《Multilevel modeling of individual and group level mediated effects.》.pdf

Multivariate Behavioral Research, 36 (2), 249-277 Copyright © 2001, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Multilevel Modeling of Individual and Group Level Mediated Effects Jennifer L. Krull University of Missouri-Columbia David P. MacKinnon Arizona State University This article combines procedures for single-level mediational analysis with multilevel modeling techniques in order to appropriately test mediational effects in clustered data. A simulation study compared the performance of these multilevel mediational models with that of single-level mediational models in clustered data with individual- or group-level initial independent variables, individual- or group-level mediators, and individual level outcomes. The standard errors of mediated effects from the multilevel solution were generally accurate, while those from the single-level procedure were downwardly biased, often by 20% or more. The multilevel advantage was greatest in those situations involving group-level variables, larger group sizes, and higher intraclass correlations in mediator and outcome variables. Multilevel mediational modeling methods were also applied to data from a preventive intervention designed to reduce intentions to use steroids among players on high school football teams. This example illustrates differences between single-level and multilevel mediational modeling in real-world clustered data and shows how the multilevel technique may lead to more accurate results. Mediational analysis is a method that can help researchers understand the mechanisms underlying the phenomena they study. The basic mediational framework involves a three variable system in which an initial independ