Mélanie Lapalme

Bio

Even before I began my undergraduate studies in psychoeducation at the Université de Sherbrooke, I was interested in better understanding children and adolescents with behavioural problems. I found that, beyond their difficulties, they had wonderful energy and I appreciated listening to them describe their way of seeing things. I think it was my great curiosity, interest in people and desire to always learn more that led me to a career as a research professor. Early on in my initial training, I knew that I was going to pursue a master’s degree and a doctorate in research. My initial focus was on the services offered to parents of children in youth centres, and my final focus was on improving the understanding of behavioural disorders and the associated personal, family and environmental risk factors. I also did a postdoctoral fellowship on severe mental disorders and violence at the Centre de recherche de l’Institut national de psychiatrie légale Philippe-Pinel.

More recently, while maintaining reciprocal collaborations with practice settings and taking a psychoeducational approach to the problem of behavioural problems, my research has focused more on the early detection and development of behavioural difficulties (including the development of other co-occurring disorders such as personality disorders) from childhood to early adulthood, and on protective factors (including services received) that have the potential to promote better adjustment of these young people despite the risks they face. Concurrently, I am interested in the development and validation of useful measures for both practitioners and researchers. My work therefore mainly falls under the scope of Axes 1 and 2 of GRISE. As a member and director of the FRQSC-funded research team on youth behavioural problems, mental health, and social adjustment by sex/gender, I systematically study sex/gender differences in all my work.

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