Applications of Latent Growth Mixture Modeling and allied methods to posttraumatic stress response data

Background: Scientific research into mental health outcomes following trauma is undergoing a revolution as scientists refocus their efforts to identify underlying dimensions of health and psychopathology. This effort is in stark contrast to the previous focus which was to characterize individuals ba...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Isaac R. Galatzer-Levy
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2015-03-01
Series:European Journal of Psychotraumatology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.ejpt.net/index.php/ejpt/article/view/27515/pdf_17
_version_ 1818310150325272576
author Isaac R. Galatzer-Levy
author_facet Isaac R. Galatzer-Levy
author_sort Isaac R. Galatzer-Levy
collection DOAJ
description Background: Scientific research into mental health outcomes following trauma is undergoing a revolution as scientists refocus their efforts to identify underlying dimensions of health and psychopathology. This effort is in stark contrast to the previous focus which was to characterize individuals based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) diagnostic status (Insel et al., 2010). A significant unresolved issue underlying this shift is how to characterize clinically relevant populations without reliance on the categorical definitions provided by the DSM. Classifying individuals based on their pattern of stress adaptation over time holds significant promise for capturing inherent inter-individual heterogeneity as responses including chronicity, recovery, delayed onset, and resilience can only be determined longitudinally (Galatzer-Levy & Bryant, 2013) and then characterizing these patterns for future research (Depaoli, Van de Schoot, Van Loey, & Sijbrandij, 2015). Such an approach allows for the identification of phenominologically similar patterns of response to diverse extreme environmental stressors (Bonanno, Kennedy, Galatzer-Levy, Lude, & Elfstom, 2012; Galatzer-Levy & Bonanno, 2012; Galatzer-Levy, Brown, et al., 2013; Galatzer-Levy, Burton, & Bonanno, 2012) including translational animal models of stress adaptation (Galatzer-Levy, Bonanno, Bush, & LeDoux, 2013; Galatzer-Levy, Moscarello, et al., 2014). The empirical identification of heterogeneous stress response patterns can increase the identification of mechanisms (Galatzer-Levy, Steenkamp, et al., 2014), consequences (Galatzer-Levy & Bonanno, 2014), treatment effects (Galatzer-Levy, Ankri, et al., 2013), and prediction (Galatzer-Levy, Karstoft, Statnikov, & Shalev, 2014) of individual differences in response to trauma. Method: Methodological and theoretical considerations for the application of Latent Growth Mixture Modeling (LGMM) and allied methods such as Latent Class Growth Analysis (LCGA) for the identification of heterogeneous populations defined by their pattern of change over time will be presented (Van De Schoot, 2015). Common pitfalls including non-identification, over identification, and issues related to model specification will be discussed as well as the benefits of applying such methods along with the theoretical grounding of such approaches. Conclusions: LGMM and allied methods have significant potential for improving the science of stress pathology as well as our understanding of healthy adaptation (resilience).
first_indexed 2024-12-13T07:41:29Z
format Article
id doaj.art-f65a2ba06f484aa6aeefe9f7e0eec0cd
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2000-8066
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-13T07:41:29Z
publishDate 2015-03-01
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
record_format Article
series European Journal of Psychotraumatology
spelling doaj.art-f65a2ba06f484aa6aeefe9f7e0eec0cd2022-12-21T23:54:58ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEuropean Journal of Psychotraumatology2000-80662015-03-01601210.3402/ejpt.v6.2751527515Applications of Latent Growth Mixture Modeling and allied methods to posttraumatic stress response dataIsaac R. Galatzer-Levy0Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USABackground: Scientific research into mental health outcomes following trauma is undergoing a revolution as scientists refocus their efforts to identify underlying dimensions of health and psychopathology. This effort is in stark contrast to the previous focus which was to characterize individuals based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) diagnostic status (Insel et al., 2010). A significant unresolved issue underlying this shift is how to characterize clinically relevant populations without reliance on the categorical definitions provided by the DSM. Classifying individuals based on their pattern of stress adaptation over time holds significant promise for capturing inherent inter-individual heterogeneity as responses including chronicity, recovery, delayed onset, and resilience can only be determined longitudinally (Galatzer-Levy & Bryant, 2013) and then characterizing these patterns for future research (Depaoli, Van de Schoot, Van Loey, & Sijbrandij, 2015). Such an approach allows for the identification of phenominologically similar patterns of response to diverse extreme environmental stressors (Bonanno, Kennedy, Galatzer-Levy, Lude, & Elfstom, 2012; Galatzer-Levy & Bonanno, 2012; Galatzer-Levy, Brown, et al., 2013; Galatzer-Levy, Burton, & Bonanno, 2012) including translational animal models of stress adaptation (Galatzer-Levy, Bonanno, Bush, & LeDoux, 2013; Galatzer-Levy, Moscarello, et al., 2014). The empirical identification of heterogeneous stress response patterns can increase the identification of mechanisms (Galatzer-Levy, Steenkamp, et al., 2014), consequences (Galatzer-Levy & Bonanno, 2014), treatment effects (Galatzer-Levy, Ankri, et al., 2013), and prediction (Galatzer-Levy, Karstoft, Statnikov, & Shalev, 2014) of individual differences in response to trauma. Method: Methodological and theoretical considerations for the application of Latent Growth Mixture Modeling (LGMM) and allied methods such as Latent Class Growth Analysis (LCGA) for the identification of heterogeneous populations defined by their pattern of change over time will be presented (Van De Schoot, 2015). Common pitfalls including non-identification, over identification, and issues related to model specification will be discussed as well as the benefits of applying such methods along with the theoretical grounding of such approaches. Conclusions: LGMM and allied methods have significant potential for improving the science of stress pathology as well as our understanding of healthy adaptation (resilience).http://www.ejpt.net/index.php/ejpt/article/view/27515/pdf_17Latent growth mixture modelinglatent growth curve analysismixture modeling
spellingShingle Isaac R. Galatzer-Levy
Applications of Latent Growth Mixture Modeling and allied methods to posttraumatic stress response data
European Journal of Psychotraumatology
Latent growth mixture modeling
latent growth curve analysis
mixture modeling
title Applications of Latent Growth Mixture Modeling and allied methods to posttraumatic stress response data
title_full Applications of Latent Growth Mixture Modeling and allied methods to posttraumatic stress response data
title_fullStr Applications of Latent Growth Mixture Modeling and allied methods to posttraumatic stress response data
title_full_unstemmed Applications of Latent Growth Mixture Modeling and allied methods to posttraumatic stress response data
title_short Applications of Latent Growth Mixture Modeling and allied methods to posttraumatic stress response data
title_sort applications of latent growth mixture modeling and allied methods to posttraumatic stress response data
topic Latent growth mixture modeling
latent growth curve analysis
mixture modeling
url http://www.ejpt.net/index.php/ejpt/article/view/27515/pdf_17
work_keys_str_mv AT isaacrgalatzerlevy applicationsoflatentgrowthmixturemodelingandalliedmethodstoposttraumaticstressresponsedata