Advancing Youth Mental Health through Research on Close Relationships
I am a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Health Systems Impact Postdoctoral Fellow at the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University and at Harvard University. I completed my PhD in Clinical Psychology at McGill University, with research and clinical specialization in youth and young adults.
Through the Health Systems Impact Fellowship, I am also embedded with School Mental Health Ontario, where I lead research initiatives focused on improving the use of measurement in the context of school mental health care.
My overarching goal is to generate evidence that informs programs, policies, and practices towards helping adolescents and young adults thrive in their close relationships and beyond.
My research examines the complexities of friendship and how experiences within these relationships shape youth mental health and well-being. I focus especially on friendships that are both close and harmful - those that are intimate, but also involve conflict, coercion, and even victimization.
Although friendship is often viewed as a positive and protective context for youth development, my work demonstrates that many adolescents have close friendships marked by harmful behaviours. I investigate the ways in which young people navigate these dual-natured friendships, and the developmental consequences of doing so.
Using a combination of longitudinal, observational, and evidence synthesis methods, my work aims to: (1) identify the prevalence and characteristics of these relationships, (2) understand why adolescents remain in them, and (3) assess the impact of these relationships on mental health and developmental outcomes.
I am particularly interested in examining these friendship dynamics for young people of different social identities - especially among sexual and gender minority youth, who are often underrepresented in research and whose friendships may carry distinct risks and rewards.
By collaborating with and centering the experiences of these youth, I aim to improve our understanding of the ways in which their close relationships can be sources of risk and protection. Ultimately, my goal is to inform strategies to better support youth in navigating relationship challenges and building healthier, more supportive social connections throughout development.