The Person and the Variable in Developmental Psychology

A brief theoretical and methodological overview is given of the person-oriented and the variable-oriented approach, how these are commonly used in longitudinal research, and what one should take into consideration before choosing either approach. An empirical research example is also given where the association was studied between, on the one hand, attention control – activity level in early adolescence and, on the other hand, persistent versus adolescence-limited criminality. Key topics discussed include properties that variables must have to be suitable for the study of individual pattern development, the problem-method match, and prediction versus understanding.