Integrating moderation and mediation: a structural equation modeling approach

We extend the Edwards and Lambert (2007) approach to integrating moderation and mediation to Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) by constructing a one-stop procedure. SEM has been the favored approach to testing mediation hypotheses. However, the biggest challenge to testing moderation hypotheses in SEM was the complexity modeling latent variable interactions. We discuss the new LMS approach to latent variable interactions implemented in Mplus, and offer a simple and accessible way of testing combined moderation and mediation hypotheses using SEM.