Mediational screening in theory and in practice.
Pillow et al.'s (1991) argument for mediational selection omits discussion of what may be the strategy's greatest advantage, the early identification of risk. The theoretical benefits to prevention of identifying developmental processes are briefly noted here. At the same time, practical limitations of mediational selection are noted, particularly in relation to establishing and interpreting the correlation found between mediational and outcome variables. It is concluded that mediational selection is one, but only one, selection strategy worthy of consideration in prevention research.
Emery
R E
RE
Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville 22903.
D015984:Causality; D002648:Child; D002667:Child Reactive Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004243:Divorce; D006302:Health Services Research; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016896:Treatment Outcome