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UniVenture is Back for One More Semester!
UniVenture is a mental health prevention research study open to first and second-year undergraduate students. This unique opportunity is back for the Fall 2023 session. Learn more about your personality while being compensated for your participation.
Annual meeting of the Canadian Cannabis and Psychosis Research Team
Over 40 researchers from 10 different Canadian research laboratories met in Montreal to share research findings on cannabis and adolescent brain development. A number of common themes across animal and human research were identified, and new research directions were discussed. Sex, gender and pubertal factors appear key to understanding the link between adolescent cannabis use and psychosis risk
A functional neuroimaging study of self-other processing alterations in atypical developmental trajectories of psychotic-like experiences
Self-disturbances constitute a hallmark of psychosis, but it remains unclear whether these alterations are present in at-risk populations. The present study addressed this question by measuring neural correlates of self-other processing in youth belonging to three developmental trajectories of psychotic experiences. We found alterations in one of the atypical trajectories that are similar to what is reported in individuals with schizophrenia.
Neural alterations of emotion processing in atypical trajectories of psychotic-like experiences
Studying developmental trajectories of psychotic-like experiences can help us understand the brain changes that occur during the development of psychosis. In this study, we have shown that atypical trajectories of psychotic-like experiences are associated with changes in brain regions that are involved in emotion salience and face perception, similarly to what is reported in schizophrenia.
New study shows validity of the four-factor personality model of substance use vulnerability in opioid dependent adults
This elegant qualitative analysis of situational, cognitive-emotional and behavioural triggers for substance misuse in opioid dependent adults receiving opioid substitution therapy showed that substance use behaviours were linked to personality-specific thinking and behavioural reactions to major life stressors. This research provides further support for the application of personality-targeted psychological interventions as adjuncts to opioid substitution therapy.
SENSUM’s Inaugural Santé en Tête symposium on medically assisted dying for people living with mental disorders.
Experts in constitutional law, psychiatry, ethics, end-of-life care and indigenous peoples’ knowledge present different perspectives, while reaching consensus: Equal rights and access to quality health care are at the heart of this issue.
The Canadian Pediatric Imaging Platform (C-PIP) receives $5.6M
Major funding for the collaborative development of the Canadian Pediatric Imaging Platform (C-PIP) has been awarded to a Canadian research group based across three pediatric hospitals, whose leadership at the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre is psychologist and professor Dr. Patricia Conrod. The announcement was made today by the Government of Canada and Brain Canada and involves partnerships with Sickkids and Alberta Children's Hospitals
Double Award for Post Doctoral Fellow, Jeremy Watts
After joining Dr. Conrod's team in 2020, Dr. Watts was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from CHUSJ in 2022, which then set him up for double success with this year's CIHR and FRQS fellowship competitions. Dr. Watts will study the long-term impact of adolescent cannabis use on the developing brain using multimodal neuroimaging, including PET-imaging. Congratulations, Jeremy!
Relationship between bullying experiences and mental health explained by changes in connectivity in brain regions involved in emotion processing
A new study published Frontiers Psychiatry - A longitudinal mediation study of peer victimization and resting-state functional connectivity as predictors of psychopathology. Results showed that rsFC of the amygdala-posterior insula significantly mediated the lagged within-person association of peer victimisation and internalizing symptoms. Bullying experiences may lead to long-lasting changes in neural communication between regions implicated in emotion regulation and sensory/pain perception
Kick-off Meeting for New Collaboration Between Three Canadian Pediatric Hospitals: CHUSJ, Sickkids, and Alberta Children's
A new collaboration has been launched between researchers across three paediatric hospitals in Canada. Through a hybrid in-person and virtual meeting, more than twenty experts from clinical neuropsychology, neuroimaging and bioinformatics met over two days to design new tools to accelerate research on neurodevelopment and child brain health.
Dr. Conrod presents at the European Psychiatric Association on Proactive psychiatry: prevention of substance use and mental health problems - the potential of early (school-based) targeted prevention
The EPA 2023 Congress took place on 25-28 March 2023 in Paris, France, under the motto: “Social Cohesion, a Common Goal for Psychiatry“.
Sleep as a Mediator Between Cannabis Use and Psychosis Vulnerability: A Longitudinal Cohort Study
Increasing evidence implicates cannabis consumption as an important risk factor in the development of psychosis, but the mechanisms underpinning this relationship remain understudied. Our study, published in Schizophrenia Bulletin Open, showed a longitudinal, sleep-mediated, effect of cannabis use on emergence of psychosis symptoms during adolescence. Congratulations to doctoral student, Julien Oullet!
Kids Online Safety Legislation in the U.S.
New Legislation being developed to better protect children and youth online.
The federal government has announced a panel of experts to lead a statutory review of Canada's Cannabis Act
Dr. Conrod was appointed as one of five panelists who will review the The Cannabis Act, which set purchase and possession limits at 30 grams of dried pot or the equivalent in 2018, and requires that the government must issue a report, including findings and recommendations, no later than 18 months after the review begins.
ConrodVenturelab in the News
Dr. Conrod's research on screen time and teen mental health featured on CTV News. Social media linked to increased risk for eating disorder and depression symptoms through lasting effects on youth self-esteem. This research highlights how social media platforms promote unrealistic social norms that teens try to live up to. Dr. Conrod recommends talking to young people about the biased nature of content that they are exposed to on social media platforms.
Youth Perceptions of and Experiences With Opioids for Pain Management: Intersecting Stigmas and Ambivalence
There is very little in-depth qualitative research regarding youth experiences with medical use of prescription opioids and this is concerning as some youth are shown to be at risk for future nonmedical opioid use, addiction, and overdose as a result of medical use of opioids in adolescence. We sought to understand and characterize youth experiences with prescription opioids, such that researchers and healthcare professionals can improve both opioid and pain-related treatment and...
Opioïdes: les jeunes disent manquer de ressources
Les adolescents qui doivent prendre des opioïdes pour des problèmes de santé affirment manquer de ressources pour gérer adéquatement leur médication, ont constaté des chercheurs montréalais qui ont participé à une vaste étude pancanadienne...
Teens prescribed opioids lack guidance, input on medication use, Canada-wide study finds
"They don't get a lot of help, whether its education about the opioids they'd been prescribed, counselling for their health issue or use of the opioids."
Prioritizing youth voices amidst the opioid overdose and health crises
There may be a widespread perception that opioid use only impacts older adults. However, evidence now shows that the opioid overdose and health crises has, and continues to have, deleterious effects on youth and young adults ages 15-24. There is some evidence in Canada that shows the pandemic and the associated restrictions exacerbated morbidity and mortality due to opioids among young people. Contemporary journalistic exposes have also revealed the heartbreaking consequences...
Dr. Conrod helps to steer a new Neuroscience and Mental Health Strategy for University of Montreal (SENSUM)
The Université de Montréal launches SENSUM, a new strategy for neuroscience and mental health on the 6th of December, a day of remembrance for Montreal, to highlight the need for continued investment in brain and mental health research. With Dr. Conrod as the director of this new strategy, the focus will be on interdisciplinary research and training opportunities, public-private and community partnerships, and the promotion of open science to accelerate discovery and increase impact.
Seven-year follow-up of the Preventure program on youth harmful alcohol use
A new study by the University of Sydney Matilda Centre research team reports findings long-term benefits of personality-targeted PreVenture workshops on alcohol use and misuse in young adulthood.
New study links social media and television watching to risk for eating disorder symptoms in teens
Pathways from adolescent screen time to eating related symptoms: a multilevel longitudinal mediation analysis through self-esteem By Audrey Livet, Elroy Boers, Flavie Laroque, Mohammad H. Afzali, Gail McVey & Patricia J. Conrod. Screen time and self-esteem have been shown to be important correlates of eating disorders in adolescence. Self-esteem was found to be a significant mediating factor between social media use and eating related symptoms over a two year period.
New York Times article highlights The Preventure Program as an effective prevention strategy to address the synthetic opioid crisis
Opinion Essay by Maia Szalavitz addresses the need for more helpful and effective prevention strategies in the age of the Fentanyl overdose crisis. This article reviews new harm reduction approaches and prevention strategies in order to better protect youth who are at risk of coming into contact with Fentanyl. It's a risky time to be experimenting with substances. The Preventure Program goes to the core of why young people take the risk by focusing on temperament and mental health.
Randomized trial finds that brief, school-based mental health program reduces risk for suicidal ideation in teens
A new publication in the Medical Journal of Australia on PreVenture. The CAP Study adapted the Preventure Program for the Australian context, and then tested the impact of this program on teen mental health. Students who attended schools where the program was implemented were compared to students who attended schools where the program was not implemented and results showed a significant reduction in the likelihood of reporting suicidal ideation over a three-year period.
Are Brain Responses to Emotion a Reliable Endophenotype of Schizophrenia? An Image-based fMRI Meta-analysis - ScienceDirect
Impaired emotion processing constitutes a key dimension of schizophrenia and a possible endophenotype of this illness. Empirical studies consistently report poorer emotion recognition performance in patients with schizophrenia as well as in individuals at enhanced risk of schizophrenia (“at risk”). fMRI studies also report consistent patterns of abnormal brain activation in response to emotional stimuli in patients, in particular decreased amygdala activation. In contrast, brain-level...
June 7th , 5pm EST - The PreVenture Lecture Series presents "Adolescent Bullying: Risks & Responses"
Join us on June 7th, 2022 for the first installment of "The PreVenture Lecture Series" .Dr. Erin Kelly will discuss the prevalence, risk and protective factors for bullying involvement and harms of bullying. This will be a hybrid event offered in person and online. Click below to download a flyer with details
Scoping review highlights (urgent) need for interventions addressing youth opioid use
The EHT research team from across Canada are delighted to share the results of a scoping review published on May 9th, 2022 in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. The review showed that research on treatment for youth and young adults remains sparse and more focus is needed on interventions that address the unique social contexts of use for this population, including treatments that focus on women/females and gender diverse youth.
"How to Advocate for Mental Health Research" - A panel discussion from the Society for Neuroscience
Dr. Patricia Conrod participated in the Society for Neuroscience's panel discussion on "How to Advocate for Mental Health Research". The aim was to present ways the media and the neuroscience community can work together to advocate for continued foundational mental health research. Dr. Conrod's extensive experience working with the media contributed to a rich and varied discussion with leaders in the field of mental health.
Feasibility Assessment of UniVenture Presented at the CCSA’s Issues of Substance 2021
Marion Audet and Nora Fripp have presented their pilot results at the CCSA’s Issues of Substance Conference 2021. Their presentation looked to identify the feasibility of the UniVenture Program and highlighted the importance of developmentally appropriate and culturally relevant adaptations. Click on the image to view all of the presentations within the Issues of Substance Conference 2021
UniVenture Awarded $2.5 million SSHRC Grant
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) has awarded Partnership Grants of CAD$2.5 million for 5-year multi-site study titled “UniVenture: A Partnership to Address Heavy Drinking and Other Substance Misuse on Canadian University Campuses”
Let’s talk about upstream mental health promotion and prevention!
During these challenging times, it is more important than ever to prioritize the mental health of young people. The CUSP Trial team is proud to be partnering with high schools across the country to deliver and evaluate PreVenture, an evidence-based mental health promotion and substance use prevention program. Click here to visit our website and learn more!
What's in your Mental Health Toolbox?
Learning how to channel your unique traits towards achieving your personal goals, contributes to positive mental health. Programs that build cognitive behavioural skills relevant to your personality style can help prevent mental health problems. Let's talk about preventative mental health www.preventure.ca #BellLetsTalk #chusaintejustine #conrodventurelab #mentalhealth #earlyintervention #universitedemontreal #UdeM #evidencebasedprevention
The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory - Protecting Youth Mental Health
The U.S. Surgeon General has warned that young people are facing "devastating" mental health effects as a result of the challenges experienced by their generation. This comes on the heels of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children's Hospital Association's declaration of a "national emergency" in youth mental health. The Surgeon General has called on funders and foundations to scale up evidence-based interventions.
Symposium: Research related to medical assistance in dying (MAiD) for people with mental illness
The FRQS Quebec Network on Suicide, Mood Disorders and Related Conditions (RQSHA), in partnership with the Pragmatic Health Ethics Research Unit and The Montreal Health Ethics Conference Series (Montreal Clinical Research Institute) will host a knowledge exchange event focusing on current knowledge on the legal, ethical, psychosocial and neurobiological findings relevant to the debate on medical assistance in dying for people living with mental illness. Date: October 27th from 1:00-3:00 pm
Dr. Conrod interviewed on CBC's The Current with WSJ journalist Jeff Horwitz, who reported on how Facebook plays down findings on social media and teen mental health
A recent Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that Facebook has known for years that Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, damages teens' mental health. We talk to Wall Street Journal technology reporter Jeff Horwitz about what he found, and discuss what safeguards are needed with Dr. Patricia Conrod, a neurodevelopmental researcher at Sainte-Justine children's hospital, and a professor of psychiatry at the University of Montreal.
Dr. Jeremy J Watts awarded the 2020 CIHR-INMHA Brain Star Award
Dr. Jeremy Watts, a post-doctoral fellow working with Dr. Patricia Conrod and Dr. Stéphane Potvin has been awarded the 2020 Brain Star Award. His research suggests a link between the brain’s endocannabinoid neurotransmitter system and positive psychotic symptoms experienced by patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.
A New Study on Personality and Prescription Drug Misuse in Adolescents
Fifteen to 25-year-olds are the age group most likely to misuse prescription drugs. This study surveyed approximately 3800 students annually from 7th grade to 11th grade on personality, mental health and substance use measures. Four personality traits were shown to be linked to specific patterns of prescription drug misuse, through different mental health profiles.
Dr. Patricia Conrod and Dr. Gregory Lodygensky awarded $7.1 million infrastructure grant for state-of-the-art multimodal pediatric neuroimaging facilities at CHU Ste Justine
Dr. Patricia Conrod and Dr. Gregory Lodygensky at CHU Sainte-Justine, has been awarded $7.1 million in funding as part of the 2020 competition of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Innovation Fund. This funding confirms the global leadership of CHU Sainte-Justine's researchers in the advancement of knowledge on neurodevelopmental disorders.
Emerging Health Threat presents to Health Canada's "Opioid Response Partners" (ORP) Network - Youth-identified Solutions to the Opioid Overdose Crisis for Healthcare Providers
The EHT team presented to the Canadian Opioid Response Partners network, a pan-Canadian network of healthcare providers including, pharmacists, doctors, physiotherapists, frontline workers, public health workers and individuals with lived experience. They shared preliminary results from their cross-site qualitative analyses of focus groups and interviews with over 130 youth across Canada regarding solutions and suggestions for how to improve opioid-related service provision for young people.
Prévenir le suicide pendant la pandémie de la COVID-19
De nombreux experts craignent une hausse des taux de suicide liée au contexte de la pandémie COVID-19. Découvrez ce nouvel édito rédigé par Marie-Claude Geoffroy, Ph. D., Massimiliano Orri, Ph.D., Patricia Conrod, Ph. D. et Naguib Mechawar, Ph. D., Direction du RQSHA. Les auteurs discutent de la problématique du suicide pendant la pandémie et de la nécessité de mettre en place des mécanismes de protection et des actions préventives pour limiter les conséquences à moyen et long terme.
On the Mic with Mike #6: Dr. Patricia Conrod on the developing adolescent brain
Dr. Patricia Conrod was recently featured in the CIHR's On the Mic with Mike series. Watch Dr. Conrod sit down with CIHR President Dr. Michael Strong to discuss her research on the developing adolescent brain, with a particular focus on the impact of the early use of cannabis, alcohol, and tobacco.
Participez à un sondage dans le cadre du projet de recherche UniVenture
Étudiants de premier cycle universitaire de l'UdeM dont l'âge est compris entre 18 et 24 ans. Nous souhaitons solliciter votre participation pour le projet de recherche UniVenture qui a pour objectif d'adapter un programme de mieux-être aux besoins et à la réalité de la population étudiante de l'UdeM.
Sensation Seeking Predicts Crash Risk in Young Drivers
L’usage du cannabis à l’adolescence affecte davantage le cerveau des filles que celui des garçons
Une étude menée auprès de plus de 3800 élèves du secondaire du grand Montréal révèle que l’usage du cannabis altère davantage la mémoire de travail chez les filles que chez les garçons.
Opinion: Stop shaming and blaming youth for COVID-19 | Montreal Gazette
Congrats to Stephanie Nairn for publishing her letter to the editor of the Montreal Gazette on Blaming and shaming young people for CoVID..
Personality traits that put teens at risk for substance use and a program that helps with Dr. Patricia Conrod
Dr. Patricia Conrod was a recent guest on the Hopestream Podcast. Listen to this fascinating conversation in which Dr. Conrod discusses...
Association between cognitive biases and psychotic-like experiences: a systematic review and a meta-analysis
A new study has identified several major cognitive biases that are associated with psychotic-like experiences. Dr Patricia Conrod and her...
Become a Certified PreVenture Facilitator - September 23 to 25, 2020 - Registration Now Open
Become a PreVenture Facilitator and bring this evidence-based prevention program to the youth in your community. Over 3-days learn how to...
Two Data Sets Are Better Than One
The use of large data sets in addiction research is welcome, because statistical power is increased. When applied to large data sets...
Participez à notre projet de recherche NurtriVenture / Participate in our NutriVenture Research Project
On vous invite à participer à un projet de recherche pour développer une intervention auprès d’adolescents avec des traits de personnalité..
Instagram starting to cut most addictive feature, and it could have consequences for teens' mental health
Instagram announced it was "running a test" on some users, a couple months after rumors first emerged that the photo-sharing platform was...
Preventing Substance Use Among Indigenous Adolescents in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand: a Systematic Review of the Literature
This systematic review assessed the current evidence base of substance use prevention programs for Indigenous adolescents in the USA...
A Review of Personality-Targeted Interventions for Prevention of Substance Misuse and Related Harm in Community Samples of Adolescents
Several school-based prevention programmes have been developed and used to prevent, delay, or reduce substance misuse, and related...
Smoking strong pot daily raises psychosis risk
Smoking high-potency marijuana every day could increase the chances of developing psychosis by nearly five times, according to the...
Effects of delaying binge drinking on adolescent brain development: a longitudinal neuroimaging study
Onset of alcohol use by 14 relative to 21 years of age strongly predicts elevated risk for severe alcohol use problems, with 27% versus 4%..
The influence of affective and cognitive attitudes on adolescents’ intention to engage in binge drinking
Previous work has revealed that interventions aiming to reduce adolescent binge drinking commonly focus on cognitive attitudes, but are...
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