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Third variable models, such as mediation and moderation, can identify contextual factors that help explain the relation between two variables. Although used less frequently in school psychology research, longitudinal mediation, longitudinal moderation, and the integration of these two approaches can be used to describe the developmental changes in children's psychological and behavioral processes throughout the school years and beyond. This article provides conceptual descriptions of longitudinal mediation, longitudinal moderation, longitudinal moderated mediation, and longitudinal mediated moderation and demonstrates the use of these methods with a large sample of elementary students. Extensions of these methods and applied examples from the literature are also discussed. The M plus syntax from our illustrated examples are provided for those interested in reproducing the analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A robust association between dispositional envy and happiness was primarily concluded among young adults. As social contexts can vary across developmental stages, the effect of dispositional envy may be enhanced or diminished in different age groups. Thus, the present research attempted to quantify the differential associations between dispositional envy and happiness among adolescents and young adults (N = 586). Moreover, we examined another important question of why the association differed across the two age groups. Using mediated moderation analysis, we found a stronger association between dispositional envy and happiness among young adults than adolescents. We also revealed that self-esteem was a valid mechanism to unpack the differential associations across two age groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale Residents of neighbourhoods with high destination accessibility (higher population density, more-interconnected streets, and better access to services, public transport and parks) are more physically active. Evidence on the factors that underlie these associations is sparse and inconsistent. Objective We examined (1) five socio-demographic and four non-destination perceived neighbourhood attributes as moderators of the relationship between objectively-assessed destination accessibility and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA); (2) perceived indicators of destination accessibility as mediators of those relationships; and, (3) the generalizability of findings across 14 cities. Methods Data were from the International Physical Activity and Environment Network (IPEN) Adult study ( N  = 6822), which provided comparable objective and perceived environmental variables and accelerometer-based MVPA from 14 cities across 10 countries. Mediation and mediation moderation analyses were performed. Results Objective net residential density, public transport density, and number of parks in the neighbourhood were consistently associated with MVPA across all examined socio-demographic groups and non-destination perceived neighbourhood characteristics. However, only the association between number of parks and MVPA was mediated by its conceptually-comparable perceived indicator. While the associations of objective intersection density and land use mix with MVPA were moderated by both gender and perceived pedestrian infrastructure/safety, only the latter moderating effects were mediated by the conceptually-comparable perceived indicators. Perceived neighbourhood safety and/or aesthetics moderated the associations of objective ratio of retail/civic land to total area and distance to nearest transport stop with MVPA. These associations were not mediated by the conceptually-comparable perceived indicators. Conclusion Densely populated neighbourhoods with access to public transport and parks have the potential to significantly and equitably contribute to adults' MVPA on a global scale. Perceived neighbourhood aesthetics, pedestrian-friendliness and safety can magnify the positive effects of mixed-use neighbourhoods on residents' MVPA by interacting with the perceived ease of access to a variety of destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study develops a mediated moderation model to explain how extrinsic incentives and intrinsic motivation interactively affect task effort of solvers in crowdsourcing contests, and whether engagement mediates their interactive effect. The hypotheses are empirically tested by analyzing data collected from 290 solvers on a Chinese crowdsourcing contest platform. A negative moderation effect between intrinsic motivation and extrinsic incentives is found, showing that intrinsic motivation's effect on task effort weakens when the level of extrinsic incentives is high. More interesting, we find that this moderation effect is fully mediated by engagement, which in turn directly increases task effort. In addition, extrinsic incentives are found to positively moderate the relationship between engagement and task effort. These findings shed light on the complex mechanisms underlying solver motivation and engagement in crowdsourcing contests, and provide implications for theory and practice of crowdsourcing management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Status inequality is hypothesised to increase socioeconomic inequalities in health by creating an environment in which social cohesion erodes and social comparisons intensify. Such an environment may cause systemic chronic inflammation. Although these are often-used explanations in social epidemiology, empirical tests remain rare. We analysed data from the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study. Our sample consisted of 1977 participants in 499 small residential areas. Systemic chronic inflammation was measured by high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP; < 10 mg/L). An area-level measurement of status inequality was created using census data and contextual-level social cohesion was measured applying ecometrics. We estimated linear multilevel models with cross-level interactions between socioeconomic position (SEP), status inequality, and social cohesion adjusted for age and gender. Our main analysis on postcode sector-level was re-estimated on three smaller spatial levels. The difference in hs-CRP between disadvantaged and advantaged SEPs (0.806 mg/L; p = 0.063; [95%CI: −0.044; 1.656]) was highest among participants living in areas where most residents were in advantaged SEPs. In these status distributions, high social cohesion was associated with a shallower socioeconomic gradient in hs-CRP and low social cohesion was associated with a steeper gradient. In areas with an equal mix of SEPs or most residents in disadvantaged SEPs, the estimated difference in hs-CRP between disadvantaged and advantaged SEPs was −0.039 mg/L (p = 0.898; [95%CI: 0.644; 0.566]) and −0.257 mg/L (p = 0.568; [95%CI: 1.139; 0.625]) respectively. In these status distributions, the gradient in hs-CRP appeared steeper when social cohesion was high and potentially reversed when social cohesion was low. Results were broadly consistent when using area-levels smaller than postcode sectors. Inequalities in hs-CRP were greatest among participants living in areas wherein a majority of residents were in advantaged SEPs and social cohesion was low. In other combinations of these contextual characteristics, inequalities in systemic chronic inflammation were not detectable or potentially even reversed. • To what extent social environments modify the socioeconomic gradient in systemic chronic inflammation is unclear. • Socioeconomic inequalities in systemic chronic inflammation are largest in small areas with a high a proportion of residents in advantaged SEPs. • Social cohesion was associated with the extent of socioeconomic inequalities in systemic chronic inflammation depending on area-level status inequality. • Results were broadly consistent across four spatial levels. • The extent a of socioeconomic inequalities in systemic chronic inflammation can be heavily dependent on characteristics of the social environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The major purpose of this article is to expand the domain of the business research by providing conceptual analysis of the moderating and mediating variables and exploring their potent effects in business research. To provide specific implications, Kang et al. (2015) model with respect to Balanced Scorecard technique is conceptually extended. Theoretical foundation of the moderating, mediating, and their major distinctions along with appropriate statistical tests applicable to each situation are also provided. The model is also extended to analyzing interaction effects of Mediated-Moderation and Moderated-Mediation designs and their testing. The article concludes that: 1) the nature of complex business problems will be more transparently captured by considering moderating and mediating variables, 2) without specifying moderating and mediating variables, business models are incomplete and therefore are not able to solve real business obstacles. Lack of inclusion of moderating and mediating effects is one viable reason which indicates why most business models do not function in real practice, 3) moderating and mediating variables are widening the scope of the prevalent business theories, and 4) moderating and moderating variables makes it possible to respond to the inquiries regarding “when” “how” and “why” a particular relationship exists between the independent and dependent variables. Hence, this study posits great impacts in future correlational and experimental studies in business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Little research has been done on alcohol use and dependence among rural residents in China, a sub-population that might be under increased stress due to the rapid modernization and urbanization processes. We aimed to assess rural residents' levels of stress, negative emotions, resilience, alcohol use/dependence and the complex relationships among them.Methods: Survey data from a large random sample (n=1145, mean age=35.9, SD=7.7, 50.7% male) of rural residents in Wuhan, China were collected using Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview.Results: The sample had high prevalence of frequently perceived stress (47%) and high prevalence of ever (54.4%), past 30-day (40.4%), and binge drinking (13.8%). Approximately 11% met the criterion for intermediate to severe alcohol dependence. Mediation analysis indicated that the association between perceived stress (predictor) and alcohol dependence (outcome) was fully mediated by anxiety (indirect effect=.203, p<.01) and depression (indict effect=.158, p<.05); moderation analysis indicated that association between stress and two negative emotions (mediators) was significantly modified by resilience (moderator); an integrative moderated mediation analysis indicated that the indirect effect from stress to alcohol dependence through negative emotions was also moderated by resilience.Conclusions: Negative emotions play a key role in bridging stress and alcohol dependence, while resilience significantly buffers the impact of stress on depression, reducing the risk of alcohol dependence. Resilience training may be an effective component for alcohol intervention in rural China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three competing arguments about the effect of word-of-mouth—positivity effect, negativity effect, and no effect—have been advanced in the literature and found inconsistent results. Previous studies have investigated various boundary conditions in an attempt to explain the inconsistent results concerning the effectiveness of recommendation valence. This study argues that the effectiveness of recommendation valence is not determined by recommendations’ content (i.e., positive vs. negative) but by consumers’ regulatory mode orientation, which has rarely been studied. An experiment on 168 participants shows that consumers high in assessment orientation evaluate negative reviews as being more useful, whereas consumers high in locomotion orientation tend to evaluate positive reviews as being more useful. Moreover, mediated moderation tests using bootstrapping demonstrate that, for consumers high in assessment orientation, negative reviews have an indirect positive effect on intention, mediated by message usefulness; however, this mediated moderation effect does not occur for consumers high in locomotion orientation. The study’s theoretical and practical implications, its limitations, and directions for future research are discussed in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aimed to investigate the relationship between the habitual use of expressive suppression, a type of emotion regulation strategy, and risk taking in the financial domain. It also attempted to further examine gender as a possible moderator of this relationship and to explore the anticipated emotion related to negative potential outcomes as the mechanism behind this moderated effect. Two studies were conducted for these purposes. In Study 1, a total of 657 college students completed a test battery, including both the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and the Grable and Lytton Risk Tolerance Scale. The results showed that expressive suppression was negatively related to financial risk taking, and gender moderated this relationship. In Study 2, 441 college students took a test battery including both the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and a financial investment allocation task. The results replicated the findings in Study 1 and indicated that the anticipated emotion related to negative potential outcomes fully mediated the moderated effect of gender in the suppression-financial risk taking association. These findings implied the importance of considering gender differences in the prediction of financial choices from the perspective of emotion regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how implicit processes shape consumer’s food decision making. A series of three empirical studies combines questionnaire data with the Implicit Association Test to demonstrate that the effect of nutrition self-efficacy on behavioral intentions and eating behavior is moderated by food associations that are activated automatically and unconsciously. The Main Study provides evidence that consumers with a low ability to adopt a healthy diet behave according to their self-efficacy if implicit associations are negatively connoted (e.g., “healthy food products are less tasty”). A mediated moderation model shows that the interaction effect exerts its influence via intentions to adopt a healthy diet. Replication Study A confirms that this interaction effect even shapes the consumption patterns of at-risk consumers who have received nutritional counseling. Study B confirms the moderating role of implicit associations in a different setting and for different implicit associations. The article reveals that solely increasing consumer’s self-efficacy will not result in substantial changes towards a more healthy diet. By addressing implicit processes, food producers and policy makers can improve the effectiveness of their efforts to induce changes in consumers’ food consumption patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Multiple features of parenting have been associated with development of suicide-related behaviors in adolescents. However, findings are inconsistent on which aspects of parenting are protective or harmful and why. This investigation sought to reconcile these discrepancies through the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide (IPTS), which argues that suicide ideation and the capability to attempt suicide are etiologically distinct. Methods: Responses of 200 Midwestern public school students to the Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behavior survey were analyzed using mediated moderation analysis. Results: Participant sex significantly moderated the relationships between parenting variables and suicide attempts and these relationships were accounted for by IPTS variables. Specifically, the effect of parental support on suicide attempts was twice as strong for girls. Self-esteem mediated this interaction (b=−.011, SE boot =.008, p<.05, κ 2=.07). Conversely, the effect of parental boundaries on suicide attempts was significant for boys, but not for girls, and was mediated by exposure to violence (b=.029, SE boot =.021, p<.05, κ 2=.07). Limitations: This study involved retrospective report with proxy-measures of IPTS constructs. Future research should consider multiple informants and additional measures. Conclusion: Findings highlight potential mechanisms by which parenting behaviors could influence sex differences in adolescent suicide-relate behaviors, and that some parenting behavior is associated with reduced adolescent suicide attempts. Findings also suggest the IPTS is able to account for previously identified inconsistencies in the effects of parenting behaviors on adolescent suicide-related behaviors. Implications for theory and intervention are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]