Director
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Teena Willoughby, PhD
Professor of Psychology at Brock University
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Research Associate
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Stefon van Noodt, PhD |
Graduate Students
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Taylor Heffer, PhD Student
I am interested in the development of sensitivity to threat (i.e., heightened responsiveness to threat) among children and adolescents. According to neurodevelopmental imbalance models, adolescence may be a time of increased sensitivity to emotionally salient events as a result of a asynchrony in the maturation of different brain systems. Specifically, circuitry within the subcortical limbic-striatal brain system matures early in adolescence (likely due to puberty), but interconnections to the prefrontal executive system mature later in adolescence. This asynchrony in maturity is thought to lead to heightened activation of the limbic-striatal region during a time when neural connections to the prefrontal cortex that might dampen the activation (if appropriate) are not fully mature. As a result, adolescents may be more susceptible to experiencing threat sensitivity. In line with this theory, one of my core research interests focuses on investigating whether adolescents are more sensitive to threat than children. Second, I am interested in individual differences in threat sensitivity among adolescents (e.g., what factors are associated with greater threat sensitivity). I use a variety of different methodologies (e.g., self-report, EEG) to investigate the threat sensitivity among children and adolescents.
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Meghan Borg, PhD StudentI am interested in the paradox of solitude throughout childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood. While solitude (i.e., spending time alone) increases throughout the lifespan, past literature on the psychosocial impacts of solitude have been mixed. On one hand, solitude has been associated with maladaptive outcomes such as depression and loneliness, while on the other hand, it has been associated with positive benefits such as mood regulation and well-being. A possible explanation for these conflicting findings is that negative reasons for spending time alone (such as social anxiety) have not been properly accounted for. Theoretically, if one spends time alone for negative reasons, it is likely to be associated with negative outcomes. However, the same is true for the alternative; if spending time alone is motivated by positive reasons, it is likely to be associated with positive outcomes. My research uses self-determination theory to investigate how intrinsically motivated solitude (i.e., spending time alone for self-determined reasons such as personal enjoyment) and extrinsically motivated solitude (i.e., spending time alone for non-self-determined reasons such as peer rejection) are related to psychosocial outcomes across development. Further, I am also interested in how the pros and cons of solitude change when social media is used during time spent alone. Given that time spent alone has increased because of the ongoing pandemic, it is important to assess why children, adolescents, and emerging adults spend time alone, and how this relates to their overall psychosocial functioning.
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Hamnah Shahid, MA Student
My research currently focuses on emotional reactivity, both positive and negative, and sleep problems in puberty. I am particularly interested in how the development of sleep problems and issues of emotional reactivity relate to adolescent depression. My research combines actigraphs and surveys to measure the variables of interest. |
Research Staff
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Taylor Lloyd, BA
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Research Assistants
Brian Chan Annelise Weins Erin Bannister Kirtan Kada Harold Horsford Emma Stanziani Sam Galevski Pascale Anderson Maia Carasco Natalie Thuss Grace Walton Amanda Tratnik Ashleigh Kilner Briar Macdonald Madison Puppa Rachel Housser Alesia McBride Kara Ippolito Divya Alex Hilary Fleming Marissa Mucciarelli Julia Dubinksy Kylie Dennis Renee Bancrfot Alana Luciani Emma Boswell-Hicks Abdul Kahn Alistair Acob Anna Cherdakova Carmelle Gardiner |
Hannah St. George Grace Chretien Brittney Journeau Chris Keightley Samar Baloch Rihab Nori Erica Anderson Madi Maguire Cassandra Campanella Chae Bush Clover Yu Anna Grant Matthew Nasto Edyta Houshang Tehrani Zahra Theab Cody Ellis Anshu Chacko Annabelle Parre Cecilia Olong Maddy Maheu Temi Odunuga Emma Brooks Ishaan Sachdeva Jennifer Ye Lilian Wang Krissy Oghinan Grace Jones Mariah Parente Van Anh Nguyen Jessica D’Rozario |
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Lab Alumni
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Research Associate
Michael Busseri
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Postdoctoral Fellow
Danielle Law, PhD
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Graduate Students
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Owen Daly, MA student
Paul Adachi – MA and PhD student Susan Solursh Anderson – MASc and PhD student, University of Waterloo Laura Belsito – MASc student, University of Waterloo Anne Bolger – MASc student, University of Waterloo (with Dr. T.G.Waller) Tina Brook – PhD student Heather Chalmers – PhD student Malinda Desjarlais – MA and PhD student Andrea DesRoches - MA student Adrian Fortner - MA student Mary Goerzen-Shoerd – MASc student, University of Waterloo Marie Good - PhD student Chloe Hamza – MA and PhD student Elizabeth Holmes – MA student Melissa Isaak – MA student Tanya McCreith – MASc student, University of Waterloo Elliott MacDonnell MA student Jennifer Gibbons McLaren – MEd student Lisa Porter – MASc student, University of Waterloo Thalia Semplonius – PhD student Royette Tavernier – MA and PhD student Jaselyn Jarvis Trithardt – MA student Tara Yearsley – MASc student, University of Waterloo Jodi Younger – MASc student, University of Waterloo (with Dr. T.G.Waller) |
Undergraduate Thesis Students
Jenna Armiento
Angela Bax
Carolyn Blank
Sarah Bongelli
Cassandra Buffett
Noah Butler
Chrissy Cerminina
Cody Cunningham
Owen Daly
Christine Dennis
David Dibben
Jennifer Digiandomenico
Kathleen Ferris
Paul Frosina
Marie Good
Jessica Gray
Hayley Grigoroff
Alexandra Ha
Trisha-Lee Halamay
Taylor Heffer
Setareh Hooshmand
Danielle Horodenchuk
Nadine Kimball
Melissa Letourneau
Natalia Manay
Melissa Mikols
Jehan Moos
Melanie Munroe
Cole Norton
Stefanie McArthur
Crystal Paolone
Sonya Patenaude
Kim Perkins
Alina Protopopescu
Jesiqua Rapley
Ashlee Rozon
Patrick Ryan
Bailey Scott
David Speed
Christina Strecker
Megan Wheeler
Lindsay Lepp Williams
Sue Zakowski
Sarah Zanette
Angela Bax
Carolyn Blank
Sarah Bongelli
Cassandra Buffett
Noah Butler
Chrissy Cerminina
Cody Cunningham
Owen Daly
Christine Dennis
David Dibben
Jennifer Digiandomenico
Kathleen Ferris
Paul Frosina
Marie Good
Jessica Gray
Hayley Grigoroff
Alexandra Ha
Trisha-Lee Halamay
Taylor Heffer
Setareh Hooshmand
Danielle Horodenchuk
Nadine Kimball
Melissa Letourneau
Natalia Manay
Melissa Mikols
Jehan Moos
Melanie Munroe
Cole Norton
Stefanie McArthur
Crystal Paolone
Sonya Patenaude
Kim Perkins
Alina Protopopescu
Jesiqua Rapley
Ashlee Rozon
Patrick Ryan
Bailey Scott
David Speed
Christina Strecker
Megan Wheeler
Lindsay Lepp Williams
Sue Zakowski
Sarah Zanette