Stephanie Lanza

Stephanie Lanza is a Professor of Biobehavioral Health at The Pennsylvania State University's College of Health and Human Development. She also holds a courtesy appointment as Professor of Human Development and Family Studies. Her research focuses on developing and applying innovative quantitative methods to advance behavioral health research, with particular emphasis on substance use behavior in daily life among adolescents and young adults.

Dr. Lanza earned her PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from The Pennsylvania State University in 2003. Her educational background has provided a strong foundation for her interdisciplinary research bridging behavioral health, statistics, and developmental science.

Dr. Lanza's research interests center on advancing methodological approaches to understand complex behavioral phenomena. She specializes in finite mixture modeling, particularly innovations in latent class analysis that enable researchers to discover and understand hidden subgroups in their data. Additionally, she focuses on time-varying effect models to study substance use behavior developmentally and in real-time. Her work leverages intensive longitudinal methods and new technologies to understand substance use behaviors in daily life. Her methodological innovations have significantly impacted prevention science and behavioral health research.

Analysis of Dr. Lanza's recent publications reveals a consistent focus on applying advanced statistical methods to understand substance use patterns, particularly among young adults. Her work increasingly incorporates daily diary and ecological momentary assessment methods to capture within-person variability in substance use behaviors and related factors. Recent research examines co-occurring substance use patterns, the role of nondrug rewards in recovery, mental health interactions with substance use, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on college student health behaviors. Her methodological expertise in latent class analysis and time-varying effect modeling continues to drive innovative approaches to understanding complex behavioral phenomena.

Dr. Lanza has secured significant research funding, including:

• NIDA grant "Promoting Rapid Uptake of Multilevel Latent Class Modeling via Best Practices: Investigating Heterogeneity in Daily Substance Use Patterns" (R01-DA057588)
• Co-director of the Prevention and Methodology Training Program (T32-DA017629), which has trained over 100 pre- and post-doctoral research fellows

Dr. Lanza has made substantial contributions to mentoring the next generation of researchers through her leadership of the Prevention and Methodology Training Program. Her methodological expertise has been instrumental in advancing substance use research through innovative quantitative approaches. Her work bridges the gap between advanced statistical methodology and practical applications in behavioral health research.

Dr. Lanza is affiliated with the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn State, where she contributes to interdisciplinary research focused on preventing health and behavior problems through innovative methodological approaches. Her work exemplifies the center's mission of advancing prevention science through rigorous methodology and interdisciplinary collaboration.