- Overview
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While most children and adolescents will recover from concussion without complication, a sizeable minority will go on to experience persistent symptoms that last for months or even years after injury. Prolonged recovery typically results in difficulties with daily activities, such as going to school, work productivity, and familial and peer relationships. Pre-existing mental health problems, coping styles, and other psychosocial factors can hugely influence recovery following concussion. As such, our research seeks to identify and understand the psychological, social, and cognitive risk and resilience factors that affect recovery outcomes from concussion and use these discoveries to develop and evaluate accessible/scalable behavioral interventions.
- Publications
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Smartphone App–Delivered Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Adolescents: Protocol for a Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)
Andrée-Anne Ledoux and Roger Zemek and Molly Cairncross and Noah Silverberg and Veronik Sicard and Nicholas Barrowman and Gary Goldfield and Clare Gray and Ashley D Harris and Natalia Jaworska and Nick Reed and Bechara J Saab and Andra Smith and Lisa Walker
DOI: 10.2196/preprints.57226
02/2024Evaluation of a biopsychosocial education resource for mild traumatic brain injury: a mixed method exploratory study
Frontiers in Neurology
DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1429928
2024Graded exposure therapy for adults with persistent symptoms after mTBI: A historical comparison study
Neuropsychological Rehabilitation
DOI: 10.1080/09602011.2024.2403647
2024Smartphone App–Delivered Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Adolescents: Protocol for a Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial
JMIR Research Protocols
DOI: 10.2196/57226
2024Graded Exposure Therapy for Fear Avoidance Behaviour after Concussion (GET FAB): Protocol for a multisite Canadian randomised controlled trial
BMJ Open
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-086602
2024Development of Therapeutic Alliance and Social Presence in a Digital Intervention for Pediatric Concussion: Qualitative Exploratory Study
JMIR Formative Research
DOI: 10.2196/49133
2024Acceptability, usability, and credibility of a mindfulness-based digital therapeutic for pediatric concussion: A mixed-method study
Digital Health
DOI: 10.1177/20552076241248296
2024A Cross-Sectional Investigation of Trait Mindfulness, Concussion Symptom Severity, and Quality of Life in Adults with Persisting Symptoms Postconcussion
Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine
DOI: 10.1089/jicm.2023.0516
2024Three-month Practice Effect of the National Institutes of Health Toolbox Cognition Battery in Young Healthy Adults
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences
DOI: 10.1017/cjn.2022.273
2023Neuropsychiatric Treatment for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Nonpharmacological Approaches
Seminars in Neurology
Mollica, A. and Dey, A. and Cairncross, M. and Silverberg, N. and Burke, M.J.
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1742143
2022Perceptions of Symptom Duration are Associated With Emotional Distress and Functioning in Adolescents With Protracted Concussion Recovery
Journal of pediatric psychology
Plourde, V. and Silverberg, N.D. and Cairncross, M. and Virani, S. and Brooks, B.L.
DOI: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsac020
2022Early Postinjury Screen Time and Concussion Recovery
Pediatrics
Cairncross, M. and Yeates, K.O. and Tang, K. and Madigan, S. and Beauchamp, M.H. and Craig, W. and Doan, Q. and Zemek, R. and Kowalski, K. and Silverberg, N.D.
DOI: 10.1542/peds.2022-056835
2022Criterion validity of the brief test of adult cognition by telephone (BTACT) for mild traumatic brain injury
Brain Injury
Cairncross, M. and Gindwani, H. and Rita Egbert, A. and Torres, I.J. and Hutchison, J.S. and Dams O?Connor, K. and Panenka, W.J. and Brubacher, J.R. and Meddings, L. and Kwan, L. and Yeates, K.O. and Green, R. and Silverberg, N.D.
DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2022.2109744
2022Feasibility of Concussion Rehabilitation Approaches Tailored to Psychological Coping Styles: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Silverberg, N.D. and Cairncross, M. and Brasher, P.M.A. and Vranceanu, A.-M. and Snell, D.L. and Yeates, K.O. and Panenka, W.J. and Iverson, G.L. and Debert, C.T. and Bayley, M.T. and Hunt, C. and Baker, A. and Burke, M.J.
DOI: 10.1016/j.apmr.2021.12.005
2022Psychological mediators of avoidance and endurance behavior after concussion.
Rehabilitation Psychology
Alex R. Terpstra and Molly Cairncross and Keith O. Yeates and Ana-Maria Vranceanu and Jonathan Greenberg and Cindy Hunt and Noah D. Silverberg
DOI: 10.1037/rep0000390
11/2021Avoidance and Endurance Coping After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Are Associated With Disability Outcomes
Rehabilitation Psychology
Cassetta, B.D. and Cairncross, M. and Brasher, P.M.A. and Panenka, W.J. and Silverberg, N.D.
DOI: 10.1037/rep0000372
2021History of functional somatic syndromes and persistent symptoms after mild traumatic brain injury
Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences
Green, K. and Cairncross, M. and Panenka, W.J. and Stubbs, J.L. and Silverberg, N.D.
DOI: 10.1176/appi.neuropsych.20060159
2021Normative data for the fear avoidance behavior after traumatic brain injury questionnaire in a clinical sample of adults with mild tbi
Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation
Cairncross, M. and Debert, C.T. and Hunt, C. and Bayley, M.T. and Comper, P. and Chandra, T. and Silverberg, N.D.
DOI: 10.1097/HTR.0000000000000669
2021Contingency management for individuals with chronic health conditions: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Behaviour Research and Therapy
Ellis, J.D. and Struble, C.A. and Fodor, M.C. and Cairncross, M. and Lundahl, L.H. and Ledgerwood, D.M.
DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2020.103781
2021Fear avoidance behavior in youth with poor recovery from concussion: measurement properties and correlates of a new scale
Child Neuropsychology
Cairncross, M. and Brooks, B.L. and Virani, S. and Silverberg, N.D.
DOI: 10.1080/09297049.2021.1908533
2021Evaluation of the Fear Avoidance Behavior after Traumatic Brain Injury Questionnaire
Journal of Neurotrauma
Snell, D.L. and Siegert, R.J. and Debert, C. and Cairncross, M. and Silverberg, N.D.
DOI: 10.1089/neu.2019.6729
2020Assessment of Prorated Scoring of an Abbreviated Protocol for the National Institutes of Health Toolbox Cognition Battery
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
Rebchuk, A.D. and Alimohammadi, A. and Yuan, M. and Cairncross, M. and Torres, I.J. and Silverberg, N.D. and Field, T.S.
DOI: 10.1017/S1355617720001010
2020The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Therapies for ADHD: A Meta-Analytic Review
Journal of Attention Disorders
Cairncross, M. and Miller, C.J.
DOI: 10.1177/1087054715625301
2020Clinical and personality characteristics of problem and pathological gamblers with and without symptoms of adult ADHD
Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
Cairncross, M. and Milosevic, A. and Struble, C.A. and Ellis, J.D. and Ledgerwood, D.M.
DOI: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000000959
2019Demographic, Cannabis Use, and Depressive Correlates of Cannabis Use Consequences in Regular Cannabis Users
American Journal on Addictions
Struble, C.A. and Ellis, J.D. and Cairncross, M. and Lister, J.J. and Lundahl, L.H.
DOI: 10.1111/ajad.12889
2019Correlates of Treatment Retention and Opioid Misuse Among Postpartum Women in Methadone Treatment
Journal of Addiction Medicine
Ellis, J.D. and Cairncross, M. and Struble, C.A. and Carr, M.M. and Ledgerwood, D.M. and Lundahl, L.H.
DOI: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000000467
2019Client and clinician-rated characteristics of problem gamblers with and without history of gambling-related illegal behaviors
Addictive Behaviors
Ellis, J.D. and Lister, J.J. and Struble, C.A. and Cairncross, M. and Carr, M.M. and Ledgerwood, D.M.
DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.03.017
2018Assessing decision-making capacity in patients with communication impairments
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics
Cairncross, M. and Peterson, A. and Lazosky, A. and Gofton, T. and Weijer, C.
DOI: 10.1017/S0963180116000414
2016Psychosocial Status in emerging adult females: Impact of pubertal timing and ADHD symptoms
Psychology and Education
Ostojic, D. and Brooker, B. and Cairncross, M. and Miller, C.J.
2016A behavioral genetic analysis of alexithymia and the dark triad traits of personality
Twin Research and Human Genetics
Cairncross, M. and Veselka, L. and Schermer, J.A. and Vernon, P.A.
DOI: 10.1017/thg.2013.19
2013 - Research
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MBI-4-mTBI Adolescents (Mindfulness-based Intervention for mild traumatic brain injury)
Our lab recently completed a small pilot (N=10) of a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) for adolescents following concussion in collaboration with a team at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. We found that the mindfulness-based intervention, delivered via smartphone app, was viewed as credible and was well tolerated by patients with acute and chronic concussion symptoms. We are now planning for a multi-centre randomized controlled feasibility trial of the mindfulness-based intervention for adolescents with persistent post-concussion symptoms (N=70). Participants will be randomized to receive the mindfulness-based intervention or an active control intervention. We will assess feasibility related to recruitment methods, intervention and control credibility, adherence to the intervention, and trial retention. This feasibility trial will lay the necessary ground work for a large-scale multi-centre efficacy trial.Digital Connections
Given the poor adherence and attrition rates associated with digital interventions, and increased interest in delivering therapy online, it is of great importance to understand how best to maximize factors that may increase patient engagement with treatment. Social presence, or the extent to which a digital encounter feels like it is occurring in-person and has a sense of human connection to it, may be relevant to therapeutic alliance and engagement in self-guided digital interventions. Using a qualitative exploratory design (N=10), we will identify the factors that may be relevant to adolescents’ experience of social presence in self-guided digital interventions and determine if these factors are important for user experience and adherence to treatment. These findings will inform design changes to our digital intervention for concussion.ABC (Attentional Bias in Concussion)
Pain catastrophizing and avoidance of pain-related stimuli can lead to disability in patients with chronic pain conditions. Attentional bias (measured via eye-tracking) plays a role in pain-catastrophizing, offering potential understanding of mechanisms that could be targeted to improve outcomes for this group. Pain catastrophizing and avoidance behaviour similarly lead to poorer outcomes from concussion. No previous research has examined the role of attentional bias in pain catastrophizing and fear avoidance behaviour in adolescents post-concussion. We will assess whether attentional bias to symptom-related stimuli is associated with pain-catastrophizing and fear-avoidance behaviour in adolescents post-concussion.Grants2022 – 2023, SFU Psychology Department Research Grant, Mindfulness-based intervention for adults with persisting post-concussion symptoms, Principal Investigator, $7500 (CAD)
2021 – 2025, Canadian Institute of Health Research, Graded exposure therapy for fear avoidance behavior (GET FAB) after concussion, Co-Investigator, $761,176 (CAD)
2022 – 2024, uOttawa Brain and Mind Research Institute Team Grant, Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury+MRI a Pilot study, Co-Investigator, $50,000 (CAD)
2021 – uOttawa Brain and Mind Research Institute Team Grant, Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury+MRI a Pilot study, Co-Investigator, $75,000 (CAD)
2020/1 - 2022/1 Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute Research Growth Award, Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Co-Investigator, $29,995 (CAD)
Research Group MembersMedha Amarnath Nair, Graduate Student
Shahrazad Amin, Graduate Student
Jaymie Cristobal, Research Project Assistant
Marc Gelineau, Research Assistant
Justine Harris-Owen, Research Assistant
Matthew Rathore, Research Assistant
Morgan Reedy, Research Assistant
Kyle Yeung, Research Volunteer
Advancing understanding of the developing brain in preterm babies to help inform therapies
BCCHR research found new evidence that the younger a baby is born, the slower their brain development will be. Scientists are investigating how the brain functions at an early gestational age so they can identify potential therapies.
