The primary goal of the ARCH Lab is to generate knowledge on which to build robust standards for clinical care and public health policies to promote mental health and reduce the incidence of physical-mental multimorbidity in children and youth.
Our lab takes life-course approach using both clinical and epidemiological studies understand the intersection of physical and mental health. To accomplish this goal, research efforts map onto four overarching themes:
Expounding the natural course, as well as the biological and psychosocial determinants and mechanisms that lead to the development of physical-mental multimorbidity in children.
Examining how physical-mental multimorbidity impacts psychosocial health outcomes and patterns of mental health services use.
Investigating differences in the epidemiology of physical-mental multimorbidity in population and clinical samples of children and youth.
Validating scales to accurately assess the mental health, functioning, and quality of life of children. ARCH Lab scholarship in these areas advances the research agenda in childhood physical-mental multimorbidity with novel findings which make impactful contributions to informing best practices for integrated physical-mental pediatric health services.
Our lab is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Approximately
of children have a chronic physical health condition
Nearly
of children with a physical health condition have co-morbid mental health problems
Over
of children with a chronic health condition become adults with chronic health conditions
On December 5, 2025, Dr. Mark Ferro, Canada Research Chair in Youth Mental Health and Director of the ARCH Lab, delivered the Annual Carol Buck Lecture at Western University’s Schulich
The ARCH Lab has contributed to a recent study published in Psychiatry Research that evaluated the Ontario Child Health Study Emotional Behavioural Scales (OCHS-EBS) in a clinical setting. These scales
The ARCH Lab’s Reese Parks has recently published a paper titled “Informant reports of psychopathology in children with chronic physical illness over time: Role of parent psychological distress” in the
