MPARC Newsletter: March and April Updates
The Mental Health and Physical Activity Research Centre's Newsletter
Our lab has been productive this past month and we are so excited to share some updates with you.
Our News!!
Congratulations to…
David Brown, Catherine Sabiston, Sasha Gollish and Tara-Leigh McHugh for receiving funding to research maltreatment in sport for the next year from Abuse Free Sport and Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada …stay tuned!
And, Samira Sunderji was awarded the Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement (MSFSS) as a CGS-M SSHRC recipient. She is currently working in the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) under the guidance and mentorship of Dr. Denver Brown. Her research project explores how physical activity identity and negative body-related self-conscious emotions impact physical activity behaviours within university students.
We hosted The Eastern Canada Sport and Exercise Psychology Symposium (ECSEPS 2024)
A huge thank you to Roxy, Samira and David for the successful planning of a great conference, as well as all of the amazing volunteers from across UofT’s Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education. SABLAB showed up with stellar presentations:
Congratulations to Alishba, Sarah, Edi, David, Sabrina, Andrew, Delaney, Roxy, Samira, and Maryam for their awesome presentations! Topics included, body-related pride, body-surveillance, body image coaching programme, high-performance athletes with disabilities’ experiences of body-related appearance, emotional and behavioural correlates of body image, physical activity in schools, analysis of pre-breast cancer weight fluctuations and stress processes, and body image experiences of women who engage in resistance training.
Check out our website for more information on this work!!
We got to share our work at:
OPHEA (Ontario Physical and Health Education Association) and MLSE LaunchPad invited us to the Changing the Game through School Sport: A Preliminary Cross-Sectoral Conversation event on March 1, 2024. Our director, Catherine Sabiston got to share our Ontario Schools Physical Activity Study, where we are looking to understand participation of girls and gender-diverse youth in sport and physical activity within Ontario schools and to identify barriers and opportunities, alongside the Ministry of Education and Canadian Women and Sport.
We need your help sharing this survey!!!
Visit our website-ontarioschoolsproject for more information on this important project. As a student, parent or school leader, we need your input!!
David Brown gave a guest lecture at RMC (Royal Military College), in Dr. Jordan Sutcliffe’s Sport Psychology (PSE444) class. The lecture was on Body Image & Sport with a focus on his research in coach education.
Sasha Gollish gave a guest lecture at Dalhousie in the Safe Sport and Ethics Course, called The Power of Positive Sport AND was invited to keynote at the City of Toronto’s x Nike Girls Who Move, Move the World event. Amongst these awesome presentations, she also presented at the Minor Track Association and at Ursula Franklin as a Right to Play ambassador. You can check out some of her recent blogs featured in World Athletics and ASICS Move Her Mind.
Want to be part of our research?
The following studies are seeking participants:
Looking for individual’s whose depression has not resolved after two rounds of treatment (medication or therapy). 2.5 hour virtual appointment including depression assessment and interview. $50 e giftcard for participating.
Looking for parents of K-12 students, K-12 students, and school leaders to take part in our Ontario Schools Survey. We are looking to gain deeper insights into their experiences and identify barriers to engagement in sport and physical activity within schools.
Seeking adults 18-35 for 1 hour of your time to answer various questionnaires, a computer based motor task. Eye tracking, facial expression Analysis, ad galvanic skin response will be used in the study.
*Visit our website for more info on how you can get involved in these studies. *
In the news…
The ReThinkSport Project
A team of academic and community partners across Canada who are looking at what a reimagined sport, physical activity, movement, and games environment might look like for youth in Canada led by our director, Catherine Sabiston. Together we will reimagine what an equitable, diverse, and inclusive sport environment in Canada might look like through innovative research with a focus on removing barriers and continuing to learn from all the benefits that sport, movement and exercise continue to offer. We are currently in phase 1 of this project, focused on working with 6 different researcher subgroups (race, ability, gender, indigeneity, social class, body diversity) to compile what we do know in these areas and ask those questions that we really need to learn to reimagine youth sport in Canada. Stay tuned for project updates here.
True Sport Champions Program
Our colleagues at the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, have a program called “The True Sport Champions program” which facilitates the growth of True Sport in Canada.
The program harnesses the power of committed volunteers and community leaders and helps them spread the word about True Sport in their own communities. One of ours, Sasha Gollish is now a true sport champion (has always been) but is now “officially” committed to the True Sport Principles. You can apply to join True Sport here.
Upcoming presentations…
Youth Sport Summit (Brock University) April 24 - check out the website
Research to Practice Symposium (MLSE Launchpad) April 25 - check out the website
Bodies of Knowledge (UofT) May 10 - sign up here
North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (New Orleans) June 5-8 - check out the website
Appearance Matters (Bristol, England) June 11-14 - check out the website
European Federation of Sport Psychology (Innsbruck, Austria) July 15-19 - check out the website
ICOS: International Symposium for Olympic and Paralympic Research (Besançon, France) July 20-21 - check out the website
Our colleagues are seeking recruitment help…
NEDIC (National Eating Disorder Information Centre) and McGill University are seeking participants for a study exploring the return to sport experiences of athletes in recovery or who have recovered from an eating disorder or disordered eating. They are interested in examining the people within athletes’ network during the return to sport process, and how specific people and their actions impact athletes’ sporting and recovery experiences.If you or someone you know may be interested in taking part in this study, click here to find out more about this study.