title: Improving Our Ability to Evaluate Underlying Mechanisms of Behavioral Onset and Other Event Occurrence Outcomes: A Discrete-Time Survival Mediation Model.
abstract: The purpose of this article is to introduce and describe a statistical model that researchers can use to evaluate underlying mechanisms of behavioral onset and other event occurrence outcomes. Specifically, the article develops a framework for estimating mediation effects with outcomes measured in discrete-time epochs by integrating the statistical mediation model with discrete-time survival analysis. The methodology has the potential to help strengthen health research by targeting prevention and intervention work more effectively as well as by improving our understanding of discretized periods of risk. The model is applied to an existing longitudinal data set to demonstrate its use, and programming code is provided to facilitate its implementation.
authors.affiliation: University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA amanda.fairchild@sc.edu.
authors.forename: Amanda J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Fairchild
authors.affiliation: University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Winston E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Abara
authors.affiliation: University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Gottschall
authors.affiliation: Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Jenn-Yun
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Tein
authors.affiliation: University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Ronald J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Prinz
mesh_terms: D035841:Behavioral Research / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015233:Models, Statistical; D055361:Multilevel Analysis; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D012107:Research Design; D016019:Survival Analysis
keywords: discrete time; mediation; onset; substance use; survival analysis