Quantifying and Testing Indirect Effects in Simple Mediation Models When the Constituent Paths Are Nonlinear
Abstract
Most treatments of indirect effects and mediation in the statistical methods literature and the corresponding methods used by behavioral scientists have assumed linear relationships between variables in the causal system. Here we describe and extend a method first introduced by Stolzenberg (1980) Stolzenberg, R. M. 1980. The measurement and decomposition of causal effects in nonlinear and nonadditive models.. Sociological Methodology, 11: 459–488. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar] for estimating indirect effects in models of mediators and outcomes that are nonlinear functions but linear in their parameters. We introduce the concept of the instantaneous indirect effect of X on Y through M and illustrate its computation and describe a bootstrapping procedure for inference. Mplus code as well as SPSS and SAS macros are provided to facilitate the adoption of this approach and ease the computational burden on the researcher.
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The three-step method may introduce bias in estimating the inverted U-shaped relationship in the mediation path.
“Hayes et al. believe that this method may lead to the introduction of bias in the estimation of the inverted U-shaped relationship in the mediation path [44].”
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- Authors
- Hayes, A. F., & Preacher, K. J.
- Affiliations
- The Ohio State University (US)
- University of Kansas (US)
- Venue
- Multivariate Behavioral Research
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2010-08-06
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 627-660
- ISSN
- 0027-3171 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7906
- OpenAlex
- W2167934668
- Cited by
- 1,160
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 113 · 2025: 120 · 2024: 121 · 2023: 117 · 2022: 116 · 2021: 97 · 2020: 80 · 2019: 80 · 2018: 69 · 2017: 64 · 2016: 46 · 2015: 45 · 2014: 41 · 2013: 26 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 13.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Multivariate Behavioral Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Advanced Causal Inference Techniques
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Statistical Methods and Bayesian Inference
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Keywords
- indirect effects, nonlinear relationship, bootstrapping, mediation analysis
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