Raelyne L. Dopko

Carleton University · Department of Psychology

Introduction De plus en plus d’études menées au Canada portent sur le lien entre le sommeil et la santé mentale. Cette recherche s’appuie sur ces travaux en étudiant les associations entre, d’une part, la durée et la qualité du sommeil et, d’autre part, une santé mentale positive ainsi que la maladie mentale et les idées suicidaires chez les jeunes...

Introduction: A growing number of Canadian studies have examined the link between sleep and mental health. This research builds upon that work by investigating associations of sleep duration and quality with positive mental health (PMH) and mental illness and suicidal ideation (MI/SI) outcomes among youth and adults from three Canadian provinces (i...

Introduction: Sufficient sleep and good quality sleep are crucial aspects of children’s healthy development. While previous research has suggested associations between sleep and positive mental health, few studies have been conducted in Canadian children. Methods: This study used data from the 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth. Par...

Introduction. Un sommeil suffisant et un sommeil de bonne qualité sont des composantes cruciales du développement sain des enfants. Si des recherches antérieures laissent entrevoir des associations entre le sommeil et une bonne santé mentale, peu d’études ont été menées chez les enfants canadiens. Méthodologie. Cette étude se fonde sur les données...

Although people generally have positive evaluations of natural environments and stimuli, theory and research suggest that certain biomes are more preferable than others. Existing theories often draw on evolutionary ideas and people’s familiarity with biome types, with familiarity being the most supported, albeit not conclusively, in existing resear...

Although people generally have positive evaluations of natural environments and stimuli, theory and research suggest that certain biomes are more preferable than others. Existing theories often draw on evolutionary ideas and people’s familiarity with biome types, with familiarity being the most supported, albeit not conclusively, in existing resear...

Introduction De nombreux Canadiens font état d’une détérioration de leur santé mentale depuis le début de la pandémie de COVID-19 et des inquiétudes ont été exprimées quant à une possible augmentation du nombre de suicides. Cette étude porte sur les répercussions potentielles de la pandémie sur les idées suicidaires des adultes. Méthodologie Nous...

Introduction Canadian surveys from spring/summer 2020 suggest the prevalence of some positive mental health (PMH) outcomes have declined compared to pre-pandemic levels. However, less is known about the state of PMH during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We compared adults’ self-rated mental health (SRMH), community belonging and...

Introduction Many Canadians report decreased mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and concerns have been raised about possible increases in suicide. This study investigates the pandemic’s potential impact on adults’ suicide ideation. Methods We compared self-reported suicide ideation in 2020 versus 2019 by analyzing data from the Survey on...

Introduction Des enquêtes canadiennes du printemps et de l’été 2020 ont fait état d’une diminution de la prévalence de certains résultats en matière de santé mentale positive par rapport aux niveaux d’avant la pandémie. Nous en savons moins sur la santé mentale positive pendant la deuxième vague de la pandémie de COVID 19. Méthodologie Nous avons...

This study examined correlates of psychological and social well-being (PSWB) among youth in grades 7-12 in Canada. PSWB was lower for students in higher grades. Behavioral problems, being bullied, and bullying others were associated with lower PSWB, while prosocial behaviors were associated with higher PSWB. Recent cigarette, e-cigarette, and canna...

Introduction Une santé mentale positive est un élément essentiel du développement sain des jeunes. Par exemple, une santé mentale positive est associée à une meilleure santé physique autodéclarée, à des relations plus étroites et à moins de problèmes de comportement chez les jeunes. La promotion d’une santé mentale positive est une priorité de sant...

Introduction Positive mental health is an essential part of youth’s healthy development. For instance, positive mental health is associated with greater self-reported physical health, closer relationships and fewer conduct problems in youth. As positive mental health promotion is a public health priority, examining its potential determinants is imp...

There are active movements to connect children with nature to improve their well-being. However, most of the research on children and nature has focused on cognitive benefits or used non-experimental designs. In a preliminary study, we examined the potential benefits of a 4-hour nature experience on children's mood, pro-sociality, and attitudes tow...

People benefit from spending time in nature. These benefits range from improved mood and increased helping behaviours to increased connection to nature. Previous research may be limited, however, as researchers have focused mainly on correlational study designs with adults. There is relatively less research examining the benefits of taking children...

Promises of the American Dream notwithstanding, psychological research shows that placing excessive importance on extrinsic goals (e.g., financial success) is associated with lower personal well-being. The insatiable pursuit of wealth and status can often be detrimental to the well-being of natural environments as well. Mitigation of, and adaptatio...

Many Labs 3 is a crowdsourced project that systematically evaluated time-of-semester effects across many participant pools. See the Wiki for a table of contents of files and to download the manuscript.

From the increasing number of people living in urban areas to the continued degradation of the natural environment, many of us appear to be physically and psychologically disconnected from nature. We consider the theoretical explanations and present evidence for why this state of affairs might result in suboptimal levels of hedonic and eudaimonic w...

Theory and correlational research suggest that connecting with nature may facilitate prosocial and environmentally sustainable behaviors. In three studies we test causal direction with experimental manipulations of nature exposure and laboratory analogs of cooperative and sustainable behavior. Participants who watched a nature video harvested more...

Abstract Two studies tested whether nature (vs. built) photographs could increase participants' judgments of environmental satisfaction and perceived quality of life. In Study 1 (N=122), participants assigned to view local nature photographs were more satisfied with the conditions of their local environment, compared to those who viewed local built...

Research suggests that contact with nature can be beneficial, for example leading to improvements in mood, cognition, and health. A distinct but related idea is the personality construct of subjective nature connectedness, a stable individual difference in cognitive, affective, and experiential connection with the natural environment. Subjective na...

Past research has shown that high-end video game play is associated with bizarre dreams (Gackenbach, Kuruvilla, & Dopko, 2009a). The purpose of this study was to determine if the higher bizarreness in gamers’ dreams could be replicated and if so, to inquire if it is due to the unusual worlds they are exposed to during video game play, or to higher...

Relative to forgiveness, individual differences in apology willingness have received limited empirical attention. We correlated responses of >900 undergraduate students to a newly devised Proclivity to Apologize Measure (PAM) with responses to related and dissimilar constructs. In Study 1a, PAM scores correlated positively with well-being, acceptan...

Abstract: Wilson's (1984) biophilia hypothesis predicts that people's psychological health is associated with their relationship to nature. Two studies examined associations among nature connectedness, well-being, and mindfulness in samples of undergraduate students while socially desirable responding was con-trolled. Significant associations emerg...

In a series of studies Gackenbach and colleagues have been investigating the relationship between video game play and dreams. Three lines of inquiry have been pursued, cognitive factors, emotional content and bizarreness in dreams associated with video game play. The question across studies being does hard core video game play change these fundamen...

In a series of studies, J. Gackenbach has been mapping the effects of heavy video game play on consciousness, including dreaming. The reason that gamers are being investigated is that they represent a group of people who are engaging in the most immersive media experience widely available today. With its audio and visual interactive nature as well...