Dr. Buffie Longmire-Avital joined CHEST as a postdoctoral research fellow in 2008. She recently received her doctorate in Psychological Development from the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York University. Her dissertation research explored the relationships among perceived family socioeconomic status, racial identity and self-esteem of Black American emerging adults. Dr. Longmire-Avital’s research focuses on how the developing experiences of racial identity, sexuality, and social class influence the concurrent patterns of drug (ab) use and sexual risk-taking among urban Black American adolescents and emerging adults.

Dr. Longmire-Avital worked previously as the data analyst and program evaluation specialist for a progressive youth development agency in New York City. She worked as the lead agency-based evaluator on a CDC-funded grant that tracked the HIV testing patterns of urban adolescents who used the agency’s health center. Dr. Longmire-Avital also evaluated the SISTA program which was geared toward increasing HIV testing self-efficacy, decreasing the use of substance abuse and sexually risky behaviors of Black American adolescent females who were agency members.

Dr. Longmire-Avital’s primary work at CHEST is with Dr. Jose Nanìn, the Principle Investigator on a CDC-funded research study tentatively called the HIV Prevention Communication among Black MSM project, which aims to explore the relationship between interpersonal communication about HIV prevention and HIV testing intentions among Black men who have sex with men. In addition to her work with Dr. Nanìn, she is collaborating with CHEST researchers on several conference presentations and manuscripts for publication that examine the findings from various studies that investigate sexual risk behaviors, drug use, and HIV medication adherence rates for urban minority samples.

In addition to her work at CHEST, Dr. Longmire-Avital is a postdoctoral fellow in Behavioral Science Training in Drug Abuse Research at the National Development and Research Institutes (Funded by the National Institutes for Health). Dr. Longmire-Avital is also collaborating with a researcher at the University of Michigan to produce a series of manuscripts using data from the National Survey of American Life, a comprehensive data set investigating the prevalence rates of substance abuse, dependence, and mental health disorders among African and Caribbean Americans.

Selected Presentations:
Longmire-Avital, B., Golub, S., & Parsons, J.T. (April, 2009). Self-reevaluation as a critical component in sustained behavior change for HIV+ adults with alcohol problems. Society for Behavioral Medicine. Montreal, Canada (Poster).

Longmire-Avital, B., Nanìn J. Grov, C., Bimbi, D., & Parsons, J.T. (August, 2009). Exploring the Relations among Barebacking Behaviors and Barebacking Identity. American Psychological Association. Toronto, Canada (Poster).

Longmire-Avital, B. (June, 2009). Factors Related to Drug Abuse for Black American Emerging Adults. College on Problems of Drug Dependence. Reno, Nevada (Poster).

Longmire, B. (May, 2007). Exploring the Relations among Perceptions of Family Socioeconomic Status, Racial Identity, and Self-Esteem for Black American Emerging Adults. Cross-University Mentoring Conference. New York, NY.

Kim-Gervey, C., Hughes, D., & Longmire, B. (March 2006). How Ethnic Identity Moderates the Relationship Between Discrimination and Psychological Well-being for Urban Minority Early Adolescents. Presented at the Society for Research on Adolescents. San Francisco, CA.

Cooper, R. & Longmire, B. (February, 2005). The Dangers of Refund Anticipation Loans for EITC Filers. Report presented at the Children’s Defense Fund-NY Tax Conference. New York, NY.

Longmire, B. (October, 2002). The Impact of Student’s Value Systems on Their Sense of Community on a College Campus. Presented at the Midwest ECO Conference. Kalamazoo, MI.

Longmire, B. (May, 2002). The Implications of Gender and Race, Perceptions of Leadership Style Effectiveness. Paper presented at the Lehigh Valley Undergraduate Psychology Conference. Bethlehem, PA.

Publications in Progress:
Cooper, R., Longmire, B., & Chin, K. (2006). Keeping what they’ve earned: Working New Yorkers and Tax Credits. Children’s Defense Fund.

Longmire-Avital, B. (under review). Identity Crises. In: Salem Health: Psychology and Mental Health. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.

Longmire-Avital, B. (in progress). Highway to socioeconomic status: Education, race, and perceived family SES among Black college students.

Longmire-Avital, B., Golub, S. & Parsons, J.T. (in progress). Self-reevaluation as a critical component in sustained viral load improvement for HIV+ adults with alcohol problems.

Longmire-Avital, B., Golub, S., Parsons, J.T., Brennan, M., & Karpiak, S. E. (in progress). Financial strain and life satisfaction among aging Black adults with HIV.

Nanìn J. & Longmire-Avital, B., Grov, C., Bimbi, D., & Parsons, J.T. (in progress) Sexual risk behaviors of Black and Latino men who have sex with men.