Holly O'Rourke

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 at the Wexford bioscience collaborative, 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.

Current project include: mediated effects for longitudinal mediation with zero-inflated outcomes, best practices for simulation work with LCS models, and parameterization of LCS models.

Dr. O'Rourke is accepting new doctoral students with primary interest in quantitative methods for Fall 2023.