Stages Offre de stage/bourse - Bursary for a trainee position : Mental health and well-being among Roma and Egyptian adolescents in Albania during the COVID-19 pandemic: Vulnerability and resilience in a positive youth development perspective

Call for applications – Ph. D. students and post-doctoral fellows. 

Global Health and/or Social Health Inequalities Research Traineeship

 

Title of the project

Mental health and well-being among Roma and Egyptian adolescents in Albania during the COVID-19 pandemic: Vulnerability and resilience in a positive youth development perspective

 

This project is supported by the Social Health Inequalities and Equity and the Global Health Axes of the Quebec Population Health Research Network (RRSPQ).

 

Name and first name of the principal investigator/mentor

Diana Miconi

Assistant Professor, Département de Psychopédagogie et Andragogie, Université de Montréal

Email: diana.miconi@umontreal.ca

Description of the project

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting youth development globally and adolescents’ mental health is at increased risk during this health emergency. For minority youth, the consequences of the pandemic can be even more devastating due to limited access to basic resources, which may hinder their psychosocial development. Roma and Egyptian communities represent the most deprived and stigmatized groups in Albania and share a very similar and concerning situation. Undeniably, their situation has worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives

Building on prior literature and on our qualitative research findings, the present research project aims to investigate risk behaviors and mental health among a sample of Roma and Egyptian adolescents living in Albania during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, within a positive youth development framework and adopting a community-based approach we will investigate: 1) differences in prevalence of risk behaviors and mental health issues by gender, ethnicity and education; 2) potential individual (e.g., positive identity, positive values) and contextual (e.g., school, family, neighborhood) protective factors for positive development.

Method

A total of 201 Roma and Egyptian adolescents (aged 14 to 20 years) completed a series of validated questionnaires in the form of individual interview with a trained research assistant. Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis, binomial and linear regressions models will be implemented in R software and RStudio.

Expected impact of research

Results will inform prevention and intervention programs to support and protect minority youth's positive development and mental health during and in the aftermath of this health emergency.

 

Indicative timeline – starts in February 2022 – manuscript must be submitted before June 15, 2022

Eligibility criteria

The applicant must be enrolled in a doctoral or post-doctoral program;

Requirements in terms of skills and motivation & required documents

  • Short CV (3 pages max.)
  • Letter of motivation, that addresses the following: 
    • A brief bio
    • Research interests and experience and how this research project fits to the candidate’s research interests
    • Experience and skills with quantitative data analysis and manuscript writing (some prior knowledge of R and RStudio is highly recommended)
    • Expectations in terms of learning of new skills and experience from this project
  • Recent academic transcript (a copy is sufficient).
  • Proof of academic affiliation/enrollment (a copy is sufficient)

Bursary / Salary

The terms and conditions for payment will depend on the status of the candidate (PhD student vs. postdoctoral fellow), the academic institution of the research mentor and the regulations and the collective agreements at the institutions involved. If possible, the trainee will receive the payment in the form of a bursary. They will receive the amounts in two installments: $1,500 at the beginning and $1,500 halfway through the traineeship. If a bursary cannot be awarded (due to the regulations and collective agreements at the institutions involved)- the trainee will be remunerated according to the salary scales at the institution holding the funds for up to a maximum of $3000 and over a four month period. Note that bursaries and salaries are subject to provincial and federal taxation rules.

Duration

The traineeship will last four months; weekly hours may vary but overall should not exceed the equivalent of 10 hours/week. 

Application

Please send your application in a single document via email, with the subject heading: “Application - Roma and Egyptian adolescents in Albania” to diana.miconi@umontreal.ca

You must keep a copy of your email as proof of submission and communicate with us if you did not receive an acknowledgment of receipt within 7 days.

Evaluation

The evaluation will be based primarily on: i) the candidate’s motivation to work on the topic of minority youth’s wellbeing in a positive youth development perspective, ii) their skills and experience with quantitative research and data analysis in R, iii) the quality of their CV and iv) their academic results.

 
Information

diana.miconi@umontreal.ca