Pillai Riddell will share her research with the public as one of the featured presenters in a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Café scientifique taking place tonight from 6 to 8pm at the Gladstone Hotel in downtown Toronto. The event, "Ouch! Preventing and Managing Pain in the Real World", is hosted by the Centre of Nursing at The Hospital for Sick Children in collaboration with CIHR.

Right: Rebecca Pillai Riddell

Joining Pillai Riddell in this informal discussion between leading researchers and the public are Anna Taddio, a professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto and a pharmacist at the Hospital for Sick Children, and Denise Harrison, chair in Nursing Care of Children, Youth & Families at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and the University of Ottawa. The event will be moderated by Tom Blackwell, senior national reporter for The National Post.

Pillai Riddell runs 91��ɫ’s Opportunities to Understand Childhood Hurt Laboratory (OUCH Lab) and is an associate scientist in The Hospital for Sick Children’s Department of Psychiatry Research. She has two research programs on the go, both looking at pain in infancy.

Her first, Understanding Chronic Pain in Infancy, is designed to define what chronic pain is in infancy, to establish a baseline that everyone can agree on, because right now there isn’t one, and to develop a measure to assess it. Chronic pain goes beyond acute pain, which is more temporary in nature – heel pricks, regular needles or post-operative – and can have implications on a person’s life into adulthood.

In collaboration with researchers at 91��ɫ, the University of Toronto, The Hospital for Sick Children as well as Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the Women’s College Hospital, and armed with a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) operating grant, Pillai Riddell is looking at infants in the neonatal intensive care units of hospitals. This is where many premature infants experience ongoing pain as medical procedures are performed. “With that comes an enormous amount of iatrogenically induced pain or pain that is a result of the life-saving treatments.”

The goal is to better understand chronic pain in infants by talking with parents, health professionals and national and international experts, which can then be used to develop a conceptual model of chronic pain in infants, followed by a reliable and valid assessment measure, and finally strategies for infant chronic pain management.

Café scientifiques started in the late 20th century as an informal discussion about scientific subjects. They were never intended to be lectures. The same holds true for CIHR Café scientifiques. They provide insight into health-related issues of popular interest to the general public, and in turn provoke questions and provide answers.

For that reason, the CIHR Café scientifiques are all about accessibility. They involve interaction between the public and experts in a given field at a café, a pub or a restaurant. If you want to take part in a CIHR Café scientifique, there is no need for you to have a science degree. You just need to have a deep-rooted desire to talk about a particular health subject. That way you could learn how health research may provide answers to any questions that are on your mind.

Can't be there in person? Join the group on Facebook.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

The post Professor Rebecca Riddell takes infant pain research to CIHR's Café scientifique appeared first on Research & Innovation.

As a researcher, Bronstein has received numerous awards for his research from such organizations as National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, the American Psychological Association, the National Institutes of Health, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and the American Mensa Education & Research Foundation.

Right: Marc Bornstein

He is the co-author of the Development in Infancy book series and editor of other book series, including , and . Bornstein's research interests include the origins, status and development of psychological constructs, structures, functions and processes in the first two years of life; the effect of child characteristics and activities on parents; and the meaning of variations in parenting and in the family across different socio-demographic and cultural groups.

Bornstein is also co-editor of a new book that 91��ɫ psychology Professor is publishing with University of Toronto Professor David Haley. The book, , will be released later this year by Guilford Press. The book offers new insights into the development of the human child by bringing together international scholars from various disciplines who study the multiple domains that contribute to social-cognitive neuroscience development.

"The work is guided by extensive research into the reciprocal role of infant core abilities and social relationships in neural and behavioural development. The interdisciplinary scientists who contribute use the latest behavioural, hormonal, genetic, and imaging technologies to discover how infants’ sensory, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social capacities interact in social-cognitive development," says Legerstee. "This afternoon, during his visit to 91��ɫ, Dr. Borrnstein will be presenting from a chapter he is writing for the book, titled 'Toward a Behavioural Neuroscience of Parenting'."

The reading is free and open to members of the community. It will take place today, from 4:30 to 6:30pm, in the Norman Endler Room, 163 Behavioural Sciences Building, on 91��ɫ's Keele campus.

In 2008, Bornstein was recognized by the Society for Research in Child Development for his efforts in the international and cross-cultural realm with its Distinguished International Contributions to Child Development Award. In just the last three years, Bornstein has published at least five books, 42 book chapters and 61 papers.

The reading is supported with a grant from the 91��ɫ Seminar in Advance Research from the Office of the Vice-President of Research & Innovation.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

The post Marc Bornstein, child development researcher, to speak at 91��ɫ this afternoon appeared first on Research & Innovation.

The Faculty of Health has appoointed 91��ɫ psychology Professor as the director of the LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence & Conflict Resolution.

Right: Yvonne Bohr

As the new director of the LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence & Conflict Resolution, Bohr is on familiar ground. As an executive member of the LaMarsh Centre since 2004, she has actively participated in the redevelopment of the centre’s mission and vision. Her research encompasses issues of mental health and well-being among young children, and she actively engages the community both as collaborators in the research and for the mobilization of knowledge.

"A real strength of Dr. Bohr’s work experience, in light of the vision and mission of the LaMarsh Centre, is the breadth of her experience in both international and local partnership, both with other academics and with community members,” says Harvey Skinner, dean of the Faculty of Health. “Her existing partnerships, and her knowledge of how to build and sustain partnerships, is consistent with the LaMarsh Centre's goals to influence policy, engage the community, and build local and global learning networks.”

A clinical psychologist and psychology professor, Bohr is engaged in academic collaborations with colleagues at the Sapienza University of Rome and several centres in Canada and the United States. She also continues to lead an infant and child mental health team at , a community treatment clinic in East Toronto.

Other Faculty of Health Appointments

Claire Mallette has also been appointed the new director of 91��ɫ’s School of Nursing and Angelo Belcastro is now chair of the School of Kinesiology & Health Science.

Left: Claire Mallette

Prior to becoming director of the School of Nursing, Mallette was director of nursing education, placement & development at the University Health Network in Toronto, while holding an adjunct appointment in the Faculty of Nursing at 91��ɫ and at the University of Toronto. Mallette was also the chief nursing officer and director of professional practice at the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board of Ontario from 2002 to 2006. She has held various teaching positions at the University of Toronto, McMaster University, Sheridan College, John Abbott College and the University of Alberta Hospital School of Nursing, from 1987 to 2002, as well as staff nurse positions in hospitals in Montreal, Ontario and Alberta.

In addition, Mallette has been the principal or co-investigator of six funded grants or programs totalling approximately $1.4 million dollars for research examining educational methodologies, virtual worlds, simulation, and new nursing graduate competencies and decision-making.

“Mallette has extensive experience and strengths as an academic nurse leader, educator and researcher,” says Skinner.

Right: Angelo Belcastro

Prior to joining 91��ɫ as the new chair of the School of Kinesiology & Health Science, Belcastro was the research director in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton. He has taken over the position from Professor Ira Jacobs.

“Dr. Belcastro is internationally recognized for his scholarship, is an effective educator and has outstanding leadership qualities and experience,” says Skinner.

In addition, Belcastro has held senior administrative roles in a variety of academic settings, including as director of the School of Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of British Columbia, founding dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Western Ontario, vice-president academic at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, and vice-president academic & provost at Royal Roads University. He also has extensive experience in academic planning, visioning and program execution, says Skinner.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

The post Professor Yvonne Bohr to direct LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence & Conflict Resolution appeared first on Research & Innovation.

The message? Mozart, and indeed any classical music will stimulate the infant brain. Science says it’s so. Soon, other brain enrichment practices were encouraged. Parents were told to set up black and white squares around baby’s crib, this will enhance visual development. A multi-textured blanket will provide sensory stimulation.In the past 10 years though, the brain claims have intensified, fuelled by commercial forces. It’s called “edutainment”, the multi-billion dollar educational toy market has products designed to accelerate an infant’s growth with names like: Baby Einstein, Brainy Baby, Jumpstart Baby, Baby Genius.

Part of what’s fuelling the billion dollar baby is brain science. Studies over the decades claim that baby’s brain is a vast resource that can be enriched through stimulation. So a young child can learn colours, count and even read earlier than ever before. The explosive growth of baby learning products has sent parents scrambling to ensure their baby is as bright as bright can be. So, are the scientific studies behind this social force real or exaggerated? In this series, Ideas producer Mary O’Connell explores what some are calling a brave new age of infant determinism.

Shanker's segment . His commentary on his concerns about how edutainment products are changing the way children learn continues throughout the program.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer.

The post Audio: Stuart Shanker on how edutainment is changing the way children learn appeared first on Research & Innovation.

Despite decades of feminism and co-parenting and men grappling with diaper changes and night feedings, moms are often by default or tradition the ones who end up having the sex talk, wrote the . Often it’s because they are the parent who spends the most time with the children.

“Often if there is a woman in the household, she takes over that part of the parenting,” says Andrea O’Reilly, a professor in 91��ɫ’s School of Women’s Studies in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and founder & director of the Association for Research on Mothering.

Women are typically the family CEO, in charge of remembering who got which shots and setting up play dates. Having “the talk” falls into that realm. “The talk is part of a larger paradigm of gender. Until we dislodge that, women will probably be the ones to have ‘the talk’. I try to de-gender caregiving, but it’s a hard sell,” O’Reilly says.

She believes "the talk" is declining in importance in any case. “We live in such a sex-saturated culture. Kids know about sex long before children 10, 20, 30 years ago did,” she says.

Children want information about sex, according to a study of 1,200 Toronto teens released last summer. The found 28 per cent of teens weren getting information about sex from their parents and 53 per cent were getting it from their friends.

Parents might feel they lack the skills or even the stomach for a discussion about sex with their children, says Sarah Flicker, a professor in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Environmental Studies and principal researcher on the Toronto Teen Survey. “Not all parents feel comfortable telling children where a clitoris is, but you could talk about what makes a healthy relationship.”

Coverage also appeared in .

Reposted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, with files courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin, and .

The post Mom is usually the one who tells the kids where they came from appeared first on Research & Innovation.

A 91��ɫ study about has caused considerable stir in the media. The study, published in the journal Infancy, suggests that six-month-olds know when someone is teasing or manipulating them. But they also understand if someone is trying to help, but can’t because of factors beyond the adult’s control.

Coverage featuring PhD student Heidi Marsh from the in the appeared in or on:

• at ParentCentral.ca on Feb. 8.
• The on Feb. 11.
• on Feb. 10.
• on Feb. 10.
• on Feb. 10.
• on Feb. 8.
• CFRB’s “”
• CKEM-TV’s “” in Edmonton on Feb. 9
• CJOB-AM’s “” in Winnipeg on Feb. 8.

Edited by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files from YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

The post 91��ɫ study on infants' ability to perceive manipulation gets media coverage appeared first on Research & Innovation.

A study by 91��ɫ researchers reveals that infants as young as six months old know when we’re “playing” them – and they don’t like it.

Researchers in 91��ɫ’s examined six- and nine-month-old babies’ reactions to a game in which an experimenter was either unable or unwilling to share a toy. Babies detected and calmly accepted when an experimenter was unable to share for reasons beyond her control, but averted their gazes and became agitated when it was clear she simply wouldn’t share.

“Babies can tell if you’re teasing or being manipulative, and they let you know it,” says study lead author Heidi Marsh, a PhD student who worked under the direction of psychology Professor , head of the Centre for Infancy Studies in 91��ɫ’s .

“These results are exciting as it’s the first demonstration that used infants’ social behaviour to successfully show that at six months they comprehend the goals of our actions. Previously, there was only evidence based on visual habituation (observing the pattern of infants’ gazes towards stimuli) which is prone to interpretative issues, and even those results were very mixed,” Marsh says.

Other studies have concluded that this ability doesn’t develop until nine months of age. However, that research used measures which Marsh proposes are unsuited to younger infants.

“A six-month-old as compared to a nine-month-old has different ways of expressing what they know,” says Marsh. “The innovative aspect of this research is that we used measures that are consistent with a six-month-old’s everyday behaviour in order to understand what they comprehend. We recorded their social responses, such as sadness, gaze aversions, smiles and vocalizations, in addition to more physical responses such as reaching and banging,” she says.

The study looked at 40 infants, evenly divided between genders. Infants sat in their mothers’ laps at a table, with the experimenter seated across from them. In half the test trials, the toy was not passed to the infant because the experimenter was unwilling to share it, and in the others, it was not passed because the experimenter was trying, but unable, to pass it.

Infants were administered three tasks: block, mock and play. Each task differed with respect to the toy that was shared and the nature of the sharing game, but in all tasks there was a corresponding unwilling and unable condition. For instance, in the mock task, a rattle was held out toward the infant and then pulled back teasingly (unwilling condition), and a ball was "accidentally" dropped and rolled back to the experimenter (unable condition).

The visible movements of both the experimenter and the toy were matched across conditions, as was the outcome that the toy was not shared. This meant that the main difference between conditions was the experimenter’s intent.

“We also used the experimenter’s facial expressions to convey unwillingness or inability, as they’re important cues for babies to understand others’ goals,” says Marsh.

Infants at both ages averted their gazes during unwilling trials. They also reached more in the unable conditions, suggesting they understood there was a problem and were trying to elicit the adult’s assistance. The nine-month-olds banged their arms in the unwilling conditions, whereas the six-month-olds showed more negative affect, such as frowns, in those trials, and positive affective behaviours in unable conditions.

“Our finding that affective measures are stronger for younger infants may be related to their level of independence,” Marsh says. “As infants become more independent, they decrease affective behaviour such as crying, and increase physical actions such as actively resisting. These distinctions point to the importance of studying infants’ social and cognitive abilities not only over time, but also in paradigms that capture the spectrum of their social behaviours.”

The study, “”, is co-authored by Legerstee, Jennifer Stavropoulos and Tom Nienhuis. It was published online in in January 2010.

This research was supported by grants from the .

By Melissa Hughes, Media Relations Officer.

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

The post Think baby knows when you tease? Study from Centre for Infancy Studies says six-month-olds know difference between play and teasing appeared first on Research & Innovation.

Saskatchewan was panned Thursday over its high infant mortality rate by the author of ain the journal , wrote the (Regina, Sask.) Jan. 22.

In his article, “The health of Canada’s children: Part 1”, released Thursday, 91��ɫ Professor Dennis Raphael, of 91��ɫ’s , in the Faculty of Health, cites a 2008 Statistics Canada report pegging Saskatchewan’s infant mortality rate at 8.3 deaths per 1,000 live births, the highest of any province.

“Saskatchewan has this dubious distinction. The single best indicator to represent the health of the population is infant mortality,” Raphael said in an interview Thursday.

Factors affecting infant mortality include the growing gap between rich and poor and the child poverty rate, he said. The article also pegs Canada’s child poverty rate well below average.

Canada has 15 per cent of its children living in households with less than 50 per cent of the Canadian median income. Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway all come in at five per cent or less. “We are not doing well in terms of taking care of everyone,” Raphael said.

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

The post 91��ɫ prof's research notes Saskatchewan's high child mortality rate appeared first on Research & Innovation.

Political decisions and ideology continue to play a huge role in determining the quality of life of individuals and communities in Canada, as well as society as a whole, says 91��ɫ health policy & manangement Professor Dennis Raphael, editor of the newly published book Health Promotion and Quality of Life in Canada: Essential Readings being launched this Thursday. As it stands now, "the quality of life of Canadians is under threat," he says.

Health is one of the main contributing factors to quality of life, but Canada has fallen behind or become stagnant over the years on many indicators of health status compared with other wealthy, developed nations, says Raphael. Health Promotion and Quality of Life in Canada brings health and quality of life issues together in one book as they are interrelated and intertwined as indicators of societal functioning, indicators in which Canada is lagging behind.

This country has slipped from a first-place ranking for quality of life in the late-1990s United Nations Human Development Report to fourth in 2007, and from ninth place to 12th in human and income poverty for the same period.

"In 2005, Canada’s infant mortality rate was compared to that of 30 wealthy developed nations of the OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development] (UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, 2007). Canada’s rate gave it a relative ranking of 24th of 30 nations. Canada’s low birth-weight rate provided a somewhat better ranking of ninth of 30 nations," writes Raphael, a professor in 91��ɫ’s School of Health Policy & Management in the Faculty of Health. These are just some of the issues facing the country.

To improve the quality of life in Canada, governments need to deal with these health indicators, along with emerging issues, such as the incidence of poverty. Better public policies are needed, especially for the most vulnerable groups – aboriginal people, immigrants and persons of colour, persons with disabilities and women. Similarly, work needs to be done to promote health at the individual, community and societal level.

"Health promotion is about engaging citizens in order to increase their control over the determinants of health," writes Raphael. "The best way to do this is to influence the development and implementation of health promoting public policy."

Contributors to (Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc., 2010) look at the importance of health promotion and the social determinants of health in bringing about quality of life. The book speaks to the need for citizens to become more involved in policy-related activities and for the focus to be broadened from the individual to include the community and society. Public policy choices have a direct impact on the distribution of resources and reveal government priorities.

Left: Dennis Raphael

“The concepts of quality of life and health promotion can help define and provide means of addressing emerging Canadian concerns,” writes Raphael. “Quality of life is a multi-dimensional concept that allows consideration of a range of perspectives from individual subjective well-being through to broader indicators of societal functioning.” It is a term that has relevancy for the average person.

Health Promotion and Quality of Life in Canada examines various aspects of these issues, including "Maintaining Population Health in a Period of Welfare State Decline", "The Welfare State as a Determinant of Women’s Health", "Making the Links Between Community Structure and Individual Well-being", "Quality of Life Indicators and Health" and "A Call to Combat Poverty and Exclusion of Canadians with Disabilities".

The contributors suggest ways to bring health promotion, quality of life and the social determinants of health together and they outline the barriers to improving quality of life and health.

The articles in the collection were supported in some part by funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research's () Institute of Population and Public Health, 's  Health Policy Branch, the North 91��ɫ Community Health Promotion Research Unit, the and the Province of Ontario's (Developmental Services Branch).

Raphael is the editor of (Canadian Scholars Press Inc., 2008), co-editor of (Canadian Scholars Press Inc., 2006), and the author of (Canadian Scholars Press Inc., 2007). His research focuses on the health effects of income inequality, the quality of life of communities and individuals, and the impact of government decisions on Canadians’ health and well-being.

The launch of Health Promotion and Quality of Life in Canada: Essential Readings will take place Jan. 28, from 5:30 to 7pm, at the Riverdale Public Library, 370 Broadview Ave. at Gerrard Street, Toronto.

By Sandra McLean, YFile writer

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

The post New book examines promotion of health to boost quality of life and reverse stagnating Canadian health trends appeared first on Research & Innovation.

About 8,000 Chinese-born women gave birth in New 91��ɫ last year, so the number of children at risk is substantial, according to the Chinese-American Planning Council, a social service agency that hopes to get a grant to educate parents about the pitfalls of the practice and help them find alternatives.

The phenomenon of American-born children who spend their infancy in China has been known for years to social workers, who say it is widespread and worrying. About 8,000 Chinese-born women gave birth in New 91��ɫ last year, so the number of children at risk is substantial, according to the Chinese-American Planning Council, a social service agency that hopes to get a grant to educate parents about the pitfalls of the practice and help them find alternatives.

But no one tracks the numbers, and the issue has only recently seized the attention of early-childhood researchers like , a clinical psychologist at 91��ɫ in Toronto, who calls such children “satellite babies.”

Their repeatedly disrupted attachments to family members “could potentially add up to a mental health crisis for some immigrant communities,” Dr. Bohr wrote in an article in May in The Infant Mental Health Journal. She cited classic research like the work of Anna Freud, who found that young children evacuated during the London blitz were so damaged by separation from their parents that they would have been better off at home, in danger of falling bombs.

Dr. Bohr, who is undertaking a longitudinal study of families with satellite babies, cautions that the older research was shaped by Western values and expectations. Chinese parents, including university-educated professionals she has studied, are often influenced by cultural traditions: an emphasis on self-sacrifice for the good of the family, a belief that grandparents are the best caretakers, and a desire to ground children in their heritage.

Sending babies back to grandparents is also done in some South Asian communities, she said.

Bohr is a professor of psychology in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Health, director of the LaMarsh Centre for Child and Youth Research, and the lead author of "Satellite Babies in Transnational Families: A Study of Parents’ Decision to Separate From their Infants," which was published May 11, 2009 in the Infant Mental Health Journal.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

The post New 91��ɫ Times covers Professor Yvonne Bohr's study on satellite babies appeared first on Research & Innovation.