Lanice Avery

Education

B.A., San Francisco State University
M.S., University of Michigan
Ph.D., University of Michigan

Biography

Dr. Avery has a joint faculty appointment in the Departments of Psychology and Women, Gender, and Sexuality. Her multi-method, intersectionality-informed research explores how Black women’s exposure to gendered racism and racial stereotypes influences their sexual socialization, identity development, and psycho-sexual health outcomes. Currently, she has several lines of research that focus on understanding how multilevel factors (e.g., interpersonal, cultural, and structural) contribute to Black women’s health disparities, sexual agency, and experiences of romantic relationships and sexual victimization. Taken together, the primary aim of Dr. Avery’s research is to promote healthy gender and sexual development among socially marginalized and stigmatized groups. She is the founding Director of the Research on Intersectionality, Sexuality, and Empowerment (RISE) Lab at the University of Virginia.

Selected Publications

Matsuzaka, S., Avery, L. R., & Mountz, S. (2026). Parental stress, minority stress, and depression among LGBTQ+ parents. LGBTQ+ Family: An Interdisciplinary Journal. Advance online publication: https://doi.org/10.1080/27703371.2026.2667172 

Debnam, K. J., Pandey, T., Leath, S., Coletti, M., & Avery, L. R. (2026). “I bring peace”: Cultural assets as facilitators to young Black women’s healthy romantic relationship dynamics. Journal of Adolescent Research, 0(0). Advance online publication: https://doi.org/10.1177/07435584261467745

Debnam, K. & Avery, L. R. (2025). “It’s not actually all peaches and roses:” Black women’s navigation of strong Black woman schema prescriptions in intimate partnerships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 43(3), 887-910. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075251389717 

Matsuzaka, S., Volpe, V., Avery, L. R., & Stanton, A. G. (2025). Shrunken and Recolored: Young Black American women’s double consciousness body image, online victimization, and photo editing. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 49(3), 332-344. https://doi.org/10.1177/03616843251352872 

Avery, L. R. (2024). “Comfortable in my skin”: Cozy actualization as a mitigating factor in the link between gendered racism and sexual development for Black women and femmes. In T. Lorenz, D. Hope & K. Holland (Eds.), Gender resilience, integration, and transformation (pp. 25-25). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61969-4 

Debnam, K. J., Avery, L. R., & Lynch, K. (2024). More than a woman: A scoping review of the role of the strong Black woman schema in Black women’s romantic relationships. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 27(2), 294-304. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380241308881

Matsuzaka, S., Avery, L. R., & Espinel, S. (2023). Black sexual minority women’s internalized stigma and coping motivated alcohol use: The role of emotional suppression. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse. Advance online publication.  https://doi.org/10.1080/15332640.2023.2220656

Matsuzaka, S., Avery, L. R., & Stanton, A. G. (2023). Black women’s social media use integration and social media addiction: The need to connect with Black women. Social Media & Society, 9(1), 1-10. http://doi.org./10.1177/20563051221148977

Avery, L. R., Stanton, A. G., Ward, L., Trinh, S., Cole, E. R., & Jerald, M. (2022). The strong, silent (gender) type: The strong Black woman ideal, self-silencing, and sexual assertiveness in Black college women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 51, 1509–1520. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02179-2

Matsuzaka, S., Jamison, L., Avery, L. R., Schmidt, K., Stanton, A. G., & Debnam, K. (2022). Gendered racial microaggressions scale: Measurement invariance across sexual orientation. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 46(4), 518-530. https://doi.org/10.1177/03616843221118339 

Avery, L. R., Stanton, A. G., Ward, L., Trinh, S., Cole, E. R., & Jerald, M. (2021). Remixing the script?: The role of culturally targeted media consumption on young Black women’s heteropatriarchal romantic relationship beliefs. Journal of Black Psychology, 47(7), 593-625. https://doi.org/10.1177/00957984211021236

Avery, L. R., Stanton, A. G., Trinh, S. L., Ward, L. M., Jerald, M. C., & Cole, E. R. (2021). “Pretty hurts”: Acceptance of hegemonic feminine beauty ideals and reduced sexual well-being among Black women. Body Image, 38,181-190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2021.04.004

Avery, L. R., & Stanton, A. G. (2020). Subverting the mandates of our methods: Tensions and considerations for incorporating reproductive justice frameworks into psychological science. Journal of Social Issues, 76, 447-455. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12386