title: Healthy passages. A multilevel, multimethod longitudinal study of adolescent health.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To provide an overview of a multisite, long-term study that focuses on risk and protective factors, health behaviors (e.g., dietary practices, physical inactivity, tobacco use, and violent activity), and health outcomes (e.g., diabetes, obesity, and sexually transmitted diseases) for a fifth-grade cohort to be followed biennially from ages 10 to 20 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  A two-stage probability sampling procedure was used to select 5250 fifth-grade students from schools in Birmingham AL, Houston TX, and Los Angeles CA to ensure a sufficient sample size of African Americans, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic whites, to support precise statistical inferences. Computer-assisted technology was used to collect data from children and their primary caregivers. Teachers and other school personnel responded to questionnaires, and observational procedures were used to obtain information about schools and neighborhoods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To exploit the multilevel, multimethod structure of the data, statistical models include latent-growth mixture modeling, multilevel modeling, time-series analysis, survival analysis, latent transition analysis, and structural equation modeling. Analyses focus both on the co-occurrence and predictors of growth trajectories for different health behaviors across time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  By using a prospective research design and studying the predictors and time course of multiple health behaviors with a multilevel, multimethod assessment protocol, this research project could provide an empirical basis for effective social and educational policies and intervention programs that foster positive health and well-being during both adolescence and adulthood.
authors.affiliation: Center for the Advancement of Youth Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA. windle@uab.edu
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Windle
authors.forename: Jo Anne
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Grunbaum
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.forename: Susan R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Tortolero
authors.forename: Sandy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.forename: Janice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gilliland
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Kanouse
authors.forename: Guy S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Parcel
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wallander
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kelder
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: Lloyd
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kolbe
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schuster
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000328:Adult; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D002648:Child; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D014481:United States