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tssem1 model not converging

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whitneyR's picture
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Joined: 07/29/2020 - 07:40
tssem1 model not converging
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File baek.csv1.75 KB
File caspi.csv1.82 KB
File class.csv1.95 KB
File conway.csv1.86 KB
File dejong.csv1.89 KB
File farmer.csv1.8 KB
File forbes.csv2.44 KB
File friedman1.csv1.75 KB
File friedman2.csv1.75 KB
File roysamb.csv2.76 KB
File wrightsimms.csv2.36 KB
Binary Data masem_script.R3.94 KB

Hello,

I am having issues pooling correlation matrices with random effects. I have results from a total of ~30 studies I plan to pool. At this stage, I am trying to pool 11 of these to test things out, but when I run tssem the model never converges.

There are a few possible issues I'm wondering about. These are very large correlation tables (i.e., many variables) and none of the data sets include all correlations (but every cell has data from at least one study), thus there are many NAs, and I wonder whether the software is just having difficulty with estimation. I also wonder whether there are too few studies to estimate the random effects for so many correlations. This is also my first time attempting MASEM, so I may have very well made a simple coding error that I'm missing.

I would appreciate any help with this. The code and data files are attached. Please let me know if there are any problems loading the files or if any clarification is needed.

Thank you,
Whitney

Mike Cheung's picture
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Joined: 10/08/2009 - 22:37
Hi, Whitney.

Hi, Whitney.

There is no data in many of the cells. I am afraid that it is not possible to fit the model. If you want to fit it, you need to simplify it a lot.

Best,
Mike

> pattern.na(data$matrices, show.na=F)
           ADHD Alc Anorexia ASPD AvPD Bipolar BPD Bulimia Conduct DeprPD DpndPD Drug
ADHD          3   2        0    2    0       1   0       0       3      0      0    3
Alc           2  10        1    6    2       5   3       2       6      1      3    9
Anorexia      0   1        1    1    1       0   1       0       1      1      1    1
ASPD          2   6        1    6    2       2   3       0       3      1      3    6
AvPD          0   2        1    2    2       0   2       0       1      1      2    2
Bipolar       1   5        0    2    0       6   1       2       3      0      1    5
BPD           0   3        1    3    2       1   3       0       1      1      3    3
Bulimia       0   2        0    0    0       2   0       2       1      0      0    1
Conduct       3   6        1    3    1       3   1       1       6      1      1    7
DeprPD        0   1        1    1    1       0   1       0       1      1      1    1
DpndPD        0   3        1    3    2       1   3       0       1      1      3    3
Drug          3   9        1    6    2       5   3       1       7      1      3   10
Dysthymia     1   4        1    2    2       2   2       1       4      1      2    5
GAD           3   8        1    6    2       4   3       0       6      1      3    9
HPD           0   3        1    3    2       1   3       0       1      1      3    3
MDD           3   9        1    6    2       5   3       1       7      1      3   10
Nicotine      2   4        0    3    0       2   0       0       3      0      0    4
NPD           0   3        1    3    2       1   3       0       1      1      3    3
OCD           0   5        0    3    1       4   2       1       1      0      2    4
OCPD          0   3        1    3    2       1   3       0       1      1      3    3
ODD           1   2        0    0    0       2   0       1       3      0      0    3
Pain          0   2        1    2    1       1   2       0       1      1      2    2
Panic         1   7        1    4    2       5   3       2       4      1      3    7
PPD           0   3        1    3    2       1   3       0       1      1      3    3
Psychosis     0   3        0    2    1       2   2       0       1      0      2    3
PTSD          1   6        1    4    2       4   3       1       4      1      3    7
Separation    0   0        0    0    0       0   0       0       0      0      0    0
Social        1   5        1    3    2       3   2       1       4      1      2    6
Somataform    0   2        0    1    0       2   1       1       0      0      1    1
SpecPhob      1   6        1    3    1       5   2       2       4      1      2    6
StyPD         0   3        1    3    2       1   3       0       1      1      3    3
           Dysthymia GAD HPD MDD Nicotine NPD OCD OCPD ODD Pain Panic PPD Psychosis PTSD
ADHD               1   3   0   3        2   0   0    0   1    0     1   0         0    1
Alc                4   8   3   9        4   3   5    3   2    2     7   3         3    6
Anorexia           1   1   1   1        0   1   0    1   0    1     1   1         0    1
ASPD               2   6   3   6        3   3   3    3   0    2     4   3         2    4
AvPD               2   2   2   2        0   2   1    2   0    1     2   2         1    2
Bipolar            2   4   1   5        2   1   4    1   2    1     5   1         2    4
BPD                2   3   3   3        0   3   2    3   0    2     3   3         2    3
Bulimia            1   0   0   1        0   0   1    0   1    0     2   0         0    1
Conduct            4   6   1   7        3   1   1    1   3    1     4   1         1    4
DeprPD             1   1   1   1        0   1   0    1   0    1     1   1         0    1
DpndPD             2   3   3   3        0   3   2    3   0    2     3   3         2    3
Drug               5   9   3  10        4   3   4    3   3    2     7   3         3    7
Dysthymia          5   4   2   5        0   2   1    2   3    1     5   2         1    5
GAD                4   9   3  10        4   3   4    3   3    2     7   3         3    7
HPD                2   3   3   3        0   3   2    3   0    2     3   3         2    3
MDD                5  10   3  10        4   3   4    3   3    2     7   3         3    7
Nicotine           0   4   0   4        4   0   2    0   0    0     1   0         1    1
NPD                2   3   3   3        0   3   2    3   0    2     3   3         2    3
OCD                1   4   2   4        2   2   5    2   0    1     4   2         3    3
OCPD               2   3   3   3        0   3   2    3   0    2     3   3         2    3
ODD                3   3   0   3        0   0   0    0   3    0     3   0         0    3
Pain               1   2   2   2        0   2   1    2   0    2     2   2         1    2
Panic              5   7   3   7        1   3   4    3   3    2     8   3         2    7
PPD                2   3   3   3        0   3   2    3   0    2     3   3         2    3
Psychosis          1   3   2   3        1   2   3    2   0    1     2   2         3    2
PTSD               5   7   3   7        1   3   3    3   3    2     7   3         2    7
Separation         0   0   0   0        0   0   0    0   0    0     0   0         0    0
Social             5   6   2   6        1   2   2    2   3    1     6   2         1    6
Somataform         0   1   1   1        0   1   2    1   0    1     2   1         1    1
SpecPhob           4   6   2   6        1   2   3    2   3    2     7   2         1    6
StyPD              2   3   3   3        0   3   2    3   0    2     3   3         2    3
           Separation Social Somataform SpecPhob StyPD SzPD
ADHD                0      1          0        1     0    0
Alc                 0      5          2        6     3    3
Anorexia            0      1          0        1     1    1
ASPD                0      3          1        3     3    3
AvPD                0      2          0        1     2    2
Bipolar             0      3          2        5     1    1
BPD                 0      2          1        2     3    3
Bulimia             0      1          1        2     0    0
Conduct             0      4          0        4     1    1
DeprPD              0      1          0        1     1    1
DpndPD              0      2          1        2     3    3
Drug                0      6          1        6     3    3
Dysthymia           0      5          0        4     2    2
GAD                 0      6          1        6     3    3
HPD                 0      2          1        2     3    3
MDD                 0      6          1        6     3    3
Nicotine            0      1          0        1     0    0
NPD                 0      2          1        2     3    3
OCD                 0      2          2        3     2    2
OCPD                0      2          1        2     3    3
ODD                 0      3          0        3     0    0
Pain                0      1          1        2     2    2
Panic               0      6          2        7     3    3
PPD                 0      2          1        2     3    3
Psychosis           0      1          1        1     2    2
PTSD                0      6          1        6     3    3
Separation          0      1          0        1     0    0
Social              1      6          0        5     2    2
Somataform          0      0          2        2     1    1
SpecPhob            1      5          2        7     2    2
StyPD               0      2          1        2     3    3
 [ reached getOption("max.print") -- omitted 1 row ]
whitneyR's picture
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Joined: 07/29/2020 - 07:40
Hi Mike,

Hi Mike,

Thank you for the quick reply. Hopefully once I include all the data sets there will be fewer cells without data. To clarify, there are no other methods aside from removing variables to handle this type of missingness?

Best,
Whitney

Mike Cheung's picture
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Joined: 10/08/2009 - 22:37
Hi Whitney,

Hi Whitney,

I am afraid not. It is supposed to be a meta-analysis. We cannot create some data from nothing.

Best,
Mike

whitneyR's picture
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Joined: 07/29/2020 - 07:40
Hi Mike,

Hi Mike,

That makes perfect sense, this should have been obvious to me. One final question since you've been so patient and helpful this far is, in principle, can the correlation matrix be estimated with only one study contributing to some cells? So every cell has an observed correlation, but some cells have only a single study?

Thank you,
Whitney

whitneyR's picture
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Joined: 07/29/2020 - 07:40
Sorry, in case it’s relevant,

Sorry, in case it’s relevant, I plan to use the correlation table to do a factor analysis.

Mike Cheung's picture
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Joined: 10/08/2009 - 22:37
Hi Whitney,

Hi Whitney,

The program allows you to run the analyses with some cells having only a single study. However, I won't recommend to do it. We cannot call it a "meta-analysis" as there is only one study.

Mike

whitneyR's picture
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Joined: 07/29/2020 - 07:40
Hi Mike,

Hi Mike,

I'm hoping you can help me figure out what my issue is now that I have a matrix with at least 2 studies contributing to each cell. There are 30 studies. Attached is a file showing the distribution of studies per cell. When I try and pool the studies with the random effects model, it still doesn't converge. No error messages, it just doesn't produce output even after an hour. Do you have any suggests for trouble shooting this?

Thank you so much,
Whitney

File attachments: 
Mike Cheung's picture
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Joined: 10/08/2009 - 22:37
Could you please post the

Could you please post the data and code?

whitneyR's picture
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Certainly. The only reason I

Certainly. The only reason I didn't was because of the number of files I would need to upload. Is there a preferred method for uploading all 30 datasets? Or are individual csv files okay?

Mike Cheung's picture
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Joined: 10/08/2009 - 22:37
You may create a data file

You may create a data file and save it into *.R with the dump() function.

whitneyR's picture
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Joined: 07/29/2020 - 07:40
Thank you for telling me

Thank you for telling me about this function, super helpful

Attached is the .R file with data.

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Mike Cheung's picture
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Joined: 10/08/2009 - 22:37
There are 21x20/2=210

There are 21x20/2=210 correlation coefficients. Even if we restrict all the covariances of the random effects at zero, we still have to estimate 210 means (average correlation coefficients) and 210 variances of the random effects. Your model is "huge" compared to the data you have.

If you are comfortable using a fixed-effects model, you may try it. It may work, although it will impose stronger assumptions on your data.