• Fillette serrant un ourson en peluche dans ses bras, appuyée contre un mur avec un air triste
    Chaire Richelieu de recherche sur la jeunesse, l'enfance et la famille

Developing and assessing

This axis aims to design, implement and assess innovative trauma-informed practices, in partnership with practice settings. Indeed, there is a relative lack of research on interventions with children and adolescents exposed to experiences of adversity, for it to maximize the effects of these interventions in order to truly promote the well-being and support the resilience of youth.

To support the design of new trauma-informed intervention programs or models, literature reviews and meta-analyses are conducted, as well as empirical evaluations. 

 

Current projects

The evolution of the functioning of young people in vulnerable situations as part of their follow-up at the Garage à musique, a specialized community social pediatrics centre

Garage à musique (GAM) is a specialized community social pediatrics centre that offers services to young people in vulnerable situations by focusing on the learning and collective practice of music.

This project therefore aims to document the evolution of the functioning of young people (6-16 years old) in vulnerable situations, who are at risk of multiple and complex difficulties, including in terms of executive functions.

The research questions are the following:

1. What is the evolution of executive functions, chronic stress and other aspects of functioning of young people followed at GAM (internalized, externalized and social problems, language skills and academic performance)?
2. Are executive functions and chronic stress mechanisms underlying these potential improvements? If so, improving executive functions and reducing chronic stress are priority targets for interventions.

Executive functions will be assessed with four tasks administered to young people (Hearts and Flowers Task, Flanker/Reverse Flanker Task; Tower of London; and WISC-5 Digit Sequences) and a questionnaire (BRIEF) completed by two respondents.

 

The Trauma-Informed Training Project in Quebec – Group Homes, Residential Treatment Centres and Young Offender Units

Project under the direction of Delphine Collin-Vézina (McGill University). Dr. Alexandra Matte-Landry, holder of Chaire Richelieu de recherche sur la jeunesse, l'enfance et la famille, is responsible for documenting and assessing the use of restrictive measures toward young people as part of the implementation of a trauma-informed training program. 

The program guides workers to realize how prevalent trauma is, to recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma in all stakeholders, to respond by integrating knowledge about trauma and its impacts into all aspects of service provision, and that resist actively re-traumatizing clients. Concrete examples of interventions and procedures for providing trauma-informed care, de-escalating a crisis and minimizing the use of restrictive measures are offered.

This project is taking place in collaboration with 12 CISSS and CIUSSS across Quebec; 24 residential treatment centres, 15 group homes and 5 other units housing 914 young people for the duration of the study. Dr. Matte-Landry uses clinical-administrative data to document the use of restrictive measures before program implementation and to assess the decrease in these measures during and after implementation.

 

Find below two presentations related to this research project.