Implementation of UNICEF and WHO's care for child development package: Lessons from a global review and key informant interviews.
Ahun MN, Aboud F, Wamboldt C, Yousafzai AK.
Front Public Health. 2023. 11:1140843. PMID: 36875409
Dr. Ahun’s research focuses on:
-Examining the underlying processes through which parental mental health, particularly maternal depression, influences child development, and
-Developing new interventions to promote early child development and overall family wellbeing in low- and middle-income countries by supporting maternal and paternal mental health and caregiving practices.
She uses longitudinal data from population-based cohorts in Canada and South Africa to examine how parental depression impacts child and adolescent outcomes. She also has experience contributing to the design, implementation, and evaluation of parenting interventions in Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania, as well as conducting qualitative research with mothers and fathers in rural areas of Mozambique and Tanzania to examine their daily experiences of caring for young children. For her Postdoctoral Fellowship, Dr. Ahun is strengthening her skills in implementation research by leading work to identify effective implementation strategies in parenting and mental health interventions to promote early child development and caregiver outcomes. This work will inform future efforts to develop a parenting and mental health intervention for mothers and fathers to promote early child development in Ghana.
Dr. Ahun’s work on parenting behaviours, maternal depression, and child development has been published in scientific articles and international reports including Annals of the New York Academy of Science, JAMA Network Open, Psychological Medicine, and UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children 2021 report.
BA, 06/2015, Psychology (Honours)
McGill University, Montréal, Canada
PhD, 08/2021, Public Health
Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
Ahun MN, Aboud F, Wamboldt C, Yousafzai AK.
Front Public Health. 2023. 11:1140843. PMID: 36875409
Bliznashka L, Ahun MN, Velthausz D, Donco R, Karuskina-Drivdale S, Pinto J, Yousafzai AK, Jeong J.
Health Policy Plan. 2022 Jun 13. 37(6):737-746. PMID: 35077547
Jiwani Z, Drylewski G, Sharma S, Ahun M, Thapa S, Steele M.
Infant Ment Health J. 2022 07. 43(4):546-557. PMID: 35665944
Psychogiou L, Ahun MN, Geoffroy MC, Brendgen M, Côté SM.
Dev Psychopathol. 2022 Apr 27. 1-11. PMID: 35473624
Ahun MN, Brendgen M, Côté SM, Girard A, Vitaro F, Tremblay RE, Boivin M, Dionne G.
Arch Womens Ment Health. 2022 06. 25(3):595-602. PMID: 35305160
Orri M, Ahun MN, Naicker S, Besharati S, Richter LM.
PLoS Med. 2022 03. 19(3):e1003946. PMID: 35290371
Naicker SN, Ahun MN, Besharati S, Norris SA, Orri M, Richter LM.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 02 05. 19(3). PMID: 35162821
Jeong J, Bliznashka L, Ahun MN, Karuskina-Drivdale S, Picolo M, Lalwani T, Pinto J, Frey M, Velthauz D, Donco R, Yousafzai AK.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2022 03. 1509(1):161-183. PMID: 34859451
Jeong J, Ahun MN, Bliznashka L, Velthausz D, Donco R, Yousafzai AK.
Soc Sci Med. 2021 10. 287:114363. PMID: 34500322
Orri M, Besharati S, Ahun MN, Richter LM.
JAMA Netw Open. 2021 08 02. 4(8):e2121667. PMID: 34410394