# Graph Disentangle Causal Model: Enhancing Causal Inference in Networked Observational Data

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.03913 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.03913/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 14 of its 38 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 5 Dec 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 14 of 14)

- [Adam: A Method for Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6980/) (2014)
- [Semi-Supervised Classification with Graph Convolutional Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1609.02907/) (2016)
- [Graph Attention Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1710.10903/) (2017)
- [Inductive Representation Learning on Large Graphs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.02216/) (2017)
- [Estimation and Inference of Heterogeneous Treatment Effects using Random Forests](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1510.04342/) (2015)
- [Meta-learners for Estimating Heterogeneous Treatment Effects using Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03461/) (2017)
- [Causal Effect Inference with Deep Latent-Variable Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1705.08821/) (2017)
- [Graph Learning: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.00696/) (2021)
- [Learning Individual Causal Effects from Networked Observational Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.03485/) (2019)
- [MaskNet: Introducing Feature-Wise Multiplication to CTR Ranking Models by Instance-Guided Mask](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.07619/) (2021)
- [Graph Infomax Adversarial Learning for Treatment Effect Estimation with Networked Observational Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.02881/) (2021)
- [Optimizing Long-tailed Link Prediction in Graph Neural Networks through Structure Representation Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.20499/) (2024)
- [Which Matters Most in Making Fund Investment Decisions? A Multi-granularity Graph Disentangled Learning Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.13864/) (2023)
- [Graph Neural Network with Two Uplift Estimators for Label-Scarcity Individual Uplift Modeling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.06489/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Causal Neighbourhood Learning for Invariant Graph Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.17934/) (2026)
- [Are Heterogeneous Graph Neural Networks Truly Effective for Node Classification? A Causal Perspective](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.05750/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Estimating individual treatment effects (ITE) from observational data is a critical task across various domains. However, many existing works on ITE estimation overlook the influence of hidden confounders, which remain unobserved at the individual unit level. To address this limitation, researchers have utilized graph neural networks to aggregate neighbors' features to capture the hidden confounders and mitigate confounding bias by minimizing the discrepancy of confounder representations between the treated and control groups. Despite the success of these approaches, practical scenarios often treat all features as confounders and involve substantial differences in feature distributions between the treated and control groups. Confusing the adjustment and confounder and enforcing strict balance on the confounder representations could potentially undermine the effectiveness of outcome prediction. To mitigate this issue, we propose a novel framework called the textitGraph Disentangle Causal model (GDC) to conduct ITE estimation in the network setting. GDC utilizes a causal disentangle module to separate unit features into adjustment and confounder representations. Then we design a graph aggregation module consisting of three distinct graph aggregators to obtain adjustment, confounder, and counterfactual confounder representations. Finally, a causal constraint module is employed to enforce the disentangled representations as true causal factors. The effectiveness of our proposed method is demonstrated by conducting comprehensive experiments on two networked datasets.