About

Dr. Amelia Gavin is a Professor at the University of Washington School of Social Work. She received her doctorate in Social Work and Political Science from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where she also earned her MSW and MPP degrees. Her research focuses on disparities in mental and physical health outcomes, with particular attention to African-American women and depression, maternal depression during pregnancy, racial disparities in birth outcomes, and health disparities across the life course. During her graduate studies, she was awarded the National Institute of Mental Health Dissertation Grant for her research on depression and birth outcomes among African-American women. Since joining the UW School of Social Work as an assistant professor in 2004, Dr. Gavin has continued to teach and conduct research on health disparities. Her work is centered within interdisciplinary institutions, including the Maternal and Infant Care Center at the University of Washington Medical Center, where she investigates etiological pathways of preterm and low birth weight infants. Her research explores how cultural, social, and structural contexts influence health outcomes among racial and ethnic groups. Dr. Gavin was awarded the University of Washington Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Career Development Award (Roadmap KL2) in recognition of her impactful research and its public health implications. She is the principal investigator on projects such as the Depression and Anxiety in Pregnancy Study and the Life-Course Multiple Determinant Model for Health Disparities in Pregnancy Outcomes. In 2023, she was elected as a Fellow to the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Psychiatry
• Internal medicine
• Sociology
• Political Science
• Family medicine
• Obstetrics
• Demography
• Psychology
• Emergency medicine
• Nursing

Selected publications

• To Whom Do These Results Apply? Assessing Evidence for the Generalizability of Social and Emotional Learning Programs Among Specific Racial and Ethnic Groups

  Review of Educational Research · 2025-02-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Social and emotional learning (SEL) programs are widely used, yet concerns have arisen about whether the evidence for these programs extends to students of color (SOC). The data in this study include published articles (n = 158) of trials (n = 97) of SEL interventions (n = 32) from the CASEL SELect list of evidence-based SEL programs. Using racial frames common in intervention research, we examined the extent of SOC representation in SEL intervention trials, how authors attend to race/ethnicity in their analyses, and whether and how these analyses show evidence that these programs benefit specific racial/ethnic groups. While doing so, we discuss the complex nature of race and racism in SEL research. Eight interventions provided some evidence that they benefit Black students and four showed some evidence that they benefit Hispanic/Latiné students. No trials provided evidence of benefit to any other groups of SOC. Findings suggest that while representation of SOC in SEL trials has improved, additional research is needed to understand to whom the evidence for SEL program effectiveness applies.

  PublisherDOI

• Losing Connection

  The Journal of Perinatal & Neonatal Nursing · 2023-01-01 · 10 citations

  articleSenior author

  INTRODUCTION: The rapid uptake of telehealth for perinatal care during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to mixed evidence as to its effectiveness, with limited research demonstrating satisfaction and appropriateness for communities at risk for poor birth outcomes. The purpose of this article is to describe the experiences of virtual care during pregnancy and postpartum among a diverse group of pregnant/birthing people in Washington State during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We conducted a thematic analysis study exploring experiences of care during the COVID-19 pandemic for 15 pregnant and birthing people in Washington State. This secondary analysis utilized data specific to experiences receiving care via telehealth. RESULTS: Three dominant themes were identified: loss of connection and relationships with providers; need for hands-on interactions for reassurance; and virtual care is good for some things but not all-desire for immediate, accessible care when appropriate. The majority of participants felt that it was subpar to in-person care due to a lack of connection and the inability to receive necessary tests and hands-on reassurance. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS: Our study findings encourage very judicious use of virtual care for communities that are at high risk for birth disparities to avoid impacting relationship building between patient and provider.

  PublisherDOI

• Child emotional abuse and adult depressive symptoms in a nationally representative sample of Black females: The moderating role of adolescent sleep duration.

  American Journal of Orthopsychiatry · 2023-12-21

  articleSenior author

  Emotional abuse up to age 18 is associated with depressive symptoms in adulthood, yet few studies have examined these links in Black females. Despite research documenting the moderating role of sleep duration on early adversity and mental health, no studies have examined whether sleep duration during adolescence moderates the relations between emotional abuse up to age 18 and depressive symptoms in adulthood. We examined these relations in 690 Black females from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health)-Public Use. Individuals reported the frequency of emotional abuse up to age 18, hours of sleep during adolescence, and depressive symptoms using the 10-item version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Only 55% of adolescents reported sleeping the recommended 8-10 hr per night. Frequent emotional abuse before age 18 years was associated with more adult depressive symptoms for those with shorter, but not longer, sleep duration. Greater attention should be placed on facilitating and promoting sleep health for Black females. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• Establishing Core Content for Culturally Grounded Harm Reduction Intervention for Urban Indigenous After-School Youth in the Pacific Northwest

  International Journal of Indigenous Health · 2023-07-13 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Indigenous adults (18 years or older) including parents, staff, and volunteers of an urban Indigenous youth after-school program participated in individual interviews (n = 10) as part of a community-based participatory research (CBPR) Indigenous harm reduction study to identify alcohol and other drug (AOD) content to include in prevention programming for youth participants. Adult findings were organized using a risk environment framework to identify culturally relevant social, physical, policy, and economic AOD risk factors for youth. We report where adult findings intersect with previously described youth results to establish a list of core content (i.e., culturally relevant AOD prevention activities and discussion topics) to guide program implementation. Core content includes intergenerational Indigenous perspectives (i.e., youth, adult, and elder) to reflect Indigenous cultural lifeways and values of protecting future generations. Findings may be highly relevant to other Indigenous after-school groups or others who wish to develop harm reduction prevention programming for urban Indigenous youth in the Pacific Northwest or beyond.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Preventing Health Disparities during COVID through Perinatal Home Screening as Black Authoritative Knowledge

  Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities · 2023-05-16 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Cross-sectional Associations of Multiracial Identity with Self-Reported Asthma and Poor Health Among American Indian and Alaska Native Adults

  Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities · 2022-10-07 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Assessing alcohol and other drug prevention needs among Indigenous youth ages 13–17: Developing a culturally grounded Indigenous youth harm reduction intervention

  Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse · 2022-09-21 · 4 citations

  article

  Perceptions of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use, harm reduction, and culture were examined among 10 U.S. Indigenous youth 13-17 years of age. Key findings were contextualized within the four constructs of Indigenous relationality: (a) youth understand the harms of AOD use (people); (b) youth appreciate non-abstinence-based education (ideas); (c) youth need safe spaces to talk about the impacts of AOD use (place); and (d) youth desire to help prevent AOD harms for themselves and others (cosmos). Findings from this community-based participatory study serve as the theoretical foundation to support the development of an Indigenous youth harm reduction intervention to prevent AOD use and related harms among urban Indigenous youth in the Pacific Northwest.

  PublisherDOI

• The Association between Racial Discrimination, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Cardiovascular-Related Conditions Among Non-Hispanic Blacks: Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III (NESARC-III)

  Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities · 2021-01-26 · 9 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Where the System Failed: The COVID-19 Pandemic’s Impact on Pregnancy and Birth Care

  Global Qualitative Nursing Research · 2021 · 46 citations

  • Political Science
  • Sociology
  • Nursing

  The COVID-19 pandemic created a massive shift in health care systems, including within pregnancy and birth care. To explore how experiences of pregnancy and birth were impacted, 15 patient participants and 14 nurse participants were interviewed and transcripts analyzed using critical thematic analysis. Patients highlighted how adaptations to care were inadequate to meet their needs, a desire for support in response to stress, and the impact of COVID on patients' experiences. Nurses identified how inconsistencies in policies impacted nurses' ability to care for patients, the impact on nurses from hospital actions, and the impact on patients from hospital actions. Both groups discussed how system changes had disparate impacts on marginalized communities, leading to racially-biased care. This pandemic will continue to have lasting impact on pregnant and birthing families, and the nurses who care for them, and it is imperative that hospitals examine their role and any potential impacts.

  PublisherDOI

• The impact of COVID‐19 visitor policy restrictions on birthing communities of colour

  Journal of Advanced Nursing · 2021-07-30 · 32 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  AIMS: To explore the experiences of care for pregnant and birthing people, and the nurses who cared for them, during the COVID-19 pandemic, with special emphasis on the impact of visitor restrictions policies. DESIGN: Qualitative study using critical thematic analysis. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 community members who were pregnant and/or gave birth and 14 nurses who worked in the perinatal setting between April and August 2020. Participants were recruited via purposive and snowball sampling, and interviews were conducted virtually via the Zoom platform. The research team used critical thematic analysis methods informed by other interpretive methodologies to arrive at resultant themes. RESULTS: Participants described experiences pertaining to how visitor restriction policies are not equitable and disproportionately impact Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) families, and the direct impacts of not having support people, and also provided recommendations for how to adapt current policies to be more equitable. CONCLUSIONS: Visitor restriction policies have had a disproportionately harmful effect on BIPOC patients and families, leading some patients to make decisions that increase their physical risks to alleviate their risk of labouring and birthing without desired support. IMPACT: While this pandemic is nearing the end, these results can guide structuring of policy not only for the next pandemic, but also for universal policy development. Mitigating the effects of racism in policies, by including diverse stakeholders in decision-making, should be an inherent part of hospital administration procedures.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Wayne Katon

  University of Washington Medical Center

  23 shared

• Jennifer Melville

  23 shared

• Nancy K. Grote

  University of Washington

  17 shared

• Satish Iyengar

  University of Pittsburgh

  16 shared

• Jeffrey A. Bridge

  Nationwide Children's Hospital

  16 shared

• Jonathan Huang

  8 shared

• David T. Takeuchi

  8 shared

• Karen M. Tabb

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  7 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Social Work and Political Science

  University of Michigan at Ann Arbor

• Other

  University of Michigan at Ann Arbor

• Other

  University of Michigan at Ann Arbor

Awards & honors

• University of Washington Multidisciplinary Clinical Research…
• Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Wel…