About

The origins of mental health disorders begin early. Half of lifetime mental health disorders appear before age 14, pointing to a clear and urgent need for early detection and intervention. However, early detection and prevention remain poorly addressed, in part because of the difficulties identifying early subclinical symptoms and contexts associated with avoidable future mental health problems. As a consequence, only a fraction of health care spending is invested in prevention of mental health disorders, compared to treatment.

To address this challenge, we are analyzing evidence from BC’s population-based child development monitoring Early Development Instrument and Middle Years Development Instrument data to investigate early life course patterns of mental health and well-being. This project links data on kindergarten children’s early social-emotional functioning (rated by teachers) to children’s self-reported mental health and well-being in Grades 4 and 7.

Our goal is to identify early mental health indicators, common trajectories and mental health promotive factors associated with reduced mental health challenges to inform provincial and school-based policies, programming and services.

Principal Investigator

• Dr. Kimberly Thomson, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University

Funders

• Mowafaghian Child Health Faculty of Health Sciences Award

Project Partners

• Human Early Learning Partnership, University of British Columbia

Publications

• Oberle, E., Ji, X. R., Molyneux, T., Guhn, M., Forer, B., Thomson, K., Alkawaja, M., Kassan, A., & Gadermann, A. (2025). Mental well-being trends and school-based protective factors among adolescents in British Columbia (2015 to 2022): A population-based study. Social Science & Medicine, 365, 118201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118201
• Thomson, K. C., Gagné Petteni, M., Magee, C., Oberle, E., Georgiades, K., Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Janus, M., Guhn, M., & Gadermann, A. (2024). Changes in peer belonging, school climate, and the emotional health of immigrant, refugee, and non-immigrant adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 96(6), 1592–1605. https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12390 
• Thomson, K. C., Richardson, C. G., Samji, H., Dove, N., Olsson, C. A., Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Shoveller, J., Gadermann, A. M., & Guhn, M. (2021). Early childhood social-emotional profiles associated with middle childhood internalizing and wellbeing. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 76, 101301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2021.101301
• Thomson, K. C., Richardson, C. G., Gadermann, A. M., Emerson, S. D., Shoveller, J., & Guhn, M. (2019). Association of childhood social-emotional functioning profiles at school entry with early-onset mental health conditions. JAMA Network Open, 2(1), e186694. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.6694
• Thomson, K. C., Guhn, M., Richardson, C. G., Ark, T. K., & Shoveller, J. (2017). Profiles of children’s social emotional health at school entry and associated income, gender, and language inequalities: A cross sectional population-based study in British Columbia, Canada. BMJ Open, 7(7), e015353. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-015353

Learn More

• Human Early Learning Partnership