Time-specific errors in growth curve modeling: type-1 error inflation and a possible solution with mixed-effects models

Usami, S. and Murayama, K. (2018) Time-specific errors in growth curve modeling: type-1 error inflation and a possible solution with mixed-effects models. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 53 (6). pp. 876-897. ISSN 1532-7906 doi: 10.1080/00273171.2018.1504273

Abstract/Summary

Growth curve modeling (GCM) has been one of the most popular statistical methods to examine participants’ growth trajectories using longitudinal data. In spite of the popularity of GCM, little attention has been paid to the possible influence of time-specific errors, which influence all participants at each time point. In this article, we demonstrate that the failure to take into account such time-specific errors in GCM produces considerable inflation of type-1error rates in statistical tests of fixed effects (e.g., coefficients for the linear and quadratic terms). We propose a GCM that appropriately incorporates time-specific errors using mixed-effects models to address the problem. We also provide an applied example to illustrate that GCM with and without time-specific errors would lead to different substantive conclusions about the true growth trajectories. Comparisons with other models in longitudinal data analysis and potential issues of model misspecification are discussed.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/78397
Identification Number/DOI	10.1080/00273171.2018.1504273
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology
Publisher	Taylor & Francis
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