Évelyne Touchette, Ph.D.

Associate Professor - Department of Psychoeducation, Social Sciences, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
Evelyne.Touchette@uqtr.ca

Training

Post-doctorate in psychology (Laval University, Quebec, Canada)
Post-doctorate in psychiatry (U669 of INSERM), Paris, France
Ph.D. in research and intervention in psychology (University of Montreal)

Research interests

The object of my research is to understand the role of sleep regulation and social determinants in the appearance of behavioral difficulties during childhood and in the emergence of mental health problems in adolescence by favoring a developmental and biopsychosocial approach. I also aim to study the impact of early adversity on sleep regulation and the onset of behavioral difficulties in childhood and in the emergence of mental health problems in adolescence. My program revolves around two lines of research using two types of complementary methodological approaches.

• Axis 1 includes epidemiological studies including cohorts of children representative of children in Quebec (epidemiological component).

• Axis 2 studies the role of sleep disorders in the appearance of behavioral difficulties during childhood or in the emergence of mental health problems in adolescence in specific populations who have lived in a context of early adversity.

Methodological approaches

Epidemiology, actigraphy, sleep diaries.

Fundings

Grant from the FRSCQ: Strategic groupings program
Title: Psychosocial maladjustment research group (GRIP).
Role: Co-researcher
Years: 2020-2027
Amount: $ 1,953,000

Grant from the Quebec Research Fund - Health (FRQS) - DIALOGUE
Title: Learning to sleep as well as to walk.
Role: Principal investigator
Years: 2021-2022
Amount: $ 40,000

Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
Title: Impact of improved children's sleep on family functioning
Role: Co-researcher
Years: 2019-2022
Amount: $ 157,660

Quebec Research Fund - Society and Culture (FRQSC)
Title: Effect of sleep regulation on the association between family adversity and behavioral problems in preschool children in the care of the Youth Protection
Role: Co-researcher
Years: 2019-2022
Amount: $ 42,535

New Frontiers in Research Fund Exploration
Title: A psychosocial parenting program to reduce the biological consequences linked to the intergenerational transmission of abuse and neglect
Role: Co-researcher
Years: 2019-2021
Amount: $ 242,935

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
Title: Investigation of the influence of the quality of sleep during pregnancy on the intergenerational transmission of abuse: an avenue for prevention?
Role: Principal investigator
Years: 2019-2021
Amount: $ 62,020

My team

Sabrina Servot

Ph.D. candidate
UQTR

Cassandre Blais

M.Sc. candidate
UQTR

Caroline Boudreau

M.Sc. candidate
UQTR

Gabrielle Fréchette-Boilard

Psychoeducation student
UQTR

Naomi St-Germain

Psychoeducation student
UQTR

Amélie Vermette

Psychoeducation student
UQTR

Anne-Marie Bilodeau

Psychoeducation student
UQTR

Selected publications

Pennestri, M. H., Petit, D., Paquet, J., Desautels, A., Touchette, E., Côté, S. M., Tremblay, R. E., Boivin, M., Montplaisir, J. Y. (2020). Childhood restless legs syndrome: a longitudinal study of prevalence and familial aggregation. Journal of Sleep research, Aug 11;e13161. doi: 10.1111/jsr.13161.

Rostami, E. G., Touchette, É., Huynh, N., Montplaisir, J., Tremblay, R. E., Battaglia, M., & Boivin, M. (2020). High separation anxiety trajectory in early childhood is a risk factor for sleep bruxism at age 7. Sleep. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsz317.

Shen, C., Luo, Q., Chamberlain, S. R., Morgan, S., Romero-Garcia, R., Du, J., Zhao, X., Touchette, É., … & Boivin, M. (2020). What is the Link between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Sleep Disturbance? A multimodal examination of longitudinal relationships and brain structure using large-scale population-based cohorts. Biological Psychiatry. Mar 31:S0006-3223(20)31381-0. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.03.010.

Bilodeau, F., Brendgen, M., Vitaro, F., Côté, S. M., Tremblay, R.E., Touchette, E., Montplaisir, J., & Boivin, M. (2018). Longitudinal associations between peer victimization and sleep problems in preschoolers: the moderating role of parenting. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. Jun 11:1-14.

Battaglia, M., Garon-Carrier, G., Côté, S. M., Dionne, G., Touchette, E., Vitaro, F., Tremblay, R. E., & Boivin, M. (2017). Early-Childhood Trajectories of Separation Anxiety: Bearing on Mental Health, Academic Achievement, and Physical Health Between Mid-Childhood and Pre-Adolescence. Depression & Anxiety, Aug 18. doi: 10.1002/da.22674.

Seegers, V., Touchette, E., Dionne, G., Petit, D., Seguin, J. R., Montplaisir, J., Vitaro, F., Falissard, B., Boivin, M., & Tremblay, R. E. (2016). Short persistent sleep duration is associated with poor receptive vocabulary performance in middle childhood. J Sleep Res, 25(3), 325-32.

Pryor, L. E., Brendgen, M., Tremblay, R. E., Pingault, J. B., Liu, X., Dubois, L., Touchette, É., Falissard, B., Boivin, M., & Côté, S. M. (2015). Early risk factors of overweight developmental trajectories during middle childhood. PLoS One, 10(6), e0131231. (FI=4,41).

Dion, J., Blackburn, M.E., Auclair, J., Laberge, L., Veillette, S., Gaudreault, M., Vachon, P., Perron, M., & Touchette, E. (2015). Development and aetiology of body dissatisfaction in adolescent boys and girls. Int J Adolesc Youth, 20(2), 151-166.

Battaglia, M., Touchette, E., Garon-Carrier, G., Dionne, G., Côté, S.M., Vitaro, F., Tremblay, R.E., & Boivin, M. (2015). Distinct trajectories of separation anxiety in the preschool years: persistence at school entry and early-life associated factors. J Child Psychol Psychiatry, 57(1), 39-46.