wire - news in brief

Two 90-minute workshops in Grade 7 can help students have fewer problems with drugs and alcohol by the time they graduate, UdeM psychologist and clinical researcher Patricia Conrad finds in a study. A new randomized controlled trial involving experimental and control groups in Canada has demonstrated the effectiveness of a brief cognitive-behavioral intervention program in reducing substance use disorders (SUDs) in adolescents.

A Canadian study reveals that allophone children who attend daycare are better prepared for kindergarten.

A meta-analysis by UdeM doctoral candidate Kevin Jamey shows promising evidence that learning to play an instrument can help kids focus.

Early results suggest VR reminiscence therapy is a technology with far-reaching potential to improve the lives of people with dementia While emerging technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and arti

A University of Waterloo student developed an AI-powered app to help people exhibiting early signs of a mental health condition.

Close your eyes. Breathe in. Breathe out. Now picture this. You are standing on the beach, feeling the soft, warm sand underneath your feet, watching the ocean waves crash gently onto the shore and palm trees swaying in the wind.

Newly appointed to UdeM's Department of Psychology, the assistant professor studies ways to enhance the well-being of those on the autism spectrum.

Back to school! Here are some science-based tips and tricks to improve your retention skills and maximize your chances of a successful semester. Would you like to start the new year off on the right foot and do everything in your power to ensure a successful session? To achieve this, why not use effective means to improve knowledge acquisition, retention and retrieval? Gyslain Giguère, lecturer in Cognitive Processes 1 at the Université de Montréal's Department of Psychology, gives an overview of human attentional and memory processes, and presents ways of exploiting them to promote learning.

What makes someone seem wise? People view wisdom through the lens of applying knowledge and thinking logically as well as considering others' feelings and perceptions, finds a new study led by Univers

The "Solving the crisis:" series explores the pressing challenges of our time, including climate change, biodiversity collapse, housing affordability and more. Each article highlights how Waterloo, a hub of research, innovation and creative thinking, is uniquely positioned to address these issues. Through this series, we highlight the dedication of researchers to tackling global crises and shaping a better future for all.

Dr. Mark Ferro's ongoing study supports mental health in children and youth living with physical illnesses across the life span Dr. Mark Ferro, School of Public Health Sciences associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Youth Mental Health, is to receive nearly $1.3 million over five years from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

A new form of cognitive-behavioural couple therapy may help women diagnosed with sexual desire disorders and reduce the emotional distress associated with it.

In the past few years, research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) has grown tremendously as researchers uncover the long-term physical and mental health effects of these experiences.

A Western professor is launching a new mindfulness study as a tool to create connection, heighten resilience and lower high-risk activity within a population facing many new cases of HIV.

Every patient has an opportunity to improve the outcome for the next young person to walk in the front door There's an audible series of clicks, and once the electromagnetic coil is dialed in to deliver the perfect amount of stimulation to the brain, an involuntary twitch of the finger.

A Simon Fraser University (SFU) researcher is using virtual reality (VR) to help teens regulate their emotions and is using their feedback to help design and develop better technologies for psychologists.

Do you really want to know what we were doing on April 19' Listening to Taylor Swift's double-album release, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology , of course.

A UdeM researcher is launching a study to test whether virtual reality can relieve anxiety and pain in palliative care.

In the early years of Dr. Carly McMorris's career, when she was completing her graduate degree to become a practising clinical psychologist, she worked with neurodivergent youth and their families and saw, first-hand, how the system fails them.

What is happiness, and why do we strive for it? Can we become happier? Should we? Is happiness a good thing?  These are the questions Dr. Megan McCarthy (PhD '16) asks her first-year students as they explore the meaning and concept of happiness.

In attempting to capture the brain imagery of art-making, Brittany Harker Martin aims to spotlight a powerful tool for building mental health capacity in schools "Art smashes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

There is an urgent need to "bring back the village" post-pandemic to support teens and foster a sense of community belonging for young people, says a Simon Fraser University researcher.

Do not tell fat people they need fixing; these microaggressions make people's health worse, not better People may think weight stigma only manifests as rude comments, is harmless or can even do some good.

School of Psychoeducation doctoral candidate Rocio Macabena Perez finds that UdeM's extracurricular Art en tête program reduces depressive symptoms in Quebec high-school students.

More long COVID awareness and education is needed among doctors, nurses, care providers and the public in Canada to reduce stigma around the condition and legitimize the disability, according to a new report from Simon Fraser University.

Michelle Martel uses her own life experience to inform how she supports people as a radical mental health doula, along with a belief that everyone should be able to thrive in a community where they feel accepted.

Someone with low self-esteem might assume rejection or neglect, leading to conflict in the relationship In February, as some people's thoughts turn towards romance, what does it take to keep a relationship strong?

Some horror video games leave players with wounds that take a long time to heal, an UdeM researchers finds.

Major depression costs B.C.'s health system more than $1.5 billion over two years, and people diagnosed with the illness are spending even more out of pocket to get treatment.

A study of mental health walk-in clinics (MHWCs) in Ontario, by Western researchers, has shown this model can save families time, and agencies both time and money by eliminating the need to complete a

A new study about the effect of terror incidents on financial reporting says they might Terrorist attacks and mass shootings are devastating for the people and communities they affect.

Two UdeM experts shed light on what triggers some kids with autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders to lash out - and offer ways to cope.