Kerri Ritchie

• Senior Psychologist at The Ottawa Hospital

This study investigated, through an attachment theoretical lens, the relationship between first-year university students’ personal and academic adjustment and 3 psychosocial resources: parental attachment, student resources (parental support, social support, ways of reducing loneliness, emotion regulation, coping strategies, locus of control), and...

Background The pandemic has upended much clinical care, irrevocably changing our health systems and thrusting emergency physicians into a time of great uncertainty and change. This study is a follow-up to a survey that examined the early pandemic experience among Canadian emergency physicians and aimed to qualitatively describe the experiences of t...

Background Depression affects an individual’s physical health and mental well-being and, in pregnant and postpartum women, has specific adverse short- and long-term effects on maternal, child, and family health. The aim of these two systematic reviews is to identify evidence on the benefits and harms of screening for depression compared to no scree...

Objectives The aim of this study was to describe the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the specific impact of a universal SARS-CoV-2 testing programme on obstetric patients and healthcare workers at The Ottawa Hospital. Methods This was a follow-up survey study of obstetric healthcare workers and then-pregnant patients who particip...

Background: Depression affects an individual’s physical health and mental well-being, and in pregnant and postpartum women, has specific adverse short- and long-term effects on maternal, child, and family health. The aim of these two systematic reviews is to identify evidence on the benefits and harms of screening for depression compared to no scre...

Objectives: A previous survey of Canadian emergency medicine (EM) physicians during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic documented less than 20% experienced high levels of burnout. This study examined the experience of a similar group of physicians during the second pandemic wave. We reported the associations between burnout and physician age,...

Exploring CPA’s Response to Canada's Truth and Reconciliation”. Panel Presentation.

Introduction: Emergency physicians have high rates of burnout, depression, and suicidality and are at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic. While initial results of the EmergWell cohort study suggest lower rates of burnout among Canadian Physicians in the initial 10 weeks of the pandemic response, we aimed to further explore the ongoing personal...

Objectives The aim of this study was to report burnout time trends and describe the psychological effects of working as a Canadian emergency physician during the first weeks of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic. Methods This was a mixed‐methods study. Emergency physicians completed a weekly online survey. The primary outcome was phy...

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) is now legal in Canada. Bill C-14 indicates that patients are permitted to access assistance in dying after following a clear process. This report highlights practice recommendations for psychologists involved in various aspects of end-of-life care, including the assessment and/or treatment of individuals requesti...

Background In 2018, the World Health Organization reported that depression is the most common cause of disability worldwide, with over 300 million people currently living with depression. Depression affects an individual’s physical health and well-being, impacts psychosocial functioning, and has specific negative short- and long-term effects on mat...

Objectives: The genetics of binge-eating disorder (BED) is an emerging topic and one candidate pathway, namely the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene, may be implicated because of its role in food reward sensitivity and self-regulation of eating. The aims of this study were to examine the independent effects of variants of FTO on binge fre...

Background A stepped care approach involves patients first receiving low-intensity treatment followed by higher intensity treatment. This two-step randomized controlled trial investigated the efficacy of a sequential stepped care approach for the psychological treatment of binge-eating disorder (BED). Methods In the first step, all participants wi...

Insecure and unresolved/disorganized attachment states of mind may impact affect regulation and interpersonal functioning that contribute to binge eating in women with binge-eating disorder (BED). Group psychological treatment may facilitate changes from insecure to secure and from unresolved–disorganized to non-unresolved/disorganized attachment s...

Coherence of mind and reflective functioning may impact negative affect and interpersonal functioning over and above the effects of symptoms of depression and interpersonal problems that contribute to symptoms of binge-eating disorder (BED) and overweight/obesity. Matched samples of overweight women with BED and overweight and normal weight women w...

Objective: To examine the role of attachment dimensions, including coherence of mind and reflective functioning, in developing and maintaining binge-eating disorder (BED) and in determining group psychotherapy outcomes for women with BED. We hypothesize that higher pre-treatment attachment dimension scores will predict better treatment outcomes fo...

This study evaluated the validity of the interpersonal model of binge-eating disorder (BED) psychopathology in a clinical sample of women with BED. Data from a cross-sectional sample of 255 women with BED were examined for the direct effects of interpersonal problems on BED symptoms and psychopathology, and indirect effects mediated by negative aff...

Practice research networks may be one way of advancing knowledge translation and exchange (KTE) in psychotherapy. In this study, we document this process by first asking clinicians what they want from psychotherapy research. Eighty-two psychotherapists in 10 focus groups identified and discussed psychotherapy research topics relevant to their pract...

Intro: Binge eating disorder (BED) affects 3.5% of the population and is characterized by binge eating for at least 2 days a week for 6 months. Treatment options include cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, and pharmacotherapy which are associated with varied success. Little is known about the biology of BED. Since there is e...

Previous research suggests an association between increased group cohesion and: (a) improved group process, and (b) improved treatment outcomes for those with binge eating disorder (BED) and depression (Castonguay, Pincus, Agras, & Hines, 1998; Crowe & Grenyer, 2008). Other research indicated that attachment anxiety may be associated with treatment...

Objectives: Childhood maltreatment occurs often among those with an eating disorder and is considered a nonspecific risk factor. However, the mechanisms by which childhood maltreatment may lead to an eating disorder are not well understood. The current study tests a model in which attachment insecurity is hypothesized to mediate the relationship b...

An interpersonal model of Binge Eating Disorder (BED) posits that difficulties with social functioning precipitate negative affect, which in turn causes binge eating as a means of coping. Thus, long-term decreases in attachment insecurity may be important for women with BED. No research has assessed if long-term change in attachment insecurity is a...

Attachment to groups is analogous to attachment to individuals, and may play an important role in group functioning and in group psychotherapy outcomes. This study examined whether attachment to the therapy group can change during treatment, and whether such change predicts improvements in treatment outcomes, including individual attachment, up to...

Yalom and Leszcz (2005) indicated that interpersonal learning is a key therapeutic factor in group psychotherapy. In this study, we conceptualized interpersonal learning as the convergence over time between an individual's and the group's perception of the individual's cohesion to the group. First, we developed parallel measures of: (a) an individu...

Binge eating disorder (BED) affects 3.5% of the population and is characterized by binge eating for at least 2 days a week for 6 months. Treatment options include cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, and pharmacotherapy which are associated with varied success. Little is known about the biology of BED. Since there is evidence...

Abstract We hypothesized that compared to therapy groups homogeneously composed of women with binge eating disorder (BED) and low attachment anxiety, groups with high attachment anxiety would have better outcomes and a greater alliance-outcome relationship. We assigned 102 women with BED to therapy groups homogeneously composed of low attachment an...

Interpersonal complementarity during the early stage of therapy may be related to treatment outcomes. The extent to which a patient experiences attachment anxiety may affect the amount of complementary interactions in which a patient engages with a therapist during group therapy, which in turn may be associated with outcomes. The current study is o...

In this paper, we review the research literature on attachment and eating disorders and suggest a framework for assessing and treating attachment functioning in patients with an eating disorder. Treatment outcomes for individuals with eating disorders tend to be moderate. Those with attachment-associated insecurities are likely to be the least to b...

The study examined if the relationship between change in attachment insecurity and target symptom outcomes was moderated by treatment type. Women (N = 66) with binge eating disorder (BED) were randomly assigned to two treatment types: group cognitive-behavioral therapy (GCBT) or group psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy (GPIP). Results indica...

Women in Canada, as in the rest of the world, represent an increasing proportion of new HIV positive cases. In 2002, women accounted for 25% of all positive HIV tests reported in Canada; with the majority being in their childbearing years (15 to 39 years), perinatal transmission of HIV in Canada is cause for concern. Following the development of in...

The impact of the treatment context in influencing the relationship between attachment anxiety/avoidance and group therapy alliance growth was examined. Sixty-five women treatment completers with binge-eating disorder received 16 sessions of group cognitive behavioral therapy (GCBT) or group psychodynamic interpersonal psychotherapy (GPIP). Attachm...

The purpose of this study was to propose and test a model of attachment insecurity in a clinical sample of 268 eating disordered women. Structural relationships among attachment insecurity, BMI, perceived pressure to diet, body dissatisfaction, restrained eating, and negative affect were assessed. A heterogeneous sample of treatment seeking women w...

The development of group climate across 16 sessions of group psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy (GPIP) and group cognitive-behavioral therapy (GCBT) for 65 female treatment completers with binge-eating disorder (BED) was assessed. Engaged scale growth for GPIP patients varied across sessions and was best represented by a cubic growth curve....

Patients (N=135) with binge eating disorder (BED) were randomized to a control condition or to one of two 16-session group treatments: Group cognitive-behavioral therapy (GCBT) or group psychodynamic interpersonal psychotherapy (GPIP). The two treatments performed equally well, and each resulted in reduced days binged compared with the wait-list co...

The goal of this study was to examine if attachment theory can provide a framework for understanding treatment completion in an eating disorders partial hospital program among women with anorexia nervosa (AN). Attachment was measured using the Attachment Styles Questionnaire (Feeney, Noller, & Hanrahan, 1994). As hypothesized, self-reports of high...

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a pre-leukemic syndrome that displays both myelodysplastic and myeloproliferative features. The t(5;12) chromosomal translocation, present in a subset of CMML patients with myeloproliferation fuses the amino terminal portion of the ets family member, Tel, with the transmembrane and tyrosine kinase domains o...

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a pre-leukemic syndrome that displays both myelodysplastic and myeloproliferative features. The t(5;12) chromosomal translocation, present in a subset of CMML patients with myeloproliferation fuses the amino terminal portion of the ets family member, Tel, with the transmembrane and tyrosine kinase domains o...

The hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) is defined as a cell that can either self-replicate or generate daughter cells that are destined to commit to mature cells of different specific lineages. Self-replication of the most primitive HSC produces daughter cells that possess a long (possibly unlimited) clonal lifespan, whereas differentiation of HSC produ...

As research strategies for studying competence to stand trial evolve, interest in the decision-making process of clinicians and the factors that may influence the clinical process has grown. This study assesses the reliability of clinical opinions regarding the basis for competence decisions and the influence that severity of the offense has upon t...

The human leukocyte integrin CD18 molecule exists on the leukocyte surface in heterodimeric complexes with individual CD11 subunits, which mediate important leukocyte adhesion reactions. The CD18 subunit is developmentally regulated with the highest levels present on mature leukocytes of all lineages. To identify the regulatory sequences responsibl...

The human CD11a molecule is expressed specifically on lymphocytes, monocyte/macrophages, and neutrophils, in which it mediates important adhesion-related functions. We used 1.7 kb of regulatory sequences upstream from the human CD11a gene transcription start site to drive expression of a modified human CD4 reporter gene in transgenic mice. The tran...