Paul Hastings received his degree from the University of Toronto.
His research focuses on the impact of stressors on child and
adolescent well-being, and the effects of poverty on
physiological reactivity, regulation and development of mental
and physical health problems.
In particular, his research centers around understanding the ways
in which biological and environmental factors shape the
trajectories of childrens emotional and social development.
This focus encompasses normal and adaptive development, such as
the physiological arousal experienced by healthy and
well-functioning children when they experience various
emotions. It also extends to atypical and maladaptive
development, such as the difficulties experienced by anxious
children when they enter a daycare or preschool, if their parents
have not effectively prepared them for these kinds of social and
academic challenges.
The links between structural and social determinants and mental health are well documented. In a recent review[1], we examined the role of neurobiology in those links, seeking to identify ways in which the practice and application of neurobiological research can help to mitigate disparities and inequities in mental health across diverse marginalized and minoritized racial, ethnic, gender, sexual, and economic communities.
Children growing up in economically disadvantaged contexts are at risk of underperforming academically. Why is this? One explanation may be underdeveloped ‘executive function’, an important collection of attention-regulation skills. Executive function is malleable in childhood, indeed—interventions have been effective in improving it, especially among children facing adversity. In a recent study, we set out to examine whether early-life family income predicted long-term academic achievement, and to investigate the role of executive function in explaining this association.
A person’s risk for developing psychosis-spectrum disorders such as schizophrenia in adulthood is determined by multiple factors. With this in mind, we examined the risk for the development of such disorders in a two-generation, 30-year prospective longitudinal study of 3,905 urban families in Montréal, Canada. This study took place against a sociocultural backdrop of changing economic and social conditions.
Growing up in impoverished urban neighborhoods more than doubles
your chances over the average person of developing a
psychosis-spectrum disorder by the time you reach middle
adulthood, according to a new UC Davis and Concordia University
study of nearly 4,000 families who were monitored over 30
years.
Creciendo en un estado de pobreza puede tener impactos a largo
plazo más allá de la posibilidad de tener un futuro
financieramente estable. El estrés de la pobreza en la vida
temprana puede ser asociado con problemas serios de la salud que
aparecen en la adultez. En investigaciones en curso examinamos la
asociación entre la pobreza y la salud adultez, que puede tener
implicaciones para los gastos de la salud pública en los Estados
Unidos.
Growing up in poverty may have long-term impacts beyond the
chance of a better financial future. The stress of early-life
poverty may in fact be associated with serious health problems
well into adulthood.
Ongoing research by Center Graduate Student Fellow Natalie Troxel
and Faculty Affiliate Paul Hastings examines the association
between poverty and compromised adult health, which may have
implications for healthcare costs in the U.S.
While literature suggests that early patterns of aggressive
behavior in both girls and boys are predictive of a variety
of health risks in adulthood, a longitudinal
examination of the predictive links between
childhood aggression, negative physical health
outcomes in adulthood and overall use of health care
has not been done. This study investigates the use of
health care and a variety of physical health
outcomes in adulthood in order to extend the current body
of knowledge regarding the long-term negative sequelae
of childhood aggression.
