Bound by the Binary: A Socio-Psychological Exploratory Investigation of how Gender Norms Influence Perceptions of Self-Damaging Behaviour
Lina Losier, Julie Prud’homme and Dr. Turner undertook this study to explore how the gender-stereotyped presentation of self-damaging behaviours (SDB) and the gender of the protagonist (described as either “she/her” or “he/him”) affects negative attitudes and perceptions of mental illness. University of Victoria students (N = 395) from the SONA system participated in the study. Participants read four vignettes depicting feminized NSSI (self-cutting), masculinized NSSI (wall punching), feminized DE (calorie restriction), and masculinized DE (rigid protein consumption), and were randomly assigned to one of two pronoun conditions (she/her vs he/him). For more details check out the full study page here.
Cross-Cultural Study on Human Olfactory Sensitivity (CROCUS)
The aim of this study was to understand smell loss and how it affects daily life and mental health across cultures. We recruited 70 participants who (a) were 19-60 years old, (b) had lived in Victoria for at least 6 months, and (c) had a normally functioning sense of smell. Participants came into the lab for a session lasting about 60 minutes where their olfactory threshold, nasal breathing, and sensitivity were tested, and then they were asked to count odors in their environment for 24 hours using a finger counter device. Recruitment is now closed and data analysis ongoing.
British Columbia Campus Suicide Prevention Grant
Dr. Turner, Christina Robillard, Emily Spargo, and Alayna Gretton collaborated in 2021-2022 with UVic students, faculty, and staff on a series of initiatives led by Dawn Schell at the Student Wellness Centre. Individuals who are experiencing self-injurious thoughts and behaviours pose unique needs to campus mental health services. These individuals have higher rates of help-seeking than those with psychological disorders but no self-injurious thoughts or behaviors. Accordingly, it is expected that students with these concerns will seek support from UVic mental health services at a greater frequency than students without these concerns. Unfortunately, despite their increased help-seeking behaviour, many individuals experiencing self-injurious thoughts and behaviours who receive mental health services report that their needs are not fully met. This underscores the urgency of developing campus infrastructure and programming to support the needs of students at risk. Check out the following video created by Heather-Lynn Roberts and Thomas Grossi for the project on our Instagram!
Mental Health and Wellbeing During the COVID-19 Pandemic in BC Rural and Remote Residents
The aim of this study was to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the health and wellbeing of people who live in rural and remote communities throughout BC. You can find out more about this study by emailing psy_covid_study@uvic.ca.
Psychological Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthcare Workers in BC and Ontario
The aim of this study was to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health and wellbeing of healthcare workers in BC and Ontario across diverse disciplines and contexts. We were especially interested in how workplace characteristics may relate to healthcare workers’ wellbeing. This study was open to anyone who (a) lived and worked in BC or Ontario, and (b) worked in a healthcare setting or as a healthcare professional.
Many Minds
We would like to express our sincere thanks to all of the participants that made our Many Minds study possible. To view a summary of our findings, please click here!
Publications:
Prud’homme, J., Hofer, M. K., Ames, M. E., & Turner, B. J. (accepted). Disparities in the prevalence, frequency and trajectories of substance use and disordered eating in sexual minority first-year undergraduates. Journal of American College Health.
Robillard, C. L., Turner, B. J. & Helps, C. E. (2021). Testing a diathesis-stress model during the transition to university: Associations between self-criticism, stress, and internalizing problems. Journal of American College Health, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2021.1947837
Theses:
Carolyn Helps, MSc – Self-damaging behaviour as an emotion regulation strategy in young adults with recent, distal, or no history of non-suicidal self-injury (see abstract here)
Nicole Legg, MSc – A longitudinal investigation of depression, anxiety, and stress as moderators of the coupled relationship between negative urgency and disordered eating frequency in first-year undergraduates (see abstract here)
Zack Senay, BA (Hons) – New Onset Disordered Eating in First Year Undergraduates
Alayna Gretton, BA (Hons) – Emotional Distress and Care-Seeking in Borderline Personality Disorder
Conference Presentations:
Symposia and Oral Presentations
Hofer, M.H., Robillard, C.L., Legg, N.K., & Turner, B.J. (2022, May). Bidirectional associations between peer and own self-damaging behaviors. In This didn’t come from nowhere – Contemporary Challenges of Adolescence [Symposium]. Society for Research on Adolescence, New Orleans, LA, United States (Virtual).
Robillard, C. L., Legg, N. K., Spargo, E., Gretton, A., & Turner, B. J. (2022, April). Reciprocal associations between defeat/entrapment and suicidal ideation during the transition to university. [Paper presentation]. American Association of Suicidology 54th Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, United States. [PDF]
Prud’homme, J. (presenter) & Turner, B.J. (2022, November). The role of sexual orientation mobility on the prevalence of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors in first year college students. Paper submitted for a symposium of the 56th Annual Convention of the American Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. New York City, NY, United States.
Legg, N.K., Helps, C., Robillard, C. L., & Turner, B. J. (2021, November). BPD traits moderate the association between hot and cold risk taking and engagement in risky behaviors. In K. L. Dixon-Gordon and E. E. Waite (Co-chairs), Innovative multimethod approaches to disentangling the interplay of emotions and impulsive behaviors in BPD: Finetuning treatment targets [Symposium]. Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 55th Annual Convention, New Orleans, LA, USA (Virtual).
Legg, N. K., Robillard, C. L., Senay, Z. W. & Turner, B. J. (2021, November). Protective factors of nonsuicidal self-injury during the transition to college: The roles of wellbeing, coping, and sleep quality. In M. Southward (Chair), Identifying strengths for better health: Resilience factors in borderline personality disorder and non-suicidal self-injury [Symposium]. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 55th Annual Convention, New Orleans, LA, United States (Virtual).
Robillard, C. L., Legg, N. K., Balakrishnan, C., & Turner, B. J. (2021, May). Self-blame as a coping strategy: An antecedent or consequence of nonsuicidal self-injury? [Oral presentation]. Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, Virtual.
Robillard, C.L., Switzer, A., Legg, N.K., & Turner, B.J. (2021, June). Comparing the Desirable Consequences of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury, Disordered Eating, and Binge Drinking: Support for Transdiagnostic Model of Self-Damaging Behaviors? [Oral presentation]. Annual conference of the International Society for the Study of Self-Injury, Virtual. [PDF]
Helps, C. E., Robillard, C. L., Turner, C., Legg, N. K., & Turner, B. J. (2020, November). When, or for whom? Time-varying and stable associations between self-damaging behaviors and suicidal ideation. [Symposium]. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 54th Annual Convention, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
Robillard, C. L., Legg, N. K., Helps, C. E., & Turner, B. J. (2020, July). Perfectionism, stressors, and anxious symptoms: Testing the personality-event congruence hypothesis. [‘Gimme-5’ oral presentation]. Canadian Psychological Association 81st Annual Convention, Montréal, QC, Canada (Virtual).
Robillard, C. L., Legg, N. K., Helps, C. E., & Turner, B. J. (2020, May). Perfectionism, stressors, and anxious symptoms: Testing the personality-event congruence hypothesis. [‘Gimme-5’ Oral presentation]. Canadian Psychological Association 81st Annual National Convention, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Turner, B., Legg, N., Prud’homme, J., & Helps, C. (2018, November). Comparing Functions across Self Damaging Behaviours: Matching the ‘What’ to the ‘Why. [Symposium]. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 52nd Annual Convention, Washington, DC, United States.
Helps, C. E., Treble, M., Prud’homme, J., & Turner, B. J. (2018, August). Contributors to Wellbeing in First-Year University Students Experiencing Thoughts of Suicide: A Thematic Analysis. [Paper presentation]. 10th Biennial International Meaning Conference, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Helps, C. E., Turner, C. J., & Turner, B. J. (2018, May). The Risks of Measuring Risk-Taking: Can Behavioural Measures of Risk-Taking Predict Binge Drinking in Undergraduate Students? [Paper Presentation]. Northwest Cognition and Memory 19th Annual meeting, Richmond, BC, Canada.
Helps, C. E. & Turner, B. J. (2018, April). Campus Connection and Help-Seeking Behaviours in First-Year Students with Suicidal Ideations. [Paper Presentation]. American Association of Suicidology 51st Annual Conference, Washington, DC, United States.
Poster Presentations
Gretton, A., Spargo, E., Robillard, C. L., & Turner, B. J. (2022, April). Coupled association between poor sleep quality and suicidal thoughts across the first year of university. [Poster presentation]. 54th annual conference of the American Association of Suicidology, Chicago, IL, United States. [PDF]
Switzer, A., Robillard, C. L. , Legg, N. K., & Turner, B. J., (2021, November). Examining concurrent and lagged effects of sleep quality on stress, anxiety, and depression among first-year university students. [Poster presentation]. Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 55th Annual Convention, New Orleans, LA, United States.
Robillard, C. L., Lozinski, T., & Turner, B. J. (2021, May). Associations between mental health difficulties and alcohol-impaired driving among young adults. [Poster presentation]. 33rd annual convention of the Association for Psychological Science (Virtual).
Spargo, E., Robillard, C. L., & Turner, B. J. (2021, May). Longitudinal associations between social support, academic wellbeing, and depressive symptoms during the transition to university. [Poster presentation]. Association for Psychological Science 33rd Annual Convention, Virtual. [PDF]
Stewart, R., Legg, N., Paterson, T., Turner, B. (2021, May). Investigating changes in suicidal ideation across age groups and geographical regions in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Poster presentation]. Association for Psychological Science, Virtual.
Helps, C. E., Legg, N. K., Switzer, A., & Turner, B. J. (2020, November). Predictors of disordered eating in undergraduate students with and without a history of nonsuicidal self-injury. [Poster presentation]. Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 54th Annual Convention, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
Helps, C. E., Robillard, C. L., Switzer, A., & Turner, B.J. (2020, November). Alcohol use and misuse during the transition to university: The role of emotion regulation difficulties. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 54th Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
Robillard, C. L., Helps, C. E., Turner, C., & Turner, B. J. (2020, November). Do consequences of heavy alcohol use predict future engagement in the behavior during the transition to university? [Poster presentation]. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 54th Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA, United States (Virtual).
Robillard, C. E., Legg, N. K., Lozinski, T., & Turner, B.J. (2020, November). Differences between self-oriented perfectionism and socially prescribed perfectionism in predicting functions of self-damaging behaviours. [Poster presentation]. Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 54th Annual Convention, Philadelphia, PA, United States. [PDF]
Helps, C. E., Robillard, C. L., Legg, N. K., & Turner, B. J. (2020, June). Co-occurrence of nonsuicidal self-injury and self-damaging behaviors in undergraduate students. [Poster presentation]. International Society for the Study of Self-Injury Annual Meeting, Vienna, Austria.
Senay, Z., Legg, N.K., & Turner, B.J. (2020, June). A longitudinal study of new onset binge eating in first-year undergraduate students. [Poster presentation]. International Conference of Eating Disorders, Sydney, Australia.
Prud’homme, J. & Turner, B. J. (2020, May). Increased risk of polysubstance use in bisexual students over their first year of university. [Poster presentation]. Canadian Psychological Association’s Annual Convention. Montreal, QC, Canada. [Conference cancelled due to COVID-19].
Helps, C., E., Legg, N. K., Gretton, A., & Turner, B. J. (2020, April). Resolution or recovery? Mental health in students with recent, lifetime, or no history of suicidal ideation. [Poster presentation]. American Association of Suicidology 53rd Annual Conference, Portland, OR, United States. [PDF]
Helps, C. E., Robillard, C. L., Turner, C., & Turner, B. J. (2020, April). When or for whom? Co-occurrence of self-damaging behaviors and suicidal ideation over seven months. [Poster presentation]. American Association of Suicidology 53rd Annual Conference, Portland, OR, United States (Virtual). [PDF]
Lozinski, T., Stewart, R., Turner, C., Robillard, C. L., & Turner, B. J. (2020, April). The relationship between rejection sensitivity and difficulties in emotion regulation. [Poster presentation]. Making Waves in Psychology Research Conference, Victoria, BC, Canada (Virtual).
Robillard, C. L., Legg, N. K., Helps, C. E., & Turner, B. J. (2020, April). Suicide attempts versus ideation in youth: The influence of frequency and versatility of self-damaging behaviors. [Poster presentation]. American Association of Suicidology 53rd Annual Conference, Portland, OR, United States. [PDF]
Senay, Z., Legg, N.K., & Tuner, B.J. (2020, April). New onset of disordered eating among first year undergraduates. [Poster presentation]. Making Waves in Psychology Research Conference, Victoria, BC, Canada.
Turner, C. J., Helps, C. E., Willows, N., & Turner, B. J. (2020, April). Exposure to suicidal thoughts and behaviours and subsequent suicidal ideation in undergraduate students. [Poster presentation]. American Association of Suicidology 53rd Annual Conference, Portland, OR, United States.
Helps, C. E., Robillard, C. L., Treble, M., & Turner, B. J. (2019, October). Changes in coping strategies during stress: The role of borderline personality disorder traits. [Poster presentation]. Congress of the International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Legg, N., Helps, C., & Turner, B. (2019, October). Examining moderators of borderline personality disorder traits and diversity of risky behaviors among first-year undergraduates. [Poster presentation]. International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders Annual Convention, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Robillard, C. L., Helps, C. E., Legg, N. K., & Turner, B. J. (2019, October). Borderline personality disorder traits and depressive symptoms in first-year undergraduate students: The moderating role of self-critical perfectionism. [Poster presentation]. International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders Congress, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Legg, N., Prud’homme, J., Milligan, K., Turner, B. (2019, August). The stability of negative urgency and its coupled relationship with disordered eating frequency. [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association’s Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, United States.
Helps, C. E., Legg, N. K., Yeo, S. N., Turner, B. J. (2019, July). Let’s talk about it: Disclosure of non-suicidal self-Injury in first-year university students. [Poster presentation]. International Society for Self-Injury’s Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, United States.
Helps, C. E., Robilliard, C. L., Prud’homme, J., Legg, N. K, Turner, B. J. (2019, July). The acceptability of digital monitoring research on self-harm: Perspectives from students with lived experience. [Poster presentation]. International Society for Self-Injury’s Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, United States.
Helps, C. E., Robillard, C. L., Prud’homme, J., Stewart, R., & Turner, B. J. (2019, July). Rejection sensitivity and risky sexual behaviours over eight months: The Moderating Role of Relationship Status. [Poster presentation]. 9th Biannual International Attachment Conference, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Robillard, C. L., Helps, C. E., Willows, N., & Turner, B. J. (2019, July). Does rejection sensitivity moderate the coupled change of interpersonal stressors and depressive symptoms in undergraduate students? [Poster presentation]. 8th International Attachment Conference, Vancouver, BC, Canada. [PDF]
Legg, N. K., Helps, C. E., Robillard, C. L., Senay, Z., & Turner B. J. (2019, June). The role of social influence on engagement in nonsuicidal self-injury among first-year undergraduate students. [Poster presentation]. International Society for the Study of Self-Injury Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, United States.
Robillard, C.L., Legg, N., Prud’homme, J., & Turner, B.J. (2019, May). Self-critical and personal standards perfectionism differentially predict sensitivity to reward and punishment in first-year undergraduate students. [Poster presentation]. 31st Association for Psychological Science Convention, Washington, DC, United States.
Robillard, C.L., Prud’homme, J., Legg, N., & Turner, B.J. (2019, May). Defeat and entrapment mediates the association between self-critical perfectionism and depressive symptoms in first-year undergraduate students. [Poster presentation]. 31st Association for Psychological Science Convention, Washington, DC, United States.
DeZeeuw, L., Willows, N., Legg, N., & Turner, B. (2019, April). Examining associations between stress, anxiety and defeat/entrapment among first year undergraduate students. [Poster presentation]. Making Waves in Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference, Victoria, BC, Canada.
Senay, Z. W., Robillard, C. L., & Turner, B. J. (2019, April). The role of self-critical perfectionism and rejection sensitivity on disordered eating in first-year undergraduate students. [Poster presentation]. Making Waves in Psychology Undergraduate Research conference, Victoria, BC, Canada.
Treble, M., Helps, C. E., & Turner, B. J. (2019, April). Differences in help-seeking behaviours in LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ students engaging in high-risk behaviours. [Poster presentation]. Making Waves in Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference, Victoria, BC, Canada.
Helps, C. E., Yeo, S., & Turner, B. J. (2018, November). Cessation is not equivalent to recovery: Mental health in students with a history of non-suicidal self-injury. [Poster presentation]. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 52nd Annual Conference, Washington, DC, United States.
Legg, N., Turner, C., Pellatt, H., & Turner, B. (2018, November). Differences between continued and discontinued disordered eating in first year undergraduate students. [Poster presentation]. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 52nd Annual Convention, Washington, DC, United States.
Prud’homme, J., Pellatt, H., & Turner, B. J. (November, 2018). Temporal associations between anxious and depressive symptoms and university-specific covitality in sexual minority students’ first year of study. [Poster presentation]. Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 52nd Annual Convention, Washington DC, USA.
Prud’homme, J., Pellatt, H., & Turner, B. J. (2018, November). Sexual minority status, coping (in)effectiveness, and self-damaging behaviours in first-year university students. [Poster presentation]. Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 52nd Annual Convention, Washington DC, United States. [PDF]
Helps, C. E., Robillard, C. L., Feltham, L. N., & Turner, B. J., (2018, October). Predicting help-seeking and medical service utilization in youth with self-damaging behaviors. [Poster Presentation]. American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 65th Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, United States.
Stewart, R., Legg, N., & Turner, B. (2018, October). Facets of emotion regulation differentiate and predict self-damaging behaviors in undergraduates. [Poster presentation]. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s 65th Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, United States.
Prud’homme, J., Turner, B. J., & Pellatt, H. L. (2018, June). Are co-occurring self-damaging behaviours more stable in sexual minority first-year university students? [Poster Presentation]. 29th International Congress of Applied Psychology, Montreal, QC, Canada. [PDF]
Prud’homme, J., Turner, B. J., & Pellatt, H. L. (2018, June). Co-occurrence of self-damaging behaviours in university students over 8 months: Are sexual minority students more at risk? [Poster Presentation]. Preaching to the Choir International LGBTQ Psychology Conference, Montreal, QC, Canada. [PDF]
Legg, N., Bell, C., & Turner, B. J. (2018, May). Sensitivity to reward and punishment differentiates aspects of disordered eating. [Poster Presentation]. Canadian Association for Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies Conference, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Legg, N., Helps, C. E., & Turner, B. J. (2018, May). Sensitivity to reward and punishment predicts diversity of prospective risky behaviours. [Poster Presentation]. Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA, United States.
Feltham, L., Helps, C. E., & Turner, B. J. (2018, April). Predictors of medical service utilization in undergraduate students with high-risk behaviours. [Poster Presentation]. Making Waves in Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference, Victoria, BC, Canada.
Feltham, L. N., Helps C. E., & Turner, B J. (2018, April). Help-seeking and medical service utilization in undergraduate students with high-risk behaviours. [Poster Presentation]. Making Waves in Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference, Victoria, BC, Canada.
Helps, C. E., Robillard, C. L., Turner, C. J., & Turner, B. J. (2018, April). When or for whom? Co-occurrence of self-damaging behaviors and suicidal ideation over seven months. [Poster presentation]. 53rd Annual Conference of the American Association of Suicidology, Portland, OR, United States.
Pellatt, H. L., & Turner, B. J. (2018, April). A prospective study examining mental health and minority stress experiences in first-year sexual and gender minority university students. [Poster presentation]. Making Waves in Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference, Victoria, BC, Canada.
Senay, Z., Legg, N. K., & Tuner, B. J. (2018, April). New onset of disordered eating among first year undergraduates. [Poster presentation]. Making Waves in Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference, Victoria, BC, Canada.
Turner, C. J., Helps C. E., & Turner, B. J. (2018, April). Risk-seeking in undergraduate students: A comparison of the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking Scale and the Risky Gains Task. [Poster Presentation]. Making Waves in Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference, Victoria, BC, Canada.
Legg, N. K., Helps, C. E., & Turner, B. J. (2018, October). Examining moderators of borderline personality disorder traits and diversity of risky behaviors among first-year undergraduates. [Poster presentation]. International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Robillard, C. L., Helps, C. E., Legg, N. K., & Turner, B. J. (2018, October). Borderline personality disorder traits and depressive symptoms in first-year undergraduate students: The moderating role of self-critical perfectionism. [Poster presentation]. International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Legg, N., Prud’homme, J., Milligan, K., Turner, B. J. (2018, August). The stability of negative urgency and its coupled relationship with disordered eating frequency. [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association Convention, Chicago, IL, United States.
Helps, C. E., Robillard, C. L., Prud’homme, J., Stewart, R., & Turner, B. J. (2018, July). Rejection sensitivity and risky sexual behaviors over eight months: The moderating role of relationship status. [Poster presentation]. 8th International Attachment Conference, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Prud’homme, J., Torok, D., Yeo, S. N., & Turner, B. J. (2018, July). Relationship satisfaction and substance use in first-year sexual minority students: The moderating role of rejection sensitivity. [Poster presentation]. 8th Biannual International Attachment Conference. Vancouver, BC, Canada. [PDF]
Robillard, C. L., Helps, C. E., Willows, N., & Turner, B. J. (2018, July). Rejection sensitivity moderates the coupled change of interpersonal stressors and depressive symptoms during the transition to university. [Poster presentation]. 8th International Attachment Conference, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Helps, C. E., Legg, N. K., Yeo, S. N., & Turner, B. J. (2018, June). Let’s talk about it: Disclosure of non-suicidal self-injury in first-year university students. [Poster presentation]. International Society for the Study of Self-Injury Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, United States.