Kira London-Nadeau
NEWS!
I've got some new work out!
One of my thesis papers called Stress Mediates the Link Between Sexual Orientation and Cannabis Use Profiles is now published in the Annals of LGBTQ Public and Population Health.
To make the results from this paper more accessible, my paper co-authors and I wrote a piece for The Conversation: Stress, not identity, drives riskier cannabis use among sexually diverse youth, new study finds. We highlight different patterns of cannabis use among young adults, associations with sexual diversity, and stress as a key explanatory mechanism. We also tie these results to current contexts around LGBTQ+ communities, calling for the prioritization of proper mental health supports among these youth.
As knowledge translation is extremely important to me, I was thrilled to have this opportunity to share our work.
I got my PhD and started a post-doc!
I have the pleasure to pursue my work at the CHU Ste-Justine Gender Diversity Clinic as a CIHR and FRQS Health Systems Impact Fellow.
My work in cannabis and mental health among queer and trans youth has led me to confront the many barriers that remain in healthcare, and to want to do something about it!
So, under the supervision of Dr. Nicholas Chadi and Dr. Anne-Monique Nuyt, I’m now working on a large, longitudinal study that will follow youth as they receive care at the Gender Clinic, and beyond. I’m also aiming to work with healthcare providers to build capacity for better trans-affirming healthcare for youth across Québec.
I’m hoping this work will make a real difference in the support trans, non-binary and other gender diverse youth have access to across the province.
FEATURED WORK
QUALITATIVE STUDY: A strengths-based qualitative study of cannabis use among queer and trans youth
This paper looked at how queer and trans youth use strategies to survive and thrive, and how cannabis may feature among these. Its larger goal is to challenge the hyperfocus on queer and trans struggling.
VIDEO: What queer and trans youth want healthcare providers to know
Participants and other queer and trans youth I've worked alongside have overwhelmingly expressed that healthcare providers need to be better equipped to support them. So, we made this video to help them get started!
REFLECTION: Conducting community-led queer and trans youth research
In this piece, we reflect on how queer and trans youth have an important place in leading research, but can also be limited by academia.
ZINE & POSTER: Queer and trans cannabis use and mental health
Informed by our qualitative findings, we put together key literature, recommendations, and a discussion cheat sheet for queer and trans youth and the mental health providers looking to support us.
QUANTITATIVE STUDY: School and family support and trans and non-binary youth wellbeing
It's nothing new to pretty much any trans and/or non-binary youth, but our recent study of this group in Québec revealed that school and family support were key.
QUANTITATIVE STUDY: LGB youth's depression at age 15 more likely to predict later cannabis use
My Masters work revealed particularly strong associations between depression and later cannabis use, specifically among LGB teens.
WHERE ELSE TO FIND ME
ResearchGate
For an overview of my publications.
Project VoxCann
A bilingual cannabis education initiative I co-founded.
To connect professionally.