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Structural Violence And Illicit Drug Use Among Youth Living Under Occupation In Palestine, Lian Buwadi

2021 Undergraduate Awards

There is no doubt that Palestinians are living in a politically and economically repressive sociopolitical context, due to the brutal Israeli military occupation. As stated in a report by the Palestinian National Institute of Health (PNIH), “Palestinians face political violence, house demolitions, arrests, restrictions to movement, and encroachment on their land” (2017). Moreover, “civilians suffer during conflict and war from destruction of the community infrastructure and from personal stress due to disruption of services and the non-fulfillment of basic human needs” (Giacaman et al., 2004). This often leads to severe mental duress and a higher prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder, …

The Mental Health Culture In Hockey: A Scoping Review, Lauren Dormer

MA Research Paper

In any major Canadian city, one can find hockey arenas, outdoor rinks, or a Tim Horton coffee shop on every corner. Between September and April, many Canadians will adorn their favourite players jersey or their favourite teams toque, exuding team pride, further strengthening the idea that Canadian culture is entangled within the world of hockey.

Due to hockey’s role within Canadian identity, this study conducted a scoping literature review in order to conceptualize what we know of mental health within hockey literature. There were three overarching research questions that guided this study: 1) How is mental health defined, measured, or …

Assessing Self-Identified And Meta-Perceived Social Groups For Predicting Day-To-Day Discrimination And Examining Psychological Distress Based On Identity Mismatch, Emily C. Nunez

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The way that people are socially assigned may influence how they are targeted for discrimination. Whether self-identified (SI) or meta-perceived (MP) (i.e. perceptions of how one is classified by others) and visibly expressed (VE) (e.g. clothing) social identity better predict day-to-day discrimination is an important question that has not been addressed in previous research. Identity mismatch based on SI and MP social groups may cause psychological distress, and racial ambiguity may contribute to ethnoracial identity mismatch. This thesis utilized a cross-sectional survey conducted in Canada and the United States to assess how levels of day-to-day discrimination varied based on SI …

The Interrelated Nature Of Trauma: Exploring The Narratives Of Persons Living With A Family Member Who Has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Emily Johnson

MA Research Paper

The study of the relationship between work-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the family has commonly been approached from both a psychological and psychiatric perspective. Moreover, these studies have primarily focused on how PTSD impacts familial relationships from the perspective of the individual who has PTSD, while little attention has been placed on the viewpoint of family members. By using data obtained from Beyond Blue and Reddit, the current study aims to redress this gap by directly exploring the perceptions of family members living with an emergency service worker who has PTSD. A qualitative content analysis was conducted using …

Cumulative Childhood Adversity And Disparities In Adult Psychological Distress And Educational Attainment, Loanna Heidinger

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Exposure to childhood adversity often does not occur as an isolated experience; rather, adverse childhood circumstances tend to co-occur, resulting in a climate of disadvantage that has detrimental consequences, and contributes to disparities in adult outcomes. Although the enduring impacts of cumulative childhood adversity on adult mental health and attainment outcomes are well documented in the literature, studies have not accounted for the long-term impact of cumulative childhood adversity on trajectories of adult psychological distress. Furthermore, measures of adversity used to predict selection into higher education consistently focus on childhood economic hardship as the sole indicator of adversity and overlook …

Pathways Over The Life Course: Patterns Of Depressive Symptoms In Adolescence And Their Potential Impact On Educational Attainment, Stephen Carneiro Fernandes

MA Research Paper

This analysis draws on life course sociology to investigate the association between depression in adolescence and postsecondary completion in young adulthood. Three gaps in the mental health and education literature are addressed: lack of attention to the duration and timing of depressive symptoms, the overuse of high school degree receipt and college entry as outcome variables, and the exclusion of theoretically important confounders, such as self-rated health. Using panel data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, distinct mental health pathways that are based on a 12-item revision of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale are …

'The Environment Says It's Okay': The Tension Between Peer Support And Police Culture, Cindy Hohner

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study evaluates the implementation and subsequent operation of a peer support program in a Canadian police service. Data was collected from an online survey, available to the police service for a period of one year, and 16 in-depth interviews with peer support team members. There is very little data on police peer support programs in the literature. Thus, the purpose of the survey was to gain an understanding of what issues members believe a peer support program should address, the circumstances under which they would seek help from the peer support program, and the reasons they may or may …

Madness In The Media: Understanding How People With Lived Experience Interpret Newspaper Headlines, Da Qing Wang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

There is research on media representations of mental health that suggests there is a tendency to portray mental health as problematic and those who are affected by mental illness as dangerous. It is evident there has been an increase in anti-stigma media campaigns. However, the effects of these efforts on beliefs held by members of the public has been mixed. What is most surprising from the literature is a lack of research about how people who have personal experience with mental illness interpret media messages. Individuals with and without lived experience participated in a structured conceptualization process known as concept …

Neighbourhood Context And Youth Mental Health: The Role Of Local Community Programming In A Mid-Sized Ontario Urban Centre, Monica Christine Bochus

MA Research Paper

Existing research indicates that neighbourhood disadvantage takes a cumulative toll on mental health across the life course beginning in childhood. This study used a qualitative approach to explore the role of local community resources on buffering the harmful effects of adversity for youth in a mid-sized Ontario urban centre. The following questions were addressed: 1) What role do youth-centered community resources play in child and adolescent mental health promotion and awareness, particularly for at-risk children? 2) How can they serve to improve child and adolescent well-being? By interviewing key informants, the study found that affordable youth-centred programming has the potential …

Protective Factors And The Role Of Gender In Childhood Mental Health: Application Of The Interrai Assessment Protocol, Alexandria Lynch

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The present study examined how a child’s mental health is impacted by protective factors and his/her gender. Resiliency research has been growing in recent years as researchers recognize the value of focusing on strengths in individuals. Previous research has shown that certain protective factors help buffer against the negative effects of mental health disorders differently for males and females. The present study sought to explore this further. The participants were children and youth with severe mental health and behavioural challenges and were drawn from a tertiary care facility and other mental health organizations. The results revealed that the children and …

Examining Contextual Factors And Resilience In Adolescents Who Faced Adversity As Children, Veronica Zapotoczny

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The subject of mental health has increasingly become a topic of discussion as individuals advocate for recognition of this health issue. Early childhood adversity is often associated with mental health problems amongst adolescents, however, many do not succumb to these experiences and instead have resilient health outcomes. This study utilized data from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) to analyze the relationship between early adversity and adolescent mental health, how social context may mediate this association, and finally, what factors are associated with mental health resilience. It was found that many at risk children had positive health …

Family Structure And Children's Socioeconomic Attainment In The Transition To Adulthood, Jamie Seabrook

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

With the proliferation of different family forms in many western countries over the last few decades, research investigating the influence of family structure on children’s socioeconomic status attainment has expanded dramatically, especially in the United States. The purpose of this study was to estimate the relative influence of family structure, maternal resources and family mental health on predicting children’s educational, occupational, and income attainment in young adulthood.

Data for this study were derived from a case-comparison, three-wave panel study of single-parent and two-parent families living in London, Ontario, with interviews conducted in 1993 (wave 1), 1994 (wave 2), and between …

Underemployment, Unemployment, And Mental Health, Heather L. Maddocks

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Inadequate employment, through unemployment or underemployment is expected to have consequences for the health and well-being of Canadians. This dissertation presents three studies centered on the relationship between underemployment and mental health. In the first study, ideal indicators for underemployment are described, and the stress process model is proposed as a theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between underemployment and adverse health outcomes. The second and third studies use data from a community-based survey conducted in London, Ontario, Canada in 1994/5 and 1996/7. Four indicators of underemployment are used including: lower income or benefits than in a previous job, involuntary …

Social Determinants Of Mental Health And Well-Being Among Aboriginal Peoples In Canada, Susan Wingert

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The articles in this volume address the question: How do social determinants structure the health and well-being of the Aboriginal population in Canada? The first article uses bivariate statistical tests to assess whether First Nations residents’ subjective assessments of personal and community well-being correspond to scores from the Community Well-Being (CWB) Index, which is a measure of socioeconomic conditions in the community. The second article uses path analysis to test the extent to which the stress process model explains the social distribution of psychological distress and well-being in the off-reserve Aboriginal population. Specifically, it investigates whether stress, mastery, and social …