Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Smart Indigenous Youth, Jamin Patel

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

There is evidence that indicates the immense benefits of physical activity for the physical and mental health of youth. To respond to the youth mental health crisis in Indigenous communities in Canada, a culturally appropriate, land-based active living program called Smart Indigenous Youth (SIY) was developed by the Digital Epidemiology and Population Health Laboratory (DEPtH Lab). SIY is a longitudinal digital health community trial that applies the concept of citizen science to assess land-based active living’s impact on Indigenous youth mental health. My project examined the challenges to mental health faced by youth living in Indigenous Rural Communities during the …

Residential Greenness And Substance Use, Evan R. Wiley

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

INTRODUCTION: Research has identified positive associations between green space and health and green space and mental health. Substance use outcomes, however, have received considerably less attention.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between residential greenness and patterns of substance use among transitional aged youth (age 15-25) in Canada.

METHODS: This study utilized three waves (2016-2018) of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) as well as residential greenness data from the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Consortium (CANUE). Multivariable regression was used to explore variation in the pattern of substance use between greenness quartiles. The sample included 14,070 …

The Association Between Ethnicity And Caregiver Health, Adetola Aboyeji

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background: Existing research shows that caregiving is associated with several adverse health outcomes. Despite the growing number of caregivers in Canada, little research has been conducted on caregivers' potential unique experiences and outcomes based on their ethnicity. The main objective of this study was to investigate whether ethnicity was associated with a caregiver’s health.

Methods: To address these research gaps, we used data from the 2012 Canadian General Social Survey (GSS) Caregiving and Care Receiving. Focusing on caregivers (n=9,552), we examined the association using three measures of health – self-reported overall health, self-reported mental health, and the Health Utility Index3 …

Interplay Between Social Media Use, Sleep Quality, And Mental Health In Youth: A Systematic Review, Rea Alonzo, Junayd Hussain, Saverio Stranges, Kelly K. Anderson

Epidemiology and Biostatistics Publications

Social media applications are increasingly prominent among youth. This systematic review provides a comprehensive assessment of the literature on the relationship between active social media use, sleep quality, and common mental health outcomes (anxiety, depression, and psychological distress) among youth. MEDLINE, PsychINFO, EMBASE and Scopus were searched for observational studies investigating this relationship among youth (aged 16–25). Thirty-six cross-sectional studies and six prospective cohort studies met the inclusion criteria. Among cross-sectional studies, significant associations between excessive social media use with poor mental health outcomes (n = 33), poor sleep quality (n = 24), and significant associations between poor sleep quality …

Correlates Of Positive Mental Health Among Migrants In Canada, Branka Vujcic

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Introduction: Positive mental health is of increasing interest as a public health measure, and is understudied among migrants.

Objective: The purpose of this project was to examine positive mental health and associated factors among migrants in Canada.

Methods: We used the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) 2011-2012 cycles. A total of 28,051 respondents identified as migrants, which accounted for 23.2% of the entire sample. Using multivariable regression models, positive mental health among migrants was compared to non-migrants, and the effects of sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health-related factors were examined.

Results: The present study found that time spent in Canada since migration …

The Stress Process Model For Community-Dwelling Adults With Mental Disorders, Samantha Davie

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background: Although stress has been linked to poor mental health outcomes for various populations, less is known about the impact of stress on individuals already diagnosed with mental disorders. Objective: Explore the association between stress and general psychological distress (GPD), using the stress process model. Design: Data were collected in 2011 from community-dwelling adults who have had at least one diagnosed mental disorder for at least one year in their lifetime (n=380), and are cross-sectional in nature. Multivariable linear regression was used to assess the association between stress and GPD, with various psychological resources, such as coping, social support, and …