Anthony Rodriguez

Associate Behavioral and Social Scientist

Boston Office

Education

Ph.D. in quantitative psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

Overview

Anthony Rodriguez is an associate behavioral and social scientist at the RAND Corporation. Also a psychologist and psychometrician, his quantitative methodological research has focused on structural equation modeling (SEM), item response theory (IRT), and latent growth models. A major focus of his research has tackled issues of dimensionality, reliability, and assessment scoring. He has also investigated and developed alternative item response theory models designed to address and model non-normality in latent traits and errors. It has been equally important in his research to make these methodological pieces accessible to substantive researchers and, as such, has written didactic guides for easy implementation and interpretation of model results.

Aside from psychometric endeavors, his research interests have resulted in extensive collaborations spanning ethnic/racial disparities in longitudinal adolescent alcohol, marijuana, cigarette and e-cigarette, and opioid use; standardized assessment in post-acute care settings (home health agencies, skilled nursing facilities, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and long term care hospitals); development and testing of measures to evaluate emergency response communication; development, testing, and implementation of palliative care quality measures; generating crosswalks between PROMIS-29 and chronic pain legacy measures; ethnic/racial differences in the measurement of acculturation; and intervention effectiveness.

Rodriguez received his Ph.D. in quantitative psychology from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Research Focus

Recent Projects

MACRA Palliative Care Quality Measure Development
Patient-Reported Outcome-based Performance Measure (PRO-PM) for Primary Care Practices Participating in the Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC+) Model
CDC Emergency Risk Communication Process and Outcomes Measures Pilot Testing Project
Development and Maintenance of Post-Acute Care Cross-Setting Standardized Patient Assessment Data

Selected Publications

Steve P. Reise, Anthony Rodriguez, Karen Spritzer, Ron Hays, "Alternative Approaches to Addressing Non-Normal Distributions in the Application of IRT Models to Personality Measures," Journal of Personality Assessment

Anthony Rodriguez, Steve P. Reise, Mark G. Haviland, "Applying bifactor statistical indices in the evaluation of psychological measures," Journal of Personality Assessment

Anthony Rodriguez, Steve P. Reise, Mark G. Haviland, "Evaluating bifactor models: Calculating and interpreting statistical indices," Psychological Methods

D’Amico, E. J., Rodriguez, A., Tucker, J. S., Pedersen, E. R. & Shih, R. A. , "Planting the seed for marijuana use: Changes in exposure to medical marijuana advertizing and subsequent adolescent marijuana use, cognitions, and consequences over seven years," Drug Alcohol Dependence

Anthony Rodriguez, Steve P. Reise, "Item response theory and the measurement of psychiatric constructs: Some empirical and conceptual issues and challenges," Psychological Medicine

D’Amico, E. J., Rodriguez, A., Tucker, J. S., Dunbar, M. S., Pedersen, E. R., Shih, R. A., Davis, J. P., & Seelam, R. , "Early and late adolescent factors that predict co-use of cannabis with alcohol and tobacco in young adulthood," Prevention Science

Honors & Awards

Walter Klopfer Award – Best Empirical Paper 2016, Journal of Personality Assessment
Shepard Ivory Franz Teaching Award, UCLA
Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship, UCLA

Publications

Research Brief
New Patient-Centered Quality Measures for Office-Based Palliative Care
This research brief describes the development and testing of two patient-centered quality measures of symptom management and communication and provides considerations for palliative care providers that plan to use them.
Sep 13, 2021
Report
MACRA Palliative Care Quality Measure Development—Testing Summary Report: Measure Name: Receiving Desired Help for Pain
The authors describe the results of their national beta field test for a performance measure designed to assess the extent to which patients who used ambulatory palliative care received the help they wanted for their pain.
Sep 3, 2021
Report
MACRA Palliative Care Quality Measure Development—Testing Summary Report: Measure Name: Feeling Heard and Understood
The authors describe the results of their national beta field test for a performance measure designed to assess the extent to which patients who used ambulatory palliative care felt heard and understood by their palliative care provider and team.
Sep 3, 2021
Journal Article
Longitudinal Associations of Sleep Problems with Alcohol and Cannabis Use from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood
This study examined longitudinal associations of sleep problems with alcohol and cannabis use across six annual waves of data from adolescence to emerging adulthood.
Apr 28, 2021
Journal Article
Tobacco/nicotine and Marijuana Co-Use Motives in Young Adults: Associations with Substance Use Behaviors One Year Later
We conducted an analysis on 342 young adults with past-year co-administration of tobacco/nicotine and marijuana to determine how emergent classes of 16 co-use motives were associated with use of tobacco/nicotine and marijuana one year later.
Sep 22, 2020
Draft
MACRA Palliative Care Quality Measure Development: Summary Report of Alpha Testing
Summarizes findings from a small pilot study which was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of data collection processes and refine the testing plan in advance of a larger national field test.
Jun 15, 2020
Journal Article
Do Recent Experiences of Sexual Violence and Co-Occurring Depression and Anxiety Symptoms Predict Poorer Functioning One Year Later During the Transition to Young Adulthood?
This study suggests that past year experiences of sexual violence, along with concurrent depression and anxiety symptoms, can affect functioning across a variety of health domains one year later during early young adulthood.
May 19, 2020
Journal Article
Locating Medical and Recreational Cannabis Outlets for Research Purposes: Online Methods and Observational Study
This paper describes the methods that build on previous efforts by providing a detailed methodology that can be replicated in large metropolitan areas that have legalized the sale of cannabis.
Mar 5, 2020
Report
Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 1: Executive Summary)
This report, part of a series, describes patient assessment data elements developed and tested by RAND on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services to comply with the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014.
Nov 15, 2019
Report
Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 3: Sample Description)
This report, part of a series, describes patient assessment data elements developed and tested by RAND on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services to comply with the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014.
Nov 15, 2019
Report
Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 8: Observational Assessments of Cognitive Function, Mental Status, and Pain)
This report, part of a series, describes patient assessment data elements developed and tested by RAND on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services to comply with the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014.
Nov 15, 2019
Report
Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 6: Impairments and Special Services, Treatments, and Interventions)
This report, part of a series, describes patient assessment data elements developed and tested by RAND on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services to comply with the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014.
Nov 15, 2019
Report
Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 7: Global Health, Care Preferences, and Medication Reconciliation)
This report, part of a series, describes patient assessment data elements developed and tested by RAND on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services to comply with the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014.
Nov 15, 2019
Report
Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 2: Background and Methods)
This report, part of a series, describes patient assessment data elements developed and tested by RAND on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services to comply with the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014.
Nov 15, 2019
Report
Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 4: Cognitive Function)
This report, part of a series, describes patient assessment data elements developed and tested by RAND on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services to comply with the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014.
Nov 15, 2019
Report
Development and Evaluation of Candidate Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements: Findings from the National Beta Test (Volume 5: Mental Status and Pain)
This report, part of a series, describes patient assessment data elements developed and tested by RAND on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services to comply with the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014.
Nov 15, 2019
Journal Article
Associations Between Young Adult Marijuana Outcomes and Availability of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries and Storefront Signage
Among young adults in Los Angeles County, living near more MMDs is positively associated with more frequent use of marijuana within the past month and greater expectations of marijuana's positive benefits.
Jun 25, 2019
Journal Article
Associations of Longitudinal Sleep Trajectories with Risky Sexual Behavior During Late Adolescence
Insufficient sleep in adolescents may increase risk for sexual risk-taking and may set the stage for accelerated health risk trajectories into adulthood.
Jun 12, 2019
Journal Article
Disentangling Within- and Between-Person Effects of Shared Risk Factors on E-cigarette and Cigarette Use Trajectories From Late Adolescence to Young Adulthood
Adolescents who use vaping products are more likely to smoke cigarettes and to increase their use of both products over time.
Oct 4, 2018
Journal Article
Planting the Seed for Marijuana Use: Changes in Exposure to Medical Marijuana Advertising and Subsequent Adolescent Marijuana Use, Cognitions, and Consequences Over Seven Years
Regulations on medical marijuana (MM) advertising—similar to those for tobacco and alcohol—may mitigate negative consequences of MM on adolescents.
Jun 20, 2018
Journal Article
Development and Maintenance of Standardized Cross Setting Patient Assessment Data for Post-Acute Care: Summary Report of Findings from Alpha 2 Pilot Testing
Results of the Alpha 2 feasibility test, used to help develop standardized assessment-based data elements to meet the requirements of the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation(IMPACT) Act of 2014.
Jun 7, 2018
Journal Article
Ethnic Differences in Cigarette Use Trajectories and Health, Psychosocial, and Academic Outcomes
Cigarette smoking during adolescence appears to be more strongly associated withimpaired functioning across multiple domains for racial/ethnic minority youth in late adolescence compared with their white peers.
2017