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Related Research Units

Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine Research

Research Overview

As a social epidemiologist, Dr. Beccia’s research focuses on understanding the social and structural determinants of population-level eating disorder inequities, with a particular focus on inequities affecting LGBTQ+ youth. She also regularly collaborates on projects examining the drivers of mental health inequities more broadly and has a strong interest in integrating causal inference, econometric, and other advanced quantitative methods into this line of work. Alongside her research, Dr. Beccia leads STRIPED’s Eating Disorder Public Health Surveillance Working Group to help improve the monitoring of eating disorders and disordered eating among U.S. youth, especially via the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).

Research Background

Dr. Ariel L. Beccia, PhD (she/her) is a Research Scientist in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital and faculty with the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders (STRIPED) at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston Children’s Hospital. She is also a member of Harvard’s Sexual Orientation Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Health Equity Research Collaborative and the LGBTQ Health Center of Excellence. Dr. Beccia received her PhD in epidemiology from the Clinical and Population Health Research program at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in Worcester, MA, and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship with STRIPED that was funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD).

Publications

  1. Depression at the intersection of race/ethnicity, sex/gender, and sexual orientation in a nationally representative sample of US adults: a design-weighted intersectional MAIHDA. Am J Epidemiol. 2024 Dec 02; 193(12):1662-1674. View Abstract
  2. Anabolic Steroid Initiation Among Boys and Young Men After Use of Muscle-Building Supplements. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Dec 02; 7(12):e2450566. View Abstract
  3. Characterizing state-level structural cisheterosexism trajectories using sequence and cluster analysis, 1996-2016, 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., and associations with health status and healthcare outcomes. Am J Epidemiol. 2024 Nov 19. View Abstract
  4. Methods for structural sexism and population health research: Introducing a novel analytic framework to capture life-course and intersectional effects. Soc Sci Med. 2024 Jun; 351 Suppl 1:116804. View Abstract
  5. Trajectories of Mental Distress Among US Women by Sexual Orientation and Racialized Group During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Am J Public Health. 2024 05; 114(5):511-522. View Abstract
  6. The Health Equity Explorer: An open-source resource for distributed health equity visualization and research across common data models. J Clin Transl Sci. 2024; 8(1):e72. View Abstract
  7. Structural Racism-Related State Laws and Healthcare Access Among Black, Latine, and White U.S. Adults. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2024 Mar 28. View Abstract
  8. Nurses' use of 'wellness' supplements during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. J Adv Nurs. 2024 Nov; 80(11):4572-4583. View Abstract
  9. Restrictive abortion legislation and adverse mental health during pregnancy and postpartum. Ann Epidemiol. 2024 Apr; 92:47-54. View Abstract
  10. Intersecting gender identity and racial/ethnic inequities in eating disorder risk factors, symptoms, and diagnosis among U.S. college students: An intersectional multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy. Int J Eat Disord. 2024 Jan; 57(1):146-161. View Abstract
  11. Intersectional Prevalence of Suicide Ideation, Plan, and Attempt Based on Gender, Sexual Orientation, Race and Ethnicity, and Rurality. JAMA Psychiatry. 2023 10 01; 80(10):1037-1046. View Abstract
  12. Associations between weight discrimination and the use of potentially harmful dietary supplements during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Soc Sci Med. 2023 10; 335:116232. View Abstract
  13. Depression at the intersection of race/ethnicity, sex/gender, and sexual orientation in a nationally representative sample of US adults: A design-weighted MAIHDA. medRxiv. 2023 Apr 17. View Abstract
  14. 'Let the ladies know': queer women's perceptions of how gender and sexual orientation shape their eating and weight concerns. Cult Health Sex. 2024 01; 26(1):108-125. View Abstract
  15. Financial precarity, food insecurity, and psychological distress prospectively linked with use of potentially dangerous dietary supplements during the pandemic in the US. Front Public Health. 2023; 11:1120942. View Abstract
  16. Disparities in eating disorder symptoms and mental healthcare engagement prior to and following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from a national study of US college students. Int J Eat Disord. 2023 01; 56(1):203-215. View Abstract
  17. Cumulative exposure to state-level structural sexism and risk of disordered eating: Results from a 20-year prospective cohort study. Soc Sci Med. 2022 05; 301:114956. View Abstract
  18. Changes in the prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of eating disorder symptoms from 2013 to 2020 among a large national sample of U.S. young adults: A repeated cross-sectional study. Int J Eat Disord. 2022 06; 55(6):776-789. View Abstract
  19. Assessing Variations in Sexual Orientation- and Gender Identity-Related U.S. State Laws for Sexual and Gender Minority Health Research and Action, 1996-2016. LGBT Health. 2022 04; 9(3):207-216. View Abstract
  20. Human papillomavirus vaccination disparities among U.S. college students: An intersectional Multilevel Analysis of Individual Heterogeneity and Discriminatory Accuracy (MAIHDA). Soc Sci Med. 2022 05; 301:114871. View Abstract
  21. Disproportionate Use of Over-the-counter Diet Pills Among Latinx Youth and Increased Use Over Time Among Latinx Females: Results of US National Study. J Adolesc Health. 2022 06; 70(6):993-996. View Abstract
  22. Complicating Narratives of Sexual Minority Mental Health: An Intersectional Analysis of Frequent Mental Distress at the Intersection of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Race/Ethnicity. LGBT Health. 2022 04; 9(3):161-168. View Abstract
  23. Do media portrayals and social consensus information impact anti-fat attitudes and support for anti-weight discrimination laws and policies? Body Image. 2021 Dec; 39:248-258. View Abstract
  24. Differences in survival among multiple myeloma patients in the United States SEER population by neighborhood socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity. Cancer Causes Control. 2021 Sep; 32(9):1021-1028. View Abstract
  25. Eating-related pathology at the intersection of gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, and weight status: An intersectional Multilevel Analysis of Individual Heterogeneity and Discriminatory Accuracy (MAIHDA) of the Growing Up Today Study cohorts. Soc Sci Med. 2021 07; 281:114092. View Abstract
  26. Personal Experiences with Diagnostic Delay Among Axial Spondyloarthritis Patients: A Qualitative Study. Rheumatol Ther. 2021 Jun; 8(2):1015-1030. View Abstract
  27. Primary care physician perspectives on screening for axial spondyloarthritis: A qualitative study. PLoS One. 2021; 16(5):e0252018. View Abstract
  28. Health Care Satisfaction in Relation to Gender Identity: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, 20 States (2014-2018). Med Care. 2021 04 01; 59(4):312-318. View Abstract
  29. Aging and COVID-19 in Minority Populations: a Perfect Storm. Curr Epidemiol Rep. 2021; 8(2):63-71. View Abstract
  30. Multiple marginalisation and unintended pregnancy among racial/ethnic and sexual minority college women. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2021 07; 35(4):493-500. View Abstract
  31. Primary care physician perspectives on barriers to diagnosing axial Spondyloarthritis: a qualitative study. BMC Fam Pract. 2020 09 29; 21(1):204. View Abstract
  32. Women's Experiences with a Mindful Eating Program for Binge and Emotional Eating: A Qualitative Investigation into the Process of Change. J Altern Complement Med. 2020 Oct; 26(10):937-944. View Abstract
  33. Associations between perceived everyday discrimination, discrimination attributions, and binge eating among Latinas: results from the National Latino and Asian American Study. Ann Epidemiol. 2020 05; 45:32-39. View Abstract
  34. Risk of disordered eating at the intersection of gender and racial/ethnic identity among U.S. high school students. Eat Behav. 2019 08; 34:101299. View Abstract
  35. Health Information Discrepancies Between Internet Media and Scientific Papers Reporting on Omega-3 Supplement Research: Comparative Analysis. Interact J Med Res. 2018 Oct 01; 7(2):e15. View Abstract
  36. Can Mindfulness Address Maladaptive Eating Behaviors? Why Traditional Diet Plans Fail and How New Mechanistic Insights May Lead to Novel Interventions. Front Psychol. 2018; 9:1418. View Abstract
  37. What aspect of dependence does the fagerström test for nicotine dependence measure? ISRN Addict. 2013; 2013:906276. View Abstract

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