HELP in the Media

After Babel

What Kids Told Us About How to Get Them Off Their Phones

CBC News

Indigenous people's health tightly tied to speaking their own languages, review finds

The Conversation

Do biases affect assessment in kindergarten? Educators discuss strategies for mitigation

The Conversation

Preventing exposure to intimate partner violence for mothers and children: A promising approach

The Canadian Press

Paul Kershaw: Ontario’s $14.6 billion deficit exposes a revenue problem for Boomer medical care

Jonathan Haidt

HELP Director Dr. Mariana Brussoni contributes to ‘The Anxious Generation’, a bestselling book

News and Events

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  Events

  Children in the Middle Years: New MDI Data, Research & Resources

  This National Child Day, HELP presents a webinar exploring MDI data collected in the 2024-25 school year, including trends in well-being, screens and sleep, as well as new questions on the student survey including mental health service use.

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  Events

  Early Years Disrupted: EDI Data Trends

  Join us for a webinar on November 3, focusing on the developmental health of kindergarten children in BC and beyond. Experts will present EDI data trends pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions, and ongoing social and economic influences.

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  Indigenous

  Reconciliation Through Institutional Training

  In preparation for this upcoming National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) held a 3-part learning series on the history and ongoing effects of the residential school system, as well as possible future paths to move forward. Members of the HELP team were invited to participate and reflect on the series throughout the month.

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  Faculty

  Dr. Daniel Bernstein Joins HELP as Affiliate Faculty Member

  After receiving his PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Simon Fraser University, Dr. Bernstein completed his post-doctoral training at the University of Washington and now holds the position of Research Chair in Lifespan Cognition from Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU).

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  Data in Action

  From Data to Action: Supporting Mental Health and Well-being in BC Schools

  With wide-spread concern about declining trends in the mental health and well-being of youth over the last decade, our latest Data in Action story highlights the work of a dedicated team of experts helping school districts strengthen mental health promotion in BC schools.

Publications

• RISKY PLAY

  Children’s knowledge about play-related risk, risk-taking, and injury: A meta-study

  Leisure/Loisir
  McCallum, K. S., Youngblood, J., Hayden, K. A., Brussoni, M., Emery, C., & Bridel, W. (2023).

  Risk-taking in play has received increased focus in research over the last three decades through the use of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. The purpose of this meta-study was to review the qualitative literature specifically to better understand how children (5–16 years of age) understand the concepts of risk, risky play, and injury in relation to their play experiences. Twenty-two studies were identified for inclusion in the meta-study.

• SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL

  Neural dynamics of development of nature empathy in children: An EEG/ERP study
  

  ScienceDirect
  Sahni, P.S., Rajyaguru, C., Narain, K.,  Miedenbauer, K. L., Kumar, J., Schonert-Reichl, K. A. (2024).

  This research paper explores the neurophysiological development of empathy for nature in children aged 5-12 using EEG/ERP methods. The study investigated neural responses to images depicting nature in distress versus no distress, revealing age-related shifts from affective arousal to cognitive appraisal. Findings suggest a correlation between increased frontal brain activity and higher dispositional empathy for nature.

• EARLY YEARS

  Understanding Educator Perceptions in Assessment of Kindergarten Children’s Development
  

  Early Childhood Education Journal
  Spadafora, N., Jezrawi, R., De Jesus, S., Cameron, D., Janus, M. (2024).

  Race-related data are not routinely collected as part of the Canadian kindergarten teacher reported Early Development Instrument (EDI) data collection even though they could be used to inform provision of supports for students and educators. Therefore, the goal of our exploratory study was to gather an understanding of teacher perceptions regarding the assessment of items on the EDI in the context of children’s race, gender, and family status and teacher positionality.

• MENTAL HEALTH

  Six-year (2016–2022) longitudinal patterns of mental health service utilization rates among children developmentally vulnerable in kindergarten and the COVID-19 pandemic disruption

  PLOS Digital Health
  Talarico, F., Metes, D., Wang, M., Hayward, J., Liu, Y.S., Tian, J., Zhang, Y., Greenshaw, A.J., Gaskin, A., Janus, M., Cao, B. (2024).

  In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, it becomes important to comprehend service utilization patterns and evaluate disparities in mental health-related service access among children. This study uses administrative health records to investigate the association between early developmental vulnerability and healthcare utilization among children in Alberta, Canada from 2016 to 2022.

• SOCIO-ECONOMIC

  Childhood poverty, social support, immigration background and adolescent health and life satisfaction: A population-based longitudinal study

  Journal of Adolescence
  Gill, R., Karim, M. E., Puyat, J. H., Guhn, M., Petteni, M. G., Oberle, E., Janus, M., Georgiades, K., & Gadermann, A. M. (2024).

  This study examined whether poverty (neighborhood and household) was associated with future health or life satisfaction outcomes and whether the association operated through social support (adult support at home, adult support at school, peer belonging), or differed by the immigration background (nonimmigrant family or immigrant family) of the family. This study utilized a retrospective, longitudinal, population-based cohort that included self-reported survey data from the MDI.