Longitudinal/Panel Designs

Infurna FJ, Mayer A. Longitudinal/Panel Designs. In: Krauss Whitbourne S, ed. The Encyclopedia of Adulthood and Aging. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2015: 1-7.Longitudinal panel surveys are essential for studying development across the lifespan and have been instrumental in studying the course of development from infancy through adolescence to young adulthood and into old age. This entry mentions characteristics and design aspects of longitudinal panel surveys and give references to available data resources and to relevant statistical models. In addition, it highlights two substantive research areas where longitudinal panel surveys are used to examine development. First, the entry discusses the utility of longitudinal panel surveys for studying developmental change to and from major life events, which can provide insights into how development occurs beyond mechanisms such as age. Second, it focuses on the utility of longitudinal panel surveys for predicting health outcomes such as disease, disability, and mortality