Running from 3 to 5:30 p.m., the event aims to explore the impact of collaboration and mentorship and will also feature presentations from research teams at 91亚色.

Keynote speakers will present on 鈥淭he Power of Knowledge Translation for Community Change鈥� and speak on their knowledge mobilization expertise and efforts. The keynote speakers are:

• Keiko Shikako, Canada Research Chair in Childhood Disability: Participation and Knowledge Translation; co-lead, Knowledge Translation Program, CHILD-BRIGHT; and
• Connie Putterman, family engagement in research co-ordinator at CAMH; co-lead, Knowledge and Translation Program, CHILD-BRIGHT.

The Dr. Eric Jackman Health Scholars Award is designed to support student research teams that will be funded to carry out community-engaged research alongside a LaMarsh faculty member and community partner. Teams are meant to foster a situation where both scholars receive mentorship from the faculty member, and the undergraduate scholar receives mentorship from the graduate scholar.

Teams will present an update of their project at this event, where the scholars, faculty member and community partner will speak to the impact of collaboration and mentorship.

Jackman is the founding Chair of the Psychology Foundation of Canada and heads the Jackman Foundation with an interest in child development.

To register for this virtual event, visit听. To learn more about the research teams and their presentations, visit the听event page.

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Researchers are focused on learning more about perfectionism and how it is internalized in different cultures

Gordon Flett looks at ethnic variations on perfectionism, and how they relate to suicidal thoughts in university students. This study, a global first, could help Canadian undergrads.

There is no doubt university students are under increasing pressure to succeed in their academic, social and personal lives. 91亚色 psychology Professor Gordon Flett, Canada Research Chair and director of the LaMarsh Centre for Child & Youth Research, wanted to know more about this pressure, how it is internalized in different cultures and how research could point the way to prevention.

The research, undertaken by Flett with Chang Chen and Paul Hewitt of the University of British Columbia, studied Asian Canadian and European Canadian undergrads and focused on perfectionism and suicidality 鈹� the likelihood of an individual completing suicide. The researchers found that perfectionism was not associated with suicidality in European Canadian students, but it was in Asian Canadian students.This suggests that ethnicity could be used predict suicidal thoughts.

鈥淭hese findings provide an important glimpse into perfectionism in different cultural contexts,鈥� says Flett. 鈥淥ur study underscores the importance of considering perfectionism in addressing suicidal risks in certain populations and cultural contexts. This is an extension of our other recent work, which suggests that perfectionism substantially amplifies suicide risk among people experiencing psychological pain.鈥�

The second leading cause of death among young people is suicide

The need is great. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, suicide accounts for 24 per cent of all deaths among 15- to 24-year-olds in this country. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people, after motor vehicle accidents (Statistics Canada).

The 鈥淐anadian Community Health Study: Mental Health 2012,鈥� published by Statistics Canada, revealed a shocking statistic specific to the student population: Nearly one in 10 students had seriously considered ending their life.

Research builds on previous knowledge听

Flett was studying the links between suicide, depression and perfectionism. Previous work by Hewitt and Flett broke perfectionism into three components:

• self-oriented perfectionism (a requirement for the self to be perfect);
• other-oriented perfectionism (a requirement for others to be perfect); and
• socially prescribed perfectionism (the perception that others require perfection of oneself).

The current study鈥檚 objective was to examine the relationships between perfectionism and perceived pressure, depression and suicidality separately for participants of European and Asian descent. This research was the first ever to consider the experiences of European and Asian Canadian students in this way.

Why were Asian Canadians selected? American studies had found that Asian-American students reported feeling more self-doubt, being more concerned about mistakes, and experiencing greater parental expectations and criticism听when compared to European American counterparts. These feelings were more strongly associated with poorer academic performance, lower self-esteem, greater loneliness, depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts among Asian Americans.

Nearly one in 10 students had seriously considered ending their life.听听鈥� Statistics Canada (2012)

For these reasons, Flett hypothesized that Asian Canadian students would display depressive symptoms, perceived pressure and suicidality 鈥� more so than European Canadian students.

Canadian undergraduate students participate in study

In this study, 240 undergrads (153 women and 87 men, ages 17 to 29) were recruited from a major Canadian university. Half were East Asian in ethnic heritage; half were European Canadians.

Participants underwent a variety of tests, using five measurement tools:

1. Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, measuring participants鈥� responses in terms of the following:

• self-oriented perfectionism 鈹� 鈥淥ne of my goals is to be perfect in everything I do;鈥�
• other-oriented perfectionism 鈹� 鈥淚f I ask someone to do something, I expect it to be done flawlessly;鈥� and
• socially prescribed perfectionism 鈹� 鈥淎nything that I do that is less than excellent will be seen as poor work by those around me.鈥�听

2. Pressure Inventory-III, which gained information about stressors, including family, work, school, peer and intimate relationships; and self-imposed pressures.
3. Adult Suicide Ideation Questionnaire, containing questions about suicidal thoughts ranging from general wishes that one were dead or never born to distinctive risk factors, such as thoughts of how and when to kill oneself.
4. Scale for Suicide Ideation, which gained information on the risk for suicidal behaviour, including consideration of suicidal attempts, frequency and attitude toward suicidal thoughts, and specific plans for suicide.
5. Beck Depression Inventory (Second Edition), assessing the severity of depression over the past two weeks, including feelings of sadness, hopelessness and suicidality associated with depression.

Interpreting findings through a cultural lens

The study found that Asian Canadian students scored significantly higher than European Canadian students in socially prescribed perfectionism and perceived pressures from family, work-related and intimate relationships. They also scored significantly higher on thoughts of suicide, suicidal risk and depressive symptoms.

Why was this happening?听American researchers Hazel Markus and Shinobu Kitayama (1991) found that in the collectivist Asian cultures, individuals seek to conform and fit into the group, whereas in Western cultures, autonomy is prioritized. This sense of autonomy, which American researchers Joshua Foster, W. Keith Campbell and Jean Twenge (2003) associated with narcissism, could inadvertently be protecting European Canadian students from the perils of perfectionism.

Awareness alone could make a difference and lead to preventive interventions.

鈥淥ne of my goals is to be perfect in everything I do.鈥澨�

鈥淚f I ask someone to do something, I expect it to be done flawlessly.鈥�

鈥淎nything that I do that is less than excellent will be seen as poor work by those around me.鈥� 鈥� Study participants听

This research was funded by a grant from the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada.

The article, 鈥�,鈥� was published in Personality and Individual Differences (January 2017). To read more about Flett鈥檚 research, visit the听.

By Megan Mueller, manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, 91亚色, muellerm@yorku.ca

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鈥淎ssessing the Publication Productivity of Clinical Psychology Professors in Canadian Psychological Association-Accredited Canadian Psychology Departments,鈥� looked at publication and citation counts for 255 professors in CPA-accredited Canadian clinical psychology programs. Irvine and Pepler were listed among the top 11 women.

鈥淩esearch productivity data helps one get a sense of how productive one is relative to one鈥檚 peers. Moreover, it also speaks to the research environment of one鈥檚 host institution,鈥� says Irvine. 鈥淥f the top 11 female professors mentioned, two of us are at 91亚色.鈥�

Debra Pepler

As Pepler, a Distinguished Research Professor at 91亚色, notes, 鈥淩esearch is an important aspect of our work in clinical programs because it informs both our teaching and our practice. At the same time our experience of working with clinical populations highlights critical questions for research.鈥� 听Pepler is known for her research on bullying and co-leads , (Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network), a collaborative and interdisciplinary initiative that brings together 62 researchers from 27 Canadian universities and 49 national organizations.

The authors of the journal paper didn鈥檛 just use isolated publication and citation counts 鈥� they adjusted for normative data and included ceiling reference points. 鈥淭his is the first time that normative data for clinical psychologists within academic programs has been summarized from across Canada,鈥� says Irvine.

Usually, she says, professors typically don鈥檛 鈥渒now how productive one's research is relative to one's peers. Without normative data, such as collected by this study, it is very hard to gauge one's productivity.鈥�

Jane Irvine

Irvine cautions that, as the article points out, it is important to keep in mind that the research productivity data only speaks to one part of the multiple components that comprise academic work. 鈥淭hey do not take into consideration professors teaching impact or service work. Nor do they reflect the full extent of our research productivity because they don鈥檛 take into account all of the means by which our research impacts the fields of science and practice.鈥�

All the same, she is thrilled and pleased that 91亚色 as an institution is obviously providing the right environment for professors to conduct research. Irvine was a clinical psychologist at the Toronto General Hospital for 17 years before joining 91亚色. She has conducted research into stress and the cardiovascular disease, modifying cardiovascular behavioural and psychosocial risk factors, optimizing adherence to medical and behavioural therapies, and enhancing adaptation to medical technologies, such as an implantable cardioverter defibrillator for prevention of sudden cardiac death.

Pepler, former director of the LaMarsh Centre for Child and Youth Research, has previously received the Contribution to Knowledge Award from the Psychology Foundation of Canada, the Educator of the Year Award from Phi Delta Kappa (Toronto), the University of Waterloo Arts in Academia Award, and the Canadian Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Contributions to Public or Community Service.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Migration is a complex phenomenon听that can have important consequence on mental health, say two 91亚色 professors who will talk about some of the assumptions听made in conducting research听on immigrant mental health at the upcoming Multicultural Mental Health Promotion.

Michaela Hynie (left), associate director of the 91亚色 Institute for Health Research and a 91亚色 psychology professor, and Yvonne Bohr, director of 91亚色鈥檚 LaMarsh Centre for Child & Youth Research and a psychology professor, will draw on their own research to discuss assumptions in immigrant mental health research.

Multicultural Mental Health Promotion will take place Wednesday, Feb. 15, from noon to 2pm, at 519 91亚色 Research Tower, Keele campus.

Following opening remarks by Harvey Skinner, dean of 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Health, and Nazilla Khanlou, co-director of the Ontario Multicultural Health Applied Research Network, Hynie and Bohr will conduct an interactive roundtable discussion. In addition, they will also make use of narrated- and video-based case studies to help frame the discussion.

Left: Yvonne Bohr

As part of the discussion they will explore how the phenomenon and experiences of migration can differ along a number of dimensions, and how these differences can impact the mental health of migrant families. Participants will be invited to join the discussion with their own experiences in research and practice regarding assumptions, their alternatives and how they shape the understanding of mental health among migrant populations.

Some of the assumptions Bohr and Hynie will examine include those about the geographic space inhabited by migrant families, the source and adaptiveness of coping strategies, and the causes of behaviour and well-being.

鈥淔or some families, their migration experience might better be described as transnational, with family members repeatedly spending extended periods of time in more than one country,鈥� says Bohr.

Coping strategies, she says, need to be considered in context. That context includes time/era, geographic location, availability of structural supports and culture. Change in any of these dimensions can render a formerly adaptive strategy less adaptive.

As for adaptiveness, 鈥渨e often assume that differences between migrant and non-migrant families in the receiving country are due to acculturation or the migration process, but we often do not compare migrant families to non-migrant families in the country of origin and so cannot be certain about causes,鈥� says Hynie.

The event is sponsored by the Ontario Multicultural Health Applied Research Network.

To RSVP, contact owhchair@yorku.ca.

For more information, visit the Ontario Multicultural Health Applied Research Network website.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Election to Fellowship in the CAHS is considered one of the highest honours for individuals in the Canadian health sciences community. Pepler was elected to the CAHS for her demonstrated leadership, creativity, distinctive competencies and a commitment to advance academic health science.

Left: Debra Pepler

鈥淚 am very honoured to be nominated as a Fellow and look forward to contributing to the academy's efforts in health promotion through our collaborative efforts to promote the healthy development of children and youth through healthy relationships,鈥� says Pepler.

Pepler has conducted two major research programs on children at risk within the context of peer relationships at school and in context of the family.听To study aggression and bullying, she developed an innovative methodology to observe children鈥檚 interactions, which would normally be hidden from adults.

She was awarded a Networks of Centres of Excellence: New Initiatives grant to establish PREVNet 鈥� Promoting Relationships & Eliminating Violence Network together with Wendy Craig, her first 91亚色 PhD student. This collaborative and interdisciplinary initiative brings together 62 researchers from 27 Canadian universities and 49 national organizations. The grant, the first stage of Canada鈥檚 largest funding mechanism, is the culmination of many years of work for Pepler, who has been tirelessly involved in community-based research and public policy development on pressing social issues related to children and youth. 听

Pepler鈥檚 research has changed the way听people think about bullying, aggression and other forms of violence, especially among marginalized and alienated young people.听She speaks widely to professional and community audiences about children at risk.听She听has also edited four volumes in the past four years on understanding and addressing children鈥檚 aggression, bullying and victimization.

A professor in 91亚色鈥檚 Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Health since 1988, Pepler was also director of the LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence & Conflict Resolution from 1994 to 2002. She听has been听a senior associate scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children since 2001.

In honour of her research, Pepler has previously been awarded the Contribution to Knowledge Award from the Psychology Foundation of Canada, the Educator of the Year Award from Phi Delta Kappa (Toronto), the University of Waterloo Arts in Academia Award and the Canadian Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Contributions to Public or Community Service.

Established in 2004, the works in partnership with the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Engineering to form the three member academies of the Council of Canadian Academies. The CAHS provides timely, informed and unbiased assessments of urgent issues affecting the health of Canadians.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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The talk will take place Tuesday, Sept. 20, from 2 to 4pm, in the conference room at 519 91亚色 Research Tower, Keele campus.

Right: Sir Richard Bowlby

Richard Bowlby听is not a clinical person, but for the last 20 years he has been addressing the issue of attachment and fatherhood, relating his own life experience as well as bringing some of his father鈥檚 experiences and findings.听

Participants will hear听his perspectives and have an opportunity to ask questions.

Seating is limited.听Tickets cost $20 and may be purchased at the door or by mail to The Phoenix Centre, 130 Pembroke St. W., 2nd Floor, Pembroke, ON,听K8A 5M8.

The event is sponsored by the LaMarsh Centre for Child & Youth Research, the Centre for Child Mental Health and The Phoenix Centre for Children & Families.

For more information, contact Charlene Chaput at cchaput@phoenixctr.com.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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, a visiting scholar at the LaMarsh Centre for Child & Youth Research, will deliver听a LaMarsh talk Wednesday, June 15, from 1 to 2pm, in 163 Behavioural Science Building, Keele campus. His talk, 鈥淭he Role and Meaning of Work in Individual Lives During Emerging Adulthood: Trajectories and Adaptation鈥� will be based on data collected in a four-wave longitudinal design in which 175 Israeli emerging adults with the mean age of 22 years were followed over a period of seven years. The focus of the study was on the occupation and relationship decision-making process.

Right: Shmuel Shulman

鈥淭aking a biographical approach, we focus on the processes of occupation and relationship decision-making among young people rather than on concrete outcomes,鈥� says Shulman, whose research covers developmental processes and psychopathology during adolescence and young adulthood. 鈥淭hat is the subjective meaning that certain options and outcomes have for the young person and on his or her subsequent adaptation.鈥�

In addition to the four assessments, at the fourth wave the participants were given an in-depth interview covering work and love domains. As part of a broader interview, young people were asked to talk about their work experiences, feelings and expectations about work and its meaning. They were also asked to reflect on changes and turning points in their work and career histories.

Qualitative analysis of the interviews yielded four main constructs of personal inner work meanings and their evolvement over time, reflecting adaptive and maladaptive trajectories. 鈥淥ur findings show that the multiplicity of experiences can be traced to individual personality and relational attributes,鈥� says Shulman. 鈥淔or example, self-efficacy, self-criticism, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation explain the different trajectories that young people embark on.鈥�

He will discuss the importance of examining subjective meanings in developmental processes as well as the role of personality constructs in coping with developmental tasks during emerging adulthood.

Shulman has more than 100 publications, including books and papers. His work has focused mainly on understanding the development and processes in adolescent romantic relationships. Recent research on young adults, however, has also examined the process associated with consolidation of occupational identity and its interplay with commitment in relationships.

For more information or to RSVP, e-mail lamarsh@yorku.ca.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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"If a child is bullied at home by his or her parents or siblings, they鈥檙e going to learn the patterns they need to learn about the use of power and aggression in relationships," says Debra Pepler [Distinguished Research Professor in psychology at 91亚色鈥檚 LaMarsh Centre for Child & Youth Research].

These "children who are morally disengaged tend to think that the other child is just deserving of it, that they鈥檙e not human. They really disregard that child鈥檚 basic rights."

Pepler, who works at 91亚色 [Faculty of Health] and the in Toronto, co-founded the Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network.

She says that for most kids, bullying or being bullied are minor problems that pass with time. But 10 to 15 per cent require extra support, and chronic bullies need help from mental health experts.

Pepler found that "85 per cent of the time, we saw bullying in the schoolyard or in the classroom, other children are there, and they form the audience for bullying and they reinforce the child who is bullying."

Her findings show that chronic bullies are more likely to skip school, abuse substances, sexually harass others, use violence in romantic relationships and eventually get into crime.

"They don鈥檛 have that voice inside that says, 鈥業s this a good idea, should I do this?鈥� They鈥檙e really willing to go along to keep their friends, to keep their status, and do all sorts of negative things when they鈥檙e exposed to peer pressure. If we wanted to identify and help those children who are going to cost society the most in terms of criminal behaviour . . . we would be looking at the children who are involved in high rates of bullying."

These kids "probably need mental health services, (and) they and their families need a lot of support around how to develop the social-emotional capacity for healthy relationships." Schools need to keep track of every occurrence of bullying and focus their resources on the chronic bullies, she says.

Combating the stigma against reporting bullying to adults requires re-educating both children and adults, Pepler says.

"Children have a responsibility to tell when it鈥檚 happening, either to (teachers) or to someone else, because it violates a child鈥檚 rights, to be bullied. A child who is bullied isn鈥檛 safe, and similarly a child who bullies others is really in need of help."

This approach also helps combat cyberbullying because "the children who are cyberbullying are the children who traditionally bully," Pepler says.

She says teaching math and literacy is different from teaching kids how to interact positively. "Two plus two always equals four, and Cat on the Mat always looks the same, but social-emotional development is hugely complex," she says.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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One of them was an article co-authored by members of 91亚色鈥檚 LaMarsh Centre for Child & Youth Research, psychology Professor Jennifer Connolly and Distinguished Research Professor Debra Pepler in the Faculty of Health, along with Professor Wendy Craig (MA 鈥�89, PhD 鈥�93) of Queen鈥檚 University and Adele Goldberg (MA 鈥�91, PhD 鈥�10).

Left: Debra Pepler

The article, 鈥�鈥�, is available in a virtual Special Issue: Decade in Review published this month and representing the best of the Journal of Research on Adolescence in celebration of its 20th anniversary.

The Society for Research on Adolescence and the journal's editorial team say the 10 articles embody 鈥渢he exemplary quality of scholarship upon which the journal has solidified its reputation as a leading publication in the field of adolescent research.鈥�

鈥淢ixed-Gender Groups, Dating, and Romantic Relationships in Early Adolescence鈥�, first published in the journal鈥檚 May 2004 issue, details a study on the dating-stage and developmental-contextual models of romantic relationships during early adolescence.

Right: Jennifer Connolly

The study looked at same-gender friendships, affiliation with mixed-gender groups, dating and romantic relationships in a sample of 1,284 young adolescents of diverse ethnocultural backgrounds. Data was collected cross-sectionally in Grades 5 through 8, as well as longitudinally in the fall and spring of an academic year.

For more information, visit the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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It鈥檚 not that concerned educators are 鈥渙ut to get鈥� best friends. But they are trying to nudge close pals apart a little bit, so that they don鈥檛 become too insular. Twosomes can turn into threesomes, and such cliques are often behind bullying. 鈥淲hen three or four kids get together, they can decide someone is not good enough to join their group. They can ramp each other up to do worse and worse things,鈥� says Debra Pepler, a psychology professor in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Health, who is an expert on bullying and helps to run , a bullying information website.

. . .

Just as adult relationships aren鈥檛 always healthy or turn sour over time, kids can also get wrapped up in negative dynamics. Pepler says some close friends actually bully each other: they know each other鈥檚 secrets and can make a pal upset with a few choice words 鈥� whether about chubby ankles, a crappy slapshot or that time he wet his pants last year.

Pepler is a core member of the LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence & Conflict Resolution.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer.

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