mediation analysis with longitudinal data - can I use change score as dependent variable?

General
1

Hey guys,

I'd like to run a mediation analysis in R with the following data:

  • "treatment" ("a","b","c") as predictor

  • "expectancy of relief" as mediator

  • "symptom intensity" as outcome variable

  • symptom intensity was measured at 3 times

  • t0: pre random allocation to the treatment groups as baseline

  • t1: midpoint

  • t2: postintervention

I expect treatment "a" to be superior to "b" and "c" in reducing symptom intensity. And I also expect that this effect is mediated by expectancy of relief.

Now, I have problems calculating the regressions for the mediation analysis:

For the predictor I have to code dummy variables I guess, right? But I'm not sure how to handle the outcome variable as I have longitudinal data. I thought of calculating a change score (t2-t0) and use it as the dependent variable. But I didn't find any papers really supporting this method even being bad as it leads to regression to the mean and stuff .. does anybody have a solution for me how I can handle the longitudinal outcome?

thank you very much in advance!!

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