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Centering L1 mediator in MSEM |
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Hello, I have a question about centering with random slopes in MSEM. I am using version 8.0. I have a 1-1-1 multilevel path analysis (with a level 2 moderator on the b-path). Here is a simplified version of my syntax: USEVARIABLES ARE x m y w; Centering is groupmean(x); Centering is grandmean(w); Cluster=id; Within=x; Between=w; Analysis: Type = TWOLEVEL Random; Estimator = mlr; Model: %Within% sa|m on x; sb|y on m; sc|y on x; %Between% sb on w; y on w; sa with sb sc m y; sb with sc m y; sc with m y; m with y; As you can see, I used observed centering to ensure that my x variable is group mean centered, because when using random slopes in Mplus, "the random slope precludes the latent variable decomposition of X when using ML estimation". However, in the above syntax, would m (my mediator variable) be latent mean centered (i.e., the within- and between-person variance of these variables are latently partialed)? Or should I also be using observed centering for variable m to ensure that the within- and between-person variance of that variable is properly separated? Please let me know which set-up is correct. How does Mplus treat the centering of the mediator variable in each of these two scenarios? Thank you! |
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You should use observed centering for M, otherwise you get the hybrid see page 5 http://www.statmodel.com/download/CenteredMediation.pdf We would recommend updating your Mplus version so you can switch to Bayes and use latent centering. |
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