hello, i would like to pose a question regarding interactions in multiple regression for which i would appreciate some advice. i have a hypothesized model where: (1) physical symptom distress, (2) perceived social support, and (3) anxiety interact to influence levels of depression(DV) (a 3-way interaction). so my question is: is it appropriate to jump right to the 3-way interaction without examining the 2-way interactions? i ask this for 2 reasons. first, when i enter the three 2-way interactions into my model along with the 3-way interaction, two of the 2-way interactions are significant (perceived social support x anxiety is not significant) and the 3-way interaction is not significant. however, the 3-way interaction is significant when it is in the model without the three 2-way interactions.

thanks for any and all advice!