pointed in the same direction.ConclusionIn light of the triangulated methods, differences in the results obtained using the MZD‐CLPM and the RI‐CLPM underline the importance of careful consideration of what sources of unmeasured confounding different models control for and that nuance is required when interpreting findings using such models. We provide an overview of what the CLPM, RI‐CLPM and MZD‐CLPM can and cannot control for in this respect and the conclusions that can be drawn from each model.

Increased income over time predicts better self-perceived mental health only at a population level but not for individual changes: An analysis of a longitudinal cohort using cross-lagged models

The theory of aversive transmission posits that children of parents who have an alcohol use disorder (AUD) may abstain or limit their own alcohol use because they believe themselves to be at risk of developing problems with alcohol. The present study examined relationships among parental AUD, perceived parental AUD, perceived risk for AUD, addiction avoidance reasons for limiting alcohol use, and alcohol use using a random intercept cross-lagged panel model. Participants (N = 805; 48% female; 28% Latinx) were from a longitudinal study investigating intergenerational transmission of AUD. Parental AUD, perceived parental AUD, perceived risk for AUD, addiction avoidance reasons for limiting alcohol use, and alcohol use (quantity, frequency, and frequency of heavy drinking) were measured every 5 years from late adolescence (Mage = 20) to adulthood (Mage = 32). Random intercept cross-lagged panel models tested whether there were stable between-person relations or time-varying within-person relations among these variables. At the between-person level, perceived parental AUD predicted greater addiction avoidance reasons for limiting alcohol use and greater perceived risk. Those with greater addiction avoidance reasons for limiting alcohol use were less likely to use any alcohol and drank less frequently. Parental AUD was associated with higher levels of alcohol use as well as perceived risk. No consistent cross-lagged paths were found at the within-person level. Study findings were at the between-person level rather than the within-person level. Future work on aversive transmission is needed to better understand this subgroup of children of parents with AUD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).