CRC Spotlight: Brock researcher identifies barriers to young people’s well-being

The federal government's Canada Research Chairs program invests up to $311 million per year to attract and retain some of the world's most accomplished and promising minds. Chairholders are recognized to be national and international experts in the fields of engineering and the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities and social sciences. Brock University has 11 active Canada Research Chairs, with more to be announced. This monthly series profiles the work, and lives, of Brock's Chairholders.

When Karen Patte reflects on the twists and turns that led her to becoming Canada Research Chair in Child Health Equity and Inclusion, she notes a maxim common to many in the academic world.

"They say a lot of research is 'me-search,'" she says. "I initially pursued graduate studies in areas that I had experienced in my own life as an adolescent."

Patte's work explores socio-economic factors that detract from, or support, youth physical and mental health.

The Associate Professor of Health Sciences grew up in a household that prioritized nutrition and physical activity. As a teenager, Patte became both interested in, and anxious about, weight-related topics, driven in part by what she describes as a "well-intended but harmful" school health curriculum.

During her graduate studies at York University, Patte researched genetic and brain processes involved in conditions such as eating disorders, obesity and addictive behaviours. As her theoretical work progressed, she started noticing trends that disturbed her.

She was surprised by the level of weight stigma she witnessed in the field. She also learned about links to bullying, mental health and socioeconomic factors, largely from the painful stories of research participants.

"People shared experiences with me that they hadn't told anyone before - even their closest family - because they wanted to help others," says Patte. "I felt I needed to do more applied health research to have an impact."

Patte took a three-year break from her PhD studies to seek treatment for her own mental health.

During that time, she also pursued training in mental health and addictions counselling and worked as a counsellor, primarily at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.

"Most of the clients I saw talked about the trauma and adversity they experienced early in their lives and how that led to addiction, mental illness and homelessness," she says. "I knew I needed to focus on younger populations as a way of preventing later problems."

Patte explains that her time as a counsellor also emphasized the importance of engaging people as partners in research about them.

"A lot of treatments for substance use problems that had been shown to be effective in controlled research trials didn't work in practice," says Patte. "Often they were not acceptable to the populations they were intended to help or didn't get at their key priorities and challenges."

Patte completed her PhD program and became a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Waterloo under the direction of Professor of Health Sciences Scott Leatherdale, with whom she would come to co-lead the long-running national COMPASS study. The study annually collects health survey data from more than 100,000 students at more than 200 secondary schools in Ontario, Alberta, Quebec, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is funding the study until 2027.

The project studies how individual, social and environmental factors, including policies and programs at schools and at the national level, interact to affect youth health and behaviours, such as mental health, substance use, sleep, physical activity, diet, screen use and bullying.

Among her many research activities, she co-leads a national youth engagement program to amplify youth voice in the research process and decision-making.

Patte is using her Canada Research Chair to set up a national, Brock-based collaborative centre to advance child health equity research.

"I have learned a lot from my Brock colleagues who approach health from diverse disciplines," says Patte. "This context really nurtured me in the mixed methods work I do now and helped to develop my focus on health equity and the lifelong impacts of adverse childhood experiences."

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