Measurement error and outcome distributions: Methodological issues in regression analyses of behavioral coding data.

ABSTRACT: Behavioral coding is increasingly used for studying mechanisms of change in psychosocial treatments for substance use disorders (SUDs). However, behavioral coding data typically include features that can be problematic in regression analyses, including measurement error in independent variables, non normal distributions of count outcome variables, and conflation of predictor and outcome variables with third variables, such as session length. Methodological research in econometrics has shown that these issues can lead to biased parameter estimates, inaccurate standard errors, and increased Type I and Type II error rates, yet these statistical issues are not widely known within SUD treatment research, or more generally, within psychotherapy coding research. Using minimally technical language

SUBMITTER: Holsclaw T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4688045 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature