Alicia B Colvin

Contributions to Public Health

• Depression in Midlife Women: I am a psychiatric epidemiologist, and my research focuses on the impact of the menopausal transition on mental health. Through my work on the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), I found that 1) family history of depression predicts MDD in midlife women independent of menopause and changes in psychosocial and health profiles, and 2) I identified trajectories of change in depressive symptoms relative to the timing of the final menstrual period.  
  • Colvin A, Richardson GA, Cyranowski JM, Youk A, Bromberger JT. The Role of Family History of Depression and the Menopausal Transition in the Development of Major Depression in Midlife Women: Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation Mental Health Study (SWAN MHS). Depression and Anxiety. 2017 May 10. doi: 10.1002/da.22651. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 28489293 PMCID: PMC5585035
  • Avis NE, Colvin A, Chen Y, Joffe H, Kravitz HM. Depressive Symptoms Over the Final Menstrual Period: Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN). Journal of Affective Disorders. 2024 Dec 15;367:426-433. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.08.237. Epub 2024 Sep 2. PMID: 39233250.
• Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and Psychological Well-Being during Midlife and Early Old Age: In the SWAN cohort, I have worked to identify midlife factors that predict HRQoL and psychological well-being in women in early old age.  This work has shown that good sleep hygiene, physical activity, and lower BMI in midlife are associated with worse HRQoL in early old age. I also determined that midlife financial strain, sleep, physical activity, and psychological resilience were important predictors of psychological well-being in older women.
  • Avis NE, Colvin A, Bromberger JT, Hess R. Midlife predictors of health-related quality of life in older women. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2018;00(00)1-7. PMID: 29596565
  • Avis NE, Colvin A, Hess RM, Bromberger JT. Midlife Factors Related to Psychological Well-Being at an Older Age: Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN). Journal of Women’s Health. 2021 Mar 4; 30(3): 332-340. PMID: 33090934.
• Physical Function in Midlife Women: In SWAN, I helped to demonstrate that clinically important declines in women's physical function were relatively common between 55-65 years and that these declines were related to factors like BMI, smoking, and depressive symptoms. However, a subset of women show improvement in physical function during midlife. Those who improved reported better sleep, less financial strain, lower BMI, fewer medications, no osteoarthritis, more physical activity, and lower baseline physical component scores than those without improvement.
  • Solomon DH, Colvin A, Lange-Maia BS, Derby C, Dugan S, Jackson EA, Ruppert K, Karvonen-Guttierez C, Santacroce L, Strotmeyer ES, Avis NE. Factors Associated with 10-Year Declines in Physical Health and Function Among Women During the Midlife. JAMA Network Open. 2022 Jan 4:5(1): e2142773. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.42773. PMID: 35006247.
  • Santacroce LM, Avis NE, Colvin AB, Ruppert K, Karvonen-Gutierrez C, Solomon DH. Physical and Behavioral Factors Associated with Improvement in Physical Health and Function in Women During the Midlife. JAMA Network Open. 2023;6(5):e2311012. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.11012.