Course info

Mediation and moderation are the simplest and most commonly used path models. Mediation analyses refer to tests of whether a third variable can help explain the relationship between two variables. Sometimes researchers refer to these as direct and indirect effects. For example, on average, people with higher incomes have longer lifespans. This relationship is mediated by access to health care: People with higher incomes tend to have better access to health care, which helps them live longer. On the other hand, moderation analyses allow researchers to test for conditions on the relationship between two variables. For example, the relationship between a drug for depression and severity of depressive symptoms might depend on whether a person is also getting psychological treatment. In this case, treatment would be the moderator.

The purpose of this workshop is to review how to conduct moderation and mediation analyses, while also briefly introducing you to more complex path models. You can conduct these tests in a number of programs, but we will share screenshots using JAMOVI, PROCESS in SPSS, and R code.