VentureLab

The CBC National breaks down what all that screen time and social media scrolling is doing to kids’ brains. Two studies by Dr. Conrod and the Venturelab team are featured.

In the news

New study in Scientific Reports shows the relationship between screen time and ADHD symptoms is explained by the effects of screen time on neuropsychological and behavioural measures of impulsivity and executive functions. This relationship was found to last over time only in the case of social media use, suggesting an enduring influence on teen’s behavior and mental health and highlighting a need to identify measures to help young people better manage their susceptibility to social media.

Publication

The World Health Organization's 2023 World Mental Health Day focuses on mental health as a universal human right. At Conrodventurelab, we study preventive mental health interventions and the implementation models that have the broadest reach. #WorldMentalHealthDay

Awareness

UniVenture is a mental health prevention research study open to first and second-year undergraduate students. This unique opportunity is back for the Fall 2023 session. Learn more about your personality while being compensated for your participation.

Recruitment

Over 40 researchers from 10 different Canadian research laboratories met in Montreal to share research findings on cannabis and adolescent brain development. A number of common themes across animal and human research were identified, and new research directions were discussed. Sex, gender and pubertal factors appear key to understanding the link between adolescent cannabis use and psychosis risk

research meeting

This elegant qualitative analysis of situational, cognitive-emotional and behavioural triggers for substance misuse in opioid dependent adults receiving opioid substitution therapy showed that substance use behaviours were linked to personality-specific thinking and behavioural reactions to major life stressors. This research provides further support for the application of personality-targeted psychological interventions as adjuncts to opioid substitution therapy.

[publication]

Experts in constitutional law, psychiatry, ethics, end-of-life care and indigenous peoples’ knowledge present different perspectives, while reaching consensus: Equal rights and access to quality health care are at the heart of this issue.

[Event]

Major funding for the collaborative development of the Canadian Pediatric Imaging Platform (C-PIP) has been awarded to a Canadian research group based across three pediatric hospitals, whose leadership at the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre is psychologist and professor Dr. Patricia Conrod. The announcement was made today by the Government of Canada and Brain Canada and involves partnerships with Sickkids and Alberta Children's Hospitals

[Funding Announcement]

The EPA 2023 Congress took place on 25-28 March 2023 in Paris, France, under the motto: “Social Cohesion, a Common Goal for Psychiatry“.

[Scientific Presentation]

A new collaboration has been launched between researchers across three paediatric hospitals in Canada. Through a hybrid in-person and virtual meeting, more than twenty experts from clinical neuropsychology, neuroimaging and bioinformatics met over two days to design new tools to accelerate research on neurodevelopment and child brain health. 

[event]

Longitudinal modelling of the relationships between adolescents frequency and type of screentime and aggressive behaviours suggests that social media, video gaming and computer use were associated with short-term increases in aggressive behaviours. Social media also showed a longer-term relationship with antisocial behaviours. Television watching was associated with promotion of prosocial behaviours. Digital media that is subject to editorial review might be less harmful for adolescents.

publication

A new study published Frontiers Psychiatry - A longitudinal mediation study of peer victimization and resting-state functional connectivity as predictors of psychopathology. Results showed that rsFC of the amygdala-posterior insula significantly mediated the lagged within-person association of peer victimisation and internalizing symptoms. Bullying experiences may lead to long-lasting changes in neural communication between regions implicated in emotion regulation and sensory/pain perception

[publication]

New Legislation being developed to better protect children and youth online. 

[What we're reading]

Dr. Conrod's research on screen time and teen mental health featured on CTV News. Social media linked to increased risk for eating disorder and depression symptoms through lasting effects on youth self-esteem.  This research highlights how social media platforms promote unrealistic social norms that teens try to live up to. Dr. Conrod recommends talking to young people about the biased nature of content that they are exposed to on social media platforms.

In the News

There may be a widespread perception that opioid use only impacts older adults. However, evidence now shows that the opioid overdose and health crises has, and continues to have, deleterious effects on youth and young adults ages 15-24. There is some evidence in Canada that shows the pandemic and the associated restrictions exacerbated morbidity and mortality due to opioids among young people. Contemporary journalistic exposes have also revealed the heartbreaking consequences...

[Article]

"They don't get a lot of help, whether its education about the opioids they'd been prescribed, counselling for their health issue or use of the opioids."

[What we're reading]

Les adolescents qui doivent prendre des opioïdes pour des problèmes de santé affirment manquer de ressources pour gérer adéquatement leur médication, ont constaté des chercheurs montréalais qui ont participé à une vaste étude pancanadienne...

[Ce que nous lisons]

There is very little in-depth qualitative research regarding youth experiences with medical use of prescription opioids and this is concerning as some youth are shown to be at risk for future nonmedical opioid use, addiction, and overdose as a result of medical use of opioids in adolescence. We sought to understand and characterize youth experiences with prescription opioids, such that researchers and healthcare professionals can improve both opioid and pain-related treatment and...

[Publication]

Find some relevant articles in this volume of the Canadian Journal of Addiction which includes authors that are members of VentureLab.

[What we're reading]

After joining Dr. Conrod's team in 2020, Dr. Watts was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from CHUSJ in 2022, which then set him up for double success with this year's CIHR and FRQS fellowship competitions. Dr. Watts will study the long-term impact of adolescent cannabis use on the developing brain using multimodal neuroimaging, including PET-imaging. Congratulations, Jeremy!

[news]

Increasing evidence implicates cannabis consumption as an important risk factor in the development of psychosis, but the mechanisms underpinning this relationship remain understudied. Our study, published in Schizophrenia Bulletin Open, showed a longitudinal, sleep-mediated, effect of cannabis use on emergence of psychosis symptoms during adolescence. Congratulations to doctoral student, Julien Oullet!

[New Publication]

The Université de Montréal launches SENSUM, a new strategy for neuroscience and mental health on the 6th of December, a day of remembrance for Montreal, to highlight the need for continued investment in brain and mental health research. With Dr. Conrod as the director of this new strategy, the focus will be on interdisciplinary research and training opportunities, public-private and community partnerships, and the promotion of open science to accelerate discovery and increase impact.

[Event]

A new study by the University of Sydney Matilda Centre research team reports findings long-term benefits of personality-targeted PreVenture workshops on alcohol use and misuse in young adulthood.

[New Publication]

Opinion Essay by Maia Szalavitz addresses the need for more helpful and effective prevention strategies in the age of the Fentanyl overdose crisis. This article reviews new harm reduction approaches and prevention strategies in order to better protect youth who are at risk of coming into contact with Fentanyl. It's a risky time to be experimenting with substances. The Preventure Program goes to the core of why young people take the risk by focusing on temperament and mental health.

In the news

Pathways from adolescent screen time to eating related symptoms: a multilevel longitudinal mediation analysis through self-esteem By Audrey Livet, Elroy Boers, Flavie Laroque, Mohammad H. Afzali, Gail McVey & Patricia J. Conrod. Screen time and self-esteem have been shown to be important correlates of eating disorders in adolescence. Self-esteem was found to be a significant mediating factor between social media use and eating related symptoms over a two year period.

[New Publication]

Self-disturbances constitute a hallmark of psychosis, but it remains unclear whether these alterations are present in at-risk populations. The present study addressed this question by measuring neural correlates of self-other processing in youth belonging to three developmental trajectories of psychotic experiences. We found alterations in one of the atypical trajectories that are similar to what is reported in individuals with schizophrenia.

[New Publication]

A new publication in the Medical Journal of Australia on PreVenture. The CAP Study adapted the Preventure Program for the Australian context, and then tested the impact of this program on teen mental health. Students who attended schools where the program was implemented were compared to students who attended schools where the program was not implemented and results showed a significant reduction in the likelihood of reporting suicidal ideation over a three-year period. 

[Publication]

Impaired emotion processing constitutes a key dimension of schizophrenia and a possible endophenotype of this illness. Empirical studies consistently report poorer emotion recognition performance in patients with schizophrenia as well as in individuals at enhanced risk of schizophrenia (“at risk”). fMRI studies also report consistent patterns of abnormal brain activation in response to emotional stimuli in patients, in particular decreased amygdala activation. In contrast, brain-level...

[Publication]

Studying developmental trajectories of psychotic-like experiences can help us understand the brain changes that occur during the development of psychosis. In this study, we have shown that atypical trajectories of psychotic-like experiences are associated with changes in brain regions that are involved in emotion salience and face perception, similarly to what is reported in schizophrenia.

[New Publication]

Join us on June 7th, 2022 for the first installment of "The PreVenture Lecture Series" .Dr. Erin Kelly will discuss the prevalence, risk and protective factors for bullying involvement and harms of bullying. This will be a hybrid event offered in person and online. Click below to download a flyer with details

[Event]

The EHT research team from across Canada are delighted to share the results of a scoping review published on May 9th, 2022 in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. The review showed that research on treatment for youth and young adults remains sparse and more focus is needed on interventions that address the unique social contexts of use for this population, including treatments that focus on women/females and gender diverse youth.

[What We're reading]

Dr. Patricia Conrod participated in the Society for Neuroscience's panel discussion on "How to Advocate for Mental Health Research". The aim was to present ways the media and the neuroscience community can work together to advocate for continued foundational mental health research. Dr. Conrod's extensive experience working with the media contributed to a rich and varied discussion with leaders in the field of mental health.

[What We're Listening To]

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) has awarded Partnership Grants of CAD$2.5 million for 5-year multi-site study titled “UniVenture: A Partnership to Address Heavy Drinking and Other Substance Misuse on Canadian University Campuses”

News

Marion Audet and Nora Fripp have presented their pilot results at the CCSA’s Issues of Substance Conference 2021. Their presentation looked to identify the feasibility of the UniVenture Program and highlighted the importance of developmentally appropriate and culturally relevant adaptations. Click on the image to view all of the presentations within the Issues of Substance Conference 2021

Learning how to channel your unique traits towards achieving your personal goals, contributes to positive mental health. Programs that build cognitive behavioural skills relevant to your personality style can help prevent mental health problems. Let's talk about preventative mental health www.preventure.ca #BellLetsTalk #chusaintejustine #conrodventurelab #mentalhealth #earlyintervention #universitedemontreal #UdeM #evidencebasedprevention

During these challenging times, it is more important than ever to prioritize the mental health of young people. The CUSP Trial team is proud to be partnering with high schools across the country to deliver and evaluate PreVenture, an evidence-based mental health promotion and substance use prevention program. Click here to visit our website and learn more!

The U.S. Surgeon General has warned that young people are facing "devastating" mental health effects as a result of the challenges experienced by their generation. This comes on the heels of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children's Hospital Association's declaration of a "national emergency" in youth mental health. The Surgeon General has called on funders and foundations to scale up evidence-based interventions.

[What We're Reading]

The FRQS Quebec Network on Suicide, Mood Disorders and Related Conditions (RQSHA), in partnership with the Pragmatic Health Ethics Research Unit and The Montreal Health Ethics Conference Series (Montreal Clinical Research Institute) will host a knowledge exchange event focusing on current knowledge on the legal, ethical, psychosocial and neurobiological findings relevant to the debate on medical assistance in dying for people living with mental illness. Date: October 27th from 1:00-3:00 pm

[Event]

A recent Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that Facebook has known for years that Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, damages teens' mental health. We talk to Wall Street Journal technology reporter Jeff Horwitz about what he found, and discuss what safeguards are needed with Dr. Patricia Conrod, a neurodevelopmental researcher at Sainte-Justine children's hospital, and a professor of psychiatry at the University of Montreal.

Étudiants de premier cycle universitaire de l'UdeM dont l'âge est compris entre 18 et 24 ans. Nous souhaitons solliciter votre participation pour le projet de recherche UniVenture qui a pour objectif d'adapter un programme de mieux-être aux besoins et à la réalité de la population étudiante de l'UdeM.

Recruitment

Dr. Jeremy Watts, a post-doctoral fellow working with Dr. Patricia Conrod and Dr. Stéphane Potvin has been awarded the 2020 Brain Star Award. His research suggests a link between the brain’s endocannabinoid neurotransmitter system and positive psychotic symptoms experienced by patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.

Fifteen to 25-year-olds are the age group most likely to misuse prescription drugs. This study surveyed approximately 3800 students annually from 7th grade to 11th grade on personality, mental health and substance use measures. Four personality traits were shown to be linked to specific patterns of prescription drug misuse, through different mental health profiles.

[publication]

Dr. Patricia Conrod and Dr. Gregory Lodygensky at CHU Sainte-Justine, has been awarded $7.1 million in funding as part of the 2020 competition of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Innovation Fund. This funding confirms the global leadership of CHU Sainte-Justine's researchers in the advancement of knowledge on neurodevelopmental disorders.

The EHT team presented to the Canadian Opioid Response Partners network, a pan-Canadian network of healthcare providers including, pharmacists, doctors, physiotherapists, frontline workers, public health workers and individuals with lived experience. They shared preliminary results from their cross-site qualitative analyses of focus groups and interviews with over 130 youth across Canada regarding solutions and suggestions for how to improve opioid-related service provision for young people.

[News]

De nombreux experts craignent une hausse des taux de suicide liée au contexte de la pandémie COVID-19. Découvrez ce nouvel édito rédigé par Marie-Claude Geoffroy, Ph. D., Massimiliano Orri, Ph.D., Patricia Conrod, Ph. D. et Naguib Mechawar, Ph. D., Direction du RQSHA. Les auteurs discutent de la problématique du suicide pendant la pandémie et de la nécessité de mettre en place des mécanismes de protection et des actions préventives pour limiter les conséquences à moyen et long terme.

[News]

Dr. Patricia Conrod was recently featured in the CIHR's On the Mic with Mike series. Watch Dr. Conrod sit down with CIHR President Dr. Michael Strong to discuss her research on the developing adolescent brain, with a particular focus on the impact of the early use of cannabis, alcohol, and tobacco.⁣

[What We're Watching]

Le Réseau lance le concours des meilleurs articles scientifiques publiés par des étudiants ou stagiaires postdoctoraux membres du RQSHA

[Event]

[Event]

Members of our research team, in collaboration with our national Youth Advisory Group, discuss the Canadian youth mental health crisis

[Publication]

One of our latest research projects is undertaking Indigenous cultural adaptations of the PreVenture Program

[News]

World Mental Health Day, Saturday October 10th, 2020 - The WHO will stream its first live global online advocacy event

[Event]

Obtenez votre certification pour offrir le programme PréVenture. Inscrivez-vous

[Event]

[What we're reading]

Une étude menée auprès de plus de 3800 élèves du secondaire du grand Montréal révèle que l’usage du cannabis altère davantage la mémoire de travail chez les filles que chez les garçons.

[What We're Reading]

Congrats to Stephanie Nairn for publishing her letter to the editor of the Montreal Gazette on Blaming and shaming young people for CoVID..

[Publication]

Dr. Patricia Conrod was a recent guest on the Hopestream Podcast. Listen to this fascinating conversation in which Dr. Conrod discusses...

[What We're Listening to]

An article commentary by Dr Ranmalie Jayasinha, Stephanie Nairn and Dr Patricia Conrod highlights the parallel COVID-19 and opioid...

[Publication]

An article commentary by Dr Ranmalie Jayasinha, Stephanie Nairn and Dr Patricia Conrod highlights the parallel COVID-19 and opioid...

[Publication]

A new study has identified several major cognitive biases that are associated with psychotic-like experiences. Dr Patricia Conrod and her...

[Publication]

On retrouve dans le cerveau de gens souffrant d’une dépendance des anomalies structurelles qui sont semblables, et parfois même supérieures.

[What we're reading]

Become a PreVenture Facilitator and bring this evidence-based prevention program to the youth in your community. Over 3-days learn how to...

[Event]

COVID-19 has ushered in a new era in online delivery of educational and health services. In keeping with this, we have adapted the...

[Event]

Are females really more sensitive to the effects of drugs on the brain? A new study examines gender differences in how adolescent alcohol...

[Publication]

Conrod Venture Lab's very own Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Stephanie Nairn attended the 63rd Session of the United Nations Commission on..

[News]

Adaptability is a big part of our success at Conrod Venture Lab. We are rolling with all the new measures Covid-19 has put into play...

[Event]

On vous invite à participer à un projet de recherche pour développer une intervention auprès d’adolescents avec des traits de personnalité..

[EVENT]

We recently received word that New York State's Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) has added the PreVenture Program...

[Event]

À l’invitation du gouvernement québécois, des dizaines d’experts se sont réunis lundi à Québec pour discuter de l’impact des écrans chez...

[What We're Reading]

Nous souhaitons bienvenue aux jeunes entre 15 et 25 ans et qui ont de l'expérience avec des opioïdes à un sommet où vous avez la chance de..

[Event]

During the summit, you will participate in breakout group discussions and attend presentations by your peers and experts on evidence about..

[Event]

This year is extra special, marking the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. A time to celebrate and a time to...

[What We're Reading]

Instagram announced it was "running a test" on some users, a couple months after rumors first emerged that the photo-sharing platform was...

[Our Research in the News]

This systematic review assessed the current evidence base of substance use prevention programs for Indigenous adolescents in the USA...

[Publication]

This study examined the secondary mental health outcomes of two contrasting alcohol prevention approaches, whereby one intervention...

[Publication]

The Effect of Contextual Risk Factors on the Effectiveness of Brief Personality-Targeted Interventions for Adolescent Alcohol Use and...

[Publication]

The use of large data sets in addiction research is welcome, because statistical power is increased. When applied to large data sets...

[Publication]

Smoking high-potency marijuana every day could increase the chances of developing psychosis by nearly five times, according to the...

[What We're Reading]

Several school-based prevention programmes have been developed and used to prevent, delay, or reduce substance misuse, and related...

[Publication]

Preventure Program featured at international meeting on suicide prevention hosted by U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services...

[Event]

U.S. Surgeon General Vice Adm. Jerome M. Adams issued an advisory today stressing the importance of protecting children from a lifetime...

[What We're Reading]

The large amount of vocational community college students that continue showing binge-drinking behavior might be an indication that...

[What We're Reading]

The opioid misuse and overdose crisis touches everyone in the United States. In 2016, we lost more than 115 Americans to opioid overdose...

[What We're Reading]

Previous work has revealed that interventions aiming to reduce adolescent binge drinking commonly focus on cognitive attitudes, but are...

[What We're Reading]

Recent studies have shown that major depression is associated with a series of neuropsychological deficits, such as attention, memory...

[Publicaiton]

The Canadian Institute of Health Research has awarded the Canadian Underage Substance use Prevention (CUSP) Trial, led by Dr. Patricia...

[Event]

Going from an occasional user of marijuana to a weekly or daily user increases an adolescent’s risk of having recurrent psychotic-like...

Our Research in the News

The authors sought to model the different trajectories of psychotic‐like experiences (PLE) during adolescence and to examine whether...

[Publication]

A Review to Identify Gaps in Research and Service Delivery for Substance Use Prevention among At-risk Adolescents Involved in Child...

[Publication]

Onset of alcohol use by 14 relative to 21 years of age strongly predicts elevated risk for severe alcohol use problems, with 27% versus 4%..

[What We're Reading]

The Canadian Institute of Health Research has awarded the ProVenture project led by Dr Stéphane Potvin and Dr Patricia Conrod funding for...

[Event]

Thanks to an exemplary two million dollar donation by the RBC Royal Bank, CHU Sainte-Justine can now lay the foundation for its mental...

[Event]

The stepped wedge cluster randomised trial is a novel research study design that is increasingly being used in the evaluation of service...

[What We're Reading]

Project aim. We will i) describe neural and cognitive functions implicated in adolescent onset depressive symptoms, and their involvement...

[Event]

Following an international review, CIHR has approved a proposal submitted by the CRISM network for a 5-year directed grant addressing the...

[Event]

In the months to come, the Emerging Health Threat study will host a cross-Canada Youth Summit to present the current state of intervention..

[Event]

Dr. Conrod was appointed as one of five panelists who will review the The Cannabis Act, which set purchase and possession limits at 30 grams of dried pot or the equivalent in 2018, and requires that the government must issue a report, including findings and recommendations, no later than 18 months after the review begins. 

News