Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: Concepts, Computations, and Some Common Confusions
- PMID: 35923144
- DOI: 10.1017/SJP.2021.46
Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: Concepts, Computations, and Some Common Confusions
Abstract
This work provides a conceptual introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis in psychological research. We discuss the concepts of direct effect, indirect effect, total effect, conditional effect, conditional direct effect, conditional indirect effect, and the index of moderated mediation index, while providing our perspective on certain analysis and interpretation confusions that sometimes arise in practice in this journal and elsewhere, such as reliance on the causal steps approach and the Sobel test in mediation analysis, misinterpreting the regression coefficients in a model that includes a product of variables, and subgroups mediation analysis rather than conditional process analysis when exploring whether an indirect effect depends on a moderator. We also illustrate how to conduct various analyses that are the focus of this paper with the freely-available PROCESS procedure available for SPSS, SAS, and R, using data from an experimental investigation on the effectiveness of personal or testimonial narrative messages in improving intergroup attitudes.
Keywords: PROCESS; conditional process analysis; mediation analysis; moderation analysis.
Similar articles
-
Power analysis for conditional indirect effects: A tutorial for conducting Monte Carlo simulations with categorical exogenous variables.Behav Res Methods. 2023 Oct;55(7):3892-3909. doi: 10.3758/s13428-022-01996-0. Epub 2022 Nov 28. Behav Res Methods. 2023. PMID: 36443582 Free PMC article.
-
Can a Mediator Moderate? Considering the Role of Time and Change in the Mediator-Moderator Distinction.Behav Ther. 2018 Jan;49(1):12-20. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2017.10.001. Epub 2017 Oct 12. Behav Ther. 2018. PMID: 29405917 Review.
-
Regression-based statistical mediation and moderation analysis in clinical research: Observations, recommendations, and implementation.Behav Res Ther. 2017 Nov;98:39-57. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2016.11.001. Epub 2016 Nov 5. Behav Res Ther. 2017. PMID: 27865431
-
Methods for integrating moderation and mediation: a general analytical framework using moderated path analysis.Psychol Methods. 2007 Mar;12(1):1-22. doi: 10.1037/1082-989X.12.1.1. Psychol Methods. 2007. PMID: 17402809
-
SPSS and SAS programming for the testing of mediation models.Nurs Res. 2004 Jan-Feb;53(1):59-62. doi: 10.1097/00006199-200401000-00009. Nurs Res. 2004. PMID: 14726778 Review.
Cited by
-
Cell phone addiction and sleep disturbance among medical students in Jiangsu Province, China: the mediating role of psychological resilience and the moderating role of gender.Front Psychiatry. 2024 May 15;15:1405139. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1405139. eCollection 2024. Front Psychiatry. 2024. PMID: 38812482 Free PMC article.
-
The Relationship Between Stressful Life Events and Depressive Symptoms in College Students: mediation by Parenting Style and Gender's Moderating Effect.Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2024 May 13;17:1975-1989. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S461164. eCollection 2024. Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2024. PMID: 38766317 Free PMC article.
-
Changes in depressive symptoms and antibody production following influenza vaccination in adolescents and adults.Vaccine. 2024 Jun 11;42(16):3585-3591. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.04.066. Epub 2024 May 3. Vaccine. 2024. PMID: 38702230
-
Effects of perceived stress on turnover intention of female healthcare staff: a serial multiple mediation model.BMC Public Health. 2024 Apr 29;24(1):1198. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-18654-z. BMC Public Health. 2024. PMID: 38685094 Free PMC article.
-
Association between abusive supervision and nurses' withholding voice about patient safety: the roles of impression management motivation and speak up-related climate.BMC Nurs. 2024 Apr 22;23(1):256. doi: 10.1186/s12912-024-01921-0. BMC Nurs. 2024. PMID: 38649865 Free PMC article.
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
