Varying Index Coefficient Models

It has been a long history of using interactions in regression analysis to investigate alterations in covariate-effects on response variables. In this article, we aim to address two kinds of new challenges arising from the inclusion of such high-order effects in the regression model for complex data. The first kind concerns a situation where interaction effects of individual covariates are weak but those of combined covariates are strong, and the other kind pertains to the presence of nonlinear interactive effects directed by low-effect covariates. We propose a new class of semiparametric models with varying index coefficients, which enables us to model and assess nonlinear interaction effects between grouped covariates on the response variable. As a result, most of the existing semiparametric regression models are special cases of our proposed models. We develop a numerically stable and computationally fast estimation procedure using both profile least squares method and local fitting. We establish both estimation consistency and asymptotic normality for the proposed estimators of index coefficients as well as the oracle property for the nonparametric function estimator. In addition, a generalized likelihood ratio test is provided to test for the existence of interaction effects or the existence of nonlinear interaction effects. Our models and estimation methods are illustrated by simulation studies, and by an analysis of child growth data to evaluate alterations in growth rates incurred by mother’s exposures to endocrine disrupting compounds during pregnancy. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.