Latent variable models for longitudinal study with informative missingness

Missing problem is very common in today's public health studies because of responses measured longitudinally. In this dissertation we proposed two latent variable models for longitudinal data with informative missingness. In the first approach, a latent variable model is developed for the categorical data, dividing the observed data into two latent classes: a 'regular' class and a 'special' class. Outcomes belonging to the regular class can be...