Solved – Interpreting continuous interaction terms in multiple linear regression

interactionmultiple regressionregression

I've looked at this post for reference. And suppose my model is

$\hat{score} = 12 + 0.4*Age_i + 0.5*Height_i + 0.8*Age_i*Height_i$, then is the following interpretation of my coefficients correct?

For a one unit increase in age, the average score changes by $0.4 + 0.8*Height_i$, holding height constant.

For a one unit increase in height, the average score changes by $0.5 + 0.8*Age_i$, holding age constant.

Best Answer

Pretty much. But:

For a one unit increase in age, the average score changes by $0.4+0.8∗Height_i$, holding height constant.

Holding $height$ constant as long as $height\not=0$. If it equals $0$ than the interaction term is also $0$. Also, if $height>0$ and held constant, than for every increased unit of $age$ , the average predicted score will increase by $(0.4+0.8)$, not by $0.4+0.8*height$.

$\beta_1$ (0.4) will be used alone only when $height=0$, or else the interaction will be also coming into play.

The same principle goes, naturally, also for both covariates.