Applied Psychiatric Epidemiology Across the Lifecourse

A new APEAL lab paper entitled ‘Time trends in symptoms of mental illness in children and adolescents in Canada’ was recently published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. This study showed that the prevalence of child and adolescent symptoms of mental illness have generally remained stable over time. From 1994/1995 to 2008/2009, symptoms of depression/anxiety did not change, while indirect aggression and conduct disorder decreased slightly. There was also a moderate decline in reporting of suicidal thoughts or attempts. However, there was an increase in symptoms of hyperactivity over this period. Congratulations to the authors, including APEAL lab alumna Seanna McMartin, as well as APEAL lab members Mila Kingsbury and Jennifer Dykxhoorn.

Click here to link to the paper.

Dr. Colman was recently the keynote speaker for an event hosted by the Ottawa Suicide Prevention Coalition to mark World Suicide Prevention Day 2014. At the event, 117 attendees heard Dr. Colman speak about public health approaches to suicide prevention, including how the media can play an important role in preventing suicide contagion.

APEAL lab members made an impressive showing at the annual scientific symposium of the Canadian Academy of Psychiatric Epidemiology in Toronto.

Dr. Ian Colman gave a presentation on ‘Factors associated with consistency in adult reporting of childhood traumatic events’, PhD student Michael Martin presented a poster on ‘Negative childhood experiences and progression along the suicide continuum’, and PhD student Kiyuri Naicker attended.

Jen Dykxhoorn, MSc student, presented her research on “Early life predictors of adolescent suicidal thoughts” and was awarded the Roger Bland Award for Best Oral Presentation by a Trainee (joint awardee). Congratulations, Jen!

MSc student Jen Dykxhoorn had the opportunity to visit beautiful Tallin, Estonia to attend the European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behaviour in August. She presented part of her Masters research entitled “Early life predictors of adolescent suicidal thoughts.” The presentation was well-received and she received a number of positive comments on the research. ESSSB was also a terrific opportunity to meet with leading suicide researchers from 80 countries and hear about new and emerging issues in the field of suicidology.

A new paper from the APEAL lab looking at the prediction of self-harm during the first six months in prison was recently published in the Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology. The paper titled, ‘The predictive validity of the Depression Hopelessness Suicide screening form for self-harm among prisoners’ found that of 12 items that have been labelled as ‘critical factors’ for self-harm, a subset of 5 focused on the most severe and recent self-harm thoughts and behaviours were most predictive. Overall 51% of inmates reported at least one of the 12 items, showing the challenges of predicting rare outcomes such as self-harm in a population where risk factors are highly common. Congratulations to APEAL lab member Michael Martin who is first author on the paper.

Click here to link to the paper.

A new paper out of the APEAL lab has recently been published in Preventive Medicine. The paper, “Protective factors against depression during the transition from adolescence to adulthood: Findings from a national Canadian cohort”, is a collaboration involving Dr. Ian Colman and several lab members. Among the results, social support, education, and physical activity were found to be protective against depression after experiencing different types of stress. Congratulations to all who were involved in this project!

Click here to link to the article.

The APEAL lab congratulates Michael Martin, whose first-author paper “The incidence and prediction of self-injury among sentenced prisoners” was recently published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. The paper reported on the incidence of self-injury among sentenced prisoners during the first 180 days of incarceration, and examined various risk and protective factors.

Click here to link to the paper’s PubMed citation.

Congratulations to APEAL lab student Kiyuri Naicker, who was recently awarded a PhD studentship by the Ontario Mental Health Foundation. Kiyuri will use this 3-year award to fund her doctoral research on the relationships between anxiety, depression, and diabetes.

Friday, March 21, was a big day for APEAL lab students. Kiyuri Naicker successfully passed her PhD candidacy exam; Michael Martin won first prize for best PhD student presentation at the Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine’s student research day; and, Jen Dykxhoorn won third prize for best MSc student presentation at research day. Congratulations to all three!

Dr. Colman was recently one of the featured researchers at a uOttawa Faculty of Medicine gala, hosted by CBC’s Jian Ghomeshi. The evening featured Cirque du Soleil performers and several magicians, highlighting the link between medicine and magic.