Background

I received my Ph.D. from the University of Saskatchewan (2002) and completed my predoctoral internship at the University Counselling Centre (2001) at Memorial University. I was one of the founding members of the PsyD committee and a former Director of Clinical Training for the program.

Research Interests

My primary research focus is on marginalized populations associated with children with severe neurological impairment, first episode psychosis patients, street involved youth, and people with health issues that affect their psychological adjustment. I am interested in various psychological factors that undermine optimum development and adjustment, such as, emotion regulation, substance abuse, attachment, pain, decision-making, personality, and coping styles.

Current Projects

I have three main areas of research. First, I recently finished disseminating research findings from my CIHR study examining pain in children with significant neurological impairment (SNI). The focus of this research has been identifying valid and reliable methods of measuring pain in children with physical, intellectual, and communication challenges that render them unable to communicate pain in typical ways. My primary interest has been in micro expressions of pain, as well as, differentiating pain behaviors for children with SNI who have the capacity to self-report pain compared to those who are unable to communicate through discernable methods (verbal and typical pain behaviors).

The second area involves disseminating a 10-year project examining the impact of substance abuse for people admitted to an early psychosis program. In particular, I am interested if cannabis and alcohol abuse impact outcome (psychosis, depression, quality of life, global functioning, severity and improvement of condition) differently for people with schizophrenia compared to those with bipolar disorder. This research is also addressing whether the psychotic dimension is sufficient to integrate affective and nonaffective psychotic disorders. We are also examining the association between neurocognitive functioning and decision-making in first episode psychosis patients.

The third area of research is examining whether premorbid psychological adjustment predicts psychosocial adjustment to multiple sclerosis. This research is currently in the data collection process. We are also investigating whether the psychosocial adjustment to multiple sclerosis follows a predictable staging process. This research is being conducted in the Neurology Department at the Health Sciences Centre.

Selectd Publications

Hadden, K.L., LeDrew, K, Hogan, K, Thomas, B. (2016).The impact of cannabis use for symptom outcomes in an early psychosis naturalistic sample. Early Intervention Psychiatry.

Hadden, K. L., LeFort, S., O'Brien, M., Coyte, P. C., & Guerriere, D. N. (2015). Validity of the Child Facial Coding System for the assessment of acute pain in children with Cerebral Palsy. J Child Neurol. doi:10.1177/0883073815604228

Hadden, K. L., LeFort, S., O’Brien, M., Coyte, P. C., Guerriere, D. N. (2015) A comparison of observers’ and self-report pain ratings for children with cerebral palsy. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 36 (1):14-36.

Hadden, K. L., & von Baeyer, C. L. (2005). Global and specific behavioral measures of pain in children with cerebral palsy. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 21, 140-147.

Hadden, K.L., & von Baeyer, C.L. (2002). Pain in children with cerebral palsy: Common triggers and expressive behaviours. Pain, 99 (1-2), 291-298.