Testing the Causal Direction of Mediation Effects in Randomized Intervention Studies

Prevention Science : the Official Journal of the Society for Prevention Research
Wolfgang WiedermannAlexander von Eye

Abstract

In a recent update of the standards for evidence in research on prevention interventions, the Society of Prevention Research emphasizes the importance of evaluating and testing the causal mechanism through which an intervention is expected to have an effect on an outcome. Mediation analysis is commonly applied to study such causal processes. However, these analytic tools are limited in their potential to fully understand the role of theorized mediators. For example, in a design where the treatment x is randomized and the mediator (m) and the outcome (y) are measured cross-sectionally, the causal direction of the hypothesized mediator-outcome relation is not uniquely identified. That is, both mediation models, x → m → y or x → y → m, may be plausible candidates to describe the underlying intervention theory. As a third explanation, unobserved confounders can still be responsible for the mediator-outcome association. The present study introduces principles of direction dependence which can be used to empirically evaluate these competing explanatory theories. We show that, under certain conditions, third higher moments of variables (i.e., skewness and co-skewness) can be used to uniquely identify the direction of a mediator-outcom...Continue Reading

References

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Mar 24, 2010·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology·John G BullockShang E Ha
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Mar 10, 2015·Psychological Methods·Wolfgang Wiedermann, Alexander von Eye
Apr 8, 2015·Prevention Science : the Official Journal of the Society for Prevention Research·Denise C GottfredsonKathryn M Zafft
Jan 28, 2017·Multivariate Behavioral Research·Wolfgang WiedermannAlexander von Eye

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Citations

Jan 16, 2019·Prevention Science : the Official Journal of the Society for Prevention Research·Wolfgang WiedermannAlexander von Eye
Sep 24, 2019·Multivariate Behavioral Research·Wolfgang Wiedermann, James Sebastian
Aug 18, 2020·Prevention Science : the Official Journal of the Society for Prevention Research·Kelli A Komro
Jan 8, 2019·Prevention Science : the Official Journal of the Society for Prevention Research·Rashelle J Musci, Elizabeth Stuart
Feb 27, 2021·Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science·Wolfgang Wiedermann, Alexander von Eye

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