Ï㽶ÊÓƵ

XIANGFEI MENG, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Psychiatry, Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Researcher, Society and Mental Health: Services, Policies and Population Health Douglas Institute
Influence of Childhood Maltreatment on Adulthood Mental Health and Disorders
MONDAY, 26 MARCH 2018 / 4:00 pm 5:00 pm McIntyre Medical Building
3655 promenade Sir William Osler – Meakins Rm 521
ALL ARE WELCOME
ABSTRACT: Child maltreatment is internationally considered as a serious public health, human rights, legal and social issue. Every year it is estimated that millions of chil-dren are abused and neglected. The negative consequences accompanying child maltreat-ment not only cause adverse consequences during childhood, but also initiate a negative developmental trajectory that lasts through the lifetime. However, despite the increase risk of psychopathology, research indicates that some abused individuals retain normal levels of functioning. This dynamic develop-mental process encompassing the attainment of positive adaptation within the context of significant adversity is referred as resilience. It is of importance to understand the dynamic balance between resilience and allostatic load in mental health and mental disorders. Recent interesting findings of our studies include: 1) resilience and protective factors among peo-ple with a history of child maltreatment; 2) gender moderates the relationship between childhood abuse and internalizing and sub-stance use disorders later in life; and, 3) child-hood maltreatment substantially increases the risk of adult depression and anxiety in pro-spective cohort studies.
OBJECTIVES
1. There is a significant gender effect in the relationships between different types of childhood maltreatment and mental dis-orders. Appreciate the epidemiologic issues faced in estimating the link be-tween malnutrition and nutrition interven-tions on child development in resource-limited settings.
2. Protective factors associated with resili-ence at individual, familial, and societal levels reduced the likelihood of negative consequences of childhood maltreat-ment.
3. Public and population mental health preventions should focus on early child-hood and apply preventive strategies as early as possible.
BIO: Xiangfei Meng, a Medical Scientist in the Douglas Hospital Research Centre, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psy-chiatry, and an Associate Member in the De-partment of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health at Ï㽶ÊÓƵ. Her research interests focus on population mental health and neuro-psychiatric epidemiology and health services use, using a wide range of techniques to study the roles of genetic, epigenetic, psycho-socio environmental risk factors and their interplay in common mental disorders across the life span of mental dis-eases, especially focusing on the importance of prevention strategies in diverse ethno-cultural environment.


THE DEPARTMENT OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, BIOSTATISTICS AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH, - SEMINAR SERIES IS A SELF-APPROVED GROUP LEARNING ACTIVITY (SECTION 1) AS DEFINED BY THE MAINTENANCE OF CERTIFICATION PROGRAM OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS OF CANADA

EPIDEMIOLOGY SEMINAR / WINTER 2018