COVID-19: Pregnancy and Early Child Development

Study title: Examining how the COVID-19 pandemic impacts parents and children: A longitudinal study spanning from pregnancy to the preschool years

Description: The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on pregnant people and young families. The goal of this research study is to understand how the pandemic has impacted families, beginning in pregnancy and spanning until children are 3 years old. This study specifically focuses on the impact of the pandemic on psychological wellbeing, stress, and early child development. This longitudinal study began in June 2020, with 304 pregnant people. The study included assessments throughout pregnancy, 6 weeks postpartum, 6 months postpartum and 15 months postpartum. Soon, we will be completing assessments when children are 24- and 36-months-old.

Study Methods

Maternal Childhood Experiences and Perinatal Health

Study title: Understanding the Impact of Maternal Childhood Experiences on Perinatal Biopsychosocial Risk and Resilience.

Description: Early childhood experiences, including childhood adversity, can have lifelong implications on physical and mental health. The present study aims to understand how a parent’s experiences of childhood adversity impact their health during pregnancy and their infant’s early development. This longitudinal study includes assessments during the third trimester of pregnancy, shortly after birth, and at 6-months postpartum. Assessments include interviews, questionnaires, parent-child behavioural observation, and collection of biological markers of stress. The findings of this study will help to understand the intergenerational biopsychosocial effects of early adversity on perinatal health and development.

Study Methods

Child Emotion Regulation

Study title: A multi-method and multi-caregiver study on child emotion-regulation 

Description: Emotion regulation is the ability to initiate, maintain and modulate the experience and expression of emotions. Emotion regulation abilities begin to develop early in life, often within the context of caregiver-child relationships. This study aims to understand how children develop emotion regulation skills, in both family and early education contexts. This study includes behavioural observations of parents, early childhood educators (ECEs) and children, as well as neuroimaging techniques to assess child emotion regulation. The findings of this research will inform how caregivers and ECEs help shape different aspects of child emotion regulation.

Study Methods

Child Maltreatment Meta-Analyses

Study title: A series of meta-analyses examining the impact of childhood maltreatment on child outcomes

Description: Child maltreatment includes physical, emotional and/or, sexual abuse, neglect, and exposure to intimate partner violence, which result in actual or potential harm to the child’s development.  One in three Canadians report experiencing child maltreatment.  Child maltreatment is a powerful predictor of emotional and behavioural, cognitive, and achievement difficulties across the lifespan.  Importantly, the pathways to adverse outcomes are not inevitable.  Thus, this series of meta-analyses aims to understand the effects of maltreatment on child development and determine the factors that contribute to child resiliency, in order to promote such factors and reduce the negative impact of maltreatment. Three separate meta-analyses will be conducted to understand the impact of child maltreatment on three separate child outcomes: 1) emotional/behavioral problems, 2) cognitive processing (executive functioning), and 3) academic outcomes.