Please see my Google Scholar for the most up-to-date list of publications.

peer-reviewed journal articles

2025

RCT Protocol
Efficacy of an occupational intervention for quality of work life in ADHD: A randomized controlled trial protocol

C. Voyer, M. Corbière, P. Villotti, A. Stamate, and G. Sauvé

Contemporary Clinical Trials
Jun 30, 2025

Highlights Abs Bib PDF
- Study protocol elaborates on RCT investigating the efficacy of a novel digital intervention
- Minds@Work-QWL aims to enhance overall quality of work life in adults living with ADHD
- Program targets job satisfaction, psychological needs and well-being, self-esteem, self-efficacy, cognitive functioning, self-compassion, and quality of work relationships.
Background: While psychosocial interventions for ADHD in children are well-established, there is a gap in addressing ADHD symptoms that persist into adulthood, particularly those impacting occupational functioning. Adults living with ADHD often face challenges in the workplace related to time management, regulating attention, task prioritization, and meeting deadlines. Methods: This study will evaluate the efficacy of a workplace intervention designed to improve the quality of work life in adults living with possible ADHD. A single-blind randomized controlled trial will compare an 8-week virtual psychosocial intervention to an active control group, with quality of work life as the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes will include self-reported measures related to work such as job satisfaction, psychological needs and well-being, self-esteem, self-efficacy, cognitive functioning, self-compassion, and quality of work relationships. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and at 3, 6, 9, and 12-month follow-up. In parallel, an optional awareness raising video will engage workplace stakeholders to improve ADHD literacy, reduce stigma, and offer neuroinclusive management strategies. Intention-to-treat analyses will use linear mixed-effects models. Discussion: A participatory research approach was used to co-design the intervention material with workplace managers, community representatives, service providers and adults with lived experience. The research team will disseminate findings in scientific journals, conferences, and by sharing bilingual intervention materials with service providers and adults living with ADHD. This study fills a gap in addressing ADHD in the workplace, with findings that will inform intervention practices and improve workplace inclusion. Trial registration: This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06774378) on January 17, 2025.
@article{voyerEfficacy2025, title = {Efficacy of an occupational intervention for quality of work life in ADHD: A randomized controlled trial protocol}, author = {Voyer, Chloé and Corbière, Marc and Villotti, Patrizia and Stamate, Alina and Sauvé, Geneviève}, year = {2025}, month = jun, day = {30}, journal = {Contemporary Clinical Trials}, volume = {155}, doi = {10.1016/j.cct.2025.107997}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1551714425001910}, issn = {1551-7144}, pages = {107997}, dimensions = {true} }
Psychological Distress
Interactive effect of prenatal adversity and COVID-19 hardship on youth psychological distress: A longitudinal study

Y. Wang, X. Wang, C. Voyer, F. Freddy-Ateba, A. Brunet, and 2 more authors

Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry - Developmental Psychopathology and Mental Health
Jun 27, 2025

Abs Bib PDF

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in severe loss of life and increased anxiety as well as fear worldwide. This study explored whether pre-pandemic exposure to varying levels of perinatal maternal adversity coupled with pandemic-related experiences are related to youth distress levels. Data from 119 youth (aged 9-17) and their mothers were analyzed to assess the interactive effects of perinatal maternal adversity and pandemic-related objective hardship on youth psychological distress. Youth-reported hardship models consistently explained more variance in their psychological distress. Youth-reported hardship, specifically daily life changes, predicted psychological distress, including PTSD symptoms and peritraumatic experiences during the pandemic. Youths exposed to high perinatal maternal socio-environmental adversity demonstrated resilience when faced with pandemic disruptions, suggesting that alignment between early adversity and later stress can mitigate distress during crises.
@article{wangPsychologicalDistressMAVAN2025, title = {Interactive effect of prenatal adversity and COVID-19 hardship on youth psychological distress: A longitudinal study}, author = {Wang, Yifan and Wang, Xinni and Voyer, Chloé and Freddy-Ateba, François and Brunet, Alain and Wazana, Ashley and Laplante, David P.}, year = {2025}, month = jun, day = {27}, journal = {Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry - Developmental Psychopathology and Mental Health}, volume = {4}, doi = {10.3389/frcha.2025.1581135}, url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/child-and-adolescent-psychiatry/articles/10.3389/frcha.2025.1581135}, issn = {2813-4540}, dimensions = {true} }

2024

ADHD@Work
Strengths and challenges to embrace attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in employment—A systematic review

A. Hotte-Meunier, L. Sarraf, A. Bougeard, F. Bernier, C. Voyer, and 6 more authors

Neurodiversity
Nov 8, 2024

Highlights Abs TLDR OSF Bib PDF
- Workers with ADHD can effectively transform what are typically seen as challenges into workplace assets when given the right environment and support structures
- The success of employees with ADHD is heavily dependent on person-environment fit, suggesting that the traditional “one-size-fits-all” workplace model needs to be reconsidered
- Across over 68,000 individuals in 22 countries, findings consistently showed that embracing neurodiversity and implementing flexible working practices leads to better outcomes than trying to “fix” ADHD traits.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has a significant impact on psychosocial and occupational functioning. Sixty-five percent of children with ADHD continue to meet full or partial diagnostic criteria for ADHD in adulthood, and an estimated 4% of the workforce has a diagnosis of ADHD. We performed a systematic literature review to understand the experience of ADHD in the workplace. Articles were included in the systematic literature review if they reported results on employment outcomes of adults with ADHD. Methodological quality assessment was evaluated using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Seventy-nine studies were included in this systematic literature review (N_ADHD = 68,275). Results were synthesized into four categories: challenges, strengths, adaptations, and sex differences. Eight themes were included: ADHD symptoms at work, workplace performance, job satisfaction, maladaptive work thoughts and behaviors, interpersonal relationships at work, personal strengths, embracing ADHD, person-environment fit, and accommodations and support. Workers with ADHD can adapt and thrive in employment with the right person-environment fit, and accommodations and support. Many challenges related to ADHD can be remodeled into assets in a workplace environment that promotes flexible working practices and openness to neurodiversity.

A systematic review of 79 studies (68,275 ADHD participants) found that while ADHD presents workplace challenges, employees with ADHD can thrive when provided appropriate accommodations and support. Success depends on both leveraging ADHD-related strengths and creating neurodiversity-friendly work environments.
@article{hottemeunierADHDStrengthsChallenges2024, title = {Strengths and challenges to embrace attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in employment—A systematic review}, author = {Hotte-Meunier, Adèle and Sarraf, Lisa and Bougeard, Alan and Bernier, Félicia and Voyer, Chloé and Deng, Jiaxuan and El Asmar, Stéphanie and Stamate, Alina and Corbière, Marc and Villotti, Patrizia and Sauvé, Geneviève}, year = {2024}, month = nov, day = {8}, journal = {Neurodiversity}, volume = {2}, pages = {1-13}, doi = {10.1177/27546330241287655}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/27546330241287655}, osf = {https://osf.io/rbnf4}, dimensions = {true} }

2023

Cognitive Biases
Transdiagnostic cognitive biases in psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and network meta-analysis
[Special issue]

K. Lavigne, J. Deng, D. Raucher-Chéné, A. Hotte-Meunier, C. Voyer, and 3 more authors

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry
Feb 8, 2023

Highlights Abs arXiv Bib Supp Code
- Prevalence of cognitive biases were assessed across 19 biases and 21 diagnoses
- Overall, patients showed more severe biases than controls
- Bias severity was associated with transdiagnostic symptom dimensions
- Network meta-analysis identified variability in bias severity across diagnoses
- Cognitive biases show similar transdiagnostic features to cognitive deficits.
Psychiatric disorders are characterized by cognitive deficits, which have been proposed as a transdiagnostic feature of psychopathology ("C" factor). Similarly, cognitive biases (e.g., in attention, memory, and interpretation) represent common tendencies in information processing that are often associated with psychiatric symptoms. However, the question remains whether cognitive biases are also transdiagnostic or are specific to certain psychiatric disorders/symptoms. The current systematic review sought to address whether the proposed "C" factor of transdiagnostic cognitive dysfunction in psychopathology can be extended to cognitive biases. Overall, 31 studies comprising 4401 participants (2536 patients, 1865 non-clinical controls) met inclusion criteria, assessing 19 cognitive biases across 20 diagnostic categories, with most studies focusing on interpretation (k = 22) and attention (k = 11) biases and only 2 assessing memory biases. Traditional meta-analyses found a moderate effect size (g = 0.32) for more severe cognitive biases in all patients relative to non-clinical controls, as well as small but significant associations between interpretation biases and transdiagnostic symptom categories (general psychopathology: r = .20, emotion dysfunction: r = .17, psychotic symptoms: r = .25). Network meta-analyses revealed significant patient versus non-clinical control differences on attention and interpretation biases across diagnoses, as well as significant differences between diagnoses, with highest severity in panic disorder for attention biases and obsessive-compulsive disorder for interpretation biases. The current findings extend the big "C" interpretation of transdiagnostic cognitive dysfunction in psychiatric disorders to cognitive biases and transdiagnostic symptom dimensions. Results also suggest that while the presence of cognitive biases is transdiagnostic, bias severity differs across diagnoses, as in traditional neurocognitive deficits.
@article{lavigneTransdiagnosticCognitiveBiases2024, title = {Transdiagnostic cognitive biases in psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and network meta-analysis}, author = {Lavigne, Katie and Deng, Jiaxuan and Raucher-Chéné, Delphine and Hotte-Meunier, Adèle and Voyer, Chloé and Sarraf, Lisa and Lepage, Martin and Sauvé, Geneviève}, year = {2023}, month = feb, journal = {Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry}, volume = {129}, number = {6}, pages = {403-404}, doi = {10.1016/j.pnpbp.2023.110894}, issn = {0278-5846}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2023.110894}, dimensions = {1165871989} }

preprints

2026

Job Tenure
Transdiagnostic predictors of job tenure in people living with mental disorders: a scoping review

^*A. Lizé, ^*M. Hannon, C. Voyer, A. Hotte-Meunier, K. Shulman, and 5 more authors

May 2026

Abs OSF Bib PDF

Purpose: Studying mental health in the context of employment often focuses on individual disorders, potentially overlooking underlying commonalities across different diagnoses. A transdiagnostic perspective recognizes that certain aspects of job tenure may have broad-reaching implications for employability services that cut across multiple mental disorders. This scoping review seeks to identify common predictors of job tenure in people living with mental disorders using a transdiagnostic approach. Methods: The study protocol followed PRISMA-ScR guidelines and was registered on the Open Science Framework platform (https://osf.io/rp97e/). The search strategy was completed in November 2025 and involved searches in 7 databases. Results: A total of 9715abstracts were uploaded to Covidence for screening. This scoping review included 110 studies and identified 17 predictors of job tenure categorized based on modifiability and stakeholder responsibility, as follows – Entrusted to workplace stakeholders: (1) workplace characteristics and working conditions, (2) psychosocial work environment, (3) informal support and perceptions; Entrusted to the individual and their support teams: (4) psychological, social and practical characteristics, (5) receiving employment support, (6) psychiatric diagnosis, clinical symptoms and functioning, (7) support from relatives and broader social networks, (8) receiving therapy and counselling services, (9) daily functioning; Shared responsibilities: (10) collaboration between all stakeholders, (11) disclosure of mental illness in the workplace, (12) motivation, (13) person-job fit, (14) work-life balance, (15) financial assistance during sick leave; Immutable factors: (16) sociodemographic characteristics, (17) work and education history. Conclusion: Findings support role clarification for stakeholders and guide service organization to improve job tenure across diverse mental disorders.
@preprint{lizePredictorsJobTenure2026, title = {Transdiagnostic predictors of job tenure in people living with mental disorders: a scoping review}, author = {Lizé, Adélaïde and Hannon, Maya and Voyer, Chloé and Hotte-Meunier, Adèle and Shulman, Kayla and Hannaoui, Nada and Ngombé, Marthiale and Raucher-Chéné, Delphine and Lavigne, Katie and Sauvé, Geneviève}, year = {2026}, month = may, journal = {Open Science Framework}, doi = {10.31234/osf.io/s96ym_v1}, url = {https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/s96ym_v1}, osf = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/s96ym_v1}, }

2024

Job Tenure
Protocol for a scoping review on predictors of job tenure in people living with mental illness from a transdiagnostic perspective

^*K. Shulman, ^*M. Hannon, C. Voyer, E. Gagliano, N. Hannaoui, and 4 more authors

Aug 2024

Abs OSF Bib PDF

Studying mental health in the context of employment often focuses on individual disorders, potentially overlooking underlying commonalities across different conditions. A transdiagnostic perspective recognizes that certain aspects of job tenure may have broad-reaching implications for employability services that cut across multiple mental health disorders. This scoping review seeks to identify common predictors of job tenure in people living with a mental health disorder from a transdiagnostic approach. The study protocol followed JBI guidelines and was registered on the Open Science Framework platform. The search strategy involved comprehensive searches in electronic databases such as Embase, MEDLINE, and APA PsycINFO. A total of 8,796 abstracts were extracted and uploaded to Covidence for screening. Eligibility criteria will be discussed in the final report. This scoping review aims to highlight predictors of job tenure, such as cognitive and social skills deficits, negative symptoms, scarcity of accommodations, and lack of support inside and outside the workplace, that span multiple mental health disorders. Ideally, identifying predictors will fill gaps in the literature and guide support strategies in order to increase job tenure across diverse psychiatric conditions.
@preprint{shulmanProtocolScopingReview2024, title = {Protocol for a scoping review on predictors of job tenure in people living with mental illness from a transdiagnostic perspective}, author = {Shulman, Kayla and Hannon, Maya and Voyer, Chloé and Gagliano, Emily and Hannaoui, Nada and Hotte-Meunier, Adèle and Lavigne, Katie and Raucher-Chéné, Delphine and Sauvé, Geneviève}, year = {2024}, month = aug, journal = {Open Science Framework}, doi = {10.17605/osf.io/bnjz3}, url = {https://doi.org/10.17605/osf.io/bnjz3}, osf = {https://osf.io/rp97e}, }

2023

Cognitive Biases
Transdiagnostic cognitive biases in psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and network meta-analysis
[Special issue]

K. Lavigne, J. Deng, D. Raucher-Chéné, A. Hotte-Meunier, C. Voyer, and 3 more authors

Jul 2023

Highlights Abs OSF Bib PDF Supp Code
- Prevalence of cognitive biases were assessed across 19 biases and 21 diagnoses
- Overall, patients showed more severe biases than controls
- Bias severity was associated with transdiagnostic symptom dimensions
- Network meta-analysis identified variability in bias severity across diagnoses
- Cognitive biases show similar transdiagnostic features to cognitive deficits.
Psychiatric disorders are characterized by cognitive deficits, which have been proposed as a transdiagnostic feature of psychopathology ("C" factor). Similarly, cognitive biases (e.g., in attention, memory, and interpretation) represent common tendencies in information processing that are often associated with psychiatric symptoms. However, the question remains whether cognitive biases are also transdiagnostic or are specific to certain psychiatric disorders/symptoms. The current systematic review sought to address whether the proposed "C" factor of transdiagnostic cognitive dysfunction in psychopathology can be extended to cognitive biases. Overall, 31 studies comprising 4401 participants (2536 patients, 1865 non-clinical controls) met inclusion criteria, assessing 19 cognitive biases across 20 diagnostic categories, with most studies focusing on interpretation (k = 22) and attention (k = 11) biases and only 2 assessing memory biases. Traditional meta-analyses found a moderate effect size (g = 0.32) for more severe cognitive biases in all patients relative to non-clinical controls, as well as small but significant associations between interpretation biases and transdiagnostic symptom categories (general psychopathology: r = .20, emotion dysfunction: r = .17, psychotic symptoms: r = .25). Network meta-analyses revealed significant patient versus non-clinical control differences on attention and interpretation biases across diagnoses, as well as significant differences between diagnoses, with highest severity in panic disorder for attention biases and obsessive-compulsive disorder for interpretation biases. The current findings extend the big "C" interpretation of transdiagnostic cognitive dysfunction in psychiatric disorders to cognitive biases and transdiagnostic symptom dimensions. Results also suggest that while the presence of cognitive biases is transdiagnostic, bias severity differs across diagnoses, as in traditional neurocognitive deficits.
@preprint{lavigneTransdiagnosticCognitiveBiases2025, title = {Transdiagnostic cognitive biases in psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and network meta-analysis}, author = {Lavigne, Katie and Deng, Jiaxuan and Raucher-Chéné, Delphine and Hotte-Meunier, Adèle and Voyer, Chloé and Sarraf, Lisa and Lepage, Martin and Sauvé, Geneviève}, year = {2023}, month = jul, doi = {10.31234/osf.io/te6fx}, url = {https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/te6fx}, osf = {https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/te6fx}, }

theses

2025

ADHD@Work
Improving quality of work life in adults living with ADHD: A randomized controlled trial

C. Voyer

McGill University
Aug 2025

Abs Bib PDF

Background: While psychosocial interventions for attention‑deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children are well-established, there is a gap in addressing ADHD symptoms that persist into adulthood, particularly those impacting occupational functioning. Adults living with ADHD often face challenges in the workplace related to cognitive control such as time management, task prioritization, and organization. The Minds@Work‑QWL study sought to evaluate the efficacy of a novel workplace intervention targeting quality of work life in adults living with ADHD. Methods: A two-arm parallel single-blind randomized controlled trial compared an 8‑week manualized group intervention to an active control group. Eligible participants were recruited from the general population, assessed at baseline and post-intervention, and randomized (N = 57). Quality of work life served as the primary outcome while secondary outcomes included self-reported measures of cognitive functioning at work. Linear mixed-effects models were used following an intention‑to‑treat approach. Results: At baseline, all participants reported severe ADHD symptoms (M = 50.5, SD = 7.6) with no between-group differences. Linear mixed model analyses revealed a significant main effect of time for cognitive functioning at work, F(1, 45.48) = 9.11, p = .004, indicating that both groups improved over time. Discussion: To our knowledge, this is one of the first randomized controlled trials to examine the effect of an occupational intervention in adults living with ADHD. Although results did not reveal specific intervention effects, manualized group interventions delivered virtually may provide a cost-efficient solution to improve workplace well-being and functioning in adults living with ADHD.
@mastersthesis{voyerImprovingQualityWork2025, title = {Improving quality of work life in adults living with ADHD: A randomized controlled trial}, author = {Voyer, Chloé}, year = {2025}, month = aug, school = {McGill University}, department = {Psychiatry}, url = {https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/theses/9z903579w}, }

manuscripts in preparation

2026

Social cognition in older individuals with schizophrenia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

B. Cai, K. Fang, A. Pelletier, L. Kires, I. Di Matteo, and 9 more authors

May 2026

Abs Bib

@unpublished{caiSocialCognitionOlder2025,
  title = {Social cognition in older individuals with schizophrenia: A systematic review and meta-analysis},
  author = {Cai, Bing and Fang, Kaile and Pelletier, Anne and Kires, Lukas and Di Matteo, Isabella and Little, Charlotte and Yeghiayan, Isabella and Sarraf, Lisa and Xeros, Havana and Voyer, Chloé and Bouianovski, Elizabeth and Beesley, Brianna and Shah, Jai and Lepage, Martin},
  year = {2026},
  month = may,
  type = {Manuscript in preparation},
}

RCT Protocol
Evaluating the efficacy of a new vocational group intervention to improve quality of work life in adults with ADHD symptoms: Results from a randomized controlled trial

G. Sauvé, C. Voyer, M. Corbière, A. Stamate, P. Villotti, and 2 more authors

May 2026

Abs Bib

Background: While psychosocial interventions for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children are wellestablished, there is a gap in addressing ADHD symptoms that persist into adulthood, particularly those impacting vocational functioning. Adults living with ADHD often face multiple challenges in the workplace related to cognition, emotion regulation, and social interactions. This study sought to evaluate the efficacy of a novel vocational intervention targeting quality of work life (QoWL) in adults living with ADHD symptoms. Methods: A two-arm parallel single-blind randomized controlled trial compared an 8-week manualized group vocational intervention to a time and attention comparator. Eligible participants with ADHD symptoms were recruited from the general population, assessed at baseline and post-intervention, and randomized (N = 57). QoWL served as the primary outcome while secondary outcomes included several self reported measures related to work and therapeutic targets. Multilevel linear mixed-effects models with random intercepts were used following an intention-to-treat approach. Results: Hypotheses were not supported by planned analyses, and while effect sizes favored the experimental condition, they remained small with large confidence intervals. Exploratory post hoc analyses nevertheless revealed QoWL improvements at 3-month follow-up predicted by changes on therapeutic targets over the course of interventions. Discussion: High baseline QoWL levels were observed and could have influenced results. The potential role of internalized stigma, diagnosis disclosure and timing of therapeutic intervention are explored as future research avenues. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (Registration number: NCT06774378)
@unpublished{sauveEvaluatingEffVocIntervention2026, title = {Evaluating the efficacy of a new vocational group intervention to improve quality of work life in adults with ADHD symptoms: Results from a randomized controlled trial}, type = {Manuscript in revision}, author = {Sauvé, Geneviève and Voyer, Chloé and Corbière, Marc and Stamate, Alina and Villotti, Patrizia and Dubuc, Chantal and Dubuc, Marie-Claude}, year = {2026}, month = may, }
VR Nature Travel
"It takes us out of our daily lives": lived experience and healthcare provider perspectives on virtual nature travel during psychiatric hospitalization

L. Dupont, M. Lepage, S. Couture, D. Raucher-Chéné, N. Mercier, and 3 more authors

May 2026

Abs Bib

Following the deinstitutionalization movement, the field of psychiatry has experienced substantial changes. Care pathways have increasingly veered towards community-based support programs and towards the adoption of recovery-oriented models of care. Additionally, new forms of technology, such as virtual reality (VR), are being explored as potential tools to improve the quality of care. However, little is known about the perspectives of hospitalized individuals and healthcare providers on the impact of introducing such tools in the context of inpatient psychiatric care. To address this gap, this study conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with hospitalized individuals (n = 29) and collected online surveys from healthcare personnel (n = 7), following the implementation of a virtual travel-into-nature application on an inpatient unit servicing individuals with complex mood disorders. Two major themes emerged: (1) Perceptions of how engaging with VR shaped the hospitalization experience and (2) its future potential. Findings highlight how the inpatient environment and available services shape the hospitalization experience and perceptions of VR-based interventions. Additionally, the results demonstrate how key factors such as preconceived notions about hospitalized individuals and the purpose of psychiatric care, as well as the lack of resources in inpatient facilities hinder the adoption of recovery-oriented services. These insights contribute to the ongoing discourse concerning the adoption of VR tools in mental healthcare and their role in the recovery process from severe mental illness.
@unpublished{dupontItTakesUs2024, title = {"It takes us out of our daily lives": lived experience and healthcare provider perspectives on virtual nature travel during psychiatric hospitalization}, author = {Dupont, Logane and Lepage, Martin and Couture, Stéphanie and Raucher-Chéné, Delphine and Mercier, Novembre and Voyer, Chloé and Beauchamp, Philippe and Thibaudeau, Élisabeth}, year = {2026}, month = may, type = {Manuscript in revision}, }
Youth Psychopathology

Interactive effects of prenatal maternal adversity and COVID-19 objective hardship on youth ADHD symptoms: a longitudinal study

Z. Shelton, X. Wang, Y. Wang, C. Voyer, ^†A. Wazana, and 1 more author

May 2026

2025

Future Work Skills
Development and validation of the Contemporary Workplace Skills Inventory (CWSI) for the post-pandemic workforce in a French-Canadian sample

C. Voyer, J. Deng, and G. Sauvé

Oct 2025

Abs Bib

The COVID-19 pandemic brought in a multitude of global economic changes, particularly in skilled labor shortages. In response to contemporary changes in the job market and required skills, this study aimed to develop and validate the psychometric properties of a new assessment tool which measures workplace skills. A preliminary 32-item pool was administered to 230 participants, resulting in ten initial factors covering skills like professional development, communication, critical thinking, and inclusivity. Exploratory factor analyses showed that all factors independently explained variance, totaling 64.34% (eigenvalues > 1, factor loading > .3). After removing unstable factors (n = 4), items with no loading (n = 3), and cross-loading items (n = 1), the final 26-item self-report inventory with five factors showed good reliability (internal consistency α = .83; test–retest reliability r = [.34–.76], except for one factor, r = .13). This tool is reliable and valid for local employability organizations to assess future-oriented skills among their clientele. Further refinement is suggested for a comprehensive measurement of workplace skills, enabling targeted interventions for skills gaps and supporting the re-entry of unemployed individuals into the labor market.
@unpublished{voyerFutureWorkSkills2024, title = {Development and validation of the Contemporary Workplace Skills Inventory (CWSI) for the post-pandemic workforce in a French-Canadian sample}, author = {Voyer, Chloé and Deng, Jiaxuan and Sauvé, Geneviève}, year = {2025}, month = oct, type = {Manuscript in preparation}, }
Resilience

Family resilience predicts COVID-19 psychopathology in youth with perinatal maternal adversity

C. Voyer, X. Wang, Y. Wang, F. Freddy-Ateba, ^†A. Wazana, and 1 more author

Oct 2025

Abs

Background: While previous research has extensively documented the COVID‑19 pandemic’s negative impact on youth mental health, less attention has been given towards identifying markers of resilience as a protective factor against pandemic-related stressors. This study examined the role of perinatal stress in youth psychopathology outcomes and indicators of psychological resilience during the pandemic. Methods: Longitudinal data were drawn from the Maternal Adversity, Vulnerability and Neurodevelopment (MAVAN) multi-site birth cohort, using multiple informants’ assessments (i.e., mothers, youth) collected before and during the COVID‑19 pandemic from 115 youth aged 9–18 years (50.4% males; M_age = 14.4 years). Latent factor modeling examined relationships between prenatal maternal affective symptoms, perinatal socio-environmental adversity, pandemic-related family and youth resilience, and youth psychopathology. Results: We found a significant interaction between prenatal maternal affective symptoms and pandemic-related internalizing psychopathology under conditions of low maternal-reported family resilience. Additionally, several main effects of family resilience—specifically family organization patterns, caregiver resilience, and primary control coping—were associated with reduced youth psychopathology during the pandemic. Conclusion: These findings highlight the protective role of family resilience in mitigating youth psychopathology amidst pandemic-related stressors. This study emphasizes the importance of caregiver resilience and structured family organization patterns in shaping effective mitigation strategies during global crises.
Youth Psychopathology

COVID-related daily life changes and personal threats moderates the relationship between prenatal maternal adversity and youth mental health: The MAVAN longitudinal study

X. Wang, C. Voyer, Y. Wang, F. Freddy-Ateba, ^†A. Wazana, and 1 more author

Oct 2025

Abs

The COVID-19 pandemic directly, and indirectly as a result of the mitigation measures, resulted in daily life disruptions. The present study examined whether youth-reported COVID-related daily life changes and personal threats experiences moderated the relationship between maternal prenatal adversity and youth psychopathology during the pandemic. The sample consisted of 91 mothers and 124 youths from the Maternal Adversity, Vulnerability, and Neurodevelopment cohort assessed between February and July 2021. Maternal prenatal adversity, youth daily life changes and personal threats, and youth psychopathology were constructed into latent variables and then included in interactive models. Results showed that youth with low or moderate levels of maternal adversity exposure in utero experienced higher levels of pandemic-related general psychopathology and specific internalizing symptoms (but not externalizing symptoms), and greater changes in these psychopathology levels compared to pre-pandemic levels when they experienced higher levels of daily life changes and/or personal threats. The greatest impact on youth psychopathology was seen in youth who experienced higher levels of mitigation disruptions to their daily lives and/or threats to their person and who experienced lower levels of exposure to maternal adversity in utero. This study also demonstrates the need to use youth-reported measures of pandemic experience, rather than relying on maternal reports as proxy measures for youth experiences.