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Longitudinal Research with Latent Variables pp 153–176Cite as

An Overview of the Autoregressive Latent Trajectory (ALT) Model

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Abstract

Autoregressive cross-lagged models and latent growth curve models are frequently applied to longitudinal or panel data. Though often presented as distinct and sometimes competing methods, the Autoregressive Latent Trajectory (ALT) model (Bollen and Curran, 2004) combines the primary features of each into a single model. This chapter: (1) presents the ALT model, (2) describes the situations when this model is appropriate, (3) provides an empirical example of the ALT model, and (4) gives the reader the input and output from an ALT model run on the empirical example. It concludes with a discussion of the limitations and extensions of the ALT model. Our focus is on repeated measures of continuous variables.

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Acknowledgements

Kenneth Bollen gratefully acknowledges the support from NSF SES 0617276 from NIDA 1-RO1-DA13148-01 & DA013148-05A2. We thank the editors and reviewers for valuable comments and thank Shawn Bauldry for research assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Odum Institute for Research in Social Science and Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA

    Kenneth A. Bollen

  2. Odum Institute for Research in Social Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA

    Catherine Zimmer

Authors
  1. Kenneth A. Bollen
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  2. Catherine Zimmer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kenneth A. Bollen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Econometrics & Operations, Research, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, Netherlands

    Kees van Montfort

  2. Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Montessorilaan 3, Nijmegen, 6525 HR, Netherlands

    Johan H.L. Oud

  3. , Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Ramon Trias Fargas 25-27, Barcelona, 08005, Spain

    Albert Satorra

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Bollen, K.A., Zimmer, C. (2010). An Overview of the Autoregressive Latent Trajectory (ALT) Model. In: van Montfort, K., Oud, J., Satorra, A. (eds) Longitudinal Research with Latent Variables. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11760-2_5

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