Projects in progress

STARS Study

The STARS study aims to examine the impacts of stress and stigma on the physical and mental health of individuals. Specifically, we seek to identify the mechanisms through which risk factors (e.g., chronic stress) and resilience factors (e.g., social support) influence the health and well-being of sexual and gender minority individuals of various ages and representing diverse life experiences.

Team: Ryan Hogan, Jasmine Boulette, Inès Ait Abdelmalek, Nevena Chuntova

Contact : stars@cesarlab.ca

SYNC Study

SYNC is a study that focuses on how couples adapt to stress. The goal of this study is to improve our understanding of how various individual and relational factors, including sex, gender, sexual orientation, intimacy, and attachment, influence how couples respond to stress. The results of this study could help professionals develop more effective interventions to improve the physical and mental health of couples.

This study is no longer in the recruitment phase.

Team: Silke Jacmin-Park

Contact : sync@cesarlab.ca

SexCog Study

Differences that result from an interaction between factors of sex assigned at birth and psychosocial gender (gender identity, gender roles, sexual orientation) may exist, but research findings remain ambiguous.

This research project evaluates the performance of men, women, and individuals with diverse gender identities on certain cognitive tasks. We aim to study the influence of sex hormones, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender roles on performance in cognitive tasks. Additionally, we seek to determine the correlation between the effects of sex and psychosocial gender factors on cognition and mental health.

This study is no longer in the recruitment phase.

Team: Fanny Saulnier, Mina Guérin

Contact : sexcog@cesarlab.ca

CCC Study

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed social and economic activities around the world. Since sex and gender are important determinants of health, people of different sexes are likely to experience the COVID-19-related changes in unique ways. The pandemic has exacerbated certain pre-existing sex and gender inequalities, as we have seen with the increase in domestic violence, the unequal distribution of paid and unpaid work, family responsibilities, and mental health disparities between women, men, and individuals with diverse gender identities.

This project aims to better understand the sex and gender factors related to stress, coping strategies, resilience, and mental health in the context of the pandemic.

This study is no longer in the recruitment phase.

Team: Eugénie Samson-Daoust, Silke Jacmin-Park, Inès Aït Abdelmalek

Contact : ccc@cesarlab.ca

Signature Biobank

Since 2009, more than 80 researchers and clinicians have participated in the longitudinal data collection of patients admitted to the psychiatric emergency department of the Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine Hospital, now called the Montreal Mental Health University Institute. Several research projects using data from the biobank are currently ongoing.

Team: Cécile Le Page, Philippe Beauchamp-Kerr, Enzo Cipriani, Robert-Paul Juster

+Fièr Project

Young people with diverse gender identities face unique stressors both publicly (in the form of bullying) and personally (in their identity development and the process of coming out). This is particularly challenging in the lives of LGBTQ+ youth and their families. The goal of this research project is to support young people with diverse gender identities and their families by providing them with technological tools to develop adaptive strategies in response to such stress challenges.

This project continues the work of our collaborator, Dr. Isabelle Ouellet-Morin, who designed the +Fort app to support young victims of bullying. We aim to ensure that our +Fièr app meets the mental health needs of LGBTQ+ youth and their families. 

Équipe: Inès Ait Abelmalek, Ioana Cotocea, Ophélie Larocque, Morgan Vallée, Robert-Paul Juster

This study is no longer in the recruitment phase.

OUR FINALIZED PROJECTS

  • OSC Study

    The sex-based professional composition refers to the distribution of individuals assigned female and male at birth, both within professions and within the organizational hierarchy. Professional segregation occurs when one sex is underrepresented in a profession, and this has differential effects on the health of individuals depending on their sex assigned at birth, whether female or male.

    This study aims to investigate the effect of sex-based professional composition on allostatic load, workplace stress, and the mental health of employees in psychiatric hospitals.

  • PAL Study

    Allostatic load refers to the wear-and-tear effects of chronic stress on the brain and body. It can be measured by indexing neuroendocrine, immune, cardiovascular, and metabolic biomarkers, which provide information about an individual's physiological (dys)functions. A high allostatic load is considered a typical characteristic of mental health disorders.

    The goal of this study is to conduct a literature review regarding the biomarkers of allostatic load most strongly associated with mental health disorders and symptoms.

  • SDC Study

    Literature review on the influence of sex hormones on cognition.

  • SOS Study

    Study of the influence of sex hormones on cognition.

  • ESMI Project

    Study of the impact of minority stress on violent behaviors in lesbian couples and on the mental health of sexual minority women in Canada.

  • GPS Study

    Study of the influence of self-identified gender roles and personality traits on mental health (depression, anxiety, and suicide).

  • Projet SPC

    Projet collaboratif sur la santé des personnes issues de la diversité du genre selon leur localisation géopolitique aux États-Unis.

  • EDI Project

    A questionnaire designed to accurately depict the diversity present in the Francophone academic environment. This questionnaire collects data on various potential sources of discrimination, such as ethnicity, status in Canada, sources of income, domestic life, sex, gender, sexual orientation, physical disabilities, mental health, and experiences within the academic environment at the University of Montreal.

    In the long term, we hope that this questionnaire can be used by all Francophone universities to assess their equity, diversity, and inclusivity.

  • QueerTech Study

    The goal of this project is to gather information on the experiences of LGBTQIA2S+ employers and employees in the Canadian tech industry in order to better understand the challenges they face.

    This research also aims to inform and inspire the development of potential policies and best practices in the Canadian tech industry regarding equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).

  • TQual Study

    TQual is a collaborative qualitative study aimed at exploring the concepts of stress and resilience among transgender, non-binary, and gender-diverse individuals, in order to better understand how stigma, including systemic transphobia, and associated barriers impact their health, well-being, and lives.

    This study aims to assess the negative consequences of these specific stressors and how transgender, non-binary, and gender-diverse individuals develop resilience skills and coping mechanisms to manage them. This project also addresses the methods used in health research with the goal of making them more inclusive.