ABSTRACT

An interesting structural equation model for fixed occasion panel data is the latent curve model (LCM). This model has been applied mainly to developmental or growth data, hence the usual name ‘latent growth model’. In the latent curve model, the time or measurement occasion variable is defined in the measurement model of the latent factors. For instance, in a linear growth model, consecutive measurements are modeled by a latent variable for the intercept of the growth curve, and a second latent variable for the slope of the curve.