Holly O'Rourke is an assistant professor in the Quantitative Methods specialization at the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, a Core Scientist in the Human Behavior Decision Making initiative (a partnership of ASU with the Phoenix Bioscience Core), and a Health Solutions Ambassador in the College of Health Solutions. Her research focuses on the intersection of quantitative methodology and prevention research by developing and assessing statistical models that are utilized to answer real-world questions and issues in health prevention, particularly alcohol and substance use. Specifically, her research examines statistical performance of mediation models, which are used to examine how programs achieve their effects on behavioral outcomes in prevention. She is also interested in longitudinal structural equation models, particularly the latent change score (LCS) model, which assesses how behavioral outcomes change over time.
Recent work examines how to incorporate ideographic approaches such as the GIMME method with machine learning techniques to create individualized profiles of biobehavioral and health traits that can serve as predictors in a wide variety of behavioral theories.
Current project include: mediated effects for longitudinal mediation with nonlinear effects, mediation for zero-inflated count outcomes, specifying conditional indirect effects in LCS models, and using the GIMME/machine learning method to create predictive ideographic profiles of individual differences in cognitive, health, and socioemotional attributes.
Dr. O'Rourke is not currently accepting new doctoral students at this time.
- Postdoctoral Research Associate, REACH Institute, Arizona State University, 2016-2017
- Ph.D. Quantitative Psychology, Arizona State University 2016
- M.A. Quantitative Psychology, Arizona State University 2013
- B.S. Psychology, Arizona State University 2009
Mediation Analysis, Longitudinal Structural Equation Modeling, Latent Change Score (LCS) Models, Statistical Power, Generalized Linear Models, Group Iterative Multiple Model Estimation (GIMME), Machine Learning
Human Behavior Decision Making
Select Recent Publications
O’Rourke, H. P., & Han, D. E. (2023). Considering the distributional form of zeroes when calculating mediation effects with zero-inflated count outcomes. Journal of Behavioral Data Science, 3(2), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.35566/jbds/v3n2/orourke
O’Rourke, H. P., Hilley, C. D., Lowell, E., & Sheehan, C. (2023). Sexual and gender identity and note-leaving among adult suicide decedents in the USA. BJPsych Open, 9, E6. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2022.610
O’Rourke, H. P., Fine, K. L., Grimm, K. J., & MacKinnon, D. P. (2022). The importance of time metric precision when implementing bivariate latent change score models. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 57, 561-580. https://doi.org/10.1080/00273171.2021.1874261
Hilley, C. D., & O’Rourke, H. P. (2022). Dynamic change meets mechanisms of change: Mediation in the latent change score framework. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 46, 125-141. https://doi.org/10.1177/01650254211064352
Grimm, K. J., Helm, J., Rodgers, D., & O’Rourke, H. P. (2021). Analyzing cross-lag effects: A comparison of different cross-lag modeling approaches. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 175, 11-33. https://doi.org/10.1002/cad.20401
O’Rourke, H. P., & Vazquez, E. (2019). Mediation analysis with zero-inflated substance use outcomes: Challenges and recommendations. Addictive Behaviors, 94, 16-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.01.034
Macy, J. T., O’Rourke, H. P., Seo, D.-C., Presson, C. C., & Chassin, L. (2019). Adolescent tolerance for deviance, cigarette smoking trajectories, and premature mortality: A longitudinal study. Preventive Medicine, 119, 118-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2018.12.023
O’Rourke, H. P., & MacKinnon, D. P. (2018). Reasons for testing mediation in the absence of an intervention effect: A research imperative in prevention and intervention research. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 79, 171-181. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2018.79.171
Gonzalez, O., O’Rourke, H. P., Wurpts, I. C., & Grimm, K. J. (2018). Analyzing Monte Carlo simulation studies with classification and regression trees. Structural Equation Modeling, 25, 403-413. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2017.1369353
Miočević, M., O’Rourke, H. P., MacKinnon, D. P., & Brown, C. H. (2018). Statistical properties of four effect-size measures for mediation models. Behavior Research Methods, 50, 285-301. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-017-0870-1
PI Sponsored Current
- DOD-ARMY: Army Materiel Command (AMC), Army Research Institute
- (09/25/2023-09/24/2026)
- Measuring Change in the Relations Amongst Cognitive, Health, and Socioemotional Factors at the Single-Subject Level and Improving Prediction of Critical Outcomes
- Gene Brewer (PI), Holly P. O’Rourke (Co-PI), $1,707,828 (49% recognition)
Co-I Sponsored Current
- Spencer Foundation
- (12/01/2022-11/30/2023 )
- Addressing Disparities for Black and Indigenous Students by Eliminating Exclusionary Discipline in U.S. Public Schools
- Richard Fabes (PI), Holly P. O’Rourke (Co-I), Evandra Catherine (Co-I), $74,555 (25% recognition)
- Department of Education, Institute for Educational Services
- (07/01/2019-12/30/2023)
- Using Computational Linguistics to Detect Comprehension Processes in Constructed Responses across Multiple Large Data Sets
- Danielle McNamara (PI), Holly O’Rourke (Co-PI), Renu Balyan (Co-PI), $600,001 (10% recognition)
Courses
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| SOC 390 | Social Statistics I |
2022 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FAS 598 | Special Topics |
| FAS 598 | Special Topics |
| SOC 390 | Social Statistics I |
2021 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FAS 598 | Special Topics |
| SOC 390 | Social Statistics I |
| FAS 598 | Special Topics |
| FAS 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| SOC 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2021 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FAS 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2020 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| SOC 390 | Social Statistics I |
| SOC 390 | Social Statistics I |
2020 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| FAS 508 | Structural Equation Analysis |
| FAS 499 | Individualized Instruction |
Editorial Board, Frontiers in Psychology: Quantitative Psychology and Measurement
ASU Faculty Women’s Association
Caucus for Women in Statistics
American Statistical Association
American Psychological Association
Association for Women in Science
Society for Prevention Research
Volunteer Statistician, Statistics Without Borders