Cassie McMillan

Cassie McMillan’s research applies a social networks perspective to disentangle how our connections both reproduce and challenge systems of social inequality. She is interested in developing statistical and computational methodologies that can better address these questions and applying these techniques to study adolescent delinquency, health, and immigration. In a recent research project funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, she examined how network ties that persist from adolescence to adulthood shape trajectories of tobacco, alcohol, and substance use across the life course. Results from this work will uncover new insight into the ways social network structures inform disparities in substance misuse and recovery. Other recent projects apply a network perspective to consider the impact of normative school transitions on youth crime, healthy eating interventions in workplace settings, and adolescents’ experiences with bullying and interpersonal aggression.