The QuERBY Lab is collaborates on several projects.

Take a look below and what the lab is involved in.

Mental health and coping during COVID-19: Prospective prediction across the lifespan

[Co-Investigators: Dr. Jeremy Stewart and the QuERBY Lab]

Description:

The COVID-19 pandemic has had pronounced negative psychosocial and mental health consequences during its acute stage. In light of the unprecedented stressors and challenges the pandemic has brought on for many, it is critical to understand its long-term impacts on functioning and well-being. The QuERBY Lab is part of an international consortium of more than 30 clinical scientists that is directed by Dr. Lauren Hallion at the University of Pittsburgh. We have pooled resources, and collectively, we have mental health data from more than 10,000 adults, adolescents, and children who participated in research studies before the pandemic. We are re-contacting this pool of respondents and collecting further information on their mental health and functioning, demographics, and stable individual characteristics (e.g., personality), as well as how COVID-19 has affected them (e.g., access to childcare). Our group’s flagship questions involve examining the trajectory of change in mental health symptoms (anxiety, depression, substance abuse) across different stages of the pandemic (e.g., pre-pandemic, peak of restrictions/lockdown orders, reopening). Among our interests are testing whether changes in psychopathology symptoms differ across traditionally defined social inequalities (e.g., race, SES, ethnicity, gender identity) and identifying factors that predict negative versus resilient psychological functioning trajectories.

For a description of the COVID-19 Mental Health Workgroup project, please visit our OSF page.  

Status:

The project re-contacted participants at sites across the world who had participated in research projects before the COVID-19 pandemic (Wave 0). These participants were then recontacted during the peri-pandemic period (Waves 1-4) to complete questionnaires online. These assessments occurred approximately every 6 weeks. Data collection for all waves is now complete, and the first primary manuscript is published (Breaux et al., 2024, Journal of Anxiety Disorders). Presently, secondary data analyses are underway and additional manuscripts are under submission and in preparation.

Effectiveness of a self-stigma therapy for reducing suicidal thoughts and behaviours in early psychosis

[Co-Investigators: Dr. Jeremy Stewart and the QuERBY Lab]

Description:

Suicidal thoughts and behaviours are relatively common among youth with psychosis and are associated with a poorer prognosis and higher mortality risk over time. However, interventions that explicitly target suicide risk among people with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders are scarce. This project is led by Dr. Chris Bowie at Queen’s University and involves four treatment services across Canada. Dr. Bowie’s group has previously developed and tested a group interventions that combines cognitive and behavioural techniques with peer support from people with lived experience to reduce internalized stigma and improve quality of life in patients with psychosis. For this project, we have modified this intervention—which is called Be Outspoken and Overcome Stigmatizing Thoughts (BOOST)—to target cognitions and behaviours associated with suicide risk. In the study, suicidal thoughts and behaviours are assessed before throughout treatment and monitored over several follow-ups to determine if potential improvements are sustained.

Status:

This project collected data at several treatment sites across Canada. Participant enrollment is now closed and all data are collected. The project is in the data analysis and manuscript writing phase.

Funding: (Awarded to Dr. Christopher Bowie [Principal Investigator], Dr. Jeremy Stewart [Co-Investigator] and several other Co-Is)

• Mental Health Research Canada and the Institute for Advancement of Mental Health

Risk in a painful moment: Examining how dynamic increases in social disconnection increase capability for suicide (COLD)

[Collaborators: Dr. Jeremy Stewart and the QuERBY Lab]

Description:

One key aspect of suicide capability - which is a putatively important construct for explaining why some people transition from suicidal thinking to actions, while most others do not - is heightened pain tolerance. However, pain tolerance is rarely examined using the leading behavioral methods which offer better reliability and construct validity. Pain perception is also contextual, and there is a rich literature showing how social factors (e.g., interpersonal rejection) can influence variables like pain tolerance and threshold. As an Honours student supervised by Dr. Tim Salomons, Ashley Filion developed and piloted a novel paradigm to assess pain tolerance (using a cold pressor housed in the Pain Affect and Cognition [PAC] Laboratory) under experimentally-manipulated social conditions that are relevant to suicide risk. With funding through SSHRC, Dr. Salomons, Ashley and I have also added a Smartphone-based EMA period to the study that uses burst sampling (see Coppersmith et al., 2023, PNAS for an example) to investigate how key suicide risk factors change following life stressors. The overall goal is to achieve a more precise understanding of for whom pain tolerance is associated with suicide risk and under what conditions (e.g., following interpersonal stressors).

Status:

The study is open to enrollment. Participants are currently being recruited; baseline sessions take place in the PAC Lab at Queen’s.

Funding: (Awarded to Dr. Tim Salomons [Principal Investigator], Dr. Jeremy Stewart [Co-Investigator] and Ashley Filion [key study personnel])

• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council