title: A New Analytic Framework for Moderation Analysis --- Moving Beyond Analytic Interactions.
abstract: Conceptually, a moderator is a variable that modifies the effect of a predictor on a response. Analytically, a common approach as used in most moderation analyses is to add analytic interactions involving the predictor and moderator in the form of cross-variable products and test the significance of such terms. The narrow scope of such a procedure is inconsistent with the broader conceptual definition of moderation, leading to confusion in interpretation of study findings. In this paper, we develop a new approach to the analytic procedure that is consistent with the concept of moderation. The proposed framework defines moderation as a process that modifies an existing relationship between the predictor and the outcome, rather than simply a test of a predictor by moderator interaction. The approach is illustrated with data from a real study.
authors.affiliation: University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14642, USA.
authors.forename: Wan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Crits-Christoph
authors.forename: Xin M
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Tu