Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Sep;20(3):435-441.
doi: 10.1002/capr.12293. Epub 2020 Jan 26.

Using Time-Lagged Panel Data Analysis to Study Mechanisms of Change in Psychotherapy Research: Methodological Recommendations

Fredrik Falkenström  1 , Nili Solomonov  2 , Julian Rubel  3
Affiliations

Using Time-Lagged Panel Data Analysis to Study Mechanisms of Change in Psychotherapy Research: Methodological Recommendations

Fredrik Falkenström et al. Couns Psychother Res. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

The introduction of novel methodologies in the past decade has advanced research on mechanisms of change in observational studies. Time-lagged panel models allow to track session-by-session changes and focus on within-patient associations between predictors and outcomes. This shift is crucial, as change in mechanisms inherently takes place at a within-patient level. These models also enable preliminary casual inferences, which can guide the development of effective personalized interventions that target mechanisms of change, used at specific treatment phases for optimal effect. Given their complexity, panel models need to be implemented with caution, as different modeling choices can significantly affect results and reduce replicability. We outline three central methodological recommendations for use of time-lagged panel analysis to study mechanisms of change: a) Taking patient-specific effects into account, separating out stable between-person differences from within-person fluctuations over time; b) properly controlling for autoregressive effects; c) considering long-term time-trends. We demonstrate these recommendations in an applied example examining the session-by-session alliance-outcome association in a naturalistic psychotherapy study. We present limitations of time-lagged panel analysis and future directions.

Keywords: Cross-Lagged Panel Model; Mechanisms of change; Process-Outcome Research; Psychotherapy Research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Basic Cross-Lagged Panel Model (CLPM) between depression severity and patient insight, measured at two occasions.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Line graph of Patient Health Questionnaire – 9 scores for 40 patients undergoing 16-session treatment for depression.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Person-mean centered PHQ-9 scores for four patients undergoing 16-session treatment for depression.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Three-wave Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel model.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Detrended PHQ-9 scores for four patients undergoing 16-session treatment for depression.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Allison PD (2009). Fixed effects regression models. CA: Sage Publications.
    1. Allison PD, Williams R, & Moral-Benito E (2017). Maximum Likelihood for Cross-lagged Panel Models with Fixed Effects. Socius, 3, 2378023117710578. doi:10.1177/2378023117710578 - DOI
    1. Antonakis J, Bendahan S, Jacquart P, & Lalive R (2010). On making causal claims: A review and recommendations. The Leadership Quarterly, 21, 1086–1120. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2010.10.010 - DOI
    1. Arellano M, & Bond S (1991). Some tests of specification for panel data: Monte Carlo evidence and an application to employment equations. Review of Economic Studies, 58, 277. doi:10.2307/2297968 - DOI
    1. Bollen K. a., & Curran PJ (2004). Autoregressive Latent Trajectory (ALT) Models: A Synthesis of Two Traditions. Sociological Methods & Research, 32, 336–383. doi:10.1177/0049124103260222 - DOI