Researchers used virtual reality to discover that children who embrace risky play develop sharper street-crossing skills

Children who take more risks on the playground make safe decisions more quickly when crossing a busy street. 

That’s the central finding of a new study by researchers from UBC and Queen Maud University College in Norway, and it may give parents a reason to let kids climb a little higher or roam a little further. 

The study put 424 children aged seven to 11 from Norway and Canada through two virtual-reality tasks—essentially video game-style simulations they experienced through a headset while moving around a real gym. In one, children explored a virtual balancing structure with different height levels. In the other, they had to decide when it was safe to cross a street with oncoming traffic. The researchers tracked how willing each child was to take risks during play, then looked at how those same children performed when the ‘stakes’ were higher.

What they found challenges the common assumption that it’s reckless to let children take risks. Kids who were bolder in the playground task—moving faster, spending more time on the higher sections, venturing onto tricky pillars—were quicker and more efficient at deciding when to cross the street. They didn’t make more dangerous choices, they were just faster at reading the situation and acting on it.

Why risky play matters 

“Keeping children safe means letting them take risks,” said Dr. Mariana Brussoni, a professor at UBC’s department of pediatrics and school of population and public health, director of the Human Early Learning Partnership, and researcher at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute. “This risky play is a fundamental way that children learn about the world, about themselves and how to keep themselves safe in diverse situations.”

Parents, schools and policymakers have spent decades trying to make childhood safer by removing risk. But if children never get to practice assessing and confronting small, manageable dangers, they may not develop the judgment they need for bigger ones. These findings suggest that the playgrounds we design—and the freedoms we grant or withhold—may be shaping children’s ability to navigate a complex world long after they leave the swings behind.

A tale of two playgrounds 

Norwegian children in the study showed significantly greater willingness to take risks than their Canadian peers. Norway has outdoor activity and children’s independence baked into its national education policy, and Norwegian parents and teachers tend to be far more comfortable with physical risk than those in many other countries. Canada, by contrast, tends toward more restricted, supervised childhoods.

Testing the hypothesis safely 

The virtual-reality technology that was so key to the experiment has been developed by researchers in the ViRMa project, led by Dr. Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter at Queen Maud University College. You can’t test how children navigate real traffic, but a convincing virtual street lets researchers gather real behavioural data safely. An impressive 85 per cent of the children said the VR environments felt realistic to them.

“I don’t think there’s any ethics board in the world that would allow you to throw children into traffic to see how they did,” said Dr. Brussoni, who co-authored the study with Dr. Sandseter and colleagues in Canada and Norway. “We really haven’t been able to properly test this hypothesis before we had access to these kinds of technologies.” 

The children who took more risks during play also fell more often in the virtual playground, highlighting the point: falling, stumbling and trying again teaches children what they’re capable of, where their limits are and how to adjust. Those lessons, the researchers argue, carry over into a variety of situations. 

What parents and communities can do 

Dr. Brussoni points to three key ingredients that support children’s risky outdoor play: time, space and freedom. For parents, that means carving out real unstructured time every day, finding interesting places to play with other children—not just the boring, cookie-cutter equipment many kids quickly outgrow—and then stepping back enough to let children actually play, including taking the kinds of small physical risks that feel scary to watch. For parents who struggle to resist jumping in, Dr. Brussoni offers a simple trick: count to 17 before saying “be careful.” It’s just long enough to shift from a fear response to a more considered one.

For communities, it means cultivating collective understanding around the importance of risky play and independent mobility for children, and ensuring there are natural and creative spaces for play that are as safe as necessary, rather than as safe as possible.

The study was published earlier this month in the Journal of Environmental Psychology. 

Interview language(s): English, Spanish

*This story was originally written and published by UBC News.
*Photo credit ViRMA

Date: Tuesday, June 09, 2026
Time: 2:00 – 3:30PM (PST) via Zoom

Event Description
Join us for an engaging webinar exploring trends in data collected through the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI) and examples of moving the data to action in BC. Dr. Eva Oberle will discuss trends in well-being and how children spend their out-of-school time in the neighbourhood, on screens, outdoors and more. Showcasing a partnership that started over 15 years ago, Trisha Dulku will share how the United Way has used MDI data to strengthen out-of-school and connectedness opportunities for middle years children in province. Learn about the United Way’s School’s Out program, offered in partnership in over 100 BC schools and communities, and how they are engaging youth about their experiences with the programs.

MDI: New 2025-2026 Reports Available!
MDI School District Reports 2025-26 are now available to access on the HELP website.

Event Registration

Implemented in BC since 2017, more than three-quarters of school districts have participated in CHEQ data collection over the years, representing more than 30,000 kindergarten children. The CHEQ gathers information about children’s early experiences and contexts, including topics such as sleep, screen time, physical activity, outdoor and risky play, early literacy and peer experiences, access to child care and supports, family contexts and more.

This report synthesizes recent CHEQ data collected across participating BC school districts and data analysis linking CHEQ to Early Development Instrument (EDI) data for the same children. Through the CHEQ Provincial Summary, a clear picture emerges: children’s family contexts, daily activities, and community environments play a powerful role in supporting healthy development.

To learn more about the CHEQ, please visit our CHEQ Overview Page.

Date: Thursday, April 30, 2026
Time: 1:00 – 2:30PM (PDT) via Zoom

Registration for this event is now closed

Keynote:
Dr. Paul Kershaw, HELP Affiliate Faculty | Policy Professor SPPH, UBC | Founder, Generation Squeeze

Event Description
For 25 years, the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) has generated world-leading evidence about the conditions children need to thrive. Yet British Columbia now records the highest rate of early childhood vulnerability in a quarter century — and the highest in Canada. 

Dr. Paul Kershaw, a long-time collaborator and Affiliate Faculty member at HELP, asks a difficult question: if the research has been strong for decades, why has policy change been so limited? The answer lies less in evidence than in political choices about how governments allocate public resources. When spending growth flows disproportionately to medical care for older populations, fewer resources remain for the foundations of a healthy society — child care, education, poverty reduction, and family supports. The result is a pattern of public budgets that are, in effect, anti-child and anti-parent. 

This talk will challenge child-serving organizations to focus their advocacy where it matters most: the budget decisions that determine how governments divide resources between the young and the old. We must call out ageist budgets that privilege older generations in ways no grandparent would choose — at the expense of their children and grandchildren. That’s how we get B.C. back on a path of investing urgently in wellbeing from the early years onward, so people can thrive at every stage of life.

View Recording

Links Shared

• End Anti-Child Budgets – Generation Squeeze
• The Cost of Ageist Budgets for Younger Canadians – Generation Squeeze
• Fix Old Age Security – Generation Squeeze
• Invest Where Health Begins – Generation Squeeze
• Early Years Disrupted Report
• EDI Data Dashboard
• OFFORD Pan-Canadian EDI Report

Date: Thursday, February 5, 2026
Time: 3:00 – 4:30PM (PST) via Zoom
Registration for this event is now closed

Presenters:
Dr. Megan Zeni, Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) Consultant
Dr. Mariana Brussoni, HELP Director & Professor, UBC School of Population and Public Health

Event Description
Children are naturally drawn to risky play — to take physical chances, to seek excitement, and to satisfy their curiosity — and are more physically active when playing outdoors. Join experts Drs. Megan Zeni and Mariana Brussoni for an engaging webinar promoting their newly released book, Embracing Risky Play at School: Getting Kids Outdoors to Explore, Learn and Grow! Learn practical strategies for supporting outdoor play and learning in the elementary school years, the difference between risks and hazards, and the research demonstrating how risky play supports children’s health, development, well-being and learning. The Canadian Pediatric Society recommends risky play, and this webinar will highlight our collective responsibility to encourage and support risky play in the early years and beyond.

Order the Book
Outdoor Learning Store (Canadian)
Teachers College Press (International)

View Recording

Links Shared

• Early Years Disrupted Report
• Child Development Monitoring System
• Anxious Generation Book
• Outside Play Lab
• Outside Play Lab, toolkits for teachers, educators, parents
• Canadian Paediatric Society Risky Play Position Statement
• National Position Statement on Recess

The appointment is made possible through a partnership between the UBC Faculty of Medicine, Sunny Hill Health Centre and HELP, with support from the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation and the Leading Edge Endowment Fund (LEEF), managed by Innovate BC on behalf of the Government of British Columbia.

Dr. Janus is also appointed professor in the Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics. She joins UBC from McMaster University, where she was a professor of psychiatry and behavioural neurosciences in the Offord Centre for Child Studies and held the Ontario Chair in Early Child Development.

Recognized for co-developing the Early Development Instrument (EDI) — a population-level measure of children’s developmental health used globally — Dr. Janus’ research focuses on the social and contextual determinants of early child development, including family, neighbourhood and health system influences, particularly for children with special needs.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Magdalena Janus to UBC as professor and Sunny Hill BC Leadership Chair in Child Development,” said Dr. Wyeth Wasserman, vice dean, research, UBC Faculty of Medicine. “Dr. Janus brings a remarkable record of advancing our understanding of early child development. Her leadership will strengthen our collective ability to foster healthier futures for all children — here in British Columbia and around the world.”

Strengthening B.C.’s leadership in child development

Dr. Janus collaborates widely with international organizations such as UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the World Bank to advance global measurement tools for early childhood development. She is known for bridging research, policy and practice to promote equitable, evidence-informed approaches to child health and well-being.

“I am thrilled to have this opportunity to expand my connections with existing and emerging researchers at UBC, HELP, Sunny Hill and BC Children’s Hospital,” said Dr. Janus. “Among the things I am really excited about is the mandate to expand research for children with disabilities. As the Sunny Hill BC Leadership Chair in Child Development, I hope to contribute to building an even stronger program of research and community engagement — in B.C., nationally and internationally — that will ultimately lead to tangible improvements in supporting development of children across the spectrum of abilities.”

The BC Leadership Chair program was established in 2002 to attract world-class researchers, promote social and economic development, and strengthen the province’s position as a centre of excellence in research and innovation.

As the Sunny Hill BC Leadership Chair in Child Development, Dr. Janus will further strengthen and advance the positions of UBC, BC Children and Women’s Hospital + Health Centre, and Sunny Hill as global leaders in child development. Her research program will investigate how neighbourhood, family and community contexts influence children’s health and development through an equity-focused, interdisciplinary approach.

“HELP is delighted to formally welcome Dr. Janus as faculty,” said Dr. Mariana Brussoni, director of HELP and a professor in the Department of Pediatrics and School of population and Public Health at UBC. “As a long-time HELP affiliate faculty member, she has worked with us to build and mobilize knowledge across disciplines and sectors to improve the health and well-being of children. We are excited at the opportunities her appointment opens up and the deepening of our collaboration with Sunny Hill Health Centre.”

Bridging research, policy and practice

By integrating large-scale population data with clinical and community research, Dr. Janus’s research will deepen understanding of the factors that shape optimal early child development, examining the role of community supports for children with disabilities and identifying barriers and facilitators to mental health among children with complex care needs.

Through collaboration with researchers at UBC, HELP, Sunny Hill and BC Children’s Hospital, as well as national and international partners, Dr. Janus will inform evidence-based policy, promote inclusive practices, and strengthen interdisciplinary mentorship and community engagement.

“Dr. Janus brings a wealth of expertise in population-level measurement, developmental vulnerability, and the social determinants of health,” said Dr. Sharon Smile, division head of developmental pediatrics for the UBC Department of Pediatrics and BC Children’s Hospital. “Her leadership will strengthen research at Sunny Hill and BC Children’s Hospital—enhancing data-driven care and the connection between developmental research and clinical care.”

Dr. Janus holds an MSc from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, and a PhD from the University of Cambridge. She completed her postdoctoral work at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

Throughout her 30-year career, Dr. Janus has been guided by the principle of “Equity from the Start” — using rigorous, interdisciplinary research grounded in partnerships with families and communities to break down barriers and ensure every child can thrive.

*This story was originally written and published by UBC’s Faculty of Medicine.

Welcoming New Faculty and Affiliates 

This year we were delighted to welcome a remarkable group of scholars to the HELP team, further expanding our capacity to conduct interdisciplinary, equity-oriented research on child and youth development. New members include Dr. Daniel Berstein, Dr. Trevor Goodyear, Dr. Angie Ip, Dr. Hali Kil, Dr. Johanna Sam, and Dr. Lianne Tomfohr-Madsen.  

These new colleagues bring with them a wide range of expertise, strengthening HELP’s ability to address children’s social, emotional, mental health, and developmental needs through a variety of methodological and community-oriented approaches. 

Reports & Publications Gaining Recognition 

2025 saw several HELP reports and research publications reach broader audiences, and in some cases, amplifying the voices of children, youth, and communities across BC. 

Perhaps most critically, HELP’s Early Years Disrupted report revealed a troubling rise in developmental vulnerability among BC kindergarteners — with 35.8% of children entering school with challenges in at least one of the core areas of development, the highest rate recorded to date. This work was covered in major media including The Globe and Mail. 

This report, among many others, reinforce HELP’s commitment to producing rigorous, policy-relevant research — spotlighting challenges while identifying protective factors and opportunities for system-level change. 

Celebrating Achievements, Awards, and New Funding 

2025 was also a year of recognition and renewed support for HELP’s work and people. Some highlights include: 

• Our Director, Dr. Mariana Brussoni, was honoured with a nomination for the YWCA Women of Distinction Award.  

• Dr. Matt Carwana was this years’ recipient of the 2025 Canadian Paediatric Society Young Investigator Award. This recognition acknowledges his research work to improve outcomes for structurally marginalized children, youth, and families with a focus on health equity and social justice. 

• Dr. Anne Gadermann and co-researchers received funding through the CIHR Spring 2025 Project Grant Competition for a project seeking to improve the quality of youth services in Canada. 

• Congratulations to Dr. Martin Guhn, who secured funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for a new project, Advancing community partnerships to integrate monitoring system data and support decision making for the well-being of children, youth, and families. He also received renewed funding under the UBC Faculty of Medicine’s Strategic Investment Fund for the project Roots: An Indigenous Partnered Research Circle, a collaboration with UBC’s Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health. 

• We are also proud to congratulate one of our newest trainees, Dr. Verena Rossa-Roccor, who received a 2025 Health Research BC Trainee Award — a recognition of promising early-career contributions to health research.  

Fall Events & Community Stories 

As part of our ongoing commitment to data-informed action, HELP hosted two important events this fall.

Early Years Disrupted, an EDI-focused webinar, highlighted the latest data tracking the developmental health of kindergarten children in BC and beyond. This webinar revealed data trends pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions, and ongoing social and economic influences.

On National Child Day, HELP hosted Children in the Middle Years, a webinar on MDI data trends that presented middle-childhood well-being, habits, and school-community connections from the latest data release.

HELP’s Data in Action stories continued to show the real-world impact of our research — from school-based belonging initiatives to youth-driven municipal policy efforts. 

• At South Vancouver Neighbourhood House, Child Development Monitoring System data was used to help inform community development across Killarney, Victoria-Fraserview, and Sunset neighbourhoods, resulting in more accessible, community-informed programs tailored to the needs of families. Read story 

• RayCam Co-operative Centre (serving Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and Strathcona neighbourhoods) partnered with HELP to conduct a community needs assessment of families with young children, gathering data in multiple languages and centering parents’ voices. The assessment has informed programming changes and advocacy through the RayCam Renewal project. Read story 

• BC Children’s Thriving School Communities team is using the Child Development Monitoring System and other data to support school districts across BC and boost mental-health and well-being efforts. Their team’s Practice Support Coaching Program draws on data to help districts create tailored, data-driven mental health plans to support long-term well-being for children and youth. Read story 

Indigenous Initiatives & the Roots Circle 

Our commitment to Indigenous partnerships and reconciliation deepened in 2025 through several key efforts: 

• HELP & the Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health hosted several Roots Circle events, continuing the important work of the Creating Structures for Meaningful Indigenous Community & UBC Health Partnerships project. This work strengthens relational and reciprocal partnerships between Indigenous communities and UBC Health. 

• In June, members of the Indigenous Initiatives team at HELP presented at the Partnering in Research Conference as part of the Roots Circle initiative — a step toward building stronger, community-centred research relationships.  

• Members of HELP were also invited to participate in a 3-part learning series from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation about the history and ongoing effects of the residential school system, as well as possible future paths to move forward. Read Reflections 

• The Aboriginal Steering Committee (ASC) at HELP ensures HELP’s research activities involving First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children are reflective of the diverse histories, cultures, languages, values and ways of knowing and being. We are grateful to the ASC for their continued guidance, and the meaningful conversations during the 3 gatherings that were held this year. 

HELP in the World: Conferences, Partnerships, and Knowledge Mobilization 

In 2025, HELP continued to bring knowledge to where it matters — to schools, communities, and policy tables: 

• Members of our Aboriginal Steering Committee presented at the annual BCACCS Annual Conference in February, sharing insights from our Indigenous-partnered work. 

• We participated in the Ministry of Education & Child Care’s Mental Health in Schools Conference in May, where staff, youth-voice researchers from the Youth Development Instrument (YDI) team, and our Compassionate Systems Leadership colleagues engaged with policy makers and practitioners on the role of youth self-report data in shaping school mental health initiatives. 

• Across a variety of regional and community sessions, we continued to work with school districts, health authorities, Indigenous partners, and community organizations to support data-driven and equity-centered practices for child and youth well-being.  

Looking Ahead to 2026 

As we move toward 2026, we have much to look forward to: 

• Our Director, Dr. Mariana Brussoni, and HELP scholar Dr. Megan Zeni will launch their book Embracing Risky Play at School — a timely exploration of outdoor play and learning, risk, and school-based wellbeing. We’re planning a celebratory event around its release, and we hope many of you will join us. 

• 2026 also marks the 25th anniversary of HELP. We’re working on several special events to mark this milestone. Stay tuned for more updates! 

Thank You for Your Support 

To our partners, communities, school districts, children, families, policymakers, funders, trainees, and every individual who contributed to HELP’s work in 2025 — thank you. Because of your commitment, curiosity, and collaboration, we have been able to shed light on real challenges, celebrate resilience and strength, and move toward a future where every child has the opportunity to thrive. 

We look forward to continuing this journey together! 

— The HELP Team 

More than one in three kindergarten children in B.C. are entering school with challenges in one or more core areas of development—a rate higher than ever recorded in the province, according to new research from the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) based out of UBC’s School of Population and Public Health (SPPH).

The report, Early Years Disrupted, offers the first comprehensive look at how young children are doing since the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers measured the developmental health of 33,625 B.C. children in their kindergarten year by surveying their teachers. The findings reveal that 35.8 per cent of children scored below established benchmarks in at least one core area of development, up from about 32 per cent before the pandemic.

“This is the highest vulnerability rate we have seen since we began collecting this data 24 years ago,” said Dr. Martin Guhn, associate professor at HELP and SPPH. “The pandemic disrupted many aspects of family life—employment, child care, social interactions and community supports—and we are now seeing the ripple effects in classrooms.”

The research team uses a tool called the Early Development Instrument (EDI), which tracks five areas of development:

All five areas showed increases in vulnerability compared to pre-pandemic levels. The sharpest rise was in communication skills and general knowledge, followed by social competence and emotional maturity—skills that help children interact with others and manage their feelings.

The study also found that the percentage of children vulnerable in three or more areas jumped by 14 per cent relative to the previous rate, representing more than 4,400 children. This increase in “multiple vulnerabilities” suggests that some children are facing complex challenges that could affect their learning and well-being for years to come.

Early challenges can shape a child’s future outcomes

Previous research has shown that children who start school vulnerable in one or more areas of development are more likely to struggle academically and socially later. For example, those who have difficulty with emotional regulation in kindergarten are at higher risk of developing mental health issues in adolescence, and those who show vulnerabilities in early cognitive development are more likely to struggle academically in high school.

“The early years set the foundation for everything that follows,” said Dr. Guhn. “When a child enters school already behind in key areas, it can have lasting consequences—not just for their education, but for their health and future opportunities.”

The findings come at a time when many families are still dealing with the lasting effects of the pandemic—higher living costs, uneven access to child care, and mental health challenges.

While the study does not pinpoint causes, research shows that access to resources for families and communities is the strongest predictor of childhood vulnerabilities. When resources are limited, children often miss out on healthy activities and positive experiences such as physical play, time with other children, nutritious meals and adequate sleep. They also have fewer opportunities for social interaction with parents or caregivers.

These gaps were amplified during the pandemic, when many children spent less time in structured programs and social settings. As a result, more children may have missed experiences that support language, social and emotional development.

“We need to invest in the early years. Societies that provide resources to communities and support families with young children do well in the long run,” said Dr. Guhn. “That means paying living wages, reducing child poverty, creating affordable, high-quality child care and having well-resourced family and community programs and services. These are not just nice-to-have—they are essential if we want to reverse these trends.”

With support from provincial ministries, HELP has been tracking developmental health in B.C. for more than two decades. This latest report underscores the importance of ongoing monitoring and providing supports and resources to ensure that all children have the best possible start in life.

*This story was originally written and published by UBC News.

Dr. Lianne Tomfohr-Madsen

Joining HELP as a faculty member, Dr. Lianne Tomfohr-Madsen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology at UBC’s Faculty of Education. Her research harnesses methodology from clinical psychology, health psychology, and public health to understand intersectional risk and resilience factors that contribute to the development of psychological distress in parents and children.

“I am excited to join HELP as a faculty member and the opportunity to deepen collaborations that bridge population-level data science with family-centred mental health research,” says Dr. Tomfohr-Madsen. “I look forward to working together on initiatives that advance equity, support parents and young children, and translate evidence into real change across the province.”

Dr. Tomfohr-Madsen’s research aims to refine and disseminate psychological interventions to improve parent and child mental health, with a focus on developing mobile interventions (e.g., psychological support provided by mobile devices) that can best engage traditionally underserved populations.

“Dr. Tomfohr-Madsen brings a wealth of expertise in mental health research and intervention design,” says HELP Director, Dr. Mariana Brussoni. “Her focus on equity and accessibility aligns beautifully with HELP’s vision, and we look forward to seeing how her work will inform policy and practice to support families in BC and beyond.”

Dr. Hali Kil

Joining HELP as an affiliate faculty member, Dr. Hali Kil is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University (SFU). As the Director of the All Families Lab at SFU, she holds expertise in parenting, parent-child relationships, mindfulness, and interethnic and intercultural family functioning.

“I am honoured to join HELP and its incredible research faculty. The projects led by their existing faculty are inspiring, and have important and long-lasting implications for the well-being of young people in BC and around the world,” says Dr. Kil. “I am excited to collaborate with and contribute to current and future endeavours with my expertise on multiethnic families’ and children’s well-being.”

A process-focused researcher, Dr. Kil’s work emphasizes the complex pathways that link parents’ and children’s cognitions and behaviour across diverse contexts. In collaboration with clinical scientists, she also identifies novel targets for improving parenting and children’s social and emotional development.

“Dr. Kil’s research on family functioning and mindfulness offers valuable insights into the diverse experiences of families in BC,” adds Dr. Brussoni. “Her collaborative approach and commitment to improving children’s well-being make her an excellent addition to HELP’s affiliate faculty, and strengthens our relationship with adjacent researchers at Simon Fraser University.”

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Tomfohr-Madsen and Dr. Kil to HELP and look forward to the innovations contributions they will bring to our research community!

As a Research Associate at the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), Dr. Monique Gagné Petteni’s body of work focuses on understanding children’s developmental outcomes over time, particularly in the context of our contemporary, global world.

From Classroom Insights to Big-Picture Insights

Gagné Petteni’s path to HELP began shortly after her undergraduate degree, working on early literacy assessments and interventions with young children in schools and in family homes across Victoria, BC. “I met so many beautiful families and wonderful kids from diverse backgrounds doing that work,” she remembers. “I LOVED every aspect of the research process in that job, which set me on the trajectory of grad school, and eventually to my current role at HELP.”

Currently, much of Gagné Petteni’s research is focused on using population-level data to follow children’s development from early childhood through to young adulthood, and in the context of some of the most important issues of our time (mental health, unprecedented global migration, and the climate crisis), with the aim of understanding how we can best support the long-term developmental health and well-being of children and youth from across BC.

Gagné Petteni describes herself as a “data nerd” that is passionate about the monitoring system data housed within HELP. “I don’t know of any other place that has continuously collected such rich, population-level data on children’s development and well-being for well over twenty years,” she says. “It is truly a world-class resource and an incredibly important part of the data landscape in our province.”

In her role at HELP, Gagné Petteni has spent a significant amount of time developing large-scale linked datasets, linking HELP data (e.g., the Early Development Instrument) to other data sources such as administrative health, education, immigration, and epigenetic data.

“I’m so proud of this work because it exponentiates the power of HELP’s child development data for research and evidence-based decision-making,” she says. “With these linkages, we can see where children are at from prenatal stages, all the way to young adulthood. This fuller picture allows us to work towards our goal of all children thriving, now and over their lifespan.”

Mixing Methods for Meaningful Change

Gagné Petteni notes that it is harder than it seems to do research that is relevant, meaningful, and has potential for real impact. To address this, she and fellow researchers have leaned into more mixed methods research, to combine the breadth of population-level data with in-depth experience and insights generated from qualitative methods, such as interviews with teachers.

“We are finding this approach to be a powerful combination, not to mention very pragmatic and useful from a policy perspective. I think we will see a lot more of this approach from our team and fellow researchers moving forward.”

In an ideal world, Gagné Petteni says that we shouldn’t be able to predict children’s future outcomes based on what we know about them in kindergarten. “Children living in poverty or who have lower school readiness scores in kindergarten should not be more likely to drop out of high school or go on to develop a mental disorder — unfortunately, we are not there yet. I am hopeful that we, as a society, can get to a place where we can respond to children’s unique needs as early as possible, setting them up to thrive over their lifetime.”