In the first project of this collaboration, we utilize a sophisticated latent class growth modeling strategy on a large sample of well-characterized children with autism to elucidate patterns of development in adaptive behavior. Given the NIMH's dataset is not well-suited to modeling joint trajectories, it will be combined with a McMaster dataset. To accomplish this, Dr. Georgiades will be designated as an Associate Investigator on two relevant NIMH protocols and the project will be split to produce two papers.
Impact
The importance of this project is twofold; first, replication is a neglected step in the scientific process, and independent replication of proposed models is an essential part of latent class modeling. Second, few (if any) methodologically rigorous examples of joint trajectory modeling exist in the ASD literature, so this provides an opportunity to communicate interesting and exciting findings as well as to introduce a new analytic method to our colleagues.
