Valerie Michaelson
Biographic Data
| ID | 326089 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Valerie Michaelson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Valerie |
| FAMILY NAME | Michaelson |
| SIGNATURE | MICHAELSON V |
| AFFILIATIONS | Brock University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0905-4166 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 26 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 5 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 26 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Left out and languishing: A cross-national analysis of relative deprivation and human flourishing
Taking It to the Streets: Participatory Action Research Through Participatory Theatrical Dissemination
Mirror Theatre (MT) is a not-for-profit theatre company that has been devising participatory theatre around social issues since the early 1990s. In this chapter, we propose that because of participants’ active involvement in discussion and dramatic portrayals, MT offers an example of Playbuilding as Participatory Action Research. This article provides (a) a theoretical discussion linking playbuilding to PAR, (b) examples of current MT projects, a…
Relative socio-economic position and meaning and purpose in life in adolescents: An intangible cost of social inequalities
Having a sense of meaning in life supports adolescent health but is affected by experiences of wealth or poverty. We examined its associations with relative advantage (RA) and relative deprivation (RD) in a sample of Canadian adolescents (n = 17,634) using survey data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. We calculated RA and RD using all other schoolmates as reference groups in 238 schools. Descriptively, RA was associated wit…
Life meaning and purpose as an unrecognized determinant of mental health equity in Canadian adolescents
Consistent with determinants of health models and past cross-national analyses of adolescent health survey data in Canada, results provide prospective evidence in support of life meaning and purpose as an intermediary determinant of mental health in adolescents. Experiences that foster a sense of meaning and purpose in life require recognition as determinants of health, and suggest an intangible resource that can be applied to clinical and public…
Incongruent Expectations: A Qualitative Study of the Gendered Experiences of Canadian Young People
While the early mental health of girls and boys is similar, as children age, girls tend to report worse mental health than boys. Explanations for these gendered disparities remain elusive. This study seeks to understand the social context in which mental health experiences are shaped. Utilizing a qualitative, constructivist approach to grounded theory, we conducted virtual semi-structured interviews with young people between ages 11 and 17 years …
Domains of spirituality and their importance to the health of 75 533 adolescents in 12 countries
Spirituality is an ancient concept with many contemporary applications to the field of health promotion. While recognized in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as a basic human right, definitional misunderstandings about what spirituality is, and is not, and the mechanisms by which it affects the health of young people, remain. In this cross-national analysis involving >75 000 adolescents from 12 countries, we examined the relative impo…
“I don't like it, but it is nice…”: A qualitative study of Canadian young people and contemporary experiences of nature
Youth experiences in nature are changing. This paper presents results of a qualitative study that was conducted with 74 Canadian young people (ages 10-18). Its goal was to learn from Canadian youth about how they navigate, understand, and interpret their experiences in nature. Findings demonstrate that young people experience nature in multidimensional, unpredictable, complex, and sometimes contradictory, ways. We had questions about the responsi…
Connections associated with a healthy spirituality: Are these unrecognized intermediary determinants that shape health inequities in Canadian young people
Specific connections afforded by a healthy spirituality could be intermediary determinants of health in Canadian adolescent populations
The most important thing is to communicate with students”: Experiences and voices of Canadian youth during the Covid-19 pandemic
This study aimed to learn directly from youth about how they navigated and experienced the COVID-19 pandemic response, with a focus on secondary school policies and protocols. Thirty semi-structured one-on-one interviews were conducted with Canadian youth (13–18 years old, 53.3% girls, 46.7% white) and analysed using inductive interpretive description. Youth discussed challenges related to a lack of direct communication and consultation about pan…
Spirituality in the health curricula in Canada: A review
Background: The spiritual dimensions of health offer important protective benefits to young people. Yet, little is known about how concern for these is operationalised for youth in school curricula. Objectives: This rapid review examined if, and if so how, the spiritual dimensions of health were being conceptualised in school curricula and, in turn, how the curricula proposed that the spiritual health of young people is best supported. Method: Us…
Ending the Social Normalization of Violence against Children in Canada: A Framework, Rationale, and Appeal to Canadian Faith Leaders
Corporal punishment remains the most common form of violence against children in Canada. Along with being legally permitted, it is made socially acceptable through cultural and social norms often disguised as discipline. Paraphrases of Judeo-Christian sacred texts such as "spare the rod; spoil the child" have been widely used to justify corporal punishment, and to create norms around the idea that it is a god-given responsibility of parents to in…
Developing a definition of spiritual health for Canadian young people: A qualitative study
While the spiritual dimensions of health are often tangentially recognized in the health sciences, minimal direction is given as to what spiritual health is, or to what it means to policy or practice. In Canada, this lack of understanding is problematic because despite strong evidence suggesting that spiritual health can operate as a protective health asset in the lives of young people, it is difficult to create effective health promotion strateg…
A novel application of a data mining technique to study intersections in the social determinants of mental health among young Canadians
This analysis represents a novel proof-of-concept to demonstrate the utility of a subgroup identification algorithm to reveal important differences in mental health experiences between adolescent males and females. The algorithm detected new social locations (i.e., where gender intersected with other characteristics) associated with poor mental health outcomes. These findings set the stage for further intersectional research, involving both quant…
Religious Involvement and Self-Perceived Spiritual Health: A Quantitative Study of Canadian Children with Disabilities
This study presents a national analysis of 24,190 young Canadians in which relationships between religious group involvement and the spiritual health of children with and without disabilities is described. Two key findings emerged: 1) Children who report religious involvement report higher self-rated importance of spiritual health compared with non-involved peers; 2) among involved children, spiritual health was rated as less important among thre…
Structural validity of a brief scale adapted to measure adolescent spiritual health
Spiritual health is established as an important protective health asset in child populations. Measurement and assessment of this elusive concept are, however, challenging. Brief and age-appropriate instruments are required for surveys and related population health research. One longstanding model describing child spirituality suggests that scales and measures consider four standard domains describing connections to self, others, nature, and the t…
I’ll use it differently now”: Using dual-systems theory to explore youth engagement with networked technologies
Adolescent experiences of networked technologies are complex, yet they are able to navigate this landscape with intelligent strategies. Their self-directed exploration of disconnection helped them to become reflexive practitioners who were able to revisit their use of networked technologies with new insights and self-control
Electronic screen technology use and connection to nature in Canadian adolescents: A mixed methods study
Objectives Declines in exposure to nature may deprive young people of experiences that are positive for their mental health. One factor that may interfere with connections to nature is use of electronic screen technologies. The objectives of this study are to (1) document variations in the perceived importance of connections to nature nationally among adolescents; (2) explore relationships between these connections and the use of electronic scree…
Activity Involvement and Spiritual Health in Children with ADHD and Learning Disabilities
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities (LDs) represent two of the most prevalent disabilities experienced by adolescents. Despite the benefits of spiritual health in relation to happiness and overall well-being, there has been limited examination of spiritual health among adolescents with disabilities. Sports and other activities can act as protective factors that mediate the relationship between low spiritual h…
The history and promise of holism in health promotion
Holism is an ancient theme concept that has resurfaced in recent literature, and that requires informed and intentional use in order to preserve its utility. This paper provides a historical and conceptual reintroduction of the notion of holism as it relates to health, with the hopes of informing the term's use in public health discourse. It also addresses the challenges that a lack of conceptual clarity about holistic health imposes on public he…
Developmental patterns of adolescent spiritual health in six countries
The spiritual health of adolescents is a topic of emerging contemporary importance. Limited numbers of international studies provide evidence about developmental patterns of this aspect of health during the adolescent years. Using multidimensional indicators of spiritual health that have been adapted for use within younger adolescent populations, we therefore: (1) describe aspects of the perceptions of the importance of spiritual health of adoles…
Bodies and Behaviours: A Study of Body Image in Adolescent Girls and the Canadian Church
This is an interdisciplinary study that applies Christian feminist theology and health sciences’ insights to the results of a study concerning adolescent girls and body image. The desire of adolescent girls to be thin is inherently connected to their desire for wholeness, acceptance and unconditional love, and the promise of Christianity reaches a wholeness of this depth. And yet, the reality of the church's relationship to the female body often …
Inequalities in the spiritual health of young Canadians: A national, cross-sectional study
Study findings highlight potential inequalities in the spiritual health of young Canadians, as well as opportunities for methodological advances in the assessment of adolescent spiritual health in our population
Participation in Church or Religious Groups and Its Association with Health. Part 2: A Qualitative, Canadian Study
As part of a mixed-methods study, this qualitative inquiry determined how adolescent participation in church or religious groups related to their health. We used grounded theory with a phenomenological approach to inquiry. Consistent with the quantitative findings, children (n = 12) involved in religious groups reported lower participation in risk behaviors, higher pro-social behaviors, but poorer levels of emotional well-being and physical healt…
It still takes a village: An epidemiological study of the role of social supports in understanding unexpected health states in young people
Study findings from this large, contemporary and national analysis affirm the importance of social supports as potential determinants of health for young people from both high and low affluent groups. Conceptually, findings affirm the wisdom of the ancient principle: "it takes a village to raise a child
Participation in Church or Religious Groups and its Association with Health: A National Study of Young Canadians
The purpose of this study was to determine how participation of young Canadians in a church or religious group correlated with holistic health indicators. Health was viewed in terms of risk and protective behaviors, outward looking prosocial behaviors, and measures of internal feelings, with the composite picture of health connecting to the Hebrew concept of shalom. A separate analysis of sports-involved children was used as a comparator. Childre…
Electronic screen technology use and connection to nature in Canadian adolescents: A mixed methods study
Objectives Declines in exposure to nature may deprive young people of experiences that are positive for their mental health. One factor that may interfere with connections to nature is use of electronic screen technologies. The objectives of this study are to (1) document variations in the perceived importance of connections to nature nationally among adolescents; (2) explore relationships between these connections and the use of electronic scree…
Participation in Church or Religious Groups and its Association with Health: A National Study of Young Canadians
The purpose of this study was to determine how participation of young Canadians in a church or religious group correlated with holistic health indicators. Health was viewed in terms of risk and protective behaviors, outward looking prosocial behaviors, and measures of internal feelings, with the composite picture of health connecting to the Hebrew concept of shalom. A separate analysis of sports-involved children was used as a comparator. Childre…
Eucharistic Eating, Family Meals and the Health of Adolescent Girls: A Canadian Study
This national study of adolescent Canadian girls focuses on church or religious group involvement as a potential determinant of health, as well as participation in family meals as a spiritual practice with potential health benefits. Current church involvement did not relate to improved emotional health, suggesting the need for more integrative messages and practices. Findings confirmed the strong protective relationship between regular participat…
Participation in Church or Religious Groups and Its Association with Health. Part 2: A Qualitative, Canadian Study
As part of a mixed-methods study, this qualitative inquiry determined how adolescent participation in church or religious groups related to their health. We used grounded theory with a phenomenological approach to inquiry. Consistent with the quantitative findings, children (n = 12) involved in religious groups reported lower participation in risk behaviors, higher pro-social behaviors, but poorer levels of emotional well-being and physical healt…
It still takes a village: An epidemiological study of the role of social supports in understanding unexpected health states in young people
Study findings from this large, contemporary and national analysis affirm the importance of social supports as potential determinants of health for young people from both high and low affluent groups. Conceptually, findings affirm the wisdom of the ancient principle: "it takes a village to raise a child
Developmental patterns of adolescent spiritual health in six countries
The spiritual health of adolescents is a topic of emerging contemporary importance. Limited numbers of international studies provide evidence about developmental patterns of this aspect of health during the adolescent years. Using multidimensional indicators of spiritual health that have been adapted for use within younger adolescent populations, we therefore: (1) describe aspects of the perceptions of the importance of spiritual health of adoles…
Bodies and Behaviours: A Study of Body Image in Adolescent Girls and the Canadian Church
This is an interdisciplinary study that applies Christian feminist theology and health sciences’ insights to the results of a study concerning adolescent girls and body image. The desire of adolescent girls to be thin is inherently connected to their desire for wholeness, acceptance and unconditional love, and the promise of Christianity reaches a wholeness of this depth. And yet, the reality of the church's relationship to the female body often …
Inequalities in the spiritual health of young Canadians: A national, cross-sectional study
Study findings highlight potential inequalities in the spiritual health of young Canadians, as well as opportunities for methodological advances in the assessment of adolescent spiritual health in our population
Activity Involvement and Spiritual Health in Children with ADHD and Learning Disabilities
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities (LDs) represent two of the most prevalent disabilities experienced by adolescents. Despite the benefits of spiritual health in relation to happiness and overall well-being, there has been limited examination of spiritual health among adolescents with disabilities. Sports and other activities can act as protective factors that mediate the relationship between low spiritual h…
The history and promise of holism in health promotion
Holism is an ancient theme concept that has resurfaced in recent literature, and that requires informed and intentional use in order to preserve its utility. This paper provides a historical and conceptual reintroduction of the notion of holism as it relates to health, with the hopes of informing the term's use in public health discourse. It also addresses the challenges that a lack of conceptual clarity about holistic health imposes on public he…
Religious Involvement and Self-Perceived Spiritual Health: A Quantitative Study of Canadian Children with Disabilities
This study presents a national analysis of 24,190 young Canadians in which relationships between religious group involvement and the spiritual health of children with and without disabilities is described. Two key findings emerged: 1) Children who report religious involvement report higher self-rated importance of spiritual health compared with non-involved peers; 2) among involved children, spiritual health was rated as less important among thre…
Structural validity of a brief scale adapted to measure adolescent spiritual health
Spiritual health is established as an important protective health asset in child populations. Measurement and assessment of this elusive concept are, however, challenging. Brief and age-appropriate instruments are required for surveys and related population health research. One longstanding model describing child spirituality suggests that scales and measures consider four standard domains describing connections to self, others, nature, and the t…
I’ll use it differently now”: Using dual-systems theory to explore youth engagement with networked technologies
Adolescent experiences of networked technologies are complex, yet they are able to navigate this landscape with intelligent strategies. Their self-directed exploration of disconnection helped them to become reflexive practitioners who were able to revisit their use of networked technologies with new insights and self-control
Electronic screen technology use and connection to nature in Canadian adolescents: A mixed methods study
Objectives Declines in exposure to nature may deprive young people of experiences that are positive for their mental health. One factor that may interfere with connections to nature is use of electronic screen technologies. The objectives of this study are to (1) document variations in the perceived importance of connections to nature nationally among adolescents; (2) explore relationships between these connections and the use of electronic scree…
Developing a definition of spiritual health for Canadian young people: A qualitative study
While the spiritual dimensions of health are often tangentially recognized in the health sciences, minimal direction is given as to what spiritual health is, or to what it means to policy or practice. In Canada, this lack of understanding is problematic because despite strong evidence suggesting that spiritual health can operate as a protective health asset in the lives of young people, it is difficult to create effective health promotion strateg…
A novel application of a data mining technique to study intersections in the social determinants of mental health among young Canadians
This analysis represents a novel proof-of-concept to demonstrate the utility of a subgroup identification algorithm to reveal important differences in mental health experiences between adolescent males and females. The algorithm detected new social locations (i.e., where gender intersected with other characteristics) associated with poor mental health outcomes. These findings set the stage for further intersectional research, involving both quant…
Spirituality in the health curricula in Canada: A review
Background: The spiritual dimensions of health offer important protective benefits to young people. Yet, little is known about how concern for these is operationalised for youth in school curricula. Objectives: This rapid review examined if, and if so how, the spiritual dimensions of health were being conceptualised in school curricula and, in turn, how the curricula proposed that the spiritual health of young people is best supported. Method: Us…
Ending the Social Normalization of Violence against Children in Canada: A Framework, Rationale, and Appeal to Canadian Faith Leaders
Corporal punishment remains the most common form of violence against children in Canada. Along with being legally permitted, it is made socially acceptable through cultural and social norms often disguised as discipline. Paraphrases of Judeo-Christian sacred texts such as "spare the rod; spoil the child" have been widely used to justify corporal punishment, and to create norms around the idea that it is a god-given responsibility of parents to in…
Domains of spirituality and their importance to the health of 75 533 adolescents in 12 countries
Spirituality is an ancient concept with many contemporary applications to the field of health promotion. While recognized in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as a basic human right, definitional misunderstandings about what spirituality is, and is not, and the mechanisms by which it affects the health of young people, remain. In this cross-national analysis involving >75 000 adolescents from 12 countries, we examined the relative impo…
“I don't like it, but it is nice…”: A qualitative study of Canadian young people and contemporary experiences of nature
Youth experiences in nature are changing. This paper presents results of a qualitative study that was conducted with 74 Canadian young people (ages 10-18). Its goal was to learn from Canadian youth about how they navigate, understand, and interpret their experiences in nature. Findings demonstrate that young people experience nature in multidimensional, unpredictable, complex, and sometimes contradictory, ways. We had questions about the responsi…
Connections associated with a healthy spirituality: Are these unrecognized intermediary determinants that shape health inequities in Canadian young people
Specific connections afforded by a healthy spirituality could be intermediary determinants of health in Canadian adolescent populations
The most important thing is to communicate with students”: Experiences and voices of Canadian youth during the Covid-19 pandemic
This study aimed to learn directly from youth about how they navigated and experienced the COVID-19 pandemic response, with a focus on secondary school policies and protocols. Thirty semi-structured one-on-one interviews were conducted with Canadian youth (13–18 years old, 53.3% girls, 46.7% white) and analysed using inductive interpretive description. Youth discussed challenges related to a lack of direct communication and consultation about pan…
Taking It to the Streets: Participatory Action Research Through Participatory Theatrical Dissemination
Mirror Theatre (MT) is a not-for-profit theatre company that has been devising participatory theatre around social issues since the early 1990s. In this chapter, we propose that because of participants’ active involvement in discussion and dramatic portrayals, MT offers an example of Playbuilding as Participatory Action Research. This article provides (a) a theoretical discussion linking playbuilding to PAR, (b) examples of current MT projects, a…
Relative socio-economic position and meaning and purpose in life in adolescents: An intangible cost of social inequalities
Having a sense of meaning in life supports adolescent health but is affected by experiences of wealth or poverty. We examined its associations with relative advantage (RA) and relative deprivation (RD) in a sample of Canadian adolescents (n = 17,634) using survey data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. We calculated RA and RD using all other schoolmates as reference groups in 238 schools. Descriptively, RA was associated wit…
Life meaning and purpose as an unrecognized determinant of mental health equity in Canadian adolescents
Consistent with determinants of health models and past cross-national analyses of adolescent health survey data in Canada, results provide prospective evidence in support of life meaning and purpose as an intermediary determinant of mental health in adolescents. Experiences that foster a sense of meaning and purpose in life require recognition as determinants of health, and suggest an intangible resource that can be applied to clinical and public…
Incongruent Expectations: A Qualitative Study of the Gendered Experiences of Canadian Young People
While the early mental health of girls and boys is similar, as children age, girls tend to report worse mental health than boys. Explanations for these gendered disparities remain elusive. This study seeks to understand the social context in which mental health experiences are shaped. Utilizing a qualitative, constructivist approach to grounded theory, we conducted virtual semi-structured interviews with young people between ages 11 and 17 years …
Psychology (22 works) · Medicine (15 works) · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology (12 works) · Developmental psychology (11 works) · Public health (11 works) · Social Psychology (11 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Political science (10 works) · Clinical Psychology (7 works) · Nursing (7 works)