Mediation effects that emulate a target randomised trial: Simulation-based evaluation of ill-defined interventions on multiple mediators.

ABSTRACT: Many epidemiological questions concern potential interventions to alter the pathways presumed to mediate an association. For example, we consider a study that investigates the benefit of interventions in young adulthood for ameliorating the poorer mid-life psychosocial outcomes of adolescent self-harmers relative to their healthy peers. Two methodological challenges arise. First, mediation methods have hitherto mostly focused on the elusive task of discovering pathways, rather than on the evaluation of mediator interventions. Second, the complexity of such questions is invariably such that there are no well-defined mediator interventions (i.e. actual treatments, programs, etc.) for which data exist on the relevant populations, outcomes and time-spans of interest. Instead, researchers must

SUBMITTER: Moreno-Betancur M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8371283 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature