Mark Macgowan

Focus

Disaster Mental Health, Evidence-Based Group Work, Adolescent Suicidality

Biography

Dr. Mark Macgowan serves as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for Stempel College and Professor of Social Work. Dr. Macgowan is an experienced researcher, educator, and clinician, who is active in community and professional service.

His research advances effective practices and teaching related to psychosocial well-being and disasters, group work, and adolescent suicidality. His recent publications include systematic reviews of interventions for people affected by mass casualty events, adolescent suicidality, and the effectiveness of remotely delivered group therapies. He is the author of Guide to Evidence-Based Group Work and co-author of Group Work Research, both with Oxford University Press, and co-editor of Evidence-Based Group Work in Community Settings and IASWG Standards for Social Work with Groups, both with Taylor & Francis. He is currently under contract as co-editor for the International Handbook on Social Work with Groups (Routledge Press). Dr. Macgowan was PI on a federally funded project establishing a hurricane response technical assistance center serving Miami‐Dade and Escambia Counties, Florida, through the National Network of Public Health Institutes. He currently serves as Co-PI on a NIST-funded project collecting social science data related to the Champlain Towers South building collapse in Surfside, Florida.

Dr. Macowan teaches FIU’s only graduate course on disaster mental health and trains health professionals on best practices related to psychosocial response to mass casualty events. As a licensed therapist, he has served as a disaster mental health worker with the American Red Cross and currently serves as a behavioral health specialist with a federal Disaster Medical Assistance Team (FL-5 DMAT), deploying numerous times to federally declared disaster areas.

Dr. Macgowan is active in international, national, and local service. He serves on editorial boards of numerous peer-reviewed scholarly journals and an NIH special emphasis panel/scientific review group. He is active on the Executive Committee of the International Association of Social Work with Groups (IASWG) and led a multinational project that developed online considerations for the IASWG Standards for the Practice of Social Work with Groups. Locally, he serves on the steering committee with the Florida Institute for Group Facilitation, a joint program with SunServe and IASWG to help improve the effectiveness of group work for populations affected by health-related challenges.

Dr. Macgowan has received multiple local, national, and international awards for excellence in teaching, research, and service and has been the recipient of two prestigious international Fulbright awards to Scotland and Spain.

Lab

Dr. Macgowan manages a virtual lab that focuses on the epidemiology of adolescent and young adult suicidality. The lab includes the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health data set, which Dr. Macgowan and his team are using to identify risk and protective factors that make diverse young people vulnerable to suicidal ideation and behaviors.

Education

• Barry University, Ph.D.
• University of Toronto, BA, MSW

Publications/Research

Patrono, A., Renzetti, S., Guerini, C., Macgowan, M. J., Moncada, S. M., Placidi, D., Memo, M., & Lucchini, R. G. (in press). Social isolation consequences: lessons from COVID-19 pandemic in a context of dynamic lock-down in Chile. BMC Public Health.

Cañizares, E. C., & Macgowan, M. J. (2023). Interventions for adolescent suicide ideation and suicide attempts in Latin America and Spain: A systematic review. Research on Social Work Practice. https://doi.org/10.1177/10497315231178462

Macgowan, M. J. & Cañizares, E. C. (2023). La formación de grupos basada en la evidencia para el trabajo con familias (“Evidence based group facilitation in family work”). In Carmen Orte, Belén Pascual & Lidia Sánchez-Prieto (Eds), La formación de los profesionales en programas de educación familiar: claves para el éxito (“The training of professionals in family education programs: keys to success”)(pp. 131-151). Octaedro, Barcelona.

Macgowan, M. J., & Hanbidge, A. S. (2022). Best practices in social work with groups: Beginnings to endings. In L. Rapp-McCall, K. Corcoran, & A. Roberts (Eds.), Social Workers’ Desk Reference (4th ed., pp. 670-675). Oxford.

Macgowan, M. J., & Hanbidge, A. S. (2022). Best practices in social work with groups: Foundations. In L. Rapp-McCall, K. Corcoran, & A. Roberts (Eds.), Social Workers’ Desk Reference (4th ed., pp. 661-669). Oxford.

Macgowan, M. J., Naseh, M., & Rafieifar, M. (2022). Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing to reduce post-traumatic stress disorder and related symptoms among forcibly displaced people: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Research on Social Work Practice. 32, 863-877

Palattiyil, G., Sidhva, D., Derr, A; & Macgowan, M. J. (2022). Global trends in forced migration: Policy, practice, and research imperatives for social work. International Social Work, 65, 1111-1129. https://doi.org/10.1177/00208728211022791

Patrono, A., Renzetti, S., Manco, A., Brunelli, Moncada, S. M., Macgowan, M. J., Placidi, D., Calza, S., Cagna, G., Rota, M., Memo, M., Tira, M., & Lucchini, R. G. (2022). COVID-19 aftermath: Exploring the mental health emergency at a Northern Italian university. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 8587. 10.3390/ijerph19148587

Rafieifar, M., & Macgowan, M. J. (2022). A meta-analysis of group interventions for trauma and depression among immigrant and refugee children. Research on Social Work Practice, 32, 13-31. doi: 10.1177/10497315211022812

Cohen, C. S. & Macgowan, M. J. (Eds).(2021). Group work applications across the social work curriculum. London: Whiting & Birch.

Barratt, D., Liebman, J., Fourcand, F. Strasser, S., Macgowan, M. J., Rodriguez, D., Tamton, H, Coppola, R., Shakir, M., Boren, S., Subei, A. (2020). Disclosure of Medical Errors in Stroke Patients: Development of a Simulation-based Curriculum for Neurology Residents Neurology, Apr 2020, 94 (15 Supplement), p. 784.

Muskat, B., Greenblatt, A., Garvin, C., Pelech, W., Cohen, C., Macgowan, M. J., & Roy, V. (2020). Group workers’ experiences of mutual aid: Stories from the field. Social Work with Groups, 43, 241-256. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/01609513.2019.1571470

Hernandez, J. P., & Macgowan, M. J. (2019). Psychosocial interventions for women with HIV/AIDS: A critical review. Research on Social Work Practice, 25, 103-116. doi: 10.1177/1049731514527799.

Joseph, R., & Macgowan, M. J. (2019). The theory evaluation scale: An epistemological tool for analyzing social work theories Social Work Education, 38, 269-281. doi: 10.1080/02615479.2018.1529745

Naseh, M., Macgowan, M. J., Wagner, E. F., Abtahi, Z., Potocky, M., & Stuart, P. H. (2019). Cultural Adaptations in Psychosocial Interventions for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among Refugees: A Systematic Review. Journal of Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 28, 76–97. doi: 10.1080/15313204.2019.1570891. (Selected to be reprinted in Y. Padilla, R. McRoy & R. Calvo [Eds.][2019], Rethinking Social Work Practice with Multicultural Communities [pp. 76-97], Thousand Oaks, CA Sage)

Rhoden, M.-A., Macgowan, M. J., & Huang, H. (2019). A systematic review of psychological trauma interventions for juvenile offenders. Research on Social Work Practice, 29, 892-909. doi: 10.1177/1049731518806578

Ladis, B., Macgowan, M. J., Thomlison, B., Huang, H., Fava, N., Trucco, E., & Martinez, M. (2018). Parent-focused preventive interventions for youth substance use and problem behaviors: A systematic review. Research on Social Work Practice, 29, 420-442. doi: 10.1177/1049731517753686

Macgowan, M. J., Dillon, F., & Spadola, C. (2018). Factor structure of a standards-based inventory of competencies in social work with groups. Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work, 15(4), 403-419. doi:10.1080/23761407.2018.1464996

Macgowan, M. J. (2017). Intervention Research. In C. D. Garvin, L. M. Gutiérrez, & M. J. Galinsky (Eds.), Handbook of Social Work with Groups (2nd ed., pp. 565-583): Guilford Press.

Macgowan, M. J., & Wong, S. (2017). Improving student confidence in using group work standards: A controlled replication. Research on Social Work Practice, 27(4), 434-440. doi: 10.1177/1049731515587557.

Garvin, C. D., Tolman, R. M., & Macgowan, M. J. (2016). Group Work Research. New York: Oxford University Press.

Macgowan, M. J., & Vakharia, S. P. (2016). Evidence Based Practice: Challenges and Opportunities in the Global Context. In M. Chakrabarti, D. Sidhva & G. Palattiyil (Eds.), Social Work in a Global Context: Issues and Challenges (pp. 39-56). Oxon, UK: Taylor & Francis.

Macgowan, M. J., & Hanbidge, A. S. (2015). Best practices in social work with groups. In K. Corcoran & A. Roberts (Eds.), Social Workers’ Desk Reference (3rd ed., pp. 734-746). New York: Oxford.

Macgowan, M. J. (2015). An inventory of standards for the practice for the practice of social work with groups: An empirical test in Scotland. Groupwork, 24, 6-25. doi: 10.1921/13701240302.

Hernandez, J. P., & Macgowan, M. J. (2015). Psychosocial interventions for women with HIV/AIDS: A critical review. Research on Social Work Practice, 25, 103-116.

Macgowan, M. J. (2014). Research! What we can do to advance it in social work with groups. In S. G. Dufault, V. Roy & G. Berteau (Eds.), Strengthening social solidarity through group work: Research and creative practice (pp. 211-225). London, England: Whiting & Birch.

Macgowan, M. J., & Hanbidge, A. S. (2014). Advancing evidence-based group work in community settings: Methods, opportunities, and challenges. In J. L. DeLucia-Waack, C. R. Kalodner & M. Riva (Eds.), The Handbook of Group Counseling and Psychotherapy (2nd ed., pp. 303-317). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Macgowan, M. J., & Wong, S.E. (2014). Single-case designs in group work: Past applications, future directions. Group Dynamics, 18, 138-158. doi: 10.1037/gdn0000003

Macgowan, M. J. (2013). Development and application of a standards-based inventory of foundation competencies in social work with groups. Social Work with Groups, 36(2/3), 160-173. doi: 10.1080/01609513.2012.753836.

Cohen, C. S., Macgowan, M. J., Garvin, C., & Muskat, B. (Eds.).(2013). IASWG Standards for Social Work with Groups: Research, teaching and practice (special double issue of Social Work with Groups). New York: Taylor & Francis.

Macgowan, M. J. (2012). A standards-based inventory of foundation competencies in social work with groups. Research on Social Work Practice, 22(5), 578-589.

Macgowan, M. J., & Vakharia, S. P. (2012). Teaching standards-based group work competencies to social work students: An empirical examination. Research on Social Work Practice, 22(4), 380-388.

Pollio, D. E. & Macgowan, M. J. (Eds.).(2011). Evidence-based group work in community settings. New York. Taylor & Francis.

Macgowan, M. J. (2011). Group work research, best practices, and evidence-based group work. In E. Mullen (Ed.), Oxford Annotated Bibliographies: Social Work. New York: Oxford University Press (2800 words).

Engle, B. C., Macgowan, M. J., Wagner, E. F., & Amrhein, P. C. (2010). Markers of marijuana use outcomes within adolescent substance abuse group treatment. Research on Social Work Practice, 20(3), 271-301.

Macgowan, M. J. (2010). Finding and integrating the best available evidence into the group work field practicum: Examples and experiences from M.S.W. students. Social Work with Groups, 33, 210-228.

Macgowan, M. J., & Engle, B. C. (2010). Evidence for optimism: Behavior therapies and motivational interviewing in adolescent substance abuse treatment. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 19, 527-525.

Pollio, D. E., & Macgowan, M. J. (2010). Introduction to Evidence-Based Group Work in Community Settings. Social Work with Groups, 33, 98-101.

Pollio, D. E., & Macgowan, M. J. (2010). The andragogy of evidence-based group work: An integrated educational model. Social Work with Groups, 33, 195-209.