Time Series Analysis in Pediatric Psychology

Abstract

Single-subject research designs and relevant statistical methods have been neglected in the field of pediatric psychology, specifically in research investigating changes in clinical outcomes over time. This commentary provides a brief, nontechnical description and illustration of the use of time series analyses in pediatric psychology research. This commentary focuses on Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA), which is a type of time series analysis that models changes in clinical outcomes over time. A brief overview of single subject research designs and alternative time series analyses is described. Although time series analysis has been used infrequently in the field of pediatric research, this analytic approach could be applicable for investigating changes in clinical outcomes over time.