Melissa K. Holt
Director, Kilachand Honors College
Arvind and Chandan Nandlal Kilachand Professor
Professor, Counseling Psychology
Dr. Melissa K. Holt is a professor of counseling psychology at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and a licensed psychologist. She is also director of the Kilachand Honors College at Boston University and the Arvind and Chandan Nandlal Kilachand Professor.
Dr. Holt’s research explores how adolescents’ exposure to violence—particularly bias-based harassment (i.e. harassment based on one’s identity)—influences mental health and well-being; ways in which school-based prevention programs can play a central role in reducing students’ exposures to bullying and bias-based harassment and improving school climate; and the experiences of gender-diverse adolescents, with an emphasis on the ways in which contexts and systems can better support gender diverse youth and amplify youth strengths.
Before joining BU Wheelock, Dr. Holt was a behavioral scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention within the Division of Violence Prevention, as well as a research assistant professor at the University of New Hampshire’s Crimes against Children Research Center. In both positions, Dr. Holt’s emphasis was on projects focused on youth violence, with a particular emphasis on bullying and multiple victimization. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Justice, and her scholarship has been published widely, including the Journal of Adolescent Research, the Journal of School Health, and Pediatrics.
Recent News
In the Media
Education
PhD, Counseling Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
MS, Counseling Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
BS, Psychology, Tufts University
Research
Root Causes of Bias-Based Harassment in Schools (Role: PI), National Institutes of Justice ($1,290,546). This project has two primary aims: (A) To identify rates and outcomes (psychological, school-related) of bias-based harassment (victimization and perpetration related to: gender identity, religion, immigration status, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity) among adolescents; (B) To determine risk and protective factors at multiple levels of the social ecology that predict bias-based harassment, and buffer or exacerbate outcomes.
Selected Publications
Parodi, K.B., Holt, M., Aradhya, P.*, Green, J.G., & Merrin, G. (2026). A longitudinal analysis of risk and protective factors of bias-based bullying victimization among adolescents. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, online first. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605251318276.
Holt, M., Merrin, G., Wyatt, O.*, Green, J.G., Gini, G., & Fogelman, P. (2025). Direct and witnessed bias-based harassment exposures among adolescents: Associations with functioning and the influence of protective factors. Violence and Victims, 12. DOI: 10.1891/VV-2023-0027
Holt, M., Ranker, L., Kraus, A.D.*, Green, J.G., Katz-Wise, S., Xuan, Z., & Morales, K. (2024). Recruitment and retention of a longitudinal sample of transgender and gender diverse youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 75, 969-973.
Shah, T.N.*, Parodi, K.B.*, Holt, M., Green, J.G., Katz-Wise, S.L., Kraus, A.*, & Kim, G.S. (2022). Transgender and non-binary adolescents: A qualitative exploration of how they define and identify supports. Journal of Adolescent Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/07435584221123123
Parodi, K.*, Holt, M., Green, J.G., Katz-Wise, S.L., Shah, T.N.*, Kraus, A.*, & Xuan, Z. (2022). Associations between school-related factors and mental health among transgender and gender diverse youth. Journal of School Psychology, 90, 135-149. doi: 10.1016/j.jsp.2021.11.004
Parodi, K.*, Holt, M., Green, J., Porche, M., Xuan, Z., & Koenig, B. (2022). Time trends and disparities in anxiety among adolescents, 2012 – 2018. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 57 (1), 127-137. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-021-02122-9
Selected Presentations
Parodi, K., Holt, M., Preda, A.*, Ciniglio, A.*, Peters, S., & Day, J. (2026). Improving transgender and nonbinary youth mental health: The role of family and social supports. Paper presented at the Society for Research on Child Development Global Forum on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Childhood and Adolescence, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Holt, M.K., Parodi, K., Preda, A., Fusco, N., Ciniglio, A.M., Kraus, A., & Green, J.G. (2026, April). Trajectories and Predictors of Bias-based Bullying Victimization Among Transgender and Nonbinary Youth. In K. Parodi and M. Holt (Co-Chairs), Cross-Cutting Research on Risk and Resilience Factors. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association 2026 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, California.
Ciniglio, A.M.*, Holt, M., Parodi, K., Kraus, A.*, & Fusco, N. (2025). Transgender and non-binary college students’ sense of belonging: Relation to self-harm and suicide. Poster presented at the American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.
Parodi, K. B., Holt, M. K., Green, J. G., Katz-Wise, S. L., Xuan, Z., Shah, T. N., Kraus, A. D., & Gini, G. (2024, October). Mental Health Trajectories among Transgender and Nonbinary Youth. Paper presented at the World Professional Association for Transgender Health Scientific Symposium, Lisbon, Portugal.
Hsiao, Y.F., Ranker, L.R., Xuan, Z.M., Green, J.G., Holt, M.K., Katz-Wise, S.L, (2024, September). Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Fluidity and Mental Health in Transgender and Nonbinary Youth. Paper presented at the 2nd Annual Trans Studies Conference, Chicago, IL.