Measuring Psychological Constructs over a Developmental Span: Methodological Approaches
Brandon LeBeau
University of Iowa
Background
Petersen, I. T., Lindhiem, O., LeBeau, B., Bates, J. E., Pettit, G. S., Lansford, J. E., & Dodge, K. A. (2018). Development of internalizing problems from adolescence to emerging adulthood: Accounting for heterotypic continuity with vertical scaling. Developmental psychology, 54(3), 586.
Peterson, I.T. & LeBeau, B. (In Press). Language Ability in the Development of Externalizing Behavior Problems in Childhood. Journal of Educational Psychology.
Peterson, I.T. & LeBeau, B. (Under Review). Creating a Developmental Scale to Chart the Development of Psychopathology with Different Informants and Measures across Time. Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
Peterson, I.T., LeBeau, B., Choe, D.E. (Under Review). Creating a Developmental Scale to Account for Heterotypic Continuity in Development: A Simulation Study. Child Development.
NIH Grant Application
Methodological Problem
Heterotypic Continuity
Behavioral manifestations change with development.
The following aspects across time change:
Rank order across people
Level on the construct
Strength of construct.
Common Approaches in Psychology
Using only common items across time
Use all item over time
Factor Analytic/IRT approaches with linking
SEM
Internalizing Problems
Growth Internalizing Problems
Externalizing Problems
We examined whether within-child changes in language ability predict concomitant within-child changes in externalizing problems
We examined whether social skills are a potential mechanism that explains the association between language ability and externalizing problems
Externalizing Measures
CBCL 4 - 18: Mothers from 4 to 10 years of age.
TRF: Teachers from age 4 to 10, age 4 was a preschool or other caregiver.
We created developmental scales using IRT and linking for each rater independently.