Statistical analysis for identifying mediating variables in public health dentistry interventions
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: This article provides an overview of statistical mediation analysis methods in the evaluation of public health dentistry interventions. METHODS AND RESULTS: First, reasons for conducting mediation analysis are outlined, followed by a discussion of the link between the mediation model and theoretical bases of interventions. Second, the basic statistical procedures in mediation analysis are presented. An example application to data from a hypothetical intervention is provided in Appendix A. Third, interpretation of the results from statistical mediation analysis is described along with additional information pertinent to identifying true mediation relations. CONCLUSIONS: Guidelines for describing mediation analyses in research articles related to public health dentistry intervention studies are outlined.
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Reported frequencies of adverse effects from meditation in MBIs range from 3.7% to 33.2%, depending on methodological approach.
“Different frequencies of adverse effects from meditation in a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) have been reported dependent on methodological approach ranging from 3.7 to 33.2% (60).”
From Group Mindfulness-Integrated Cognitive Behavior Therapy (MiCBT) Reduces Depression and Anxiety and Improves Flourishing in a Transdiagnostic Primary Care Sample Compared to Treatment-as-Usual: A Randomized Controlled Trial (2022) · cites this paper as [60]
The Abstract’s Methods and Results and the section on steps in statistical mediation analysis describe methods for evaluating dental-health interventions, not adverse effects of meditation. Searches for mindfulness, meditation, adverse effects, and the 3.7%–33.2% range found no passage addressing the claim in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.78)
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- Authors
- MacKinnon, D. P., & Luecken, L. J.
- Affiliations
- Arizona State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- MacKinnon, David P.
- Venue
- Journal of Public Health Dentistry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2011-01
- Volume
- 71
- Issue
- s1
- Pages
- S37-46
- ISSN
- 0022-4006 (ISSN-L)
- 1752-7325
- PMC
- PMC3366631
- OpenAlex
- W1721043408
- Cited by
- 54
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 4.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Public Health Dentistry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA009757, DA0957)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Advanced Causal Inference Techniques
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Evaluation and Performance Assessment
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
- Keywords
- mediation analysis, intervention evaluation, mediation model, reporting guidelines
- MeSH terms
- Behavior Therapy, Health Promotion, Humans, Oral Health, Psychological Theory, Public Health Dentistry, Research Design, Models, Statistical, Health Behavior, Guidelines as Topic, Behavioral Research
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