Improved inference in mediation analysis: Introducing the model-based constrained optimization procedure.

ABSTRACT: Mediation analysis is an important approach for investigating causal pathways. One approach used in mediation analysis is the test of an indirect effect, which seeks to measure how the effect of an independent variable impacts an outcome variable through 1 or more mediators. However, in many situations the proposed tests of indirect effects, including popular confidence interval-based methods, tend to produce poor Type I error rates when mediation does not occur and, more generally, only allow dichotomous decisions of "not significant" or "significant" with regards to the statistical conclusion. To remedy these issues, we propose a new method, a likelihood ratio test (LRT), that uses nonlinear constraints in what we term the model-based constrained optimization (MBCO) procedure. The MBCO p

SUBMITTER: Tofighi D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7877448 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature