August 2020

Supervised by Drs. Maria Rogers, David Smith, and Jess Whitley

Amy Klan

Thesis title: Exploring the educational experiences of children seeking mental health services with school attendance problems

 Summary: This mixed-methods study explores contextual elements surrounding school attendance problems of a sample of children receiving mental health services at a community clinic. Results indicate that key contextual factors surround the attendance problems of children seeking mental health services, including internalizing and externalizing mental health needs (especially anxiety), social relationships with teachers and peers, and various academic elements.

Amy’s thesis conference presentations:

Klan, A., & Whitley, J. (2020, June 1-5). Exploring the Context Surrounding School Attendance Problems Among Children with Mental Health Needs: A Mixed-Methods Analysis. [poster presentation]. Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE) 2020 Annual Conference, London, Ontario, Canada. (Virtual conference due to COVID-19).

Klan, A., & Whitley, J. (2019, March 7-8). Exploring the context surrounding school attendance problems among children with mental health needs: A mixed-methods approach. [oral presentation]. Jean-Paul Dionne Symposium, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

 

Sarah Bethune

Thesis Title: The impact of mental health difficulties on impairment for children with ADHD

Summary: This study examines the influence of mental health difficulties on impairment for boys and girls with ADHD. More specifically, we set out to determine whether there is a relationship between internalizing and externalizing behaviours and overall impairment.

Moreover, we investigated whether child strengths and parenting strengths can moderate these relationships and potentially serve as a protective factor for children with ADHD.

Sarah’s thesis conference presentation:

Bethune, S. C., Rogers, M., Smith, D., Whitley, J., McBrearty, N., Hone, M. & Renauld, J. (July 2020). The Impact of Mental Health Difficulties on Impairment for Children with ADHD. [Gimme-5 Presentation]. 81st Canadian Psychological Association Annual National Convention, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Sarah’s forthcoming thesis conference presentation:

Bethune, S. C., Rogers, M., Smith, D., Whitley, J., McBrearty, N., Hone, M. & Renauld, J. (October, 2020). The Differential Influence of Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms on Impairment for Children with ADHD. Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance (CADDRA): ADHD Research Day. St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.

 

Julia Renauld

Thesis Title: Walk-in single session therapy: A study exploring parents’ self-efficacy

Summary: This mixed-methods study will explore parents’ experiences of walk-in services at a children’s community mental health centre. Parents will be interviewed at 3-months follow-up to investigate the longer-term impacts of walk-in services. Pre-post measures of parents’ self- efficacy will also be gathered using the Parental Self-Agency Measure (PSAM).

 

Briana Goldberg

Thesis Title: The impact of family factors on bullying involvement

Summary: In the present study, protective processes, namely parenting challenges and the child’s individual strengths, are explored in relation to bullying involvement. There were four different bullying involvement groups identified (i.e., bully, victim, bully/victim, and non- involved). Findings indicate that children in victim group were found to be more likely to experience difficulties with internalizing behaviours. Children in the bully and the bully-victim groups were more likely to experience internalizing behaviours, externalizing behaviours, and parenting challenges.

 

Briana’s thesis conference presentations:

Goldberg, B. & Smith, D. (2020, May 27-30). The Impact of Family Factors on Bullying Involvement. [symposium.]. 81st Canadian Psychological Association Annual National Convention, Montréal, Quebec, Canada (Conference cancelled due to COVID-19).

Goldberg, B.J., Smith, D., Rogers, M., Whitley, J. (2019). The impact of family factors on bullying behaviour. Poster presentation presented at PREVNet’s 10^th annual conference Promoting Healthy Relationships for Youth: Creating spaces that support equity, diversity and inclusion.

 

Carolina El Samra

Title: Patterns of school absenteeism: Comparing attenders and non-attenders seeking mental health services

 Summary: This study involves examining mental health profiles and factors that contribute to the difference in school attendance patterns among a clinic-referred sample of children seeking mental health services, that includes those who attend school and those who don’t. The results indicated that non-attenders showed more internalizing behaviours compared to attenders.

They also showed a difference in their likelihood of meeting criteria for an emotional disorder compared to attenders.

 

Carolina’s thesis conference presentation:

El Samra, C., & Rogers, M. (July 2020). Patterns of school absenteeism: Comparing attenders and non-attenders seeking mental health services. [Gimme-5 Presentation]. 81st Canadian Psychological Association Annual National Convention, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

 

Other Conference Presentations

Rogers, M., Smith, J.D., Whitley, J., Oram, R., Hone, M., McBrearty, N., Klan, A., Goldberg, B., Krause, A., D’Agostino, B., Renauld, J., Bethune, S., & El Samra, C. (2020, July 13-15). A clinic-based study of moderating effects on school absenteeism and children’s mental health. Oral presentation at the 15^th International Conference on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, London, UK. (Conference cancelled due to COVID-19).

D’Agostino, B., Goldberg, B., Hone, M., Klan, A. Krause, A., McBrearty, N., Rogers, M., Smith, D., Whitley, J. (2020, May 27-30). Partnering to promote children’s emotional well- being & educational outcomes: A data-driven approach. Multi-paper symposium. 81st Canadian Psychological Association Annual National Convention, Montréal, Quebec, Canada. (Conference cancelled due to COVID-19)

Krause, A., Klan, A., D’Agostino, B., Goldberg, B., Frasch, C., Rogers, M., Whitley, J., Smith,

J.D. (2019). Partnering to promote children’s emotional well-being and educational outcomes: A data-driven approach to foster decision-making. Oral presentation at the Jean-Paul Dionne Symposium Ottawa, Ontario.

Klan, A., Krause, A., Goldberg, B., D’Agostino, B., Frasch, C., Whitley, J., Smith, D., & Rogers,

1. (2019, March 7-8). Partnering to promote children’s emotional well-being and educational outcomes: A data-driven approach to foster decision-making [oral presentation]. Jean-Paul Dionne Symposium, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Journal Articles

Title: Navigating the Triumphs and Tribulations of Developing a University-Community Children’s Mental Health Partnership, As Told by Graduate Students (Manuscript submitted for publication to Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship)

Authors: D’Agostino, B., Krause, A. Klan, A., Goldberg, B., Whitley, J., Rogers, M., Smith, D., Hone, M., & McBrearty, N.

 

Title: A descriptive glance at school problematic behaviors in children seeking mental health treatment (Manuscript in preparation for submission to Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties)

Authors: Krause, A., D’Agostino, B., Klan, A., Goldberg, B., Rogers, M., Whitley, J., Smith, J.D., McBrearty, N., & Hone, M.

 

Infographics

Title: Sleep problems in preschool children at Crossroads (January 2020)

Title: Parent perspectives on effects of Covid-19 on Crossroads service delivery (August 2020)