About

Amelia M. Stanton is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Boston University, having joined the faculty in 2022. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from The University of Texas at Austin in 2019. Her training includes a pre-doctoral clinical internship in the Behavioral Medicine Program at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS), as well as a three-year T32 fellowship in global psychiatry at MGH/HMS. Dr. Stanton's research focuses on mitigating psychological barriers to optimal sexual and reproductive health, with particular attention to the intersection of sexual health, mental health, and substance use disparities in marginalized and minoritized populations both internationally and domestically. Her work has primarily involved women, pregnant people, and gender diverse individuals, and she is actively engaged in efforts to democratize and decolonize global mental health through projects based in sub-Saharan Africa.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Psychology
• Clinical psychology
• Medicine
• Psychiatry
• Psychotherapist
• Internal medicine
• Social psychology

Selected publications

• Exploring the effects of mental health on bonding and caregiving among pregnant and postpartum persons with likely depression and/or PTSD in South Africa: a qualitative analysis

  BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth · 2026-03-31

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Perinatal mental health disorders place a particularly high public health burden on South Africa (SA) via adverse health outcomes for the birthing parent and for their infants, and contribute to emotional and behavioral problems later in childhood. There is little research exploring the anticipated impacts mental health symptoms have on one’s ability to emotionally connect or care for their infant after delivery. HIV-negative pregnant persons were recruited from an antenatal clinic in Cape Town as a part of a larger study investigating mental health barriers to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake during pregnancy. Participants qualified for an in-depth interview based on elevated symptoms of depression and/or PTSD. The interviews explored the likely impact of their mental health symptoms on their baby’s wellbeing, their ability to bond with their baby, and their ability to meet their baby’s needs. After transcription and translation of interviews, a codebook was developed using inductive and deductive methods. Coded data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Twenty-three participants completed 30 interviews (seven were interviewed twice—once during pregnancy and once post-delivery); on average, they were 25.1 years old and had 2.1 previous pregnancies. Three themes emerged from interviews: (1) a strong perceived connection between maternal mental health and baby’s wellbeing; (2) perceived strains on bonding with the baby; and (3) the impact of mental health on the likelihood of completing parenting tasks. These results provide insight on how women expect their mental health symptoms to impact their ability to care for their baby, and also how a sense of resilience can contribute to overcoming anticipated mental health challenges. This study will inform future mental health programming to prepare pregnant persons with mental health symptoms for a successful postpartum period with respect to bonding and caring for their infant.

  PublisherDOI

• “If I’m Not Okay, I Won’t Take the Pills”: Anticipating the Effects of Depression and PTSD on PrEP Use Among PrEP Naïve Pregnant and Postpartum Persons in South Africa

  International Journal of Behavioral Medicine · 2026-05-22

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The Syndemic Effects of Food Insecurity, Depression, and Gender-Based Violence on HIV Treatment Outcomes Among People with HIV in Zimbabwe

  AIDS and Behavior · 2026-01-27

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Psychosocial factors associated with the willingness to initiate and continue PrEP during pregnancy among PrEP-naïve persons in South Africa: the critical roles of alcohol use and HIV-related shame and blame

  AIDS Care · 2025-12-01

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  In South Africa (SA), women are disproportionately affected by HIV, with increased risk during the peripartum period. Despite the availability, efficacy, and safety of oral PrEP to prevent HIV, uptake and adherence rates remain low. This study assessed the association of intrapersonal, partner-related, and community-referenced psychosocial factors with willingness to use PrEP among pregnant persons in SA. PrEP-naïve pregnant persons receiving antenatal care in Cape Town were recruited. Hierarchical regression models examined the associations among willingness to (a) initiate and (b) continue PrEP with intrapersonal (PrEP awareness, depression, alcohol use, PTSD, internalized HIV-related shame/blame, perceived HIV risk), partner-related (relationship power, reproductive autonomy, dyadic trust), and community-level (social support, HIV-related community shame/blame, enacted stigma) factors. Increased willingness to initiate and continue PrEP was associated with reduced alcohol use, increased internalized HIV-related blame, increased HIV-related shame at the community level, and decreased HIV-related blame at the community level. Decreased enacted stigma increased willingness to initiate PrEP, while previous pregnancies increased willingness to continue PrEP. Attending to multi-level psychosocial factors through tailored interventions may support PrEP initiation and continuation among pregnant people in SA. Further research is needed to develop and adapt culturally meaningful interventions that address these factors within antenatal care settings.

  PublisherDOI

• Identifying Intersecting Factors Associated With Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Adults: Preliminary Conditional Inference Tree Analysis

  Journal of Medical Internet Research · 2025-03-06 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND: Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals are disproportionately impacted by suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs), and intersecting demographic and psychosocial factors may contribute to STB disparities. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to identify intersecting factors associated with increased risk for suicidal ideation, intent, plan, and attempts in the US transgender population health survey (N=274), and determine age of onset for each outcome using conditional inference trees (CITs), which iteratively partitions subgroups of greater homogeneity with respect to a specific outcome. METHODS: In separate analyses, we restricted variables to those typically available within electronic medical records (EMRs) and then included variables not typically within EMRs. We also compared the results of the CIT analyses with logistic regressions and Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: In restricted analyses, younger adults endorsed more frequent ideation and planning. Adults aged ≤26 years who identified as Black or with another race not listed had the highest risk for ideation, followed by White, Latine, or multiracial adults aged ≤39 years who identified as sexual minority individuals. Adults aged ≤39 years who identified as sexual minority individuals had the highest risk for suicide planning. Increased risk for suicidal intent was observed among those who identified as multiracial, whereas no variables were associated with previous suicide attempts. In EMR-specific analyses, age of onset for ideation and attempts were associated with gender identity, such that transgender women were older compared to transgender men and nonbinary adults when they first experienced ideation; for attempts, transgender women and nonbinary adults were older than transgender men. In expanded analyses, including additional psychosocial variables, psychiatric distress was associated with increased risk for ideation, intent, and planning. High distress combined with high health care stereotype threat was linked to increased risk for intent and for suicide planning. Only high everyday discrimination was associated with increased risk for lifetime attempts. Ages of onset were associated with gender identity for ideation, the intersection of psychiatric distress and drug use for suicide planning, and gender identity alone for suicide attempts. No factors were associated with age of onset for suicide intent in the expanded variable set. The results of the CIT analysis and the traditional regressions were comparable for ordinal outcomes, but CITs substantially outperformed the regressions for the age of onset outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: In this preliminary test of the CIT approach to identify subgroups of TGD adults with increased STB risk, the risk was primarily influenced by age, racial identity, and sexual minority identity, as well as psychiatric distress, health care stereotype threat, and discrimination. Identifying intersecting factors linked to STBs is vital for early risk detection among TGD individuals. This approach should be tested on a larger scale using EMR data to facilitate service provision to TGD individuals at increased risk for STBs.

  PublisherDOI

• “I became alright after birth”: Mechanisms driving improvements in mental health symptoms in the postpartum transition among persons at risk for HIV in South Africa

  Women s Health · 2025-08-01

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND: Pregnant and postpartum persons (PPPs) are at increased risk for HIV acquisition, and depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) negatively impact engagement in HIV prevention behaviors like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use, thereby increasing risk. OBJECTIVES: The present study explored changes in mental health symptoms from pregnancy to postpartum to inform future interventions for PPP that address mental health and HIV prevention. DESIGN: This analysis is part of a larger, mixed-methods study conducted in South Africa that examined antenatal mental health barriers to PrEP use, employing an explanatory sequential design. METHODS: Participants recruited from an antenatal clinic were pregnant or postpartum, over 18, not on PrEP, and with no history of PrEP use. Participants first took a survey to assess depression and PTSD symptoms. Those with elevated symptoms during pregnancy completed qualitative interviews during pregnancy and postpartum. Data were analyzed via thematic analysis. RESULTS: Of 110 survey participants, 23 completed qualitative interviews (10 pregnancy only, 6 postpartum only, 7 both). This analysis includes 13 participants who completed either both interviews or postpartum only. Three themes illustrated processes linked to symptom reduction postpartum: (1) increased feelings of empowerment (e.g., via acceptance of life circumstances), (2) improvements in emotional and tangible support (e.g., via improved communication, increased caretaking and financial support), and (3) conceptualizations of infants and motherhood as sources of joy and motivation (e.g., pride in maternal role, companionship with baby). CONCLUSION: These themes highlight processes that may contribute to reductions in depression and PTSD symptoms postpartum, which could be integrated into interventions targeting mental health and HIV prevention during pregnancy. Intervention components may include skills promoting self-efficacy, problem-solving, communication, and identifying sources of joy and meaning. Interventions leveraging these mechanisms of symptom improvement during the postpartum transition may enhance mental health during pregnancy and promote greater engagement in HIV prevention behaviors.

  PublisherDOI

• Interpersonal factors associated with depression symptom severity among PrEP-naïve pregnant women in South Africa: a mixed-methods analysis

  AIDS Care · 2025-10-16

  articleSenior author

  < .05). A subset of 17 women with likely depression participated in qualitative interviews analyzed using thematic analysis. These narratives revealed four pathways linking reduced reproductive autonomy to worsened depression: (1) loss of control over reproductive events, (2) gendered power imbalances, (3) fear of retaliation for asserting autonomy, and (4) emotional strain in efforts to regain agency. These findings suggest that addressing interpersonal dynamics, especially by involving male partners in communication and shared decision-making may enhance the effectiveness of mental health and HIV prevention interventions for pregnant women in South Africa.

  PublisherDOI

• A Resiliency Intervention to Support Nurses Engaged in the Provision of HIV Care in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Protocol for a pilot Randomized Control Trial (Preprint)

  2025-06-27

  preprint

  <sec> <title>UNSTRUCTURED</title> South Africa (SA) has the largest HIV epidemic in the world; in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province, over 40.8% of adults over 15 are living with HIV. Despite this, SA is home to only 3% of the world’s healthcare workers. Nurses constitute the largest group of providers in SA and experience high levels of burnout, which can contribute to negative patient outcomes for persons living with HIV (PWH), including reduced treatment adherence. Patient-provider relationships are the gateway to engagement and retention in HIV care yet relationships can be compromised in overburdened nurses. Nurse-centered interventions that offset these effects are urgently needed. The purpose of this study is to pilot an adapted resiliency-based mind-body intervention (the Relaxation Response Resiliency Program; the 3RP) for nurses that provide care for PWH in the public sector in SA. In Phase 1 [NIH Grant Number: R34MH131426; HREC Ethics Reference Number: 220813], we conducted focus group discussions to solicit feedback on: the role of culture and perceptions of stress; the lived experiences of stress; sources of stress (e.g., occupational, trauma-related); how stress impacts job functioning (specifically patient care); current coping strategies; and the proposed intervention modules (content, number of sessions, session duration, program length, use of coaches, mode of delivery (e.g., virtual, in-person, hybrid approaches), etc.). In this Phase 2, we will conduct a small proof-of-concept study (N = 8-10), followed by a randomized pilot (N = 60), of nurses that care for PWH in the public sector in SA to test the feasibility and acceptability of the adapted intervention. </sec>

  PublisherDOI

• Development and preliminary inter-rater reliability of the new PROOF tool to measure fidelity of problem-solving therapy for depression delivered by non-specialists in a low-resource African setting

  Cambridge Prisms Global Mental Health · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Problem-solving therapy (PST) is a brief psychological intervention often implemented for depression. Currently, there are no tools with well-evidenced reliability to measure PST fidelity. This pilot study aimed to measure the inter-rater reliability and agreement of the Pro blem-S o lving Therapy F idelity (PROOF) scale, comprising binary 14-item adherence and an 8-item competence subscales. Transcripts were from the TENDAI trial, a Zimbabwe-based PST intervention for depression and medication adherence. Seven transcripts were each rated by seven specialists, and two transcripts were each rated by two non-specialists. Inter-rater agreement was assessed using percent agreement and inter-rater reliability was assessed using Gwet’s AC 1 . The PROOF subscales demonstrated promising inter-rater agreement among specialists (adherence = 90.4%, competence = 82.5%) and non-specialists (adherence = 92.9%, competence = 68.8%). Inter-rater reliability analyses yielded a Gwet’s AC 1 of 0.411–0.778 and 0.619–0.959 for adherence and competence among specialists, and 0.529–1.00 for adherence in non-specialists. The PROOF scale has the potential to fill the gap of fidelity tools for PST delivery.

  PublisherDOI

• A Resiliency Intervention to Support Nurses Engaged in the Provision of HIV Care in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Protocol for a pilot Randomized Control Trial (Preprint)

  JMIR Research Protocols · 2025-06-27

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Reducing psychological barriers to PrEP persistence among pregnant and postpartum women in Cape Town, South Africa

  NIH · $747k · 2022–2027

Frequent coauthors

• Conall O’Cleirigh

  Fenway Health

  146 shared

• Norik Kirakosian

  Fenway Health

  73 shared

• Christina Psaros

  63 shared

• Qimin Liu

  Boston University

  51 shared

• Georgia R. Goodman

  Massachusetts General Hospital

  51 shared

• Katherine E. Kabel

  50 shared

• Alexandra H. Bettis

  Vanderbilt University Medical Center

  50 shared

• Richard T. Liu

  Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research

  49 shared

Education

• Ph.D.

  The University of Texas at Austin

  2019

Awards & honors

• three-year T32 fellowship in global psychiatry