Advanced longitudinal modeling in Mplus

About

Many researchers in the social and behavioral sciences are interested in using structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze longitudinal data and investigate their theories. In this five-day course, SEM experts will teach you about the fundamentals of SEM and various longitudinal data analysis techniques for both panel data and intensive longitudinal data, including growth curve analysis, (random intercept) cross-lagged panel models, and dynamic structural equation modeling (DSEM). The course consists of in-depth lectures, and computer lab meetings in which you learn how to implement these techniques in the powerful and flexible software package Mplus.

On the first day, the focus is on the formulas behind SEM, calculating the number of parameters and degrees of freedom by hand as a way of model checking, interpreting the TECH1 output, when to worry about the default settings in Mplus, model parameterization, and model fit. In the following four days, diverse longitudinal models are discussed, including recent development with respect to cross-lagged panel models, latent growth curve models, latent class growth models, latent transition analysis, and DSEM. In addition, the way in which diverse panel data models relate to causal inference is discussed.

On each day there are, besides lectures, one or more computer labs in which participants obtain hands-on Mplus experience with the discussed topics and models.

Prerequisites
For this course, we assume participants have Mplus experience and basic SEM knowledge (but you do not need to know matrix algebra, calculus, or likelihood theory).

Recommended combination

A good preparation for this course is our summer course 'Introduction to Structural Equation Modeling using Mplus' (S20); or possibly our summer course Structural Equation Modeling in R using lavaan (S65), an e-learning course which uses lavaan instead of Mplus.

More information

Participants are requested to bring their own laptop. If needed, software will be available online (please make sure to install this before the start of the course, you will receive an e-mail with information about this).

Course leader

Dr. Rebecca Kuiper

Target group

(Research) master students or (post-graduate) researchers who already use Mplus and/or followed a multiple-day introduction into Mplus, for example the USS course ‘Introduction to Structural Equation Modeling using Mplus’. Participants from a variety of fields, including sociology, psychology, education, human development, marketing, business, biology, medicine, political science, and communication sciences, may benefit from the course.

The selection will be done on a first-come-first-served basis. Please note that there is always a one-day delay between the registration system and the information on the website about the availability of places.

There are no restrictions on who can participate beyond the prerequisites; academics, researchers, and professional participants are all welcome to register for the course.

We also offer tailor-made M&S courses and in-house M&S training. If you want to look at the possibilities, please contact Dr. Laurence Frank at pe.dsai@uu.nl.

Course aim

The main objective of the course is to acquire an expert understanding of longitudinal models as applied in the social and behavioural sciences are analyzed using Mplus.

Fee info