Evelyn Vingilis

The University of Western Ontario | UWO · Department of Family Medicine

In a recent publication, we discussed the benefits and cautions of using secondary data analyses in research on lifestyle and health behavior [1]. We provided some guidelines about the use of secondary data in terms of the contributions that can be made and at the same time considerations necessary in using data that are collected by someone else....

Introduction Long-haul truck drivers are exposed to many workplace stressors that put them at greater health risk than the general population. Transport truck driving is currently the most common occupation for men in Canada and among the top most common occupations for men in the US, the United Kingdom and Australia. Literature to date suggests lo...

Active patients at The First Episode Mood and Anxiety Program (FEMAP) were asked to participate in a study monitoring their symptoms during early COVID-19 closures. Participants were asked to predict both possible positive and feared outcomes of the pandemic. Responses were analyzed with a descriptive qualitative approach using thematic analysis. P...

Aims In recent years, many jurisdictions have legalized medicinal and/or recreational cannabis. Yet, limited information is available on the effects of cannabis commercialization (provision of legal supply of cannabis to adults through licensed retail outlets) on adverse outcomes, such as traffic fatalities. The purpose of this study was to systema...

Background Traditionally, a first step toward independence for a North American youth has been to obtain a driver’s licence. Licensure can be associated with freedom and independence to provide teens opportunities to participate in conventional and health-enhancing behaviours, such as school, work, sporting events and other social activities, and/o...

Recognition of ADHD in the adult population is relatively recent. Epidemiological research examining the mental health impact of ADHD in adulthood is thus limited. The objective of this study was to examine whether adult ADHD symptoms are associated with psychological distress, hazardous drinking, and problem gambling, after controlling for traumat...

Background Older adults constitute the group most vulnerable to COVID-19 mortality. As a result, in North America and elsewhere, older adults have been strongly advised to shelter in place. Older adults also represent the fastest growing segment of licensed drivers. Objective We examined the change in injuries and fatalities sustained by younger a...

Aim: The COVID-19 quarantine closed many mental health services. Emerging adults with pre-existing mood or anxiety disorders were of concern for worsening symptoms. We sought to demonstrate a method for monitoring mental health status of a group of patients with reduced access to their usual mental health services during quarantine. Methods: A t...

The natural history of psychopathology indicates that many children will re-experience mental health problems. However, little is known about service use over extended time periods. We explored service use of a 5-year time period, and expected to find that some children received mental health services for many months, and some received services in...

Objective: About 20-26% of children and youth with a mental health disorder (depending on age and respondent) report receiving services from a community-based Child and Youth Mental Health (CYMH) agency. However, because agencies have an upper age limit of 18-years old, youth requiring ongoing mental health services must "transition" to adult-orie...

Background Rural-urban health care disparities are an important topic in health services research. Hence, developing valid and reliable tools to measure rurality is needed to support high quality research. However, Japan, has no index to measure rurality for health care research. In this study, we conducted a systematic scoping review to identify t...

Objective: Long-haul truck drivers suffer increased health risk, but how they use healthcare is unknown. The objectives of this study were to explore the health experiences of these drivers, their healthcare experiences, and their relationship with their main medical provider. Methods: In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 C...

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a world-wide pandemic. Countries introduced public health measures to contain and reduce its spread. These measures included closures of educational institutions, non-essential businesses, events and activities, as well as working from and staying at home requirements. These measures ha...

Much applied health and human services research has the expressed purpose of generating knowledge to influence policies, programs, treatments and services. Yet, evidence indicates that utilization of this generated knowledge is limited. Knowledge-to-action (KTA) models have provided substantive "know-that" (explicit) knowledge that is descriptive,...

Background Rural-urban health care disparities are an important topic. Hence, assessing rurality and evaluation of health outcomes based on rurality are indispensable. However, there is no universal measure of ruralityand Japan has no index to evaluate rurality for health care research. This study aimed to conduct a systematic scoping review to ide...

Background Existing studies of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder (CD), and substance use or substance use disorders have produced mixed results, with some identifying a direct link between ADHD and general or disordered substance use and others suggesting that comorbid CD may explain this relationship. Insufficient r...

Detained youth display substantive mental health and substance use problems. However, Canadian information is limited. The purpose of this study was 1) to assess mental health and substance use problems of youth in residential detention/custody facilities in Ontario, Canada, at intake, using the interRAI Youth Justice in Custodial Facilities (YJCF)...

Background: Approximately 40-70% of justice-involved youth have untreated mental health problems. There is no current research that directly compares the mental health profiles of youth involved in the justice system to that of inpatients and outpatients. The research reported is significant because it directly compares the needs of these populati...

Background: Some children with mental health (MH) problems have been found to receive ongoing care, either continuously or episodically. We sought to replicate patterns of MH service use over extended time periods, and test predictors of these patterns. Methods: Latent class analyses were applied to 4 years of visit data from five MH agencies an...

Objective: To explore the experiences and perceptions of physicians involved in establishing a department of Family Medicine in South India. Methods: In this study, descriptive qualitative methodology was used. Nine family physicians and one community medicine physician were interviewed. The data were subjected to thematic analysis. Findings:...

Objective YouTube is a highly popular social medium that includes over a billion videos covering a wide range of topics, including high risk driving behaviours. Despite the popularity of these websites, published content analyses of high risk driving videos have been limited. Yet, research suggests that exposure to other media glorifying high risk...

Introduction: Despite limited research, existing evidence suggests that there is an association between conduct disorder (CD) and various risky driver behaviours, such as driver aggression and driving after drinking. The current study sought to estimate the association between probable CD during childhood and past-year collision risk. Methods: Dat...

Objective:: Effective mental health services for emerging adults are needed. This work evaluated the logic model of one such program and assessed participation and medium-term outcomes. Methods:: Baseline data were collected from 398 emerging adults attending an intake appointment at a mood and anxiety disorders treatment program in Canada for p...

Research has shown that tobacco users have an increased risk of collisions compared to nonsmokers. Studies from 1967 through 2013 documented a crude relative risk of collision involvement of about 1.5 among smokers compared to nonsmokers. In January 2009, in response to concerns about the health risks associated with potentially high concentrations...

Introduction Of the 15-18% of children and youth in Canada with a mental health disorder, some receive specialized mental health (MH) services and need additional treatment as young adults. Lack of a shared database across child and adult sectors has prevented examining predictors of future MH health service use. Objectives and Approach We examine...

Objective: YouTube features millions of videos of high risk driving behaviours and negative consequences of high risk driving ("fails"), such as injuries or deaths. Unfortunately, no information is available on YouTube viewership of these types of sites or on the effects of these videos on viewers. The purpose of this study was to examine young ma...

Many jurisdictions have enacted community treatment order (CTO) legislation that requires a person, who suffers from a severe mental disorder, to follow a treatment plan when living in the community. CTOs have been a source of debate because of controversies on whether evidence of effectiveness should only be considered from randomized controlled t...

The use of mass communications in drinking-driving programs illustrates a belief in its power to influence individual behaviour. Communication by "magic bullets", delivered by the direct stimulus response model, is evolving toward a more "global" approach, but the actual impact of mass communication remains unproven because of a lag in the developm...

Objective: Although most research on drugs and driving has focused on the use of alcohol and cannabis, research that has been conducted on cigarette smoking and collisions has found that smokers have an increased collision involvement. Studies dating from 1967 through 2013 have shown a crude relative risk of about 1.5 among smokers compared to nons...

This study describes the association between history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and childhood symptoms of conduct disorder (CD). Data were based on telephone interviews with 6048 respondents derived from the 2011-2013 cycles of a representative cross-sectional survey of adults aged 18+ years in Ontario, Canada. TBI was defined as loss of consc...

Background: Several studies have found a connection between attentional deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and criminal behaviour in clinical and prison samples of adults, but there is a lack of representative general population data on this. Aim: To test relationships between histories of ADHD and arrest. Our main research question was wheth...

Background We previously reported that in traffic offenders aged 19–39 years, different risky driving profiles were associated with unique personality, cognitive, and neurobiological characteristics. However, many of these characteristics evolve significantly with age. Secondary analysis on these data explored whether the characteristics associated...

Background: Street racing has been identified as a significant public health concern, yet, little is known about the prevalence of this behaviour and its impact on collision risk. The current study was designed to address this dearth of knowledge by estimating the prevalence of street racing among the Ontario, Canada adult population, and examinin...

Objectives: While some existing studies suggest that conduct disorder (CD) significantly increases risk of driving after drinking, outcomes have typically been assessed only up to age 21 years. Therefore, the current study sought to assess the relationship between symptoms of CD during childhood (before age 15 years) and the risk of engaging in dri...

Objective: Entry of terms reflective of extreme risky driving behaviours into the YouTube website yields millions of videos. The majority of the top 20 highly subscribed automotive YouTube websites are focused on high performance vehicles, high speed and often risky driving. Moreover, young men are the heaviest users of online video sharing sites,...

Purpose The mediating relationship of self-conceptions as a risky driver on self-reported driving violations was examined for players of “drive'em up” and “circuit” racing video games using an Internet survey of automobile and racing club members. Structural equation modelling (SEM) tested Fischer et al. (2012) extended socio-cognitive model on the...

This study examined presenting concerns and characteristics of emerging adults (EAs) seeking treatment at an early intervention program for mood and anxiety disorders to better understand presenting concerns when treatment is needed. During an intake assessment conducted by a social worker or clinical psychologist, participants (N = 548; 62% female...

Introduction: The effectiveness of drink driving countermeasures (such as sanctions) to deter motorists from driving over the legal limit is extremely important when considering the impact the offending behavior has on the community. However, questions remain regarding the extent that both legal and non-legal factors influence drink driving behavi...

Researchers have a long history in the conduct of evaluations of road safety countermeasures. However, despite the strengths of some evaluative road safety evaluations that align with previous and current thinking on program evaluation, few published road safety evaluations have followed standard conceptualization and methodology outlined in numero...

Background: Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) shows a robust association with alcohol and cannabis misuse, and these relationships are expressed differently in males and females. Manifestation of specific ADHD symptom profiles, even in the absence of the full disorder, may also be related to problems with alcohol and cannabis,...

The First Episode Mood and Anxiety Program (FEMAP) was developed for youth with mood and/or anxiety concerns in London, Ontario, to provide early intervention for these disorders, similar to the first-episode psychosis programs across Ontario and Canada. The logic and causal models of the pathway to and through FEMAP are described and inclusion/exc...

Background: Limited research is available on how Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) clients' cognitions, attitudes and behaviours experienced over time during the therapeutic process and recovery, affect functioning. Aims: This prospective study investigated whether changes in 1) clients' ratings of therapeutic alliance, sense of empowerment over...

Research to determine the best approach for providing early intervention for mood and anxiety disorders is imperative. The authors describe a process evaluation of an early-intervention program for transition-age youths with mood or anxiety disorders. Causal and logic models for pathways to care for the program, as well as descriptive data from 548...

Background. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that can persist in adolescence and adulthood. Aim. To examine prevalence of ADHD symptoms and correlates in a representative sample of adults 18 years and older living in Ontario, Canada. Method. We used the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Monitor,...

The objective of the study was to examine the factor structure of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in a representative population survey of adults and the association of these factors with health outcomes. Hierarchical and correlated factor analysis models were compared, and regression analyses with these models were used to...

Objective: Attitudes and individual difference variables of car and racing enthusiasts regarding high-risk behaviors of street racing and stunt driving have recently been investigated. Positive attitudes toward high-risk driving, personality variables such as driver thrill seeking, and other self-reported risky driving acts were associated with th...

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among self-reported screening measures of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), other psychiatric problems, and driving-related outcomes in a provincially representative sample of adults 18 years and older living in the province of Ontario, Canada. Methods: The study e...

This study examined the short-term effects of risky driving motor vehicle television commercials on risk-positive attitudes, emotions and risky driving inclinations in video-simulated critical road traffic situations among males and females, within an experimental design.Method Participants were randomly assigned to one of three televised commercia...

Criteria to define an episode of care in children's mental health services are needed. Various criteria were applied to 5 years of visit data from children 4-11 years (N = 5,206) at their first visit to 1 of 3 children's mental health agencies. A minimum of 3 visits with 180 days between episodes optimized agreement with other dates (e.g., telephon...

Objective The purpose of this study was to conduct a process and outcome evaluation of the deterrent impact of Ontario's street racing and stunt driving legislation which came into effect on September 30, 2007, on collision casualties defined as injuries and fatalities. It was hypothesized that because males, especially young ones, are much more li...

The Recognition Memory Test (RMT) was compared to the Word Choice Test (WCT) within the same fixed neuropsychological battery administered to a mixed clinical sample of 237 adults to empirically evaluate the psychometric equivalence of these two instruments. On average, there was a 3-point difference in raw scores between the two instruments (M RMT...

Background: Conduct disorder (CD) is diagnosed based on a prolonged pattern of antisocial behaviour including serious violation of laws and social norms [1]. There has been speculation that those with a history or current diagnosis of CD are more likely to demonstrate reckless and aggressive driving. Yet there has been little research examining the...

Objective: The purpose of this study was to conduct a process and outcome evaluation of the deterrent impact of Ontario's street racing and stunt driving legislation, introduced in September 2007, on extreme speeding convictions. It was hypothesized that because males are much more likely to engage in speeding, street racing, and stunt driving, th...

This exploratory quasi-experimental evaluation assessed the effectiveness of the use of a concrete discussion guide to promote organisation-wide application of a partnering approach to engage older home-care clients with chronic disease/disabilities as care partners. A post-test-only design with an independent pre-test sample was used to compare se...

Objective: Assertive community treatment (ACT) studies that have used conventional, statistical growth modelling methods have not examined different trajectories of outcomes or covariates that could influence different trajectories, even though heterogeneity in outcomes has been established in other research on severe mental illness. The purpose o...

Research reveals that motor vehicle injuries (MVIs) can result in severe and debilitating psychological distress. Yet, not every person who has sustained a MVI suffers psychologically. It appears that risk of distress varies by demographic and psychosocial characteristics. The present study aimed to explore the trajectories of post-MVI distress and...

Abstract Cannabis use is common in youth and there is evidence that the co-occurrence of cannabis use (and other substance use) with mental illnesses predicts poorer outcomes, including suicide. The main purposes of this study were to: (i) identify rates of cannabis use and substance use disorder risk, and (ii) predictors for cannabis use among you...

To examine the health care-related experiences of individuals who have lost their FPs. A qualitative design using phenomenology. Southwestern Ontario. Eighteen participants (9 women and 9 men, with a mean age of 48.9 years) from urban or rural areas who had lost their FPs. Semistructured interviews were conducted, which were audiotaped and transcri...

Objective: Many parents of preschool-age children have concerns about how to discipline their child but few receive help. We examined the effects of a brief treatment along with usual care, compared with receiving usual care alone. Patients. Parents (N = 178) with concerns about their 2- to 5-year olds' discipline were recruited when they visited...

To examine the effects of various medical conditions and medications on subsequent motor vehicle injuries (MVIs). The National Population Health Survey, a large, nationally representative, longitudinal study of Canadians, included self-reported medical conditions of asthma, arthritis/rheumatism, back problems excluding arthritis, high blood pressur...

Media contents that glorify risk-taking (e.g., video games that simulate illegal street racing, TV depictions of dangerous extreme sports or stunts) are becoming increasingly popular. Theory and research suggest that risk glorification is associated with risk-taking among the audience. Until recently the evidence was limited in three ways: First, m...

Mood and anxiety disorders typically begin during adolescence or early adulthood. Yet services targeting this population are frequently lacking. This study implemented an outreach, access and assessment programme for youth with these concerns. The data reported constitute an evaluation of this mental healthcare delivery approach. This evaluation in...

This study examined the prevalence and correlates of street racing among adolescents derived from the 2009 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS), an epidemiological survey of students in Ontario, Canada. The key response variable, self-reported street racing in past year, was examined in relation to grade level, rural/urban, school ma...

Introduction The last 2?decades have seen an increased interest in the relationships between medical conditions and medication use and motor vehicle injuries (MVIs). The objective of this study is to examine the effects of various medical conditions and medications used to treat the conditions on subsequent MVIs. Method The National Population Hea...

Background: This study presents a formative evaluation of nine pre-licensure workshops to educate on interprofessional, client-centred mental healthcare. The workshops, informed by the conceptual framework of Orchard, Curran, and Kabene had two key objectives: to stimulate networking and to socialize healthcare providers in working together.Methods...

In recent years, media formats with risk-glorifying content, such as video games that simulate illegal street racing ("bang and crash" games), films about extreme sports, and risky stunts have emerged as top sellers of the media industry. A variety of recent studies conducted by several researchers revealed that exposure to risk-glorifying media co...

In this study we examine the effect of several alcohol-related measures on self-reported collision involvement within the previous 12 months while controlling for demographic and driving exposure factors based on a large representative sample of adults in Ontario. Data are based on the 2002-2006 Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Monitor, an on...