Leslie E. Roos

• PSYC 7130 - Program Design and Evaluation 
• PSYC 7910/7954 - Clinical Psychology Practicum Supervision
• PSYC 8110 - Program Evaluation and Consultation

Dr. Leslie E. Roos is an Associate Professor at the University of Manitoba, with appointments in Psychology and Pediatrics. She aims to prevent the intergenerational transmission of stress-linked health inequities by developing scalable therapies that promote family mental health and supportive relationships. Dr. Roos is a principal investigator on grants from Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Research Manitoba, and the Children's Hospital Institute of Manitoba. Relevant areas of expertise include: program development, eHealth, and stress neurobiology.

• PhD (Clinical Psychology), University of Oregon, 2018 
• MSc (Clinical Psychology), University of Oregon, 2013
• BSc Honours (Psychology), Brown University, 2010 
• BA (Visual Arts), Brown University, 2010

Research interests

• Family mental health
• eHealth and digital health
• Program development
• Mental health equity
• Community partnerships

Research summary

Dr. Roos aims to prevent the intergenerational transmission of stress-linked health inequities by developing scalable programs that promote parent mental health and family relationships. In her basic science research, she takes a multi-modal approach across neurobiological and observational methods to identify opportunities to improve program efficacy. Her intervention research aims to expand access to evidence-based mental health programming that can be flexibly adapted to differing needs and community contexts. This includes both eHealth and in person transdiagnostic therapeutic approaches, such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy and emotion-focused parenting supports. Dr.Roos actively collaborates with qualitative, arts-based and mixed methods experts to advance participant-centred research, programs, and policies to best serve the needs of families.

Research affiliations/groups

• Research Scientist and Co-Lead Investigator - Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba 
• Lab Director - Full Heart Lab
• Lab Co-Director - Hearts & Minds Lab 

• Penner-Goeke, L., Belows, M., Kristjanson, A., Andrade, B. F., Cameron, E. E., Giuliano, R., Katz, L. Y., Kelly, L. E., Letourneau, N., Mota, N., Reynolds, K., Zalewski, M., Pharazyn, A., & Roos, L. E. (2023). Protocol for a randomized control trial of the Building Regulation in Dual Generations Program (BRIDGE): preventing the intergenerational transmission of mental illness in at-risk preschool children. Trials, 24(1), 597.
• Xie, E. B., Freeman, M., Penner-Goeke, L., Reynolds, K., Lebel, C., Giesbrecht, G. F., Rioux, C., MacKinnon, A., Sauer-Zavala, S., Roos, L. E., & Tomfohr-Madsen, L. (2023). Building Emotional Awareness and Mental Health (BEAM): an open-pilot and feasibility study of a digital mental health and parenting intervention for mothers of infants. Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 9(27), 1-13.
• Roos, L. E., Joyce, K. M., & Andrade, B. F. (2023). Do Maternal Internalizing Problems Influence Treatment Outcomes in Group-Based vs. Individualized Child Behavior Management Interventions? Group/Individual Treatment for Disruptive Behavior. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 1-23.
• Pierce, S. K., de Castro Lima, H. L., Jain, B., Reynolds, K. A., Tomfohr-Madsen, L. M., & Roos, L. E. (2023). "Please, please not another lockdown - I can’t do it again.” The Stressors Discussed on Online Canadian Forums by Parents of Young Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Journal of Child and Family Studies, 32, 3653–3665. 
• MacKinnon, A. L., Simpson, K. M., Salisbury, M. R., Bobula, J., Penner-Goeke, L., Berard, L., Rioux, C., Giesbrecht, G. F., Giuliano, R, J., Lebel, C. A., Protudjer, J., Reynolds, K., Sauer-Zavala, S., Soderstrom, M., Tomfohr-Madsen, L., & Roos, L. E. (2022). Building Emotional Awareness and Mental Health (BEAM): A pilot randomized controlled trial of an App-based program for mothers of toddlers. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 880972. 
• Salisbury, M. R., Roos. L. E., Horn, S. R., Peak, S. J., & Fisher, P. A. (2022). The effectiveness of KEEP for families of children with developmental delays: Integrating FIND video coaching into Parent Management Training—Oregon Model: A Randomized Trial. Prevention Science. 
• Roos L.E., Kaminski, L., Stienwandt, S., Hunter, S., Giuliano, R., Mota, N., Katz, L.Y., Zalewski, M. (2021). The Building Regulation in Dual-Generations Program (BRIDGE): A Mixed-Methods Feasibility Pilot of a Parenting Program for Depressed Mothers of Preschoolers, Matched with Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills. Child Psychiatry & Human Development. Aug 4:1–17. 
• Salisbury, M., Stienwandt, S., Giuliano, R., Penner-Goeke, L., Fisher, P. A., & Roos, L.E. (2020). Stress System Reactivity Moderates the Association Between Cumulative Risk and Children's Externalizing Symptoms. International Journal of Psychophysiology.
• Roos, L.E., Giuliano, R.J., Beauchamp, K.G., Berkman, E.T., Knight, E.L., Fisher, P.A. (2019). Acute Stress Impairs Children's Sustained Attention with Increased Vulnerability for Children of Mothers reporting Higher Parenting Stress. Developmental Psychobiology, 62(4): 532-543.
• Roos, L.E., Giuliano, R.J., Beauchamp, K.G., Gunnar, M., Amidon, B., & Fisher, P.A. (2016). Validation of Autonomic and Endocrine Reactivity to a Laboratory Stressor in Young Children. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 77, 51-55.

• 2023 - Terry G. Falconer Memorial Rh Institute Foundation Emerging Researcher Award in the Social Sciences category, University of Manitoba
• DIVERT Mental Health Fellow 
• Presidential Advisory Committee, University of Manitoba Community Outreach Award