Furthermore, the slopes of personality and alcohol involvement could be statistically controlled for the influence of marriage/parenthood to determine if a significant relation between the slope of personality and the slope of alcohol involvement remains when accounting for marriage/parenthood. Additionally, the influence of initial personality and problematic alcohol involvement on marriage/parenthood can be assessed. This model is depicted in Figure 2. In this figure, Path A indicates the relation of baseline personality to acquiring marriage/parenthood. Path B indicates the relation of baseline problematic alcohol involvement to acquiring marriage/parenthood. Path C indicates the relation of marriage/parenthood to personality change. Path D indicates the relation of marriage/parenthood to changes in problematic alcohol involvement. The solid line between the latent intercepts represents the correlation of the initial level of personality and problematic alcohol involvement. Of paramount interest, the dotted line between the latent slopes represents correlated change between personality and problematic alcohol involvement while accounting for marriage/parenthood.
