Linda Collins
Linda Collins
Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences
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Professional overview
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Linda M. Collins is Professor of Global Public Health in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Biostatistics. She earned her B.A. in Psychology at the University of Connecticut and her Ph.D. in Quantitative Psychology at the University of Southern California.
Collins’ research interests are focused on the development, dissemination, and application of the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST), a framework for the optimization of behavioral, biobehavioral, and social-structural interventions. The objective of MOST is to improve intervention effectiveness, efficiency, economy, and scalability. She is currently collaborating on research applying MOST in the areas of smoking cessation, the prevention of excessive drinking and risky sex in college students, and HIV services.
Collins’ research has been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the National Science Foundation, among others. She has given more than 150 presentations on MOST around the world, and her publications have appeared in journals in the fields of behavioral science, quantitative methodology, medicine, and engineering.
Collins has held tenured faculty positions at the University of Southern California and at Penn State University, where she was Distinguished Professor of Human Development and Family Studies and Director of The Methodology Center. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, the Society of Behavioral Medicine, and is a past president of the Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology and the Society for Prevention Research.
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Education
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BA, Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CTPhD, Quantitative Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
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Honors and awards
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Fulbright Specialist, National University of Ireland Galway (2018)Pauline Schmitt Russell Distinguished Career Award, Pennsylvania State University’s College of Health and Human Development (2017)Evan G. and Helen G. Pattishall Outstanding Research Achievement Award, Pennsylvania State University’s College of Health and Human Development (2011)President’s Award, Society for Prevention Research (2004)Faculty Scholar Medal for the Social and Behavioral Sciences, Pennsylvania State University (2000)Psychology Department Teacher of the Year, University of Southern California (1992)Psychology Department Mentorship Award, University of Southern California (1991)Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology Award for Distinguished Early Career Contributions to Multivariate Behavioral Research (1991)
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Areas of research and study
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Behavioral ScienceCost EffectivenessCost-effective Health Programs and PoliciesDissemination and Implementation of Evidence-based Programs
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Publications
Publications
The Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) and the Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial (SMART). New Methods for More Potent eHealth Interventions
Failed retrieving data.Using engineering control principles to inform the design of adaptive interventions : A conceptual introduction
Failed retrieving data.A mixture model of discontinuous development in heavy drinking from ages 18 to 30 : The role of college enrollment
Failed retrieving data.A multidimensional developmental model of alcohol use during emerging adulthood
Failed retrieving data.A risk-based model predictive control approach to adaptive interventions in behavioral health
Failed retrieving data.Analysis of longitudinal data : The integration of theoretical model, temporal design, and statistical model
Failed retrieving data.Methodological Considerations in Prevention Research
Failed retrieving data.The proximal association between smoking and alcohol use among first year college students
Failed retrieving data.A strategy for optimizing and evaluating behavioral interventions
Failed retrieving data.Historical review of school-based randomized trials for evaluating problem behavior prevention programs
Failed retrieving data.Using data augmentation to obtain standard errors and conduct hypothesis tests in latent class and latent transition analysis
Failed retrieving data.A conceptual framework for adaptive preventive interventions
Failed retrieving data.Analyzing the acquisition of drug self-administration using growth curve models
Failed retrieving data.Using growth models to relate acquisition of nicotine self-administration to break point and nicotinic receptor binding
Failed retrieving data.Adaptive sampling in research on risk-related behaviors
Failed retrieving data.Measurement and design issues in tobacco and drug use research
Failed retrieving data.Pubertal timing and the onset of substance use in females during early adolescence
Failed retrieving data.The effect of the timing and spacing of observations in longitudinal studies of tobacco and other drug use : Temporal design considerations
Failed retrieving data.A comparison of inclusive and restrictive strategies in modern missing data procedures
Failed retrieving data.Developmental pathways to alcohol abuse and dependence in young adulthood
Failed retrieving data.An alternative framework for defining mediation
Failed retrieving data.Is reliability obsolete? A commentary on "are simple gain scores obsolete?"
Failed retrieving data.Latent transition analysis for longitudinal data
Failed retrieving data.The acquisition and maintenance of safer sexual behaviors among injection drug users
Failed retrieving data.Analysis of stage-sequential change in rehabilitation research
Failed retrieving data.