different forms of risk behaviors may be more appropriate for a clinical or etiological approach, and it is our intention to explore those as a next step. Despite these shortcomings, growth models are useful for epidemiological purposes or population-based prevention, where change of behavior in a whole population is of interest and a normative development over time is expected. Due to the more parsimonious nature of the trajectories, it is also easier to compare the course of different risk behaviors (Maggs & Schulenberg, 2004–2005).
