{"id":100183,"date":"2025-03-24T17:12:27","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T21:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=100183"},"modified":"2025-05-22T11:21:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T15:21:17","slug":"research-retrospective-a-focus-on-childrens-well-being","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2025\/03\/research-retrospective-a-focus-on-childrens-well-being\/","title":{"rendered":"RESEARCH RETROSPECTIVE: A focus on children’s well-being"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article is part of a monthly series celebrating research breakthroughs and successes at Brock University over the past\u00a0<\/em>60 years<\/em><\/a>. To read other stories in the series, visit\u00a0<\/em>The Brock News<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

It was the fall of 1995. The late Zopito Marini had penned a passionate opinion piece on a \u201cnew premise\u201d arising out of research and wider societal trends: \u201cbullying is not a \u2018childhood rite of passage.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Professor and inaugural Chair of Brock’s then-Department of Child Studies led a team in the Conflict and Development Lab at the time. The group had been researching the social and cognitive roots of conflicts for a decade before his article appeared in Surgite <\/em>magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fast forward 30 years, the University is now home to the Brock Research on Aggression and Victimization Experiences (BRAVE)<\/a> lab. Led by Professor of Child and Youth Studies Tony Volk<\/a>, the group of professors, graduate and undergraduate students is one of Canada\u2019s largest teams researching child and youth bullying.<\/p>\n

Associate Professor of Health Sciences Karen Patte also examines bullying in her work. The Canada Research Chair in Child Health Equity and Inclusion<\/a> co-leads the national COMPASS study<\/a>, which surveys more than 100,000 secondary school students across Canada each year on youth health and behaviours.<\/p>\n

Bullying is one of many topics Brock researchers explore as they contribute significant knowledge and insights to the field of children\u2019s development, says Acting Vice-President Research Michelle McGinn.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the decades, Brock scholarship has made major inroads in understanding and addressing children\u2019s health and well-being,\u201d says McGinn. \u201cThis research has informed public policy and laid the groundwork for many initiatives that support children and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around the time Marini wrote his opinion piece, Maureen Connolly was responding to a request from instructors at Lady Spencer Churchill School, who were looking for support to organize a physical activity event for children with disabilities.<\/p>\n

The Professor of Kinesiology happily obliged, but her efforts didn\u2019t stop there. That one event spurred the creation of Supporting Neurodiversity through Adaptive Programming (SNAP)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Three decades<\/a> later, SNAP is a nationally recognized movement education program fostering physical literacy, fitness and social inclusion through adapted activities tailored to individual abilities and skills.<\/p>\n

Brock\u2019s expertise on children living with autism also was evident in the Ontario government\u2019s Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Expert Committee, which advised on ASD treatments, services and supports for children, youth and their families.<\/p>\n

Professor of Applied Disability Studies Maurice Feldman and then-Assistant Professor of Applied Disability Studies Julie Koudys were members of the committee<\/a>, which created the Ontario Autism Program Clinical Framework<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Koudys was also on the<\/a> Ontario Autism Program Advisory Panel, which produced its Recommendations for a New Needs-Based Ontario Autism Program<\/a> in 2019.<\/p>\n

McGinn says that Brock\u2019s long-standing leadership in childhood development, health and well-being \u201cdraws upon expertise across Faculties and has spurred important advances in theory and practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Examples include:<\/p>\n