Professor, Director of Clinical Training, Clinical Program I am a clinical psychologist whose research aims to understand and improve family health and well-being, particularly among underserved and marginalized populations. My work examines (1) how and why relationships change; (2) the effects of minority and contextual stressors such as racial discrimination, financial strain, and sexual stigma on individual and family functioning and the protective factors that buffer these effects; and (3) preventive interventions to strengthen relational, physical, and mental health among couples and families. Education Education: Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles B.A., Williams College Research Research Interests: Couple and family relationships, prevention/intervention, health inequities, minority and contextual stress, LGBTQ issues Selected Publications Selected Publications: Overall, N. C., Simpson, J. A., & Lavner, J. A. (Eds.). (2025). Research handbook on couple and family relationships. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. Petruzzella, A., Allan, T., & Lavner, J. A. (2025). Gay men’s engagement with a gay campground community in the rural Southern United States. Leisure Sciences, 47, 264–282. Adesogan, O., Beach, S. R. H., Carter, S. E., Metzger, I. W., & Lavner, J. A. (2024). Effects of a responsive parenting intervention on Black mothers’ depressive symptoms postpartum: Secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 92, 828–835. Adesogan, O., Lavner, J. A., Carter, S. E., & Beach, S. R. H. (2024). Stress accumulation, depressive symptoms, and sleep problems among Black Americans in the rural South. Clinical Psychological Science, 12, 421–434. Hart, A. R., Beach, S. R. H., Hart, C. N., Smith, J. J., Stansfield, B. K., & Lavner, J. A. (2024). Responsive parenting and Black mothers’ postpartum sleep: Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial. Health Psychology, 43, 438–447. Weber, D. M., Lavner, J. A., & Beach, S. R. H. (2024). Different trajectories of relationship satisfaction among rural Black couples following preventive relationship intervention. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 92, 356–366. Weber, D. M., Williamson, H. C., Bryant, C. M., Mussa, K., & Lavner, J. A. (2024). Patterns and predictors of change in relationship status among Black mothers over 16 weeks postpartum. Journal of Family Psychology, 38, 751–762. Lavner, J. A., Hohman, E. E., Beach, S. R. H., Stansfield, B. K., & Savage, J. S. (2023). Effects of a responsive parenting intervention among Black families on infants’ sleep: A secondary analysis of the Sleep SAAF randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open, 6, e236276. Lavner, J. A., Ong, M. L., Carter, S. E., Hart, A. R., & Beach, S. R. H. (2023). Racial discrimination predicts depressive symptoms throughout adolescence among Black youth. Developmental Psychology, 59, 7–14. Lavner, J. A., Savage, J. S., Stansfield, B. K., Beach, S. R. H., Marini, M. E., Smith, J. J., Sperr, M. C., Anderson, T. N., Hernandez, E., Moore, A. M., Caldwell, A. L., & Birch, L. L. (2022). Effects of the Sleep SAAF responsive parenting intervention on rapid infant weight gain: A randomized clinical trial of African American families. Appetite, 175, 106080.
