Intensive longitudinal data has been widely used to examine reciprocal or causal relations between variables. However, these variables may not be temporally aligned. This study examined the consequences and solutions of the problem of temporal misalignment in intensive longitudinal data based on dynamic structural equation models. First the impact…

Mediation is usually assessed by a regression-based or structural equation modeling (SEM) approach that we refer to as the classical approach. This approach relies on the assumption that there are no confounders that influence both the mediator, "M", and the outcome, "Y". This assumption holds if individuals are randomly…

Mediators are variables that explain the association between an independent variable and a dependent variable. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is widely used to test models with mediating effects. This article illustrates how to construct confidence intervals (CIs) of the mediating effects for a variety of models in SEM. Specifically, mediating…