About

Lauren Gulbas is an Associate Professor at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work within the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin. Her academic focus includes medical anthropology, culture and mental health, as well as women and gender studies. Her work involves exploring the intersections of cultural practices and mental health issues, contributing to a deeper understanding of how social and cultural factors influence health outcomes and gender-related topics.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Psychology
• Political Science
• Medicine
• Nursing
• Clinical psychology
• Social Science
• Social psychology
• Business
• Physical therapy
• Family medicine
• Epistemology
• Anthropology
• Psychiatry
• Psychotherapist
• Public relations
• Developmental psychology

Selected publications

• Parents’ perspectives on trajectories of well-being for immigrant youth from Central America.

  American Journal of Orthopsychiatry · 2026-04-27

  articleOpen access

  = 30 interviews), the research revealed a complex landscape of challenges and adaptations during resettlement. While initial adverse emotional outcomes were common, these tended to improve over time as families gained stability in the United States. Family structure emerged as crucial, with unified families faring better than those fractured by immigration-related separation. Schools generally provided a protective environment, with mental health service access identified as a key protective factor. Proactive parents sought resources for their children, and social isolation at school was often mitigated by strengthened family relationships. Older children frequently assumed increased responsibilities, contributing to closer family bonds. Spiritual communities played a significant role in helping children cope with resettlement challenges and past migration traumas. The study highlights the intricate interplay of risk and protective factors shaping immigrant youth well-being. Central American immigrant youth demonstrated remarkable resilience, challenging deficit-based perspectives. The research calls for strength-based support systems that validate culturally specific identities, experiences, and skills; create flexible supportive networks; and recognize youths' capacity to transform migration challenges into opportunities for personal growth and resilience. These findings can inform culturally responsive practices, interventions, and policies to better support immigrant youth and families during resettlement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• Examining Components of the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide Among Children With Suicide Ideation or Attempts

  Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry · 2026-03-18

  articleOpen access

  IntroductionLimited research has examined the circumstances surrounding childhood suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The interpersonal psychological theory of suicide proposes that suicidal desire arises from perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness, and that suicide attempts result from an acquired capability for suicide. No published study, of which we are aware, has tested whether this theory applies to children's suicidal thoughts or behaviors. The present study examined whether components of the interpersonal psychological theory of suicide would be present in the narratives of children who presented for clinical care with suicide ideation or attempts.MethodsThirty-nine children, ages 7-12 years, recruited from two public hospitals and one outpatient clinic, completed semi-structured interviews assessing the circumstances surrounding their recent suicide ideation or attempts. Interviews were analyzed thematically using a hybrid inductive-deductive approach.ResultsFindings indicated that thwarted belongingness stemmed from loneliness, perceived rejection, and a lack of reciprocal care. Themes reflecting perceived burdensomeness included internalized criticism, low self-esteem, and perceived liability. Children described experiences, such as physical punishment, that may contribute to acquired capability for suicide.DiscussionThese findings support the relevance of the interpersonal psychological theory of suicide in childhood and underscore the critical role caregivers play in protecting children from suicide-related risk.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Body Mapping as a Tool to Capture Children’s Expressions of Their Suicide Ideation or Attempts

  Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology · 2026-03-18

  articleOpen access

  OBJECTIVE: Assessing suicide risk among children is complex, in part due to their developmental differences in identifying, recalling, and verbally describing internal states, alongside cultural differences in how distress is experienced. This study aimed to identify expressions of distress around suicide ideation or attempts through body mapping, a qualitative technique that facilitates both visual and verbal expressions. METHOD: = 16). Children completed the Childhood Suicide Ideation Interview, which included semi-structured questions about their suicide ideation and/or attempt and a body mapping activity, where children illustrated and described their thoughts, feelings, body sensations, and social connections surrounding their suicidal crisis on a printed body silhouette. RESULTS: Analyses conducted with Anthropac yielded 94 expressions of distress. The congruence in overall experiences across children was low (24%), yet specific somatic experiences like "shaking" (70%), "pain" (43%), and "dizziness" (39%) were prevalent. Other frequent experiences included "sad" (48%), "passive suicide ideation" (43%), and "thoughts about family" (39%). CONCLUSIONS: Body mapping was a valuable tool for uncovering unique expressions of distress among ethnoracially diverse children. Somatic expressions, often overlooked in risk assessments, were prominent. Ours and similar studies have the potential to inform the design of culturally and developmentally responsive risk assessment tools and safety planning protocols.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Burmese Refugees’ Beliefs and Experiences of Diabetes Self-management in Texas

  Advances in Nursing Science · 2025-02-27

  article
  PublisherDOI

• “They’re really explaining things in a way that we can understand”: A qualitative study examining facilitators of trust in pediatric collaborative care.

  American Journal of Orthopsychiatry · 2025-11-06

  article

  University and health clinic professionals employed community engaged research to identify facilitators of and barriers to trust in a community clinic's collaborative care pediatric adolescent psychiatry consultation conference model. The clinic operates as a federally qualified health center medical home offering integrated behavioral health and medical care for all ages and serving majority low-income Latine families. Fourteen parents and six patients ages 9 to 17 were interviewed qualitatively about their experiences participating in the interdisciplinary conference model. Thematic analysis identified patient and parent perceptions of trust toward the collaborative care process, the clinic's health care providers, and the consulting psychiatrist. Results found that facilitators of trust included the primary care provider serving as a bridge to help trusting relationships form between the consulting psychiatrist and families, reciprocal respect between clinic providers and families, and the psychiatrist taking an educational/rapport-building approach. Barriers to trust included the lack of available, quality Spanish interpreter services and lack of a tailored approach for patients depending on diagnosis. Other factors such as parent-child synchrony and optimism contributed to overall reactions to the psychiatry conference model as well as retention processes. In summary, our study elucidates how to implement community engaged qualitative research and contributes information on parent and youth acceptability of collaborative psychiatric care within a medical home. Study results can be used to enhance mental health access for an underresourced population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• Charting suicide risk in Latina adolescents: A qualitative system dynamics approach.

  Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology · 2025-08-11

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  OBJECTIVES: Suicide risk among Latina adolescents is shaped by dynamic interactions among emotional, behavioral, and sociocultural factors. This study develops a causal feedback theory to illustrate how these factors reinforce or mitigate suicide risk over time. METHOD: Using grounded theory analysis, we analyzed qualitative interviews with 60 Latina adolescents (ages 11-19) recruited from New York City: 30 with a history of suicide attempts and 30 with no reported history of suicidal behaviors. Participants varied by Hispanic cultural group, place of birth, and documentation status. RESULTS: Our feedback theory is organized around seven categories: cognitive vulnerabilities, avoidant coping, high-risk behaviors, family conflict, social support, cultural socialization, and ethnic identity. A reinforcing loop of cognitive vulnerabilities, avoidant coping, high-risk behaviors, and family conflict was more common among adolescents who had attempted suicide. In contrast, social support, cultural socialization, and ethnic identity functioned as protective mechanisms that disrupted risk loops among those without suicidal behaviors. These findings suggest that while risk factors increase the likelihood of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, access to protective resources can interrupt risk trajectories and promote resilience. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the importance of culturally responsive suicide prevention strategies that strengthen social support, cultural socialization, and ethnic pride. By modeling suicide risk as a dynamic system, these findings provide new insights for intervention efforts tailored to the experiences of Latina adolescents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• Learning together when feeling alone: The experience of parents with chronically ill children in a self-compassion program

  Research Square · 2024-08-27

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Rethinking comorbidity: A case study of syndemic risk, eating disorders, and suicidal behaviors in adolescent girls of color

  Qualitative Social Work · 2024-01-08 · 2 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Decades of research have established a significant association between people struggling with an eating disorder and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Despite a robust literature indicating a link between these two mental health conditions, few studies have explored how differential risk factors interact over time to produce this comorbidity. Using the lens of syndemic risk, this study applied a critical case study design to identify the social and contextual conditions that give rise to the circumstances in which eating disorders and suicidal behaviors cluster together. Specifically, we draw on life history and clinical ethnographic interviews with an adolescent and her mother to illustrate the intersections between psychosocial and structural processes. Through our analysis, we develop a model for syndemic risk that foregrounds poverty, racism, heterosexism, and gender oppression as critical to the production of mental health comorbidities. As we delineate in our findings, multiple forms of oppression led to a higher risk of exposure to stressful and traumatic experiences, including physical maltreatment, emotional abuse and neglect, sexual coercion, and peer victimization. These events contributed to the emergence of psychological and social vulnerabilities associated with heightened eating disorder and suicide risk. Ultimately, our qualitative study contributes to understanding how syndemic risk factors interact and mutually reinforce one another over time to shape comorbid psychopathology. In doing so, our findings shift understandings of mental illness as emerging from individual vulnerabilities to a conception of mental health that is framed within a multidimensional perspective.

  PublisherDOI

• Surgical transformations in the pursuit of gender

  2024-06-19

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter explores the high rates of cosmetic surgery in Venezuela, a country known for producing stunning competitors for the Miss Universe and Miss World competitions. Gulbas tries to find an explanation for why men and women, especially those from poor families, allocate scarce resources to the pursuit of an ideal feminine or masculine body. She links these body ideals with notions of self and with the psychological significance of looking good and feeling good within gendered frames of reference. While not included in this text, there is significant research being conducted within anthropology and gender studies on surgery for trans people as they pursue bodies that reflect their selves and are legible to others as ideally gendered bodies.

  PublisherDOI

• Book Review: Wisdom from the Edge: Writing Ethnography in Turbulent Times PaulStoller. (2023). Wisdom from the Edge: Writing Ethnography in Turbulent Times. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 204 pp. $21.95(paperback). ISBN: 9781501770661.

  Affilia · 2024-05-24

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Luis H. Zayas

  The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

  25 shared

• Carolina Hausmann‐Stabile

  16 shared

• Davika Reid

  The University of Texas at Austin

  10 shared

• Alexandra A. García

  The University of Texas at Austin

  10 shared

• Julie A. Zuñiga

  The University of Texas at Austin

  10 shared

• Lorraine O. Walker

  The University of Texas at Austin

  10 shared

• Dinah Chelagat

  Moi University

  10 shared

• Jill Kuhlberg

  Star Technology and Research (United States)

  9 shared