Sensitivity to change of the Beck Depression Inventory versus the Inventory of Depressive Symptoms.

Background: In a previous study which made a comparison between disorder-specific and generic instruments to assess outcome of treatments for depression, the Beck Depression Inventory, Second Edition (BDI-II) seemed to be more sensitive to change than the Inventory of Depressive Symptoms- Self Rating (IDS-SR).

Methods: A set with longitudinal data from Routine Outcome Monitoring (n=144) were analyzed with multilevel models with random intercepts. The sensitivity to change of two disorder-specific instruments, the BDI-II and the IDS-SR, were compared head to head.

Variance constraints strongly influenced model performance in growth mixture modeling: a simulation and empirical study.

Background: Growth Mixture Modeling (GMM) is commonly used to group individuals on their development over time, but convergence issues and impossible values are common. This can result in unreliable model estimates. Constraining variance parameters across classes or over time can solve these issues, but can also seriously bias estimates if variances differ.

Identification of developmental trajectory classes: Comparing three latent class methods using simulated and real data.

Introduction: Several statistical methods are available to identify developmental trajectory classes, but it is unclear which method is most suitable. The aim of this study was to determine whether latent class analysis, latent class growth analysis or growth mixture modeling was most appropriate for identifying developmental trajectory classes.

Methods: We compared the three methods in a simulation study in several scenarios, which varied regarding e.