PHO Rounds: Leveraging the COMPASS Study

This session will provide an overview of, and key findings from, the COMPASS Study.

COMPASS is a prospective cohort study that uses a hierarchical quasi-experimental design to evaluate how programs, policies, and built environments impact youth health behaviours and outcomes (e.g., substance use, mental health, obesity, diet, physical activity, screen time, sleep, bullying). Each year, COMPASS collects longitudinal data from more than 65,000 grade 9-12 students from more than 125 Canadian secondary schools in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec.

By leveraging this prospective youth health data from before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdown and school closures, researchers established within-individual effects of ongoing pandemic-related changes on youth health. Early findings of COVID-19-related changes among Ontario youth will be discussed.

Intended audience: School and public health stakeholders and knowledge users; the general population; youth mental health and substance use clinicians; researchers

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Identify the key elements of natural experiments and quasi-experimental designs
2. Summarize key COMPASS study findings related to the impact of early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth health
3. Describe the research being conducted as part of the COMPASS study to assess the impact COVID-19 has had on youth health over time

About the presenters: Dr. Scott Leatherdale and Dr. Karen Patte

Dr. Scott Leatherdale is a Professor and University Research Chair at the University of Waterloo. His work focuses on advancing a systems science approach to primary prevention activities, evaluating complex population-level health interventions across multiple risk factor domains, and creating research infrastructure to facilitate large population-based learning systems in chronic disease prevention.

Dr. Karen Patte is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Brock University. Her research examines how different contexts and exposures shape mental health trajectories across the lifespan, with the goal to inform more effective preventative practice. She is leading a mixed methods study, leveraging COMPASS prospective data and engaging youth, to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related measures (focusing on school closures) on the mental health of youth over time.

The opinions expressed by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies or views of Public Health Ontario, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by Public Health Ontario.

PHO Rounds are approved for continuing medical education from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. PHO Grand Rounds are also approved by Council of Professional Experience for professional development hours (PDHs) for members of the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors (CIPHI). For more information, contact events@oahpp.ca .

Stay up-to-date on upcoming events and calls for abstracts by visiting our calendar.

If you have submissions, or questions or comments about the items above, send them to events@oahpp.ca.

Public Health Ontario is committed to complying with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). If you require accommodations to participate in this event, please contact 647-260-7100 or events@oahpp.ca .