Robin J Mermelstein
Biographic Data
| ID | 5804060 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Robin J Mermelstein |
| GIVEN NAMES | Robin J |
| FAMILY NAME | Mermelstein |
| SIGNATURE | MERMELSTEIN R J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Illinois Chicago |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8690-1074 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 31 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1994 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Prior Authorization Requirements and Medicaid Enrollees’ Use of Tobacco Cessation Medications, Colorado, 2023
Despite tobacco cessation medications being a first-line treatment for quitting smoking, a majority of Medicaid programs require health care providers to obtain prior authorization before prescribing them. We examined the impact of Colorado’s Medicaid program removing its prior authorization requirement for these drugs on their use and estimated the additional number of Coloradoans who used these therapies in 2023 because of the policy change. Th…
The relationship of self-concept clarity with perceived stress, general anxiety, and depression among young adults
Introduction: Low self-concept clarity might be a mechanism of perceived stress, general anxiety, and depression among young adults. Accordingly, among young adults, we tested the hypotheses that low self-concept clarity predicts increases in perceived stress, general anxiety, and depression, independent of each other, and that, independent of each other, perceived stress, general anxiety, and depression predict decreases in self-concept clarity.…
Negative Affect and Cigarette Cessation in Dual Users of Cigarettes and Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems
Objectives: Dual use of cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) is increasingly common in adult smokers, who often report using ENDS to quit smoking. Elevated negative affect is an established predictor of increased difficulty quitting smoking combustible cigarettes but has not yet been examined in the context of cigarette cessation for dual users. Method: This study examined whether mood-related factors predict cigarette smoki…
Balfour et al. Respond
AffiliationsDavid J. K. Balfour is retired from the Division of Systems Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK. Neal L. Benowitz is with the Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Suzanne M. Colby is with the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI. Dorothy K. Hatsukami is with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavio…
Balfour et al. Respond
Balancing Consideration of the Risks and Benefits of E-Cigarettes
The topic of e-cigarettes is controversial. Opponents focus on e-cigarettes’ risks for young people, while supporters emphasize the potential for e-cigarettes to assist smokers in quitting smoking. Most US health organizations, media coverage, and policymakers have focused primarily on risks to youths. Because of their messaging, much of the public—including most smokers—now consider e-cigarette use as dangerous as or more dangerous than smoking.…
Tobacco Use and Cessation Behaviors in Young Adults: 2016 National Health Interview Survey
Objectives. To examine differences in tobacco use and cessation between young adults (aged 18–24 years) and adults aged 25 years or older. Methods. We used data from the 2016 US National Health Interview Survey (n = 33 028) to identify 13 494 current and former cigarette smokers (562 aged 18–24 years; 12 932 aged 25 years or older). We analyzed correlations between age group, cigarette smoking, cessation behaviors, and other tobacco and nicotine …
Smoking Trajectory Classes and Impact of Social Smoking Identity in Two Cohorts of U.S. Young Adults
This study describes cigarette smoking trajectories, the influence of social smoker self-identification (SSID), and correlates of these trajectories in two cohorts of U.S. young adults: a sample from the Chicago metropolitan area (Social Emotional Contexts of Adolescent and Young Adult Smoking Patterns [SECAP], n = 893) and a national sample (Truth Initiative Young Adult Cohort Study [YA Cohort], n = 1,491). Using latent class growth analyses and…
Impact of Telephone Reinforcement and Negotiated Contracts on Behavioral Predictors of Exercise Maintenance in Older Adults with Osteoarthritis
TR appears to positively affect perceptions around engagement, whereas negotiation positively impacts PA behavior. Further research should examine the effectiveness of specific PA maintenance strategies
A National Evaluation of Community‐Based Youth Cessation Programs: End of Program and Twelve‐Month Outcomes
Most youth cessation treatment research consists of efficacy studies in which treatments are evaluated under optimal conditions of delivery. Less is known about the effectiveness of youth cessation treatments delivered in real‐world, community based settings. A national sample of 41 community‐based youth cessation programs participated in a longitudinal evaluation to identify site, program, and participant characteristics associated with successf…
Gender-Specific Relationships Between Depressive Symptoms, Marijuana Use, Parental Communication and Risky Sexual Behavior in Adolescence
Information management strategies within conversations about cigarette smoking: Parenting correlates and longitudinal associations with teen smoking
The present study examined smoking-specific and general parenting predictors of in vivo observed patterns of parent-adolescent discussion concerning adolescents' cigarette smoking experiences and associations between these observed patterns and 24-month longitudinal trajectories of teen cigarette smoking behavior (nonsmokers, current experimenters, escalators). Parental solicitation, adolescent disclosure, and adolescent information management we…
A Practical Guide to Calculating Cohen’s f2, a Measure of Local Effect Size, from PROC Mixed
Reporting effect sizes in scientific articles is increasingly widespread and encouraged by journals; however, choosing an effect size for analyses such as mixed-effects regression modeling and hierarchical linear modeling can be difficult. One relatively uncommon, but very informative, standardized measure of effect size is Cohen's f(2), which allows an evaluation of local effect size, i.e., one variable's effect size within the context of a mult…
Internally-Developed Teen Smoking Cessation Programs: Characterizing the Unique Features of Programs Developed by Community-Based Organizations
We have compared the unique features of teen tobacco cessation programs developed internally by community-based organizations (N=75) to prepackaged programs disseminated nationally (N=234) to expand our knowledge of treatment options for teen smokers. Internally-developed programs were more likely offered in response to the sponsoring organization's initiative (OR=2.16, p<0.05); had fewer trained cessation counselors (OR=0.31, p<0.01); and were m…
An Application of a Mixed‐Effects Location Scale Model for Analysis of Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) Data
For longitudinal data, mixed models include random subject effects to indicate how subjects influence their responses over repeated assessments. The error variance and the variance of the random effects are usually considered to be homogeneous. These variance terms characterize the within‐subjects (i.e., error variance) and between‐subjects (i.e., random‐effects variance) variation in the data. In studies using ecological momentary assessment (EM…
Sex Differences in Adolescent Depression: Stress Exposure and Reactivity Models
Stress exposure and reactivity models were examined as explanations for why girls exhibit greater levels of depressive symptoms than boys. In a multiwave, longitudinal design, adolescents' depressive symptoms, alcohol usage, and occurrence of stressors were assessed at baseline, 6, and 12 months later (N=538; 54.5% female; ages 13–18, average 14.9). Daily stressors were coded into developmentally salient domains using a modified contextual-threat…
Longitudinal Patterns of Daily Affect and Global Mood During Adolescence
This study examined grade and sex patterns in real-time measures of daily mood using Ecological Momentary Assessments via palmtop computers among 8th (N = 296) and 10th graders (N = 266) for 1 year using a three-wave longitudinal design. Participants responded to five to seven random prompts/day for 7 consecutive days; when prompted, participants rated eight mood adjectives assessing positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA). Global depressed…
A National Survey of Tobacco Cessation Programs for Youths
Objectives. We collected data on a national sample of existing community-based tobacco cessation programs for youths to understand their prevalence and overall characteristics. Methods. We employed a 2-stage sampling design with US counties as the first-stage probability sampling units. We then used snowball sampling in selected counties to identify administrators of tobacco cessation programs for youths. We collected data on cessation programs w…
Responses to tobacco control policies among youth
Understanding teenagers' attitudes and behaviours before implementing policies that will affect them will likely increase their effectiveness. Disclosing and publicising the chemical contents of cigarettes, and increasing prices quickly and sharply, are potentially effective areas for policy change to impact adolescent tobacco use
A Multilevel Thresholds of Change Model for Analysis of Stages of Change Data
In this article we describe a model for multilevel ordinal response data that allows for non- proportional odds for a subset of explanatory variables. As applied to stages of change data, which are commonly encountered in health promotion research, this model is termed the multilevel thresholds of change model since it focuses on modeling the K-I thresholds that delineate membership in the K ordered stages. Explanatory variables can have the same…
The Head Start parent involvement program as a vehicle for smoking reduction intervention
An eight-session smoking cessation program for mothers of children in the Head Start program was implemented in Chicago and evaluated in an experimental design (37 intervention and 28 control schools). The program was designed for schools with primarily black enrollment. A baseline parent population survey indicated smoking rates of 43%, confirming a need for the program. More than one third of smokers in the intervention schools attended at leas…
Longitudinal Patterns of Daily Affect and Global Mood During Adolescence
This study examined grade and sex patterns in real-time measures of daily mood using Ecological Momentary Assessments via palmtop computers among 8th (N = 296) and 10th graders (N = 266) for 1 year using a three-wave longitudinal design. Participants responded to five to seven random prompts/day for 7 consecutive days; when prompted, participants rated eight mood adjectives assessing positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA). Global depressed…
Balancing Consideration of the Risks and Benefits of E-Cigarettes
The topic of e-cigarettes is controversial. Opponents focus on e-cigarettes’ risks for young people, while supporters emphasize the potential for e-cigarettes to assist smokers in quitting smoking. Most US health organizations, media coverage, and policymakers have focused primarily on risks to youths. Because of their messaging, much of the public—including most smokers—now consider e-cigarette use as dangerous as or more dangerous than smoking.…
Gender-Specific Relationships Between Depressive Symptoms, Marijuana Use, Parental Communication and Risky Sexual Behavior in Adolescence
Information management strategies within conversations about cigarette smoking: Parenting correlates and longitudinal associations with teen smoking
The present study examined smoking-specific and general parenting predictors of in vivo observed patterns of parent-adolescent discussion concerning adolescents' cigarette smoking experiences and associations between these observed patterns and 24-month longitudinal trajectories of teen cigarette smoking behavior (nonsmokers, current experimenters, escalators). Parental solicitation, adolescent disclosure, and adolescent information management we…
A National Survey of Tobacco Cessation Programs for Youths
Objectives. We collected data on a national sample of existing community-based tobacco cessation programs for youths to understand their prevalence and overall characteristics. Methods. We employed a 2-stage sampling design with US counties as the first-stage probability sampling units. We then used snowball sampling in selected counties to identify administrators of tobacco cessation programs for youths. We collected data on cessation programs w…
The Head Start parent involvement program as a vehicle for smoking reduction intervention
An eight-session smoking cessation program for mothers of children in the Head Start program was implemented in Chicago and evaluated in an experimental design (37 intervention and 28 control schools). The program was designed for schools with primarily black enrollment. A baseline parent population survey indicated smoking rates of 43%, confirming a need for the program. More than one third of smokers in the intervention schools attended at leas…
A Multilevel Thresholds of Change Model for Analysis of Stages of Change Data
In this article we describe a model for multilevel ordinal response data that allows for non- proportional odds for a subset of explanatory variables. As applied to stages of change data, which are commonly encountered in health promotion research, this model is termed the multilevel thresholds of change model since it focuses on modeling the K-I thresholds that delineate membership in the K ordered stages. Explanatory variables can have the same…
Responses to tobacco control policies among youth
Understanding teenagers' attitudes and behaviours before implementing policies that will affect them will likely increase their effectiveness. Disclosing and publicising the chemical contents of cigarettes, and increasing prices quickly and sharply, are potentially effective areas for policy change to impact adolescent tobacco use
Sex Differences in Adolescent Depression: Stress Exposure and Reactivity Models
Stress exposure and reactivity models were examined as explanations for why girls exhibit greater levels of depressive symptoms than boys. In a multiwave, longitudinal design, adolescents' depressive symptoms, alcohol usage, and occurrence of stressors were assessed at baseline, 6, and 12 months later (N=538; 54.5% female; ages 13–18, average 14.9). Daily stressors were coded into developmentally salient domains using a modified contextual-threat…
Longitudinal Patterns of Daily Affect and Global Mood During Adolescence
This study examined grade and sex patterns in real-time measures of daily mood using Ecological Momentary Assessments via palmtop computers among 8th (N = 296) and 10th graders (N = 266) for 1 year using a three-wave longitudinal design. Participants responded to five to seven random prompts/day for 7 consecutive days; when prompted, participants rated eight mood adjectives assessing positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA). Global depressed…
A National Survey of Tobacco Cessation Programs for Youths
Objectives. We collected data on a national sample of existing community-based tobacco cessation programs for youths to understand their prevalence and overall characteristics. Methods. We employed a 2-stage sampling design with US counties as the first-stage probability sampling units. We then used snowball sampling in selected counties to identify administrators of tobacco cessation programs for youths. We collected data on cessation programs w…
An Application of a Mixed‐Effects Location Scale Model for Analysis of Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) Data
For longitudinal data, mixed models include random subject effects to indicate how subjects influence their responses over repeated assessments. The error variance and the variance of the random effects are usually considered to be homogeneous. These variance terms characterize the within‐subjects (i.e., error variance) and between‐subjects (i.e., random‐effects variance) variation in the data. In studies using ecological momentary assessment (EM…
Internally-Developed Teen Smoking Cessation Programs: Characterizing the Unique Features of Programs Developed by Community-Based Organizations
We have compared the unique features of teen tobacco cessation programs developed internally by community-based organizations (N=75) to prepackaged programs disseminated nationally (N=234) to expand our knowledge of treatment options for teen smokers. Internally-developed programs were more likely offered in response to the sponsoring organization's initiative (OR=2.16, p<0.05); had fewer trained cessation counselors (OR=0.31, p<0.01); and were m…
A Practical Guide to Calculating Cohen’s f2, a Measure of Local Effect Size, from PROC Mixed
Reporting effect sizes in scientific articles is increasingly widespread and encouraged by journals; however, choosing an effect size for analyses such as mixed-effects regression modeling and hierarchical linear modeling can be difficult. One relatively uncommon, but very informative, standardized measure of effect size is Cohen's f(2), which allows an evaluation of local effect size, i.e., one variable's effect size within the context of a mult…
A National Evaluation of Community‐Based Youth Cessation Programs: End of Program and Twelve‐Month Outcomes
Most youth cessation treatment research consists of efficacy studies in which treatments are evaluated under optimal conditions of delivery. Less is known about the effectiveness of youth cessation treatments delivered in real‐world, community based settings. A national sample of 41 community‐based youth cessation programs participated in a longitudinal evaluation to identify site, program, and participant characteristics associated with successf…
Gender-Specific Relationships Between Depressive Symptoms, Marijuana Use, Parental Communication and Risky Sexual Behavior in Adolescence
Information management strategies within conversations about cigarette smoking: Parenting correlates and longitudinal associations with teen smoking
The present study examined smoking-specific and general parenting predictors of in vivo observed patterns of parent-adolescent discussion concerning adolescents' cigarette smoking experiences and associations between these observed patterns and 24-month longitudinal trajectories of teen cigarette smoking behavior (nonsmokers, current experimenters, escalators). Parental solicitation, adolescent disclosure, and adolescent information management we…
Impact of Telephone Reinforcement and Negotiated Contracts on Behavioral Predictors of Exercise Maintenance in Older Adults with Osteoarthritis
TR appears to positively affect perceptions around engagement, whereas negotiation positively impacts PA behavior. Further research should examine the effectiveness of specific PA maintenance strategies
Smoking Trajectory Classes and Impact of Social Smoking Identity in Two Cohorts of U.S. Young Adults
This study describes cigarette smoking trajectories, the influence of social smoker self-identification (SSID), and correlates of these trajectories in two cohorts of U.S. young adults: a sample from the Chicago metropolitan area (Social Emotional Contexts of Adolescent and Young Adult Smoking Patterns [SECAP], n = 893) and a national sample (Truth Initiative Young Adult Cohort Study [YA Cohort], n = 1,491). Using latent class growth analyses and…
Tobacco Use and Cessation Behaviors in Young Adults: 2016 National Health Interview Survey
Objectives. To examine differences in tobacco use and cessation between young adults (aged 18–24 years) and adults aged 25 years or older. Methods. We used data from the 2016 US National Health Interview Survey (n = 33 028) to identify 13 494 current and former cigarette smokers (562 aged 18–24 years; 12 932 aged 25 years or older). We analyzed correlations between age group, cigarette smoking, cessation behaviors, and other tobacco and nicotine …
Balancing Consideration of the Risks and Benefits of E-Cigarettes
The topic of e-cigarettes is controversial. Opponents focus on e-cigarettes’ risks for young people, while supporters emphasize the potential for e-cigarettes to assist smokers in quitting smoking. Most US health organizations, media coverage, and policymakers have focused primarily on risks to youths. Because of their messaging, much of the public—including most smokers—now consider e-cigarette use as dangerous as or more dangerous than smoking.…
Negative Affect and Cigarette Cessation in Dual Users of Cigarettes and Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems
Objectives: Dual use of cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) is increasingly common in adult smokers, who often report using ENDS to quit smoking. Elevated negative affect is an established predictor of increased difficulty quitting smoking combustible cigarettes but has not yet been examined in the context of cigarette cessation for dual users. Method: This study examined whether mood-related factors predict cigarette smoki…
Balfour et al. Respond
AffiliationsDavid J. K. Balfour is retired from the Division of Systems Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK. Neal L. Benowitz is with the Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Suzanne M. Colby is with the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI. Dorothy K. Hatsukami is with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavio…
Balfour et al. Respond
The relationship of self-concept clarity with perceived stress, general anxiety, and depression among young adults
Introduction: Low self-concept clarity might be a mechanism of perceived stress, general anxiety, and depression among young adults. Accordingly, among young adults, we tested the hypotheses that low self-concept clarity predicts increases in perceived stress, general anxiety, and depression, independent of each other, and that, independent of each other, perceived stress, general anxiety, and depression predict decreases in self-concept clarity.…
Prior Authorization Requirements and Medicaid Enrollees’ Use of Tobacco Cessation Medications, Colorado, 2023
Despite tobacco cessation medications being a first-line treatment for quitting smoking, a majority of Medicaid programs require health care providers to obtain prior authorization before prescribing them. We examined the impact of Colorado’s Medicaid program removing its prior authorization requirement for these drugs on their use and estimated the additional number of Coloradoans who used these therapies in 2023 because of the policy change. Th…
Medicine (17 works) · Psychology (14 works) · Smoking Behavior and Cessation (11 works) · Psychiatry (9 works) · Smoking cessation (8 works) · Clinical Psychology (7 works) · Environmental health (7 works) · Public health (7 works) · Developmental psychology (6 works) · Family medicine (6 works)