My research projects concern the sexual abuse of children and teens, and fall into three main categories. They are carried out under the aegis of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Intimate Relationship Problems and Sexual Abuse (CRIPCAS), the Marie-Vincent interuniversity research chair on child sexual abuse, and the sexual violence and health team (ÉVISSA).

The first category is the examination of repercussions on victims and their ability to adapt depending on the nature of the abuse, the relationship with the abuser, the family and the services received.

A second research category consists in seeking a better understanding of the mothers and fathers of child victims of sexual abuse and determining the impact on them of the reporting of the abuse. This research also seeks to verify the importance and impact of support for victims on the adaptation of the child or teenager.

The last category involves interviews with children suspected of having experienced sexual abuse. This research has made it possible to verify the effectiveness of the NICHD (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) guide in reducing interviewers' suggestive and directive behaviour (so as to preserve the integrity of the forensic interview process) and in increasing the credibility of the child's testimony in terms of the quality and quantity of details given relating to the sexual abuse. Current research is aimed at increasing our knowledge of the child's personal factors and the family factors that can influence his or her testimony.

I am also the co-holder of the Marie-Vincent Foundation interuniversity research chair on child sexual abuse.

My research interests focus on sexual assault of children and adolescents and I am a member of the Research Center of Interdisciplinary Research on Marital Problems and Sexual Assault (CRIPCAS). Two lines of research emerge from my work. The first aims to understand the variability of life trajectories after sexual assault during childhood or adolescence, including the involvement of processes such as resilience or psychotherapy in subsequent psychological functioning. The second focuses on primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of sexual assault of children and adolescents, including the effectiveness of interventions to reduce the incidence of sexual assault among youth. 

I lead the Research Laboratory on the trajectories of health and resilience of sexually abused young people: TRAJETS. TRAJETS focuses on all the life trajectories of young people who have been exposed to sexual violence during childhood or adolescence. First, we want to document the consequences of sexual assault on the physical and mental health of young people. In doing so, we examine how sexual assault interacts with different life contexts to produce more or less harmful consequences for young people and how these consequences evolve in the short, medium and long term. 

Risk factors that overlap sexual abuse, such as abuse or neglect, and protective factors that may coexist with sexual abuse or assault, such as social support, are central to our studies. These risk and protective factors allow us to better understand what facilitates or hinders the development of young people when they have been sexually assaulted. 

Through our studies, we want to help build the resilience of young people, their families and their environments.

My research focusses on biopsychosocial determinants of couple functioning and violence. I am particularly interested in 1) the role of psychophysiological reactivity in violent couples' communication behaviors and 2) the impact of partners' personality on various aspects of couple functioning. 

I am also interested in the influence of social networking sites on adolescents and young adults' romantic relationships. My research focusses on the ways youth use social networking sites and how their online behaviors shape intimacy, conflicts and romantic relationship quality. 

Jean Gagnon, MPs, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, a neuropsychologist and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the Université de Montréal. His field of teaching is psychological assessment and personality theories. He is a full member of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation of Greater Montreal (CRIR) at the Centre de recherche en neuropsychologie et cognition (CERNEC).

My research work addresses different themes linked to couple relationships, in the general population and in clinical populations. First of all, the adult attachment theory shapes much of my research. Drawing inspiration from this theoretical model, I examine the close bonds between attachment, conjugal support and sexuality, to better understand the dynamics of conjugal relations among different populations of couples. Second, I am especially interested in infertility. My work aims at 1) assessing the psychological, conjugal and sexual impacts of this problem, 2) assessing the specific needs of couples undergoing infertility treatment and 3) developing interventions for optimizing these couples' well-being. Lastly, conjugal abuse and dyadic coping are also among my fields of interest.