News

School psychologists and psychological associates provide psychoeducational assessments to elucidate factors that underlie or contribute to students’ learning, behavioral, and/or socio-emotional difficulties. We have published a new study in the Canadian Journal of School Psychology examining strengths-based psychoeducational assessment practices among Canadian school psychologists. Findings highlight the role of professional beliefs, training, and workload factors in supporting assessment approaches that identify not only students’ challenges, but also their strengths and resources. This work reflects the CAN Lab’s broader commitment to understanding how assessment and intervention practices can better support children, adolescents, and young adults across educational and clinical settings.

Congratulations to CAN Lab senior doctoral student, Fatima Wasif, who has secured a predoctoral residency at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario - Child Neuropsychology Track. Fatima, you have been a delight to have in the lab and our program more generally. Though we are sad to see you leave, we're thrilled for you to embark on this next phase of your clinical training!

Congratulations to PhD student Alexa Nordine on the publication of her research in Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. This study examined how experiences of childhood adversity influence executive function development during adolescence, with a focus on the role of pubertal timing. Findings highlight the complex ways in which early life experiences and developmental processes interact to shape cognitive skills that support planning, problem-solving, and self-regulation. This work contributes to a better understanding of factors that influence adolescent development and may help inform prevention and intervention efforts aimed at supporting youth who have experienced adversity.

A new CAN Lab study published in Personalized Medicine in Psychiatry examines how adolescents' ability to manage thoughts, emotions, and behaviours relates to their mental health. Findings suggest that challenges with planning, problem-solving, and managing emotions may make it harder for some teens to cope with stress effectively, increasing their vulnerability to depression. This work highlights the importance of helping adolescents build self-regulation abilities that support resilience and well-being.

Congratulations to MA student Brianna MachPherson, who has been selected for a summer position as an Education Policy Researcher focused on Student Mental Health with the Federation of Canadian Secondary Students (FCSS). Brianna will be conducting a national review of mental health policies and school board practices, with a focus on identifying disparities that affect newcomer secondary students. Brianna's work is a great example of the myriad ways in which clinical psychology students contribute to society by translating psychological science into action—advancing mental health through research, clinical practice, education, advocacy, and policy.

We are pleased to share that MA student Alexa Nordine has been awarded a SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship for doctoral studies (CGS-D). Congratulations Alexa!

Thank you to the first-year UW undergraduates who participated in our longitudinal study, 'Great Expectations' (ORE 46624), which looked at different facets of adjustment experienced by students in the first year of university. The study is now closed and we have notified the 8 winners of our gift card draw. Stay tuned for future updates as we begin to share findings from our study!

Setting and attaining goals is linked to many positive outcomes for youth, but not all youth are successful in goal pursuit–-particularly in the context of having ADHD. In her doctoral work, Mahsa Sadeghi, conducted interviews with youth who do or do not have ADHD to examine similarities and differences in their goal striving. Both groups were also compared to undergraduate students at the University of Waterloo. Common themes highlighted reasons for, resources toward, and stressors associated with goal pursuit. However, youth with ADHD rated academic goals as less interesting even when successfully attained, applied more effort and allocated more strategies even when goals were of high interest (e.g., hobbies), endorsed using fewer executive functions (e.g., planning, organizing) during goal pursuit, and did not link immediate goals to future ambitions. This qualitative study provides a voice for youth with ADHD regarding their experience of goal-striving and offers a perspective for clinicians, caregivers, and educators to consider when working with adolescents who have this relatively common neurodevelopmental disorder. Mahsa's work was recently published in the Canadian Journal of School Psychology.

There is increasing concern that challenges inherent in university life are significantly and negatively impacting the well-being of students. In our latest work, we find that well-being is particularly vulnerable among students who enter university lacking the self-regulatory cognitive skills that are necessary for pursuing and achieving goals in a demanding academic environment (like planning and time management). Importantly, well-being can be bolstered in this same group of at-risk students by encouraging them to reframe how they think about stressful situations—an emotion regulation strategy known as cognitive reappraisal. This study furthers our understanding of factors that influence the well-being of university students and provides practical ideas for supporting and fostering their resilience. More information is available at the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science.

As teenagers enter high school, they face increased demands for independent academic work coupled with the need to establish new social networks. In this work, we demonstrate that youth with executive function challenges are more likely to experience a decrement in their sense of well-being upon entering high school; however, this effect is lessened if they feel connected with others (e.g., peers and family). This work, undertaken with youth residing in Waterloo Region, has just been published in the Journal of Happiness Studies.