This research chair aims to understand the impact of adverse childhood experiences and psychosocial stress on neural and psychosocial development. There is an enormous gap between the needs and availability of interventions for youth with living in vulnerable conditions. Children who have come into contact with the child welfare system also rarely receive preventive mental health or substance use interventions, despite their identified risk (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2009). A systematic review by our team indicated that targeting personality risk factors in cognitive behavioural interventions could be a promising strategy for reducing substance use problems and increasing resilience in this population (Edalati & Conrod, 2017).                                

This research chair will support a number of studies focusing on innovative intervention strategies for children and youth living in adverse conditions.

For the Well-Venture Study, adolescents were recruited from Batshaw Youth and Family Centres (N = 100, aged 14 to 17). Adolescents were invited to receive two brief group-based intervention sessions which target their dominant personality profile. Adolescents were assessed before and after receiving the interventions (3-month and 6-month intervals) to examine the effects of interventions on reduction of substance use problems and improving the mental health outcomes.