Constance A. Mara, PhD

Quantitative Psychologist, Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics

constance.mara@cchmc.org

About

Biography

Dr. Mara researches improved methods for measuring and analyzing psychological data in quantitative methods. Her research has focused on developing and investigating improved procedures for analyzing behavioral data. For example, she has studied equivalence testing methods that have recently become popular in psychology for investigating when groups/conditions are equivalent, or when a lack of association between variables exists. Dr. Mara has also investigated novel structural equation models for investigating change in randomized longitudinal studies, and applications of item response theory.

Dr. Mara's research in the area of pediatric patient-reported outcomes has centered on the measurement and psychometric properties of patient-reported outcomes in a pediatric healthcare setting. In particular, she uses item-response theory (IRT) and factor analysis to examine the psychometric properties of patient-reported outcomes. It is critical that the measures we use are reliable, valid, sensitive, and responsive. Applying contemporary measurement science to assess the measures used as outcomes in research is critical to reducing error and improving the accuracy and replicability of our research findings.

Services and Specialties

Interests

Innovative application of advanced quantitative methods to research in pediatric psychology; pediatric patient-reported outcomes; longitudinal data analysis; randomized behavioral clinical trials

Research Areas

Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology

Publications

Health care transition outcomes in epilepsy: A sample transfer clinic. Nurre, ER; Lang, AC; Brothers, SL; Hornbach, A; Wolf, W; Mara, CA; Olson, J; Fong, SL; Modi, AC. Epilepsy and Behavior. 2025; 172:110729.

Evaluating the effect of sleep kits and training in foster care clinic visits. Anyigbo, C; Fox, K; Mara, CA; Bemerer, J; Krietsch, K; Radenhausen, M; Patel, M; Beal, SJ; Greiner, MV. Journal of Pediatric Psychology. 2025; 50:1004-1011.

Feasibility Trial of a Tailored Adherence-Promotion Intervention for Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer. McGrady, ME; Ketterl, TG; Webster, RT; Burns, MM K; Bills, SE; Burke, M; Szulczewski, L; Brock, MY; Schwartz, LE; Herriott, JK; Hommel, KA; Pai, AL H; Mara, CA; Norris, RE. Pediatric Blood and Cancer. 2025; e32127.

Does it hold promise? Measuring pediatric anxiety via PROMIS vs the clinically validated SCARED. Gamwell, KL; Mara, CA; Ely, SL; Hommel, KA; Kashikar-Zuck, S; Cunningham, NR. Children's Health Care. 2025; 54:390-406.

Engaging end-users to develop a novel algorithm to process electronic medication adherence monitoring device data. McGrady, ME; Hommel, KA; Mara, CA; Breen, G; Kouril, M. JAMIA Open. 2025; 8:ooaf135.

Provider Adoption of an Online Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder eHealth Care Application. Epstein, JN; Brinkman, WB; Froehlich, TE; Mara, CA; Simon, JO; Beck, AF; Emmer, S. Applied Clinical Informatics - ACI. 2025; 16:652-661.

Handling missing data in longitudinal clinical trials: three examples from the pediatric psychology literature. Peugh, J; Mara, C. Journal of Pediatric Psychology. 2025; 50:596-619.

THRIVE 2.0: A randomized-controlled trial of an obesity prevention intervention designed for infants in pediatric primary care. Rybak, TM; Francis, SE; Mara, CA; Zion, C; Modi, AC; Crosby, LE; Herbst, RB; Lauer, BA; Murphy, BN; Harry, KR; Patel, DJ; Burkhardt, MC. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications. 2025; 45:101488.

Engaging Parents of Children With Sickle Cell Disease in Shared Decision-Making for Hydroxyurea: The ENGAGE-HU Study. Hildenbrand, AK; Mara, CA; Murphy, B; Hood, AM; Johnson, Y; Shook, LM; Real, FJ; Nwankwo, C; Hackworth, R; Badawy, SM; Saving, KL; Treadwell, M; Quinn, CT; Crosby, LE. Pediatric Blood and Cancer. 2025; 72:e31639.

Intervention to reduce barriers to type 1 diabetes self-management: Diabetes Journey study design and participant characteristics. Driscoll, KA; Trojanowski, PJ; Williford, DN; O'Donnell, HK; Flynn, E; Mara, CA; Wetter, SE; Himelhoch, AC; Manis, H; Pardon, A; Jacobsen, LM; Poetker, A; Schmidt, M; Modi, AC. Contemporary Clinical Trials. 2025; 152:107849.