Quynh Doan: Associate Professor at Department of Pediatrics, UBC Faculty of Medicine

Prospective Graduate Students / Postdocs

This faculty member is currently not actively recruiting graduate students or Postdoctoral Fellows, but might consider co-supervision together with another faculty member.

Associate Professor

Faculty of Medicine

Research Classification

Medical, health and life sciences

Research Interests

Health Services

Child and youth mental health

Emergency medicine work load modelling

Relevant Thesis-Based Degree Programs

View all programs

Affiliations to Research Centres, Institutes & Clusters

BC Children's Hospital Research Institute

Research Options

I am available and interested in collaborations (e.g. clusters, grants).

I am interested in and conduct interdisciplinary research.

Open All

Biography

Research Methodology

Graduate Student Supervision

Doctoral Student Supervision

Dissertations completed in 2010 or later are listed below. Please note that there is a 6-12 month delay to add the latest dissertations.

Examining validity evidence of HEARTSMAP-U for psychosocial screening in the post-secondary educational context (2023)

Background: The prevalence of reported mental health concerns is rising among post-secondary students. Screening instruments can help identify these concerns and connect students to appropriate care. However, most existing instruments are limited to certain diagnoses, have varying levels of psychometric evidence, do not measure a wide range of psychological and social stressors, or have not been developed in partnership with students. The goal of this dissertation was to adapt the clinician- and self- administered pediatric psychosocial screening tools, MyHEARTSMAP and HEARTSMAP respectively, to be suitable for use by post-secondary students.Methods: The HEARTSMAP-U tool was adapted and evaluated over three years in partnership with post-secondary students, administration, and clinical experts. A scoping review was conducted to identify validation practices and gaps with existing instruments. In a multi-phase, multi-method process, HEARTSMAP-U was adapted from existing HEARTSMAP instruments through consensus-driven meetings, student focus groups, and a survey with post-secondary mental health professionals. A preliminary evaluation study was conducted to assess HEARTSMAP-U’s validity evidence with University of British Columbia (Vancouver) students. Results: The scoping review revealed a need for screening tools developed with, by, and for diverse post-secondary students. The student-centred HEARTSMAP-U instrument consists of ten psychosocial sections and generates urgency and severity-specific resource recommendations based on students' scoring patterns. Students and post-secondary mental health professionals found the tool content to be acceptable and relevant to end-users. HEARTSMAP-U demonstrated evidence of predictive validity in identifying students with psychiatric concerns and evidence of convergent validity as scores were highly correlated with other instruments measuring similar concerns and general quality of life (PedsQL-YA) and strength-based psychosocial assessments (MHC-SF). A small proportion of piloted students followed up with tool-recommended resources, but a large number reported their intent to access them in the future. Conclusion: HEARTSMAP-U was adapted and evaluated through a multi-method, student-centered approach, resulting in a tool that is deemed acceptable and suitable for use in the post-secondary education setting. Currently, HEARTSMAP-U is undergoing larger-scale validation to further assess its predictive validity and utility. Future studies may explore its implementation potential in post-secondary institutions and how it can be integrated within existing mental health strategies.

View record

Master's Student Supervision

Theses completed in 2010 or later are listed below. Please note that there is a 6-12 month delay to add the latest theses.

Universal psychosocial screening for post-secondary students with HEARTSMAP-U: evidence for inter-rater reliability (2021)

Post-secondary students are typically assuming greater life responsibilities and independence, which can become emotionally overwhelming, resulting in a high prevalence of psychosocial issues. At a time when many young adults are moving away from their support networks and transitioning from pediatric to adult health care systems, there is a perceived lack of resources and numerous barriers to mental health treatment. A digital psychosocial self-assessment and guidance tool for post-secondary students (HEARTSMAP-U) was adapted to address this growing concern. HEARTSMAP-U has already undergone comprehensive adaptation and evaluation work among both a broad population of clinicians who support young adults in post-secondary education, as well as among post-secondary students themselves. Through a multiphasic study, this research aimed to 1) evaluate the inter-rater reliability of HEARTSMAP-U among young adults pursuing post-secondary education, as applied to a set of fictional cases, and 2) evaluate, on the same set of fictional cases, the scoring agreement between student and clinician assessors. In Phase 1 (n = 15), an iterative process was used to evaluate the fictional vignettes for comprehensiveness and clarity. Feedback received was reviewed and incorporated into the next version of the vignette and this process was conducted four times until all comments were positive and saturated. In Phase 2 (n = 34), HEARTSMAP-U’s inter-rater reliability was evaluated among post-secondary students. Students displayed substantial to near perfect inter-rater scoring agreement in applying HEARTSMAP-U to the finalized fictional clinical vignettes, with weighted kappas on tool domains ranging from 0.72 (Student Health; 95% CI: 0.71, 0.73) to 0.81 (Psychiatry; 95% CI: 0.80, 0.82). In Phase 3, a clinician applied HEARTSMAP-U to the same vignettes and a large proportion of scoring agreement was found between student and clinician responses (median range 0.82-0.85) on concern severity and on whether the individual described in the vignette had resources in place (97%). Together, these results indicate that HEARTSMAP-U can be consistently interpreted by young adults pursuing post-secondary education. These study results will add to HEARTSMAP-U’s ongoing evaluation in which HEARTSMAP-U’s predictive validity will be assessed.

View record