Meet The Team

Dr. Christophe is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at McGill University. He received his PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he also earned a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology. Dr. Christophe is also a former NICHD T-32 Predoctoral Fellow at the Carolina Consortium on Human Development. Dr. Christophe’s research employs a wide range of quantitative tools to examine (1) the impact of discrimination on trajectories of psychopathology and wellbeing among racially/ethnically minoritized and immigrant youth, (2) how cultural factors such as ethnic-racial identity, the way parents talk to their children about race and discrimination (i.e., parental ethnic-racial socialization), cultural values, youth activism, and culturally-embedded forms of coping (shift-&-persist, religious coping, etc.) may reduce the harmful impacts of discrimination among youth and families. He also has (3) a line of measurement-focused work that aims to create, evaluate, and improve the measurement tools we have to better study cultural processes in minoritized communities.

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Hear my name

Ariane is a 3rd year clinical psychology PhD candidate at McGill University where she also received her BA Honours in psychology. She is interested in daily online experiences of discrimination and the development of civic engagement (activism) as well as its longitudinal effects on wellbeing during adolescence and emerging adulthood. Her past work involved the development of critical consciousness -a process that can be used by minoritized folks, such as youth of colour, to resist and cope with oppression through understanding racial injustices, developing motivation to fight these injustices, and taking action to enact sociopolitical change- and its association with mental health outcomes.

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Her current research includes the development of a comprehensive anti-racist civic engagement measure for youth and emerging adults to explore different dimensions of activism such as means (e.g., online vs in-person), content (e.g., more interpersonal action vs more formal political action), and risk-level, as well as the examination of daily coping processes among youth of colour.

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Tripat is a 2nd year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student within the CDS lab. Prior to joining the lab, she received her B.A. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and her M.S. in Clinical Research Methodology from Fordham University. Broadly, she is interested in exploring how stressful life experiences specific to BIPOC youth influence their internalizing mental health outcomes. In exploring this, she is also interested in elucidating how coping behaviors in the face of stress and racially-salient factors (e.g. familism, ethnic-racial identity development) may play a role in BIPOC youth internalizing mental health outcomes. Tripat is currently working on a Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) exploring profiles of online racism and media microaggression exposure among Asian University students in Canada, exploring internalizing mental health symptoms across these profiles.

Shayndel is a 2nd year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student at the Cultural Developmental Science Lab. Prior to joining McGill University, she received her Honours Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Guelph. Broadly, she is interested in researching how experiences of ethnic-racial discrimination impact the wellbeing of adolescents and emerging adults, particularly in the higher education context. More specifically, she is interested in exploring what factors influence the impact of various types of discrimination (e.g., interpersonal, microaggressions, institutional, and online discrimination) that ethnic-racial minority youth experience, as well as protective factors that can help youth cope and buffer against the negative effects of discrimination. Additionally, she is interested in developing measurement tools and evidence-based interventions to better understand and serve minoritized communities. Shayndel is currently working on a project that examines how discrimination and ethnic-racial identity dimensions (i.e., exploration and centrality) interact to differentially predict interpersonal, communal, and political change action among Asian university students in Canada.

Alice Zhang is the CDS lab's research assistant and is in charge of managing lab activities and active studies. Alice spent 2 years in the lab; first as a volunteer, then as both a honours thesis student and a paid research assistant. She graduated from McGill in the Spring of 2024 with her BSc Honours in psychology. Alice is interested in pursuing a PhD in Clinical Psychology.

Dr. Christophe will be accepting a graduate student for the 2025-26 academic year (i.e. fielding applications Fall 2024). Students interested in the clinical and experimental tracks are encouraged to apply!

Dr. Christophe is interested in applicants who are interested in contributing to any of our ongoing projects. Of particular need to the lab is a student interested in working on our ongoing and future projects studying Multiracial, or mixed-race, youth and families.