His work in child and adolescent mental health uses evidence-based approaches to promote resilience mechanisms. Implementation science approaches are used to scale up integration of mental health into primary care among adults. His research also extends to brief interventions for substance use. Arvin is an Honorary Associate Professor in the Centre for Rural Health in the School of Nursing and Public Health at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is also a lead investigator in the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development at the University of Witwatersrand. Arvin is an associate member in the Adolescent Health Research Unit of the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, and the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit at SAMRC.