Statistical Power and Type I Error: Different Inferential Tests in Multilevel Mediation Analyses

• In Event: Multilevel Models

Abstract

Studies have found that various inferential tests perform differently (i.e., statistical power and type I error) in detecting single-level mediation effects. Literature is incomplete about the performance of different inferential tests in detecting multilevel mediation. We investigated the performance of five inferential tests (e.g., first-order delta method, second-order delta method, distribution of the product, Monte Carlo confidence interval, and test of joint significance) in detecting multilevel mediation effects through a simulation study. Specifically, we compared the performance of these inferential tests along several primary design dimensions: 1) different multilevel mediation models, 2) magnitude of the mediation effects and direct effects, 3) the variation of intraclass correlation coefficients, 4) sample sizes at different levels, and 5) different designs.

Authors

• Zuchao Shen, University of Cincinnati

• Benjamin Kelcey, University of Cincinnati