Dr. Ann Farrell
Dr. Ann Farrell is an Associate Professor in Child and Youth Studies at Brock University. Her research centers on a multidisciplinary understanding of bullying as a complex social problem, including the processes among individual, social, environmental, and cultural factors associated with youth bullying. By understanding these processes, she hopes to mitigate these contributing factors and help to inform more effective bullying and violence prevention.
Previously, Dr. Farrell was a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow and a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Ottawa in Counselling Psychology, Faculty of Education. Dr. Farrell holds a Ph.D. in Psychology (Lifespan Development) and M.A. in Child and Youth Studies from Brock University.
Dr. Farrell recently received the PREVNet Early Career Fellowship 2024, the 2023 Faculty of Social Sciences Early Career Researcher Award, and the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention 2021 Early Career Award. She is currently a council member for the International Society for Research on Aggression (ISRA) and an Associate Editor for the journal Aggressive Behavior.
Kayla Lewis
Master’s Student
Kayla is a Master’s student in the Child and Youth Studies program at Brock University. She completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology also at Brock, where she developed a passion for research, especially in the field of developmental psychology. Some of Kayla’s research interests involve bullying and aggression in children and adolescents, mental health and interpersonal problems including anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, etc. She is particularly interested in the main issues affecting children and adolescents to understand how they affect development. A key goal of her research is for it to be implemented in real-world settings to positively impact young people’s development and life trajectories.
Joseph Cino
Honours Thesis Student
Joe is currently a fourth-year honours thesis student in the department of psychology, minoring in statistics. His research focuses on the broader social environmental factors involved in aggressive behaviour among youth, as well as how various forms of aggression (e.g., bullying, dating violence) develop across the lifespan.
Julia Collin-Pereira
Honours Thesis Student
Julia is currently a 4th-year honours thesis student in the child and youth studies program. Her research interests revolve around family dynamics and how different familial relationships/situations affect the behavioural and mental development of young people/children. She is also extremely interested in understanding how parental bullying/emotional abuse impacts child development and intimate relationship building in adolescence. Julia has a deep passion for research and hopes to support and understand how immediate family dynamics affect the development of young people and children.
Abegail Yasis
Honours Thesis Student
Abegail is currently a fourth year student in the forensic psychology and criminal Justice program. Her research interests centers on child and youth mental health, focusing on accessibility and effectiveness of mental health support services. Abegail is also interested in researching the various structural and systemic barriers faced by children and youth that may affect access to appropriate services. She aims to contribute to the advancement of youth-centered mental health care by exploring the effects of intersectional factors to better support the well-being of children and youth.
Mollie Eriksson
Graduate Independent Study Student
Mollie Eriksson graduated from DePaul University (Chicago, IL) with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience with minors in Chemistry and Biology in June 2022. She is currently a first year PhD student in Dr. Louis Schmidt’s Child Emotion Lab at McMaster University. Her research focuses on the relationship between personality and psychopathology. Mollie is doing an independent study in our lab looking at personality profiles of extraversion and conscientiousness and its association with internalizing mental health outcomes.
Sierra Barnes
Research Assistant
Sierra is a fifth-year student in the Concurrent Education program in the Primary/Junior stream, who recently completed her Bachelor of Arts majoring in Child and Youth Studies. While she is currently a student in teacher’s college, she is still working alongside Dr. Farrell and the lab students as a research assistant. She recently completed her fourth-year honours thesis under the supervision of Dr. Farrell, looking at neighbourhood and economic conditions and their associations with retrospective bullying victimization through perceptions and regional data. She has a strong interest in environmental influences and their impact on individual experiences and behaviour through an ecological lens.
Daniella Silenzi
Research Assistant
Daniella is a fifth-year student in the Primary/Junior stream of the Concurrent Education program. She recently completed her honours Bachelor of Arts in the Child and Youth Studies department. While completing her Bachelor of Education, she will continue to work as a research assistant in the Empowering Youth Lab alongside Dr. Farrell and the other lab members. Daniella recently completed her fourth-year honours thesis under the supervision of Dr. Farrell, where she sought to understand whether social comparisons made by female-identifying young adults were associated with maladaptive mental health and if this association was influenced by social media use. Using an evolutionary psychology framework, her research interests include social psychology, aggression, personality, body image, gender differences, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and mental health. Her research aims to identify the factors currently affecting the well-being of young adults and to inform meaningful interventions.
Helen Daved
Research Assistant
Helen Daved is a fourth-year undergraduate student in the Department of Psychology. She is passionate about developmental psychology, with a particular interest in how bullying, cognitive development, and environmental factors shape social and emotional growth across the lifespan. Helen is currently a research assistant in Dr. Farrell’s lab and will continue in this role throughout the academic year, contributing to projects focused on bullying and youth. In addition to her work in the lab, Helen is completing her undergraduate honours thesis under the supervision of Dr. Tony Volk. Her broader academic interests include social and environmental factors influencing behaviour, the interplay between memory, and developmental psychology. Helen aspires to pursue graduate studies in psychology.
Jadyne Flores
Research Assistant
I am a third-year Psychology student in the Bachelor of Science stream. My research interests focus on understanding the key factors that influence youth mental health, particularly in relation to social media, peer and family relationships, and changing social environments. I’m especially interested in how bullying and social interactions have changed with the rise of technology and social media, and how these shifts impact youth emotional well-being, identity, and development. I’m also curious about how these social, individual, and environmental factors interact over time to shape mental health outcomes. I hope to contribute to improving support systems and addressing gaps in care to promote youth mental health better.
Lab Alumni
Emily Massicotte-Finch
Emily is a fourth year psychology student in the research stream at Brock University. In addition to studying psychology, she is also achieving a minor in child and youth studies. Emily’s research interests center on the intersectionality of various forms of oppression and how they impact vulnerable populations, specifically children and youth. She aims to better understand the experiences and challenges faced by children and youth in order to develop strategies that can promote social justice and equity.
Emily is also an Anishinaabe woman from Batchewana First Nations who is very interested in performing research that would promote the well-being and traditional ways of her community. Currently, she is performing her honours undergraduate thesis which is examining if prejudiced attitudes towards Indigenous peoples in Canada have decreased since 2014. Ultimately, her goal is to use her research to contribute to a more inclusive and equitable society for all, and to support her community in the process.
Lauren Pang
Lauren is a fourth year undergraduate student in the Concurrent Education Primary/Junior program, with a major in Child and Youth Studies. She has developed a strong interest in statistical methods and data analysis to better understand the interactions amongst various complex factors that impact the lives of young people. Some of her other research interests include child and youth development and well-being.
Daley Burnaccioni
Daley is a fourth year undergraduate student in the department of Child and Youth Studies. She is interested in statistical methods and data analysis to investigate correlations involving child and youth mental health. Her primary research interests include psychopathology, psychological trauma, child development, and peer cultures.
Grace Markovic
Grace is an undergraduate student in the department of psychology. She has a great interest in personality, psychopathology, and behaviour related studies. She is also specifically interested in researching the impact of social, environmental, and biological factors on comorbidity of mental health conditions in neurodivergent youth.
Katerina Partheniou
Katerina is a recent graduate from Ontario Tech University, where she earned a degree in Forensic Psychology. During her undergraduate studies, she completed a significant project on the associations of maternal depression and anger and their trajectories on youth mental health and development throughout life stages. Currently, she is involved in two research labs: one at Brock University with Dr. Farrell, focusing on understanding bullying as a complex social problem, including the interplay of individual, social, environmental, and cultural factors associated with youth bullying. Katerina will be traveling to Scotland in May to work at Queen Margaret University, where her research in experimental psychology will explore cognitive adaptations and their roles in memory, attention, and social and cultural phenomena. She has a keen interest in child developmental psychology, with a focus on child trauma, dissociation, and psychopathology. Katerina is passionate about investigating how these factors influence youth behavior and mental health, contributing to a deeper understanding of their implications in both educational and social contexts.
Olivia Mueller
Olivia is an undergraduate psychology student. She is particularly interested in the research topics of psychopathology, childhood bullying, child and adolescent development, and how mental health conditions can impact interpersonal relationships.
Michelle Juffe
Michelle Juffe is an undergraduate honours student in the Psychology Department. In addition to studying psychology, she is also achieving a minor in sociology. Michelle has an interest in psychological research topics around disability and interpersonal relationships, self-control, and cognition.