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GLOBAL
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Part of the International Long-Term Care Policy Network (ILPN)

 

Marilyn Ahun

McGill University

Marilyn Ahun

Dr. Marilyn N. Ahun is an Assistant Professor in McGill’s Department of Medicine, and an associate member of the Department of Global and Public Health. After completing a Bachelor’s degree in Honors Psychology (McGill University), she went on to complete a PhD in Public Health and Health Promotion (Université de Montréal) and a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Global Health (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health). Dr. Ahun’s research program specifically focuses on the mechanisms through which parental mental health influences children’s developmental and mental health outcomes in different sociocultural contexts. She also examines how early interventions can improve child and parent outcomes and is using this knowledge to inform the development of a multi-component intervention to improve child development and family wellbeing. Her research has been supported by funds from CIHR, SSHRC, the Thrasher Research Fund, and the Society for Research in Child Development.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Countries Canada; Ghana;
Topics Implementation; Perinatal mental health;
Methods Focus groups; Implementation science; Longitudinal data analysis; Observational studies; Qualitative studies; Quantitative data analysis; Systematic Review; Thematic analysis;
Role Research;
Interest Groups Global Perinatal Mental Health;
Websitehttps://rimuhc.ca/-/marilyn-ahun
ORC.ID0000-0002-1062-7240
GOOGLE SCHOLARhttps://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=S_YU9fEAAAAJ&hl=en
X (Twitter)https://x.com/MN_Ahun
Research interests

Child development

Perinatal mental health

Global mental health

Intervention and implementation research
Key publications

  • Al Sager, A., Goodman, S.H., Jeong, J., Bain, P., & Ahun, M.N. (2024). Effects of multi-component parenting and parental mental health interventions on early childhood development and parent outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 8(9), 656-669. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(24)00134-2. PMID: 39142740

  • Ahun MN, Psychogiou L, Guay F, Boivin M, Tremblay RE, Côté SM. Maternal depressive symptoms and children’s academic performance: sex differences in the mediating role of school experiences. Psychol Med. 2022 Oct;52(13):2450-2459. doi: 10.1017/S0033291720004298. Epub 2020 Dec 4. PMID: 33272330.

  • Ahun MN, Bacon SL. Behavioural science can improve parenting interventions. Nat Hum Behav. 2024 Aug 22. doi: 10.1038/s41562-024-01966-w. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39174724.

  • Ahun MN, Ali NB, Hentschel E, Jeong J, Franchett E, Yousafzai AK. A meta-analytic review of the implementation characteristics in parenting interventions to promote early child development. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2024 Mar;1533(1):99-144. doi: 10.1111/nyas.15110. Epub 2024 Feb 14. PMID: 38354095.

  • Ahun, M.N., Bliznashka, L., Drivdal, S., Regina, G., Yousafzai, A.K., & Jeong, J. (2024). A qualitative study of maternal and paternal parenting knowledge and practices in rural Mozambique. BMC Public Health, 24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-19291-2.