Author Archives: Melodie Corbett

Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly publishes last issue after 18-year run

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The Children’s Health Policy Centre (CHPC) has released the final issue of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly — for now.

For 18 years, the Quarterly summarized the best available research evidence on a wide range of children’s mental health topics. The publication was funded by the BC Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD). The final issue — on anxiety treatments — was released on April 2.

“When we started the Quarterly we hoped it would continue and have long-term impact,” said Charlotte Waddell, Director of the Children’s Health Policy Centre and Professor Emerita in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University.

“Its duration speaks to our partnership with the Ministry, and to our shared commitment as researchers and policymakers to improving children’s mental health. We’ve had a fantastic run, and we’re proud of the impact the Quarterly has had.”

The CHPC released the first Quarterly issue in 2007. The vision for the publication was to highlight high-quality research on children’s mental health and to make it available to policymakers, practitioners and community members.

“We wanted to share research on children’s mental health in an accessible format,” said Waddell. “The Quarterly allowed us to make the research freely available — to policymakers and practitioners, yes, but also to parents and anyone else with an interest in children’s mental health.”

Over the years, the Quarterly covered many common childhood disorders like anxiety and ADHD. But it also looked at topics relevant to the national mental health conversation. For example, a recent issue on prevention of opioid use disorders formed the basis for an article published in The Conversation. This article led to further media coverage, reaching a national audience on the importance of early opioid use prevention.

Though Waddell and the CHPC team are sad to see the publication end, they are looking forward to continuing their research and engagements with policymakers. And they are leaving the door open for a possible return.

“MCFD wasn’t able to renew the Quarterly contract, but we intend to seek other funding. In the meantime, we have other initiatives underway to help encourage the best possible prevention and treatment programs for children in BC and beyond,” said Waddell.

For readers who may miss the Quarterly, Waddell points to the extensive archive of past issues, which will remain online indefinitely. The complete subject index will also remain available indefinitely.

“We are grateful to our readers for being there for children’s mental health,” said Waddell. “We hope the Quarterly library will continue to be a useful resource for many years to come, and we invite anyone who is interested in our work to stay connected with us. The Quarterly is on pause, but our team will continue sharing research and working to improve the lives of children and youth.”

You can view all past issues of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly in the online Quarterly archive.

World Autism Awareness Day 2025 highlights inclusive policymaking

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World Autism Awareness Day this year will bring together global experts, policymakers and autistic voices to discuss policy issues that impact autistic individuals worldwide — including children and youth.

At a virtual event hosted by the United Nations (UN) on April 2, panelists and speakers will explore how neurodiversity shapes inclusive policymaking and contributes to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Discussions will focus on inclusive healthcare, education and employment, and on designing autism-friendly cities and communities.

Designated by the UN in 2007, World Autism Awareness Day is an annual observance that celebrates neurodiversity and promotes the acceptance, appreciation and inclusion of autistic individuals. The theme for this year’s event, “Advancing Neurodiversity and the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” highlights how inclusive policies can support autistic individuals while also advancing global development priorities. These priorities — the Sustainable Development Goals — include eliminating poverty, providing quality education for kids and adolescents, creating job opportunities for youth and reducing inequality.

You can learn more and register to attend the event on the United Nations website.

Cultural connections promote mental well-being for Arctic Indigenous youth

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A systematic review that focused on Arctic Indigenous Youth identified factors found to enhance their mental well-being. Many of the protective factors identified were not unique to Indigenous youth, such as positive parent-child relationships. However, some more specific factors emerged for Arctic Indigenous youth. These included living in communities that embraced Traditional Knowledge and cultural revitalization, and having kinship structures that emphasized family connections. These findings led the authors to stress the importance of community and culture for Arctic Indigenous youth. Applying these findings, practitioners can promote mental well-being by supporting Indigenous youth to connect with their cultures. Policy-makers can also play a role by supporting Indigenous communities to ensure that their cultures flourish.

For more information, see Vol. 17, No. 2 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.

CHPC researchers to evaluate an adapted early prevention program for diverse families

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A team of researchers from the Children’s Health Policy Centre (CHPC) have partnered with the Fraser Health Authority, Population and Public Health, to evaluate their new Enhanced Family Visiting (EFV) Program.

Led by Principal Investigator and CHPC Associate Director Nicole Catherine, the CHPC team aims to understand the experiences of those who took part in the EFV Program.

“The EFV Program was designed by Fraser Health to be more inclusive of diverse children and mothers,” said Catherine. “We now want to engage with mothers and nurses who participated in the program to learn about their experiences.”

EFV is an early prevention program designed to address avoidable childhood adversities. It is modelled on the Nurse-Family Partnership program (NFP), which involves intensive nurse-home visits starting in early pregnancy through to child age two years.

The CHPC team co-led the 10-year randomized controlled trial evaluation of NFP — the BC Healthy Connections Project — showing promising benefits for mothers and children by age two years. These benefits included reduced prenatal substance exposure; improved child mental health and language development, maternal mental health, and income; and reduced intimate partner violence exposure.

But while NFP is designed to reach young, English-speaking, first-time mothers experiencing disadvantage, the EFV Program serves a broader range of families. Those eligible for EFV also include Indigenous families, mothers with more than one child, older mothers, refugees and newcomers.

In collaboration with Fraser Health, the CHPC team will conduct research interviews with select EFV maternal clients to learn about their experiences with the program. The researchers will also survey EFV public health nurses to evaluate the delivery of the program. The survey questions will examine training, service implementation and additional resources needed.

The findings will help inform EFV program refinements to better reach and serve culturally diverse children and mothers who are experiencing disadvantage. Providing early prevention programs like EFV — for children experiencing disadvantage — is more cost-effective than later remediation. “It’s crucial that policymakers invest in effective early prevention programs to ensure that all young Canadians reach their potential,” said Catherine.

This year’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination highlights 60 years of global action

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The 2025 International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination marks the 60th anniversary of an important human rights treaty — the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). Adopted by the United Nations (UN) in 1965, the ICERD was the first of the UN’s core human rights treaties. It set the stage for future human rights advances and underpins the ongoing global fight against racism and discrimination.

As part of their work under the ICERD, the United Nations designated March 21 as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The day commemorates the Sharpeville Massacre, in which police in South Africa opened fire on a peaceful demonstration against apartheid “pass laws,” killing 69 people.

This year’s observance offers an opportunity to celebrate progress made under the ICERD. But it also highlights the work still needed to create a world free from racial discrimination.

Though antiracism efforts must focus on adults, from whom children learn their early beliefs and behaviours, childhood interventions can also be a starting point. A systematic review undertaken by the Children’s Health Policy Centre identified two interventions that reduced racist attitudes. To learn more, see Vol. 15, No. 3 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.

Addressing common risk factors can help safeguard children’s mental health

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Research has identified several modifiable risk factors that increase the likelihood of children developing multiple disorders. For example, common risk factors for both anxiety and depression include challenges with regulating emotions and with experiencing negative emotions such as anger and guilt on a frequent basis. As well, limited parent involvement and support play a role in the development of behaviour and substance use problems. Notably, experiencing avoidable childhood adversities, including maltreatment, is a risk factor for several disorders.

These research findings support the development of interventions to address common risk factors underlying multiple disorders — programs collectively termed transdiagnostic prevention programs. When successful, these interventions have several potential advantages over those that address single disorders only. They can provide a greater range of benefits while simultaneously simplifying training and implementation. As well, they have the potential to reduce mental health service shortfalls and reduce delivery costs.

For more information, see Vol. 17, No. 2 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.

CBC Health highlights the CHPC’s call for investment in drug prevention programs

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Funding effective prevention programs could significantly reduce youth drug use — that was the message shared by Adjunct Professor with the Children’s Health Policy Centre Christine Schwartz in an article published last week by CBC Health’s Second Opinion.

The article featured new research evidence showing that PreVenture, a school-based program developed by a researcher at the University of Montréal, produced a 35% reduction in the annual increase in the odds of teens developing substance use disorder, compared to a control group.

The piece also highlighted the need for sustained government funding to support and deliver programs such as PreVenture in schools across Canada.

Schwartz noted in her interview with CBC Health that policymakers are “increasingly turning to the research evidence” to evaluate drug prevention programs — and a growing body of evidence demonstrates the effectiveness of several prevention programs.

Second Opinion shared the link to a recent edition of The Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly in which the CHPC presented findings from an evaluation of two such programs: Strengthening Families and Project PATHS. The CHPC team found that they were not only successful in reducing opioid misuse, but that they also reached large numbers of young people, highlighting the benefits of school delivery.

The missing piece, Schwartz told CBC Health, is funding to maintain these programs and put them in place more widely. But she is optimistic that the CHPC’s prevention-focused message will continue to reach policymakers and shape the national dialogue on youth substance use.

“It’s great to see this evidence on the effectiveness of school-based prevention programs being shared in national media,” she says. “These programs increase the likelihood that young people can lead happy, healthy lives and make it less likely they will suffer harms from substance use later on. This is a conversation we need to be having as a country, and one I’m sure policymakers will be paying close attention to.”

Preventing Problematic Anxiety Throughout Childhood

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  • How can we prevent problematic anxiety throughout childhood? This presentation from February 2025 looks at what puts children and youth at risk for developing anxiety disorders and identifies steps to help lessen those risks. It also reviews the effectiveness of several programs designed to prevent these disorders.

Children often struggle with more than a single mental disorder

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Mental disorders cause substantial distress for children, and for their families. They also constitute one of the leading causes of childhood disability globally. Compounding the challenges, among children who meet diagnostic criteria for one disorder, 26.5% meet criteria for two or more.

Beyond prioritizing the prevention of childhood mental disorders generally, it is particularly important to prevent concurrent disorders given the added harms they cause. One effective approach entails expanding delivery of the many proven programs for preventing common conditions such as childhood anxiety, behaviour and substance use problems. Building on protective factors is another effective approach. For example, helping young people develop positive relationships with their parents has been found to protect against developing anxiety disorders.

For more information, see Vol. 17, No. 2 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.

Pink Shirt Day promotes kindness and inclusivity

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February 26 marks Pink Shirt Day, also known as antibullying day. Pink Shirt Day advocates kindness and inclusivity and raises awareness of bullying in schools, workplaces and homes. Across Canada, thousands of kids, families and colleagues show their support by wearing pink shirts — some from their closets and others purchased from official distributors like CKNW Kids’ Fund. Each year, proceeds from pink shirt sales go to organizations that support kids’ healthy self-esteem and teach empathy, compassion and kindness.

Pink Shirt Day was founded in 2007, when two Grade 12 students in a Nova Scotia high school took a stand against bullying in support of a younger classmate. The younger boy had been bullied for wearing a pink shirt on the first day of school. The Grade 12 students purchased and distributed pink shirts to their classmates, breaking the cycle of bullying.

Schools are excellent venues for reaching large numbers of children with antibullying programs. Programs can start early and can be offered across a range of ages, which means they reach more children to prevent the harms that come with bullying. To learn more about effective antibullying interventions, see Vol. 15, No. 4 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.