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Linda Collins' Research Achievements Recognized
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| Linda Collins with Dean Ann Crouter |
Methodology Center Director Linda Collins is the recipient of the 2011 Evan G. and Helen G. Pattishall Outstanding Research Achievement Award. The award from Penn State's College of Health and Human Development and Alumni Association exists to "recognize and reward outstanding researchers for advancing the frontiers of knowledge." Linda is being acknowledged for her development of new research methods and for her contributions to the prevention of public health problems. Specifically noted were the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST), a novel strategy for designing interventions, and Latent Transition Analysis, an innovative way to investigate behavior change over time.
Read more about Linda's research. |
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Featured Article: How to Estimate Causal Effects in Mediation
 In a new article in the journal Structural Equation Modeling, Methodology Center researcher Donna Coffman illustrates a new method for estimating causality when a mediator is present. The graphic on the left illustrates a standard mediation model. In this model, we hypothesize that a treatment affects a mediator, and the mediator then affects an outcome. For example, in a hypothetical HIV-prevention intervention, subjects receive condom-use training (a treatment), which impacts their attitudes toward condom use (a mediator), which in turn improves their condom use (an outcome). However, because mediators (such as someone's attitude) often cannot be randomly assigned, we cannot make accurate causal statements about their effects on the outcome using traditional methods. In the article, Donna proposes and demonstrates incorporating propensity scores into mediation analysis. This new approach will allow researchers to more accurately measure the mediated effect of a treatment on an outcome.
Read more. |
Facebook Contest Winner
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| Em Arpawong |
Thanks to those who liked us on Facebook. You may recall we promised one of our lucky friends a copy of Linda Collins and Stephanie Lanza's book, Latent Class and Latent Transition Analysis: With Applications in the Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences, and the book goes to Em Arpawong. Em is working on her PhD in Health Behavior Research at the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on positive psychosocial changes among high-risk youth following a traumatic event, and the association with change in substance use behaviors. She is interested in using latent class analysis to test the existence of theorized groups of people who have suffered a traumatic event. We wish her the best in her research.
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