I study why LGBTQ+ adolescents experience higher rates of body image concerns and eating disorders. Guided by the Pride Framework I developed, my work combines large national surveys, longitudinal studies, and advanced statistical approaches to trace both risks and sources of resilience. This research underscores the unique challenges and strengths of queer youth and directly informs prevention programs that are affirming, culturally responsive, and accessible across schools, clinics, and digital platforms. In doing so, I aim to reduce disparities in care while building strengths that can be scaled through both community-based and digital interventions.

I examine how developmental processes and sociocultural contexts shape adolescent mental health. I focus on the role of body dissatisfaction, which not only contributes to eating disorders but also predicts depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicidality. Body image is especially central during adolescence, when appearance is a salient marker of social belonging and self-worth. By blending quantitative and qualitative approaches, my research highlights adolescence as a pivotal stage for intervention and guides strategies that address multiple forms of psychopathology while promoting resilience, well-being, and healthy identity development.

I prioritize elevating adolescents’ voices in research and prevention. Through youth advisory boards, online focus groups, and collaborative program design, I ensure that interventions reflect young people’s lived experiences and needs. This participatory approach is particularly important for LGBTQ+ youth and others from marginalized backgrounds. By using digital delivery methods and community-engaged research practices, I develop prevention strategies that not only reduce risk but also strengthen resilience, empowerment, and belonging across diverse groups of youth.

I examine how social media shapes body image during adolescence, with particular attention to adolescent girls and LGBTQ+ youth. In doing so, I extend and modernize body image theories by integrating digital contexts into models originally built to explain offline sociocultural pressures. My work highlights how digital environments can heighten body dissatisfaction while also offering opportunities for connection and identity exploration. I investigate why digital contexts are especially influential during adolescence and use these insights to guide prevention strategies that reflect the realities of teens’ lives online and offline.