Dr. Naomi Andrews is an Associate Professor in the Department of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University and a founding member of the BRAVE Group: Brock Research on Aggression and Victimization Experiences. She holds a Ph.D. in Family and Human Development from the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Mothercraft’s Breaking the Cycle program – a prevention and early intervention program for mothers with substance use issues and their young children – and the LaMarsh Centre for Child and Youth Research at York University.
Broadly, her research focuses on healthy and unhealthy relationships, applying a relational perspective to support children’s social, emotional, and behavioural adjustment. Her first line of research centers on understanding problematic social behavior (e.g., aggression, victimization, bullying, teasing) through a relational lens, conceptualizing these behaviors as complex social phenomena. She is interested in understanding how nuances in peer relationships (e.g., friendship factors) and the broader social context (e.g., social network structure) contribute to and are impacted by children and youth’s involvement in problem behaviors. Her second line of research broadens this focus on peer aggression/victimization to consider aggression and violence within family and other contexts. In this realm, she has focused on evaluating relationship-focused and trauma-informed interventions, disseminating an intervention for those experiencing violence in relationships, and understanding the developmental trajectories of children exposed to early adversity.
Kirsten MacAulay
Graduate Student
[email protected]
Kirsten MacAulay is finishing up her MA in the Child and Youth Studies department, supervised by Dr. Naomi Andrews. She completed her Honours BA in Child and Youth Studies at Brock University. Her previous experience as an Internationally Board-Certified Lactation Consultant provided her with a strong understanding and passion for the complexities and richness of new motherhood and mother-infant relationships. Her research interests include parenting, mother-child relationships, adverse childhood experiences, grief, children’s mental health, education equity, children’s agency and participation within family law, social justice, and children’s experiences with environmental injustice.
Veronika Fendler
Graduate Research Assistant, Teasing Project
[email protected]
Veronika Fendler is a Masters student interested in adolescent development. She completed her B.A. in Forensic Psychology at Carleton University. Broadly, her research interests lay at the intersection of developmental, feminist, and forensic psychology. Her thesis looks at nonverbal sensitivity in adolescence, while her work in Dr. Andrews’ lab explores the relation between self-concept and tolerance of teasing during adolescence.
Research Assistants
Ximena Paredes
Undergraduate Psychology Alumni
Katie Formosa
Undergraduate Psychology Student
Naveli Sharma
High School Student
Oya Pakkal
Graduate Research Assistant, Teasing Project
[email protected]
Oya Pakkal is a PhD student interested in the intersection of social status, emotional dynamics, and cognitive processes in adolescents. She received an Honours BA in Cognitive Science of Language and an Honours BSc in Psychology, Neuroscience & Behavior at McMaster University, and her MA in Psychology at Brock University. Oya’s research primarily focuses on understanding how one’s position in the social hierarchy influences their emotional experiences, perceptions of self and others, and their behavior in social situations. She is particularly drawn to studying how subjective social status and negative status-relevant experiences such as exclusion or victimization impact adolescents’ self-concept, social identities, and their perception of the social environment.
Taylor Barker
Graduate Student
[email protected]
Taylor is a first year MA student in Child and Youth Studies working under the supervision of Naomi Andrews. He graduated with his BSc in Psychology at Algoma University in 2024 under Arthur Perlini. He is interested in studying peer relationships, family dynamics, and parental influences on positive and negative teasing.
Erin Knobl
Graduate Student
[email protected]
Erin is a PhD student in the Department of Child and Youth Studies. She holds an MSc in Rehabilitation Science and an MSc in Occupational Therapy, both from McMaster University and an Honours BA in Child and Youth Studies with a minor in music. She is a registered occupational therapist in Ontario and New York State with clinical experience in all aspects of pediatric rehabilitation and school therapy. She is currently a member of the Ontario Society of Occupational Therapist’s School Based Occupational Therapy team working to promote best practices, equity, and the role of occupational therapists within the school system. Her MSc thesis explored the use of telehealth in the school context. Erin’s research interests include children’s mental health, self-regulation, school systems and supports, and family-centred services.
Patty Moss
Graduate Student
[email protected]
Patty Moss is currently a master’s student in the Department of Child and Youth Studies. She recently completed her honors BA in a combined major of Psychology and Child and Youth Studies at Brock University. Besides being passionate about helping children build connections with nature, she is also focused on developing a greater understanding of youths’ peer connections to create strategies for their mental health and academic needs in the school system.
Information for Prospective Graduate Students
I am currently interested in taking on Child and Youth Studies PhD, MA, as well as Honour’s students in my lab. What I’m looking for are students who are hard-working, motivated, curious, and passionate about doing research related to children and youth!
In my experience, the two most important factors when it comes to choosing a graduate program are 1) finding a supervisor you get along with and who is a good fit for you, and 2) the opportunities available for research; specifically in areas you are most interested in.
With that said, if you are interested in some of the topics I have listed on my main page, please contact me so we can talk more. You can check out the projects tab for more information about specific research projects I currently have going on – data from these and other projects are available for students to use. Of course, students are also welcome to propose new research projects, but looking through my ongoing projects will give you a sense of the type of work I’m doing (and you can do too).
I also work closely with other faculty at Brock University and am part of the BRAVE Group: Brock Research on Aggressive and Victimization Experiences. What this means is that quite often, the undergraduate and graduate students in our labs work together on shared projects, and as a graduate student, you can have more opportunities to work with other great professors as well. This is a huge benefit, as collaboration is key to good research!
Finally, in joining my lab, there is also the opportunity for extra research funding in addition to Brock’s regular graduate funding package. So, if you are a bright and motivated student with research experience and/or interest in research on peer relationships, aggression, intervention, and more, consider applying to work with me or one of my colleagues!
Lab Alumni
Hope Amos
Undergraduate Honours Thesis Student
[email protected]
Hope Amos completed her Child and Youth Studies degree with a minor in Psychology. Her honours thesis centred on understanding parent-child relationships, parenting, children’s behaviour, childhood development, and mental health.
Jiayi Li
Graduate Student
[email protected]
Jiayi Li competed her MA in Child and Youth Studies, supervised by Dr. Naomi Andrews and Dr. Tony Volk. She studied healthy peer relationships among children and youth, specifically exploring the coping process of young victims of bullying and how bystanders (friends and defenders) can influence the victimization trajectory.
Katrina Smith
Undergraduate Thesis Student
[email protected]
Katrina completed her honours degree in CHYS with a minor in PSYC. Her research interests include at-risk children and youth, addiction, and mother-child relationships. Katrina’s research, supervised by Dr. Naomi Andrews, was focused on the influence a mother’s addiction has on the relationship with her child.
Kayleigh Potter
Undergraduate Honours Thesis Student
[email protected]
Kayleigh Potter completed her Child and Youth Studies degree and her honours thesis, supervised by Naomi Andrews. Kayleigh is interested in researching child-development, at-risk children and youth, and parent-child relationships.
Elizabeth Al-Jbouri
Graduate Research Assistant, Faith and Wellness Project
[email protected]
Elizabeth finished her PhD in the CHYS department, with her supervisor, Dr. Tony Volk. Previously, she worked on the Faith and Wellness project. Broadly speaking, Elizabeth’s research interests include gender, youth peer relationships and social contexts, pro- and anti- social behaviour, social-emotional learning, and “children’s” media.
Megan VandenBerg
Undergraduate Thesis Student
[email protected]
Megan completed her PSYC honours thesis supervised by Dr. Naomi Andrews and Dr. Drew Dane. She studied the influence of public gender stereotypes on academic stereotypes and school motivation in children and youth.
Patrick Segawa
Graduate Research Assistant, Teasing Project
[email protected]
Patrick Segawa completed his Master’s degree in the Child and Youth Department working with Dr. Rebecca Raby. Patrick’s work on the Teasing Project focused on the social-contextual impact of the presence or absence of an audience within teasing interactions.
Emma Peddigrew
Graduate Research Assistant, Faith and Wellness Project
[email protected]
Emma completed her PhD student in the CHYS department with her supervisor, Dr. John McNamara. Her broad research interests include learning disabilities, children and youth mental health, critical disability studies, and social-emotional learning. In the Relationships Lab, she worked as a Research Assistant on the Faith and Wellness Project.
Past Research Assistants
Ayah Abood
Grace-Anna Piett
Tajrian Hossain
Parth Patel
Rachel Cochrane
Rhea Alitawi
Alyssa Hoar
Yulya Dubinsky