Allen Mallory is an assistant professor of Human Development in the Department of Human Sciences. His research has two primary foci; (1) Understanding the intersectional risk and protective factors for the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ youth and adults; and (2) risk and protective factors for individuals and couples’ sexual well-being. He received his BA in Psychology and Cognitive Science from Case Western Reserve University, his MS in Marriage and Family Therapy from Kansas State University, and his MA and Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Sciences from the University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Mallory shared his answers with the Institute for Population Research (IPR) to the following questions about his career, research interests, and the impact of his work.
Q. How long have you been at Ohio State, and how long have you been connected to IPR?
I have been at OSU for five years. Two years as a postdoctoral scholar and three as an assistant professor. I have been connected to IPR for five years.
Q. Describe your main research interests in a few sentences.
My main research interest is intersectionality and health among sexual and gender minority people. I mainly focus on understanding and leveraging risk and protective factors within this population that can be leveraged to support their health and well-being. I also study human sexuality and romantic relationships more broad, mostly focusing on sexual communication in relationships and relationship dynamic in diverse kinds of romantic relationships.
Q. Which of your current projects are you most excited about?
I am most excited about two current projects. The first is a project supported by an IPR seed grant that documents health disparities in mental health and substance use between sexual minority and heterosexual adolescents by race and ethnicity. I’m excited about it will (1) highlight the racial and ethnic diversity in the increasing number of young people identifying as sexual minority people and (2) provide rigorous demographic documentation of how mental health and substance use disparities vary by race and ethnicity.
The other project I am excited about is in a newer area, ethical non-monogamy, specifically among African Americans. I am wrapping up one study that shows that around 8% of Black adults in my study consider themselves ENM and captures reasons for choosing to be ENM. I think the research is important because it’s an overlooked demographic in family demography, and I think there are some specifically important considerations the populations has for understanding Black families dynamics.
Q. What drew you to IPR, and how do you benefit from your involvement with IPR?
During my PhD program, I was a trainee at the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin. During my time there, I heard a lot of great things about IPR at OSU, so I was excited to get involved when I started my postdoctoral position. I benefit from collaborations formed through IPR, opportunities to hear and connect with IPR seminar speakers, and their grant support through seed grants and the summer grant writing program.
Q. What has been the biggest impact of your work, or what do you hope for future impacts for your work? (This could be research impact, impact on policy or practice, impact on students, administrative impact, etc.)
The biggest impact of my work so far has been articulating three theoretically informed hypotheses for how multiple forms of stigma and discrimination might overlap to impact mental health over time among sexual minority youth and adults. My other big impact has been synthesizing the research on couples’ sexual communication through two meta-analyses that helped to articulate directions for the field regarding theory, measurement, and methodology. In the future, I want my research impact to be in three main areas: to integrate intersectionality into understanding the experiences of sexual and gender minority youths and adult; (2) develop better screening mechanisms to inform prevention of substance misuse and risky sexual behavior among adolescents; and (3) contributing to a better understanding of ENM and family dynamics among Black Americans