Mediation of X's effect on Y through a mediator M is moderated if the indirect effect of X depends on a fourth variable. Hayes (2015). An index and test of linear moderated mediation. Multivariate ...Behavioral Research, 50, 1-22. doi:
10.1080/00273171.2014.962683
introduced an approach to testing a moderated mediation hypothesis based on an index of moderated mediation. Here, I extend this approach to models with more than one moderator. I describe how to test if X's indirect effect on Y is moderated by one variable when a second moderator is held constant (partial moderated mediation), conditioned on (conditional moderated mediation), or dependent on a second moderator (moderated moderated mediation). Examples are provided, as is a discussion of the visualization of indirect effects and an illustration of implementation in the PROCESS macro for SPSS and SAS.
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I describe a test of linear moderated mediation in path analysis based on an interval estimate of the parameter of a function linking the indirect effect to values of a moderator-a parameter that I ...call the index of moderated mediation. This test can be used for models that integrate moderation and mediation in which the relationship between the indirect effect and the moderator is estimated as linear, including many of the models described by Edwards and Lambert (
2007
) and Preacher, Rucker, and Hayes (
2007
) as well as extensions of these models to processes involving multiple mediators operating in parallel or in serial. Generalization of the method to latent variable models is straightforward. Three empirical examples describe the computation of the index and the test, and its implementation is illustrated using Mplus and the PROCESS macro for SPSS and SAS.
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There have been numerous treatments in the clinical research literature about various design, analysis, and interpretation considerations when testing hypotheses about mechanisms and contingencies of ...effects, popularly known as mediation and moderation analysis. In this paper we address the practice of mediation and moderation analysis using linear regression in the pages of Behaviour Research and Therapy and offer some observations and recommendations, debunk some popular myths, describe some new advances, and provide an example of mediation, moderation, and their integration as conditional process analysis using the PROCESS macro for SPSS and SAS. Our goal is to nudge clinical researchers away from historically significant but increasingly old school approaches toward modifications, revisions, and extensions that characterize more modern thinking about the analysis of the mechanisms and contingencies of effects.
•Addresses the practice of mediation and moderation analysis using linear regression in the pages of Behaviour Research and Therapy.•Offer some observations and recommendations, debunks some popular myths, and describes some new advances.•Provides an example set of analyses using the PROCESS macro for SPSS and SAS.•Nudges clinical researchers away from historically significant but increasingly old school approaches toward modifications, revisions, and extensions that characterize more modern thinking about the analysis of the mechanisms and contingencies of effects.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Researchers interested in testing mediation often use designs where participants are measured on a dependent variable Y and a mediator M in both of 2 different circumstances. The dominant approach to ...assessing mediation in such a design, proposed by Judd, Kenny, and McClelland (2001), relies on a series of hypothesis tests about components of the mediation model and is not based on an estimate of or formal inference about the indirect effect. In this article we recast Judd et al.'s approach in the path-analytic framework that is now commonly used in between-participant mediation analysis. By so doing, it is apparent how to estimate the indirect effect of a within-participant manipulation on some outcome through a mediator as the product of paths of influence. This path-analytic approach eliminates the need for discrete hypothesis tests about components of the model to support a claim of mediation, as Judd et al.'s method requires, because it relies only on an inference about the product of paths-the indirect effect. We generalize methods of inference for the indirect effect widely used in between-participant designs to this within-participant version of mediation analysis, including bootstrap confidence intervals and Monte Carlo confidence intervals. Using this path-analytic approach, we extend the method to models with multiple mediators operating in parallel and serially and discuss the comparison of indirect effects in these more complex models. We offer macros and code for SPSS, SAS, and Mplus that conduct these analyses.
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A content analysis of 2 years of Psychological Science articles reveals inconsistencies in how researchers make inferences about indirect effects when conducting a statistical mediation analysis. In ...this study, we examined the frequency with which popularly used tests disagree, whether the method an investigator uses makes a difference in the conclusion he or she will reach, and whether there is a most trustworthy test that can be recommended to balance practical and performance considerations. We found that tests agree much more frequently than they disagree, but disagreements are more common when an indirect effect exists than when it does not. We recommend the bias-corrected bootstrap confidence interval as the most trustworthy test if power is of utmost concern, although it can be slightly liberal in some circumstances. Investigators concerned about Type I errors should choose the Monte Carlo confidence interval or the distribution-of-the-product approach, which rarely disagree. The percentile bootstrap confidence interval is a good compromise test.
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Statistical Methods for Communication Science is the only statistical methods volume currently available that focuses exclusively on statistics in communication research. Writing in a ...straightforward, personal style, author Andrew F. Hayes offers this accessible and thorough introduction to statistical methods, starting with the fundamentals of measurement and moving on to discuss such key topics as sampling procedures, probability, reliability, hypothesis testing, simple correlation and regression, and analyses of variance and covariance. Hayes takes readers through each topic with clear explanations and illustrations. He provides a multitude of examples, all set in the context of communication research, thus engaging readers directly and helping them to see the relevance and importance of statistics to the field of communication.
Behavioral scientists use mediation analysis to understand the mechanism(s) by which an effect operates and moderation analysis to understand the contingencies or boundary conditions of effects. Yet ...how effects operate (i.e., the mechanism at work) and their boundary conditions (when they occur) are not necessarily independent, though they are often treated as such. Conditional process analysis is an analytical strategy that integrates mediation and moderation analysis with the goal of examining and testing hypotheses about how mechanisms vary as a function of context or individual differences. In this article, we provide a conceptual primer on conditional process analysis for those not familiar with the integration of moderation and mediation analysis, while also describing some recent advances and innovations for the more experienced conditional process analyst. After overviewing fundamental modeling principles using ordinary least squares regression, we discuss the extension of these fundamentals to models with more than one mediator and more than one moderator. We describe a differential dominance conditional process model and overview the concepts of partial, conditional, and moderated moderated mediation. We also discuss multilevel conditional process analysis and comment on implementation of conditional process analysis in statistical computing software.
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Researchers often hypothesize moderated effects, in which the effect of an independent variable on an outcome variable depends on the value of a moderator variable. Such an effect reveals itself ...statistically as an interaction between the independent and moderator variables in a model of the outcome variable. When an interaction is found, it is important to probe the interaction, for theories and hypotheses often predict not just interaction but a specific pattern of effects of the focal independent variable as a function of the moderator. This article describes the familiar
pick-a-point
approach and the much less familiar Johnson-Neyman technique for probing interactions in linear models and introduces macros for SPSS and SAS to simplify the computations and facilitate the probing of interactions in ordinary least squares and logistic regression. A script version of the SPSS macro is also available for users who prefer a point-and-click user interface rather than command syntax.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, ODKLJ, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Hypotheses involving mediation are common in the behavioral sciences. Mediation exists when a predictor affects a dependent variable indirectly through at least one intervening variable, or mediator. ...Methods to assess mediation involving multiple simultaneous mediators have received little attention in the methodological literature despite a clear need. We provide an overview of simple and multiple mediation and explore three approaches that can be used to investigate indirect processes, as well as methods for contrasting two or more mediators within a single model. We present an illustrative example, assessing and contrasting potential mediators of the relationship between the helpfulness of socialization agents and job satisfaction. We also provide SAS and SPSS macros, as well as Mplus and LISREL syntax, to facilitate the use of these methods in applications.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, ODKLJ, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ