Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Infant and caregiver experiences during situations requiring distress regulation (e.g., immunizations) have been shown to predict mental health difficulties throughout the lifespan. Capitalizing on an established cohort of infants followed from 2 months of age to 5 years of age (the OUCH Cohort), the goal of the current study is to establish the preliminary psychometrics of a screening checklist of infant and caregiver behaviours during immunizations that have been linked to poor early childhood mental health outcomes. The checklist consists of 11 immunization behaviours (e.g., parent eye-rolling when child is in high distress) that have been related to infant and caregiver mental health concerns. Video footage from the 2-, 6-, and 12-month immunization appointments of 200 OUCH cohort infant-caregiver pairs who participated in a full-day preschool psychological assessment will be coded using our checklist. We will be examining reliability, validity, sensitivity and specificity of the checklist. Correlational and Chi-Square analyses will be used. Pilot work during the summer has suggested that this checklist will be a promising tool to detect mother-infant pairs at risk for mental health concern. Future directions would involve training immunizing health professionals to use this checklist within primary care. Due to the potential efficiency, efficacy, and feasibility, our goal is to design a universal checklist that can be easily integrated into routine well-baby visits in both high-risk and low-risk communities.