Ellen Lipman

Dr. Ellen Lipman is a child psychiatrist and Professor in the Division of Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University. She is currently Director of the Offord Centre for child Studies, Head, Academic Division of Child Psychiatry, and Chief of the Department of Child Psychiatry at McMaster Children’s Hospital. Her clinical work includes consultation to outpatient services at the Child and Youth Mental Health Program, McMaster Children's Hospital. Dr. Lipman’s main research interests are in the areas of single-parent families, teen mothers, disadvantaged children, group therapies, effectiveness studies, child and adolescent psychiatry, and epidemiology.

Much of Dr. Lipman’s research is focused on the evaluation of programs in the community. The challenge of these effectiveness studies is that researchers must ensure methodologic and scientific rigor and complete the study in a real-world environment, in contrast to studies done where many/most study parameters can be controlled.

Dr. Lipman and colleagues have completed an evaluation of the impact of participation in The Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) Adult Mentoring Program (supported by CIHR) to determine for whom and under what conditions community match programs achieve the greatest benefits. The study involves children and parents from 20 agencies across Canada, and examines how long match relationships must last, the optimal amount of weekly contact, types of shared activities, and styles of mentoring most conducive to positive change as well as the Agency practices/procedures that contribute to successful matches.

Dr. Lipman has evaluated web-based delivery of support/education groups to women in remote areas, and completed a study of young mothers to increase the knowledge about the prevalence of mental health problems and health service utilization among teen mothers.

Current Activities

  • Young Mothers Health Study – This study examines mental health and service use in new, young mothers in Hamilton, Ontario.
  • 2014 Ontario Child Health Study – Examining the mental health and functioning of 10,530 children in families and neighbourhoods across Ontario
  • Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) Adult Mentoring Program – Examining how long match relationships must last, the optimal amount of weekly contact, types of shared activities, and styles of mentoring most conducive to positive change as well as the Agency practices/procedures that contribute to successful matches

Publications

  • Ferro MA, Lipman EL, Van Lieshout RJ, Timmons BW, Shanahan L, Gorter JW, Georgiades K, Boyle MH. Multimorbidity in children and youth across the life-course (MY LIFE) study. Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2021 (in press)
  • Van Lieshout RJ, Savoy CD, Boyle MH, Georgiades K, Jack S, Niccols A, Whitty H, Lipman EL. The Mental Health of Young Canadian Mothers. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2020. 66(4):464-469.
  • Ferro MA, Lipman EL, Van Lieshout RJ, Gorter JW, Shanahan L, Boyle MH, Georgiades K, Timmons BW. Multimorbidity in children and youth across the life-course (MY LIFE): protocol of a Canadian prospective study. BMJ Open. 2019. 9(11).
  • De Wit D, DuBois D, Erdem G, Larose S, Lipman EL. Predictors of mentoring relationship quality: Investigation from the perspectives of youth and parent participants in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada one-to-one mentoring programs. Journal of Community Psychology. 2019. 48(2):192-208.
  • Rosic T, Duncan L, Wang L, Eltorki M, Boyle MH, Sassi R, Bennett K, Brotherston L, Pires P, Akintan O, Lipman EL. Trends and predictors of repeat mental health visits to a pediatric emergency department in Hamilton, Ontario. Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2019. 28(2):82-90.
  • Ferro MA, Lipman EL, Van Lieshout RJ, Boyle MH, Gorter JW, MacMillan HL, Gonzalez A, Georgiades K. Mental-physical multimorbidity in youth: associations with individual, family, and health service use outcomes. Child Psychiatry & Human Development. 2019; 50(3):400-410.
  • Duncan L, Georgiades K, Wang L, Comeau J, Ferro MA, Van Lieshout RJ, Szatmari P, Bennett K, MacMillanHL, Lipman EL, Janus M, Kata A, Boyle MH. The 2014 Ontario Child Health Study Emotional Behavioural Scales (OCHS-EBS) Part I: A Checklist for Dimensional Measurement of Selected DSM-5 Disorders. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 2019. 64(6):423-433. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0706743718808250
  • Boyle MH, Duncan L, Georgiades K, Wang L, Comeau J, Ferro MA, Van Lieshout RJ, Szatmari P, MacMillan HL, Bennett K, Janus M, Lipman EL, Kata A. The 2014 Ontario Child Health Study Emotional Behavioural Scales (OCHS-EBS) Part II: Psychometric Adequacy for Categorical Measurement of Selected DSM-5 Disorders. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 2019. 64(6):434-442. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0706743718808251
  • Olthuis JV, McGrath PJ, Cunningham CE, Boyle MH, Lingley-Pottie P, Reid GJ, Bagnell A, Lipman EL, Turner K, Corkum P, Stewart SH, Berrigan P, Sdao-Jarvie K. Distance-delivered parent training for childhood disruptive behavior (Strongest Families TM): A randomized controlled trial and economic analysis. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. 2018; 46(8):1613-1629.
  • Lipman EL, De Wit DJ, DuBois D, Larose S, Erdem G. Youth with chronic health problems: how do they fare in main-stream mentoring programs? BMC Public Health. 2018; 18:102.

For further publications click here.

Additional Information

Administrative Assistant: Laura Kennedy
Email:
Phone: 905-525-9140 ext. 21484

Dr. Ellen Lipman

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Research Interests

  • Single-parent families
  • Disadvantaged children
  • Group therapies
  • Effectiveness studies
  • Child & adolescent psychiatry

Education, Memberships & Certifications

  • M.D., McMaster University
  • M.Sc., McMaster University