Research chair at UCalgary Nursing tackles social issue of toxic stressors on developing children
One in four Canadian children are thought to be at risk for developing emotional or behavioural problems as a result of family violence, or their mother's depression or addictions, according to Statistics Canada.
Established in 2012, as the first research chair in the Faculty of Nursing, the Chair in Parent-Infant Mental Health focuses on finding innovative ways to tackle the important social issue of the effects of toxic stressors on developing children.
Chairholder Nicole Letourneau is a well-known Canadian nurse researcher with a 20-year track record in studying how children are affected by family issues such as post-partum depression, addiction and violence. She has worked to identify the types of parental interventions that are most effective in supporting vulnerable children in these toxic family environments.
Letourneau's Child Health Intervention and Longitudinal Development (CHILD) Studies Program investigates tools that support the healthy development of vulnerable children, especially while they are still in an early care giving environment. These tools can help prevent the cognitive, social-emotional and behavioural problems that these children may develop later in life.
This chair is generously supported by the Ted Newall Fund In Parent-Child Mental Health Research
Nicole Letourneau: How Postpartum Depression Affects Babies
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Collaborators/Partners
- Alberta Health Services
- Barnard Center of the University of Washington
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Faculty of Nursing, UCalgary
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