This research thrust is a new initiative that we are pursuing in collaboration with Professors Linda Collins at Penn State University and Susan A. Murphy from the University of Michigan, with funding provided through a subcontract from the NIDA-sponsored Methodology Center (P50 DA10075) at Penn State and the University of Michigan. Specifically, our focus is on exploring the application of engineering process control concepts to the analysis, design, and implementation of adaptive, time-varying interventions in the field of behavioral health. Adaptive, time-varying interventions represents a promising approach to prevention and treatment of chronic, relapsing disorders, such as alcoholism, drug abuse, and cigarette smoking. In an adaptive intervention, different dosages of prevention or treatment components are assigned to different individuals across time, with dosage varying in response to the needs of the individual. Conceptually, adaptive time-varying interventions represent feedback control systems where intervention dosages (i.e., manipulated variables) are determined by decision rules (i.e., feedback control laws) based on the values of a participant’s key characteristics (also referred to as tailoring variables, or in process control terminology, controlled variables). Effective time-varying adaptive interventions share similar goals to well-designed process control systems in that they both seek to 1) reduce negative effects, 2) increase compliance and intervention potency and 3) reduce waste. Significant challenges exist in both dynamic modeling and the application of control system design to the problem, which we are seeking to investigate at this time.

Read a description of our project in the Penn State Methodology Center's Fall 2005 newsletter. (PDF)