Verhulst F C, Koot H M
Sophia Children's Hospital, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1991 May;30(3):361-8. doi: 10.1097/00004583-199105000-00002.
An indispensable approach to the study of variations in individual development and of causal mechanisms and processes underlying the course of psychopathology is the longitudinal method. In this introductory review, the strengths and weaknesses of longitudinal research are discussed, and factors hampering progress in this field are outlined. The many advantages of this approach warrant continuing efforts to develop strategies that minimize its drawbacks.
纵向研究方法是研究个体发展变化以及精神病理学过程背后的因果机制和过程的不可或缺的途径。在这篇介绍性综述中，讨论了纵向研究的优缺点，并概述了阻碍该领域进展的因素。这种方法的诸多优点值得我们继续努力制定策略，以尽量减少其缺点。
