Researcher

Title

• Associate Professor, École de psychoéducation, Université de Montréal

• PhD, Psychology, King’s College London (Institute of Psychiatry; UK), 2009
• MSc, Éducation, University of Oxford (UK), 2002
• BA, Psychology, ITESO (Mexico), 1999

Natalie Castellanos-Ryan is a researcher at CHU Sainte-Justine in Montreal and assistant professor at the School of Psychoeducation, University of Montreal. Previously, she was a postdoctoral researcher at CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center and Department of Psychiatry, University of Montreal (2010-2014). She completed her PhD at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London (2009), where much of her work focused on the implementation and evaluation of an approach targeting personality risk factors for the prevention or early intervention of drug use and other behavioral problems in adolescence.

Currently, her research focuses on:

1. the development of psychopathology and longitudinal data analysis;
2. the study of the common variance and shared risk factors between mental health disorders, especially externalizing disorders;
3. their prevention.

More specific interests include how self-regulation deficits, as well as puberty and cognitive development, predict substance abuse problems and psychopathological comorbidity in youth, and how personality and environmental factors are involved in these associations.

• Developmental psychopathology
• Externalising Disorders
• Substance use and addiction
• Comorbidity
• Impulsivity
• Cognition
• Prevention

Awards and Distinctions

• Project Grant, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR),
  Title: Using a randomized control trial to test developmental models of individual factors by environment interaction in the prediction of externalizing psychopathology across early school years, principal investigator
• Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS), 2012-2014
• Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Merit Scholarship Program for Foreign Students, Ministère de l'Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport du Québec, 2011-2012

Presentations

• Castellanos-Ryan, N., Brière, F.N., O’Leary-Barrett, M., Conrod, P. (2017). The structure of psychopathology in adolescence: Invariance across sex and countries, and its personality and cognitive correlates. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development, April 4-9, Austin, USA.
• Castellanos-Ryan, N.* (2016) Is cannabis use during adolescence associated with poor cognitive, academic and drug use outcomes in adulthood? Invited lecture, Journée de Conférences Scientifiques ouvert au grand public « Cannabis and youth health – Recent findings and implications for Canadian drug policy”, Centre de Recherche du CHU Sainte-Justine, April 5, Montreal CA.
• Castellanos-Ryan, N.* (2015) Understanding adolescent substance use, comorbid psychopathology and its prevention. Invited lecture, Programme des Conférences Scientifiques du Centre de Recherche du CHU Sainte-Justine, June 30, Montreal CA.
• Castellanos-Ryan, N., Parent, S., Vitaro, F., Tremblay, R.E., Séguin, J. (2015) Adolescent Cannabis Use, change in neurocognitive function at 20 years of age, and high-school graduation: a longitudinal observational study. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development, March 19-21, Philadelphia, USA.
• Castellanos-Ryan, N.*, Parent, S., Vitaro, F., Tremblay, R.E., Séguin, J. (2014). Early adolescent cannabis use is linked to problems in learning by trial-and-error in young adult males. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Life History Research Society, May 8-10, Pittsburgh, USA.
• Castellanos-Ryan, N.*, Parent, S., Vitaro, F., Tremblay, R.E., Séguin, J. (2014). Is Cannabis Use During Adolescence Associated with Cognitive Impairments in Young Adulthood? Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, March 20-23, Austin, USA.
• Castellanos-Ryan, N.*, Struve, M., Whelan, R., Garavan, H., Conrod, P., the IMAGEN consortium (2013). The role of impulsivity in the phenotypic structure of adolescent substance use and conduct disorder symptoms. Paper presented at Annual Scientific Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, June 22-26, Orlando, USA.
• Séguin, J., Castellanos-Ryan, N.*, Parent, S., Vitaro, F., Tremblay, R.E. (2013). An intervention for disruptive behavior in childhood reduces substance use across adolescence. Paper presented at Annual Scientific Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, June 22-26, Orlando, USA.
• Castellanos-Ryan, N.*, Séguin, J.R. , Vitaro, F., Parent, S., & Tremblay, R.E. (2013). An Intervention for Disruptive Behavior in Childhood Reduces Adolescent Substance Use in Boys. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development, April 17-20, Seattle, USA.
• Castellanos-Ryan, N.*, Conrod, P. J., Arseneault, L., Vitaro, F., Tremblay, R. E., Séguin, J. R. (2012). The structure and stability of substance use and conduct disorder symptoms across adolescence. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Life History Research Society, October 3-6, London, UK.
• Castellanos-Ryan, N.*, Vitaro, F., Parent, S., Tremblay, R.E., & Séguin, J.R. (2012). An intervention for disruptive behavior in childhood reduces substance use across adolescence. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Life History Research Society, October 3-6, London, UK.

Publications

• Castellanos-Ryan, N., Parent, S., Vitaro, F., Tremblay, R.E., Séguin, J. (2017) Adolescent Cannabis Use, change in neurocognitive function at 20 years of age, and high-school graduation: a prospective longitudinal/observational study. Development and Psychopathology, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579416001280.
• Marschall-Lévesque, S., Castellanos-Ryan, N., Parent, S., Renaud, J., Vitaro, F., Boivin, M., Tremblay, R.E. & Séguin, J.R. (in press) Peer Victimization, Suicidal Ideation and Alcohol use in Adolescence: a Longitudinal Study Supporting the Self-Medication Model. Journal of Adolescent Health, 60 (4), 380-387.
• Castellanos-Ryan, N., Briére, F.N., O’Leary-Barrett, M., Banaschewski, T., Bokde, A.L.W., Bromberg, U., Büchel, C., Flor, H., Frouin, V., Gallinat, J.,  Garavan, H., Martinot, J.L., Nees, F., Paus, T., Pausova, Z., Rietschel, M., Robbins, T.W., Smolka, M.N., Whelan, R., Schumann, G., Conrod, P.J., and the IMAGEN Consortium (2016).The structure of psychopathology in adolescence and its common personality and cognitive correlates, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 125, 1039-1052.
• *Rioux, C., Castellanos-Ryan, N., Parent, S., Vitaro, F., Tremblay, R.E., & Séguin, J.R. (2016) Differential susceptibility to environmental influences: Interaction between child temperament and parenting in adolescent alcohol use. Development and Psychopathology, 28, 265-275.
• Castellanos-Ryan, N., Struve, M., Whelan, R., Banaschewski, T., Barker, G.J., Bokde, A.L.W., Bromberg, U., Büchel, C., Flor, H., Fauth-Bühler, M., Frouin, V., Gallinat, J.,  Gowland, P., Heinz, A., Itterman, I., Lawrence, C., Martinot, J.L., Nees, F., Paus, T., Pausova, Z., Rietschel, M., Robbins, T.W., Smolka, M.N., Schumann, G., Garavan, H., Conrod, P.J., and the IMAGEN Consortium (2014).  Neurocognitive correlates of the common and specific variance across symptoms of externalizing behavior in adolescence. American Journal of Psychiatry, 171:1310–1319.