Christy L. Erving
Assistant Professor of Sociology
How do social factors produce and maintain disparities in physical and mental health?
As a whole, my research employs quantitative methods to explore how race, ethnicity, immigrant status, and gender interact to produce differentials in a variety of health outcomes. Using theories, concepts, and perspectives from several research areas, my program of research focuses on clarifying and explaining status distinctions in health. I’m currently developing four related streams of research: 1) status distinctions in physical-mental comorbidity, 2) the relationship between physical and mental health, 3) psychosocial determinants of black women’s health, and 4) the Black–White mental health paradox.
My research has been funded by the American Sociological Association, Ford Foundation, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In 2014-2016, I was a post-doctoral fellow in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars Program at University of Wisconsin, Madison. I completed a Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology at Indiana University-Bloomington, and received a B.A. in Sociology and Hispanic Studies from Rice University.
Selected Publications
Erving, Christy L., and Cleothia Frazier. Forthcoming. “The Association between Multiple Chronic Conditions and Depressive Symptoms: Intersectional Distinctions by Race, Nativity, and Gender.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior
Erving, Christy L., and Monisola Vaughan Smith. Forthcoming. “Disrupting Monolithic Thinking about Black Women and their Mental Health: Does Stress Exposure Explain Intersectional Ethnic, Nativity, and Socioeconomic Differences?” Social Problems
Thomas Tobin, Courtney, Christy L. Erving, and Apurva Barve. 2021. “Race and SES Differences in Psychosocial Resources: Implications for Social Stress Theory.” Social Psychology Quarterly 84(1): 1-25.
Cobb, Ryon J., Christy L. Erving, and W. Carson Byrd. 2021. “Perceived COVID-19 Health Threat Increases Psychological Distress Among Black Americans.” Ethnic & Racial Studies 44(5): 806-818.
Erving, Christy L., Lacee A. Satcher, and Yvonne Chen. 2021. “Psychologically Resilient, but Physically Vulnerable? Exploring the Psychosocial Determinants of African American Women’s Mental and Physical Health.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 7(1): 116-133.
Erving, Christy L. 2020. “Gendered Tri-Racial Stratification and Health Disparities.” Social Science Research 88-89: Article 102427.