New to This Edition *Extensively revised to cover important new topics: Pearl' s graphing theory and SCM, causal inference frameworks, conditional process modeling, path models for longitudinal data, item response theory, and more. *Chapters on best practices in all stages of SEM, measurement invariance in confirmatory factor analysis, and significance testing issues and bootstrapping. *Expanded coverage of psychometrics. *Additional computer tools: online files for all detailed examples, previously provided in EQS, LISREL, and Mplus, are now also given in Amos, Stata, and R (lavaan). *Reorganized to cover the specification, identification, and analysis of observed variable models separately from latent variable models. Pedagogical Features *Exercises with answers, plus end-of-chapter annotated lists of further reading. *Real examplesof troublesome data, demonstrating how to handle typical problems in analyses.

New to This Edition *Extensively revised to cover important new topics: Pearl' s graphing theory and SCM, causal inference frameworks, conditional process modeling, path models for longitudinal data, item response theory, and more. *Chapters on best practices in all stages of SEM, measurement invariance in confirmatory factor analysis, and significance testing issues and bootstrapping. *Expanded coverage of psychometrics. *Additional computer tools: online files for all detailed examples, previously provided in EQS, LISREL, and Mplus, are now also given in Amos, Stata, and R (lavaan). *Reorganized to cover the specification, identification, and analysis of observed variable models separately from latent variable models. Pedagogical Features *Exercises with answers, plus end-of-chapter annotated lists of further reading. *Real examplesof troublesome data, demonstrating how to handle typical problems in analyses.

Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a very general and flexible multivariate technique that allows relationships among variables to be examined. The roots of SEM are in the social sciences. In writing this textbook, the authors look to make SEM accessible to a wider audience of researchers across many disciplines, addressing issues unique to health and medicine. SEM is often used in practice to model and test hypothesized causal relationships among observed and latent (unobserved) variables, including in analysis across time and groups. It can be viewed as the merging of a conceptual model, path diagram, confirmatory factor analysis, and path analysis. In this textbook the authors also discuss techniques, such as mixture modeling, that expand the capacity of SEM using a combination of both continuous and categorical latent variables. Features: Basic, intermediate, and advanced SEM topics Detailed applications, particularly relevant for health and medical scientists Topics and examples that are pertinent to both new and experienced SEM researchers Substantive issues in health and medicine in the context of SEM Both methodological and applied examples Numerous figures and diagrams to illustrate the examples As SEM experts situated among clinicians and multidisciplinary researchers in medical settings, the authors provide a broad, current, on the ground understanding of the issues faced by clinical and health services researchers and decision scientists. This book gives health and medical researchers the tools to apply SEM approaches to study complex relationships between clinical measurements, individual and community-level characteristics, and patient-reported scales.

This book offers researchers a systematic and accessible introduction to using a Bayesian framework in structural equation modeling (SEM). Stand-alone chapters on each SEM model clearly explain the Bayesian form of the model and walk the reader through implementation. Engaging worked-through examples from diverse social science subfields illustrate the various modeling techniques, highlighting statistical or estimation problems that are likely to arise and describing potential solutions. For each model, instructions are provided for writing up findings for publication, including annotated sample data analysis plans and results sections. Other user-friendly features in every chapter include "Major Take-Home Points," notation glossaries, annotated suggestions for further reading, and sample code in both Mplus and R. The companion website (www.guilford.com/depaoli-materials) supplies data sets; annotated code for implementation in both Mplus and R, so that users can work within their preferred platform; and output for all of the book’s examples.

An in-depth guide to executing longitudinal confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) in Mplus, this book uses latent state–trait (LST) theory as a unifying conceptual framework, including the relevant coefficients of consistency, occasion specificity, and reliability. Following a standard format, chapters review the theoretical underpinnings, strengths, and limitations of the various models; present data examples; and demonstrate each model's application and interpretation in Mplus, with numerous screen shots and output excerpts. Coverage encompasses both traditional models (autoregressive, change score, and growth curve models) and LST models for analyzing single- and multiple-indicator data. The book discusses measurement equivalence testing, intensive longitudinal data modeling, and missing data handling, and provides strategies for model selection and reporting of results. User-friendly features include special-topic boxes, chapter summaries, and suggestions for further reading. The companion website features data sets, annotated syntax files, and output for all of the examples.

This book presents an introduction to structural equation modeling (SEM) and facilitates the access of students and researchers in various scientific fields to this powerful statistical tool. It offers a didactic initiation to SEM as well as to the open-source software, lavaan, and the rich and comprehensive technical features it offers. Structural Equation Modeling with lavaan thus helps the reader to gain autonomy in the use of SEM to test path models and dyadic models, perform confirmatory factor analyses and estimate more complex models such as general structural models with latent variables and latent growth models. SEM is approached both from the point of view of its process (i.e. the different stages of its use) and from the point of view of its product (i.e. the results it generates and their reading).

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