Emotion Regulation in the Dyadic Context
Parents socialize children by teaching the control of emotions (Eisenberg, Cumberland, & Spinrad, 1998) and the capacity for this “emotion regulation” (ER) is considered the hallmark of mature functioning in social relationships (Cole, Martin, & Dennis, 2004; Eisenberg & Spinrad, 2004; Thompson, 1994). Obversely, deficits in socioemotional functioning, such as problems with moods, relationships, or aggression, are strongly associated with emotional dysregulation (Dahl, 2004; Silk, Steinberg, & Morris, 2003; Yap, Allen & Sheeber, 2007). Thus, ER is a core theoretical mechanism of individual and developmental differences in both intra- and inter-personal socioemotional functioning (Dahl, 2001; Steinberg, 2008; Yap, et al., 2007). The goal of this project, with Dr. Tom Hollenstein as the lead investigator, is to extend the theoretical and empirical understanding of ER through the development and application of an innovative observational research tool. The research is designed to achieve three objectives: (1) Develop the first comprehensive observational coding system to record the moment-to-moment behaviours indicative of self- and other regulation (i.e., “co-regulation” or “dyadic ER”) of emotions in dyadic interactions. (2) Apply this coding system to extant videotaped interactions across a range of dyad types (e.g., parent-child, peer) that include both typically and atypically developing youth across a range of ages (8-18). (3) Design and pilot test dyadic interaction tasks that maximally evoke ER challenges and that will become the core research protocol of a subsequent large-scale grant on dyadic ER.
The lead investigator of this project is Dr. Tom Hollenstein at Queen’s University.
This project is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Peer Victimization, Mental Health, and Academic Achievement: A Multi-Informant, Multi-Method Longitudinal Study
Recent research on the effects of peer victimization has documented many negative correlates such as lower self-esteem and self-worth; are more lonely and socially withdrawn, engage in disordered eating, and are more anxious and depressed. Bullied children and youth also report more headaches, stomach-aches and other somatic complaints, which may reflect stress-related illness. They also report being unhappy at school, liking school less, feeling unsafe, and perform less well academically.
Using a multi-level, longitudinal design that incorporates rich information about children, their families, and their schools, the main objective of this study is to: Examine the longitudinal associations between peer victimization, mental health, and academic achievement, and in doing so, closely examine the possible moderating and mediating effects of a constellation of factors that include both individual and contextual variables (e.g., sex, school transitions, family functioning, concordance/discordance across child and parent reports of victimization and mental health).
The lead investigator of this study is Dr. Tracy Vaillancourt at the University of Ottawa.
Motivations for Cyber Bullying: A Longitudinal and Multi-Perspective Inquiry
The majority of Canadian youth have access to the Internet and related communication technologies (Mishna, Cook, Gadalla, Daciuk, & Solomon, 2010). Despite many benefits of technological advances for youth such as social support, identity exploration, and cross-cultural interactions (Jackson, von Eye, Biocca, Barbatsis, Zhao, & Fitzgerald, 2006; Valkenburg & Peter, 2007), the Internet and other forms of communication technology place children and youth at risk of being bullied online, a relatively new phenomenon which is increasingly a problem for youth around the world (Berson, Berson & Ferron, 2002; Finkelhor, & Wolak, 2003; Mitchell, Finkelhor & Wolak, 2003a; Gasser, Maclay, & Palfrey, 2010; Ybarra & Mitchell, 2004a,b). There is not an accepted definition of cyber bullying or an understanding of how this phenomenon compares with traditional bullying, which is necessary to establish and interpret prevalence rates and to inform prevention and intervention strategies (Vaillancourt et al., 2008; Vandebosch & Van Cleemput, 2008). To understand the meaning of cyber bullying, and how episodes are initiated and maintained, we must recognize their underlying motivation. These insights can be obtained directly from children by asking about their knowledge, attitudes, and feelings about cyber bullying. Objectives of the proposed longitudinal mixed methods study are to: 1) explore children’s and youth’s conceptions/definitions with parents’ and teachers’ definitions and views of cyber bullying over time; 2) explore how children and youth view the underlying motivations for cyber bullying; and 3) examine the development and rates of cyber bullying victimization and perpetration and identify risk and protective factors for involvement in cyber bullying in children and youth aged 9 to 18.
The lead investigator of this study is Dr. Faye Mishna at OSIE.
Built Physical Environments as Determinants of Health in Young Canadians, and the Role of Social Environments as Intermediary Factors
Within Canada, there is an emerging interest in determining the influence of the built environment (e.g., outcomes of community planning, design and implementation) on child health, including obesity and injury. However, more research is needed in this area. Specifically, research within populations of Canadian youth needs to consider the behavioural mechanisms that link the built environment with child health, and whether the contributions of built environments to child health are moderated by other social and geographic contextual factors. Development of a better understanding of the interactive effects of the built environment and social and geographic contextual features to child health may contribute to the planning of prevention programs and applied health policy.
We propose to use large and representative cross-sectional and longitudinal samples of Canadian youth, with linked data from area-level sources, in order to: (1) examine how built environments in schools and neighbourhoods are associated with the occurrence of physical health outcomes (obesity and injury); (2) determine how associations between built environments and these health outcomes are mediated by behavioural factors (physical activity, dietary patterns, risk-taking behaviours), and (3) evaluate how these associations are moderated by social (socio-economic status, social climate, social capital) and geographic (urban/rural status, climatic zone, etc.) contextual factors. We hypothesize that: (1) some built environments will be associated with elevated levels of risk for the two sentinel physical health outcomes, (2) relationships between built environments and the physical health outcomes will be mediated by youth behaviours, and (3) these relationships will be moderated by social and geographic contextual factors.
The lead investigator of this study is Will Pickett at Queen’s University.