The link between HRD professionals’ social capital and career adaptability: a moderated mediation analysis of social network

Purpose From a social capital perspective, this study aims to shed light on the link between social capital and career adaptability by focusing on how social connections and interactions shape and nurture career adaptability. Drawing on socioemotional selectivity theory, the authors further examined the critical moderating role of age on the above relationship. Design/methodology/approach Survey responses from 208 HRD professionals were analyzed via a moderated mediation analysis. Findings The results showed that there is a positive relationship between social capital (network size and intimate network) and career adaptability; frequent interaction increases intimacy, in turn enhancing career adaptability; and the indirect effect of social capital on career adaptability (via intimate network) is stronger when the employee is younger. Originality/value The most novel theoretical contribution of this study is that the authors lend empirical support to the connection between social capital and career adaptability moderated by age. The study also contributes to understanding how core aspects of social capital are inter-related each other and have directional relationships.

How do growth and nutrition explain social inequalities in lung function in children with cystic fibrosis? A longitudinal mediation analysis using interventional disparity effects with time-varying mediators and intermediate confounders.

Background Deprivation is associated with poorer growth, worse lung function and shorter life expectancy in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). While early growth is associated with lung function when first measured at around age 6, it is unclear whether improving early growth in the most disadvantaged children would reduce inequalities in lung function. Methods We used data from children born 2000-2010 and followed up to 2016 in the UK CF Registry. To estimate the association between deprivation and lung function at around age six, and the causal contribution of early weight trajectories, we extended the mediation analysis approach based on interventional disparity effects to the setting of a longitudinally measured mediator. We adjusted for baseline confounding by sex, birthyear and genotype and accounted for time-varying intermediate confounding by lung infection. Results 853 children were included in the study, including 165 and 172 children from the least and most deprived population quintiles, respectively. The average difference in lung function between the least and most deprived quintile of children, was 4.51 percent of predicted forced expiratory volume in one second (95% CI: 1.08-7.93). We estimated this would be reduced to 3.97 percentage points (95% CI: 0.57-7.38) if early weight trajectories in the most deprived children were shifted to the distribution observed in the least disadvantaged children. Conclusion Socio-economic conditions are strongly associated with lung function for children with CF which we estimated would only be marginally reduced if early weight trajectories could be improved for the most disadvantaged children.

G-Computation to Causal Mediation Analysis With Sequential Multiple Mediators—Investigating the Vulnerable Time Window of HBV Activity for the Mechanism of HCV Induced Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Regression-based approaches are widely used in causal mediation analysis. The presence of multiple mediators, however, increases the complexity and difficulty of mediation analysis. In such cases, regression-based approaches cannot efficiently address estimation issues. Hence, a flexible approach to mediation analysis is needed. Therefore, we developed a method for using g-computation algorithm to conduct causal mediation analysis in the presence of multiple ordered mediators. Compared to regression-based approaches, the proposed simulation-based approach increases flexibility in the choice of models and increases the range of the outcome scale. The Taiwanese Cohort Study dataset was used to evaluate the efficacy of the proposed approach for investigating the mediating role of early and late HBV viral load in the effect of HCV infection on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in HBV seropositive patients (n = 2,878; HCV carrier n = 123). Our results indicated that early HBV viral load had a negative mediating role in HCV-induced HCC. Additionally, early exposure to a low HBV viral load affected HCC through a lag effect on HCC incidence [OR = 0.873, 95% CI = (0.853, 0.893)], and the effect of early exposure to a low HBV viral load on HCC incidence was slightly larger than that of a persistently low viral load on HCC incidence [OR = 0.918, 95% CI = (0.896, 0.941)].

R package regmedint: extension of regression-based causal mediation analysis with effect measure modification by covariates

This is the supplementary document of R package regmedint that implements the extension of the regression-based causal mediation analysis first proposed by Valeri and VanderWeele (2013, 2015). It supports including effect measure modification by covariates (treatment-covariate and mediator-covariate product terms in mediator and outcome regression models), and also accommodates the original SAS macro and PROC CAUSALMED procedure in SAS when there is no effect measure modification.