Testing High-Dimensional Mediation Effect with Arbitrary Exposure-Mediator Coefficients

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Lin, Yinan, Guo, Zijian, Sun, Baoluo, Lin, Zhenhua
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Lin, Yinan
Guo, Zijian
Sun, Baoluo
Lin, Zhenhua
author_facet Lin, Yinan
Guo, Zijian
Sun, Baoluo
Lin, Zhenhua
contents In response to the unique challenge created by high-dimensional mediators in mediation analysis, this paper presents a novel procedure for testing the nullity of the mediation effect in the presence of high-dimensional mediators. The procedure incorporates two distinct features. Firstly, the test remains valid under all cases of the composite null hypothesis, including the challenging scenario where both exposure-mediator and mediator-outcome coefficients are zero. Secondly, it does not impose structural assumptions on the exposure-mediator coefficients, thereby allowing for an arbitrarily strong exposure-mediator relationship. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed test is the first of its kind to provably possess these two features in high-dimensional mediation analysis. The validity and consistency of the proposed test are established, and its numerical performance is showcased through simulation studies. The application of the proposed test is demonstrated by examining the mediation effect of DNA methylation between smoking status and lung cancer development.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2310_05539
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Testing High-Dimensional Mediation Effect with Arbitrary Exposure-Mediator Coefficients
Lin, Yinan
Guo, Zijian
Sun, Baoluo
Lin, Zhenhua
Methodology
Statistics Theory
In response to the unique challenge created by high-dimensional mediators in mediation analysis, this paper presents a novel procedure for testing the nullity of the mediation effect in the presence of high-dimensional mediators. The procedure incorporates two distinct features. Firstly, the test remains valid under all cases of the composite null hypothesis, including the challenging scenario where both exposure-mediator and mediator-outcome coefficients are zero. Secondly, it does not impose structural assumptions on the exposure-mediator coefficients, thereby allowing for an arbitrarily strong exposure-mediator relationship. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed test is the first of its kind to provably possess these two features in high-dimensional mediation analysis. The validity and consistency of the proposed test are established, and its numerical performance is showcased through simulation studies. The application of the proposed test is demonstrated by examining the mediation effect of DNA methylation between smoking status and lung cancer development.
title Testing High-Dimensional Mediation Effect with Arbitrary Exposure-Mediator Coefficients
topic Methodology
Statistics Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.05539