Moderation analysis
Research Methods
Definition. Moderation analysis tests whether the strength or direction of a relationship between two variables depends on a third variable, the moderator.
Explanation
Moderation is modelled with interaction terms and probed with simple slopes or conditional effects (Hayes, 2018). In safety research, abusive supervision and safety consciousness have been tested as moderators of leadership effects on safety behaviour (Zheng et al., 2022), and cognitive function moderates the link between digital inclusion and depression risk in older adults (Xiao & Nie, 2025).
Related concepts
Mediation analysis Structural equation modeling (SEM) PLS-SEM Effect size
Read on The Health Topics
- A Meta-Theoretical Maturity Framework for Safety Science Research
- The Concept of Digital Inclusion: A Conceptual and Integrative Introduction from the Perspective of Health Sciences and Health Management
References
Hayes, A. F. (2018). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
Xiao, G., & Nie, T. (2025). The critical moderating role of cognitive function in digital inclusion: Data analysis study on depression risk among older adults. JMIR Aging, 8, Article e80700. https://doi.org/10.2196/80700
Zheng, J., Gou, X., Griffin, M. A., Goh, Y. M., & Xia, N. (2022). Temporal leadership, attentiveness, and safety behaviors: the moderating roles of abusive supervision and safety consciousness. Safety Science, 147, 105633.
Cite this entry: Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). Moderation analysis. In The Health Topics glossary. https://healthtopic.org/glossary/moderation-analysis/