Mental Health Trajectories in Adults Born Preterm
This project aims to understand how people born prematurely grow and thrive into adulthood, and what shapes their mental health across development. About one in ten children in the US is born early, yet we know little about how their mental health unfolds beyond early childhood, especially when they face added stressors such as economic hardship or family instability. Using data from the RHODE Study collected at six timepoints from infancy to adulthood, we apply latent class and longitudinal modeling to identify distinct mental health trajectories and examine how early exposures shape them. We will also assess adolescence and emerging adulthood as key stages that may differentiate mental health trajectories. These findings can help clinicians, schools, and families recognize risk and design timely supports that build resilience for this large and often overlooked population.
Coverage, Complexity, and Emergency Care in Rhode Island
This project aims to understand how children with complex conditions use emergency care in Rhode Island and how changing insurance policies in have influenced health services over time. Children with complex conditions make up a small share of the pediatric population but rely heavily on the health system, and gaps in outpatient care, care coordination, and insurance coverage can make the emergency department a default source of care. Using administrative data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, we examine patterns in emergency department visits among these children, including visits that might be managed in outpatient or community settings. The findings can help health systems strengthen coordinated, accessible care so that families get the right support in the right setting.
Cultivating Awareness, Insight & Resilience in Nursing
The CAIRN study aims to help nursing students build resilience, wellbeing, and self-compassion early in their training through a trauma-informed mindfulness curriculum. Nursing students often face stress and burnout well before they enter the workforce, and that strain can carry into practice and affect patient care. The study is designed as a three armed randomized control trial delivered to second-year students, emphesizing reflective and mindfulness practices. We plan to follow students throughout their undergraduate career to see how resilience, wellbeing, burnout, and stress change over time. Because CAIRN is built into existing coursework, other programs can sustain and adapt it to support future and new-to-practice nurses.
Pathways to Autism/Caminos al Autismo
This study aims to understand how parents come to recognize, make sense of, and seek care for autism in their children. Autism signs can be subtle and easy to miss during routine visits, so parents' observations and conversations with providers often play a key role in how and when children are diagnosed. Through in-depth interviews, we are learning about parents' early concerns, how their understanding of autism changes over time, with an emphesis on how cultural expectations shape their experiences. The findings will help clinicians and health systems better support families and make the path to diagnosis more accessible for all children. We are currently recruiting for the study and welcome participants for interviews in Spanish and English.
Dr. Bevan is the Principal Investigator and data analyst on these projects and partners with colleagues on studies of various topics. Below are a curated selection of Dr. Bevan's peer reviewed work. She is a proponent of open science and making academic resources accessible. Please contact her if you would benefit from reviewing grant proposals, R code, or in-progress presentations. Dr. Bevan welcomes collaborations from like-minded scholars.
Jennings Mathis, K., Bevan, S.L., Lopez-Vergara, H. I., Stroud, L. R., & Vergara-Lopez, C. (2026). Experiencing Discrimination Predicts Higher Body Mass Index Among Food Insecure Young Adults. Under Review. doi: 0.31234/osf.io/9ucwa_v1. Preprint.
Portillo, N., Rodgers, A.R., & Bevan, S.L. (2026). Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Qualitative Research Training: Opportunities, Limitations and Lessons from Case Studies in Bilingual Autism Research. Under Review. Preprint.
Bevan, S.L. (2024). The Immigrant Health Paradox in Early Childhood: Structural Health Exposures and Developmental Concerns [Conference presentation]. AcademyHealth Annual Meeting. Baltimore, MD.
Bevan, S.L., Souders, M. (2024). Pathways to autism diagnosis: Lived experience of Latino immigrant families in the United States [Conference presentation]. International Society for Autism Research. Melbourne, AUS.
Bevan, S.L., Liu, J., Wallis, K., & Pinto-Martin, J. (2020). Screening for developmental and behavioral concerns in pediatric Hispanic populations: A systematic literature review. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000000724. Article.
Bevan, SL., Patti, R. (2026). Maternal Mental Health Trajectories Patterned By Child Health Status And Social Networks. doi: 10.17605/OSF.IO/CFG2S. Preprint.
Bevan, S.L., Liu, J., Souders, M., Pinto-Martin, J. (2025). Improving structural equity in the mental health clinical pathway for immigrant children [Conference Presentation]. Eastern Nursing Research Society. Philadelphia, PA.
Bevan, SL., Dai, Y., Liu, J. (2023). Diagnosis without treatment: Predictors of disparities in child mental health access [Conference presentation]. Eastern Society for Pediatric Research Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, PA.
Bixby, L., Bevan, SL., & Boen, C. (2022). The links between disability, incarceration, and social exclusion. Health Affairs, 41(10), 1460-1469. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00495. Article.
Bevan, S.L., Family composition, social determinants, and preventive health. Behavioral Health Nursing Conference at Brown University Health. [Conference Presentation]. Providence, RI. April 2026.
Bevan, SL., Dai, Y., Liu, J. (2026). Caregiver-Teacher Agreement in Preschool ASD-Related Behaviors: Findings from the Jintan China Child Cohort. Journal of School Nursing. doi: 10.1177/10598405261473669. Article.
Bevan, S.L., & DeWitt, C.C. (2024). Policy and practice innovations in school-based mental health services. Children and Youth Services Review, doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107970. Article.
Bevan, S.L., Harris, K., Maeder-Chieffo, S., & Souders, M. (2022). Positive healthcare encounters for children with autism spectrum disorder: Accommodations during surgical procedures, Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing. doi: 10.1016/j.jopan.2022.05.070. Article.
Bevan, S.L. A healthy democracy needs voting nurses. American Nurse. October 2022. Article.
Bevan, S.L., Bixby, L. Family separation in the carceral state. Nursing Clio. December 2022. Article.
Bevan, S.L. Implementing equitable paid family leave legislation: Reforms to bureaucratic systems are necessary to ensure eligible families receive social benefits. The Daily Pennsylvanian. January 2022. Article.
Expert quotation in ‘Our plates are full’: Tufts Children’s Hospital closure leaves patients in the lurch. Boston Herald. January 2022. Article.
Dr. Bevan mentors a lab of research assistants working on her projects.
If you are a student interested in research, feel welcome to reach out about opportunities.
Students who have worked with Dr. Bevan include:
Grace McGuire, URI Nursing
RJ Fatoma, URI Nursing
Brendan Pratt, URI Nursing
Louie Alfidi, URI Nursing
Brianna Connolly, URI Nursing
Amina Gueye, URI Biology
Riss Rincon Rodgers, URI Engineering
Ella Carlotto, URI Data Science
Naomi Portillo, NYU Psychology
Anthony Montes de Oca, Penn Health & Societies