People

Lab Director

Dr. Danielle Molnar (PhD Psychology, Brock University)
I am a Canada Research Chair (Tier II) Adjustment and Well-Being in Children and Youth and a Professor in the Department of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University. My training is in personality/social psychology. My research focuses on the biological, psychological, social, and developmental factors that contribute to adjustment and well-being across the lifespan, with a particular focus on how perfectionism is related to health, adjustment, and well-being during adolescence. I strongly support transdisciplinary research and my own research spans across domains from psychology and sociology to biology and immunology. I also really enjoy working with members of the community, ensuring that we get the word out on young people’s, parents’ and educators’ experiences with perfectionism, including its costs and consequences.

I have a passion for statistics and a solid background in quantitative methods. I love to teach foundational statistics courses at both the graduate and undergraduate level and is particularly interested in statistical modeling, dyadic data analysis, and longitudinal data analyses.

On a personal level, I love spending time with my family, Alice Cooper and rock music in general, F1 racing (Forza Ferrari!), playing scrabble, books of all kinds, and traveling (especially visiting beautiful sunny beaches).

Graduate Students

Melissa Blackburn

Melissa is a fourth year Ph.D. Candidate in Child and Youth Studies at Brock. She has completed her Honours B.A as well as her M.A. in Child and Youth Studies under the supervision of Dr. Molnar; she is excited to continue working with the DPHWB lab for her doctoral studies! Broadly, her program of research focuses on perfectionism among young people, particularly with respect to the impact of perfectionism on youth well-being. Her doctoral dissertation will take involve an in-depth, multi-methods examination of the relationship between perfectionistic cognitions and self-compassion among adolescents.

Tabitha Leishman

Tabitha completed her Honours B.A. in psychology at Brock under the supervision of Dr. Danielle Molnar. During her graduate studies, she is thrilled to continue working in the DPHWB lab. As a first year M.A. student, Tabitha’s broad research area is examining perfectionism among young people with a special interest in the impact of perfectionistic thinking on well-being. 

Lab Affiliates & Research Assistants

Natalie Tacuri

Natalie is a fifth year PhD Candidate in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education & Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at McGill University. She completed her Honours Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in the Department of Child and Youth Studies under the supervision of Dr. Dawn Zinga and Dr. Danielle Molnar. Natalie’s SSHRC and FRQSC-funded doctoral research is taking a feminist ethnographic approach to examine the sexualization of girls who participate in competitive dance. Natalie’s research interests include dance education, girlhood studies, sexualization, student-athletes, and feminist theories and methodologies.

Hanna Puffer

Hanna is a second year PhD student in the Psychology department at Brock. She completed her undergraduate thesis at Brock under the supervision of Dr. Hodson and is continuing her graduate work with him as well. Her research interests include prejudice reduction, discrimination, and attitudes towards women’s participation in transactional sex. She is excited to have started her Ph.D. in Fall 2024, under the continued supervision of Dr. Hodson, while staying involved with the DPHWB Lab.

Georgia Cronin

Georgia is in her fourth year of her undergraduate studies in Medical Sciences at Brock. She initially heard about the lab through their dance research, as she is part of the Badgers Dance Pak. The areas of research investigated by the DPHWB lab allow her to further explore dance and perfectionism, which she sees in her day-to-day life. She am excited about gaining insight into how a lab runs and what conducting research entails.

Abigail Chandrathees

Abigail, a fourth-year thesis student in the Department of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University, is currently under the supervision of Dr. Dawn Zinga. Her research interests centre on sexuality and sexualization of girls and the societal impacts on their identity, development, and self-image. Her thesis delves deeper into the social aspects of the TV show “Dance Moms,” exploring how participants perceive and feel about their costumes. 

Adriana Capistrano

Adriana is a fourth-year undergraduate Concurrent Education student specializing in the Primary/Junior division. She has a strong interest in research related to child development across diverse circumstances, with her academic focus centering around critical issues of child exploitation and the entertainment industry. She is passionate about exploring the systemic factors and industry practices impacting the safety and well-being of child performers. Under the supervision of Dr. Molnar, she is excited to complete her individual honours thesis and aims to gain a deeper understanding of how to better support vulnerable children and promote healthier practices surrounding child entertainment.

Jasmine Dawson

Jasmine is a fourth-year psychology undergraduate student working under the supervision of Dr. Molnar. Her research interests include perfectionism and its relationship to adolescent mental health and attachment styles. With a growing interest in developmental psychology, she is eager to contribute to ongoing research in the lab. Upon completion of her undergrad, she aims to pursue her M.A.

Lauren Candy

Lauren is in her fourth year of her undergraduate studies in psychology. She is interested in child development, particularly in neurodiverse populations, as well as examining the factors that contribute to mental disorders in children and adolescents. This year she is excited to be completing a thesis under the supervision of Dr. Molnar. Upon graduating, she plans to pursue a Master’s degree and work towards becoming a clinical psychologist specializing in child development and mental health.

Emma Boyd

Emma is in her final year of her Child and Youth undergraduate study at Brock and is looking forward to completing her applied project work under the supervision of both Dr. Danielle Molnar and Dr. Dawn Zinga. Interested in how perfectionism impacts children and youth, she is excited to apply what she has learned about research over the course of her program through this hands-on experience. After the completion of her undergrad, Emma hopes to attend teachers’ college.

Joe Cino

Joe is currently a fourth-year honours thesis student in the department of psychology under the supervision of Dr. Ann Farrell and Dr. Tony Volk. His research focuses on the broader social environmental factors involved in aggressive behavior among youth, as well as how various forms of aggression (e.g. bullying, dating violence) develop across the lifespan.

Madison Stewart

Madison holds a B.A. in Psychology and currently works as a coordinator and digital marketer at the Lifespan Institute. As a research assistant in the Developmental Processes in Health & Well-Being (DPHWB) Lab, she brings her expertise in digital marketing and event coordination to foster lab outreach and engagement. Her scholarly interests lie at the intersection of developmental psychology and youth mental health, with a particular focus on how perfectionism shapes daily life, wellbeing, and psychological growth across adolescence and beyond.