ArticlePsychological methods2011
Three Cs in measurement models: causal indicators, composite indicators, and covariates.
Article in Psychological methods, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 131 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
131 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Neighborhood Environment and Cognition in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.American journal of preventive medicine · 2017Pooled it
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- Moderated mediation with composites: The composite moderated structural equations approach.Behavior research methods · 2026Article
- Executive functioning and binge-watching behaviors in adolescents: a network analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Reflective, formative, hybrid, and composite measurement models in social science research: a diagnostic construct-measurement alignment framework.Frontiers in research metrics and analytics · 2026Review
- Dynamic associations among selected healthy dietary behaviors, physical activity, emotion, and fitness performance in adolescents: a four-wave random intercept cross-lagged panel study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- National variation in acute kidney injury diagnosis and monitoring across adult intensive care units in china: a nationwide cross-sectional survey.Annals of intensive care · 2026Article
- Preliminary validation of the 15-item WHO ageism experiences scale in a mixed-age UK sample.PloS one · 2026Article
- Sexual abuse among Mozambican women at risk for HIV/AIDS infection: The temporal stability of self-report.Journal of traumatic stress · 2025Article
- The mediating role of financial well-being in the relationship between housing affordability and mental health.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Development and psychometric evaluation of a patient-reported symptom index for patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer: the NMIBC-SI.Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2025Article
- The flow experience: Polish adaptation and validation of the psychological flow scale (PFS).PloS one · 2025Article
- Self-objectification and commentary on physical appearance predict exercise dependence in young Chinese males: a study from a cognitive-behavioral perspective.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Media health literacy predicts preventive health behaviors: findings from a nationally matched survey.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
- Do executive functions and processing speed mediate the relationship between socioeconomic status and educational achievement? Analysis of an observational birth cohort study.BMC psychology · 2024Observational
- A Perspective on the Measurement of Whole Person Health.Medical care · 2024Article
- Measuring object recognition ability: Reliability, validity, and the aggregate z-score approach.Behavior research methods · 2024Article
- Investigating weight constraint methods for causal-formative indicator modeling.Behavior research methods · 2024Article
- Minority Stress, Mental Health, and Mindfulness and Self-Compassion as Moderators among Young Sexual Minority Men: A Moderated Structural Equation Analysis.Journal of contextual behavioral science · 2024Article
- Perceived Racial and Ethnic Discrimination, Depression, and Alcohol Use Intentions Among Inner-City Latinx Youth: Cross-Generational Effects.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2024Article
71 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
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Abstract
In the last 2 decades attention to causal (and formative) indicators has grown. Accompanying this growth has been the belief that one can classify indicators into 2 categories: effect (reflective) indicators and causal (formative) indicators. We argue that the dichotomous view is too simple. Instead, there are effect indicators and 3 types of variables on which a latent variable depends: causal indicators, composite (formative) indicators, and covariates (the "Three Cs"). Causal indicators have conceptual unity, and their effects on latent variables are structural. Covariates are not concept measures, but are variables to control to avoid bias in estimating the relations between measures and latent variables. Composite (formative) indicators form exact linear combinations of variables that need not share a concept. Their coefficients are weights rather than structural effects, and composites are a matter of convenience. The failure to distinguish the Three Cs has led to confusion and questions, such as, Are causal and formative indicators different names for the same indicator type? Should an equation with causal or formative indicators have an error term? Are the coefficients of causal indicators less stable than effect indicators? Distinguishing between causal and composite indicators and covariates goes a long way toward eliminating this confusion. We emphasize the key role that subject matter expertise plays in making these distinctions. We provide new guidelines for working with these variable types, including identification of models, scaling latent variables, parameter estimation, and validity assessment. A running empirical example on self-perceived health illustrates our major points.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.