Child and Youth Study -- Graduate Theses
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Graduate theses completed in the Master of Arts in Child and Youth Study program.
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- ItemLooking For Group: Exploring How Youth Build Peer Relationships in Online Gaming Communities(Mount Saint Vincent University, 2025-09) Gulley, GabrielThis research will lay the foundation for future research to help understand how youth form peer relationships in various online gaming communities. This research was conducted by completing a thematic content analysis of five YouTube videos from five different online gaming communities, aiming to identify any activities or experiences are important for meeting and making friends in online gaming spaces. This research found that there are several thematic activities or experiences that are important when meeting new people in their respective online gaming spaces. These included what a player should and should not do to form and keep peer relationships with others met online as well as potential experiences that should be had to help them grow. These experiences and activities fall under several different themes. A few of these themes are “Be Kind”, “Share”, “Be Social/Participate”, as well as several others. This research finds that there are overarching themes for youth making friends in online gaming communities from the videos analyzed. While many of the themes identified do cross the gaming communities studied in this thesis, much more research needs to be done before any definitive patterns or differences can be confirmed for online gaming communities as a whole.
- ItemQueer Youth in Halifax, Canada: Exploring the Connections Between Dress, Agency and Self-perception(Mount Saint Vincent University, 2025-09) Gopakumar, BharghaviDress has long served as a visual representation of an individual’s identity (Davis, 1992). Dress is defined as the supplements and modifications that are added to the body (Roach-Higgins and Eicher, 1992) and can be distinguished from clothing as it embraces a much wider range of items, including cosmetic use, perfume use, tattoos and body paint (Eicher & Evenson, 2015). Dress is a tool that is used for more than a utilitarian purpose, it is a visual language which conveys areas of an individual’s identity, resistance and belonging (Roach- Higgins and Eicher, 1985). How a person dresses conveys their cultural background, values and socio-economic class which in turn affects our self-perception and social dynamics (Kwon, 1994). Dress is also a form of art, mostly visual art, although it is not exclusive to it. A founding figure in fashion theory, Roland Barthes (1977) argues that dress is “in the fullest sense, a ‘social model’, a more or less standardized picture of expected collective behaviour; and it is essentially at this level that it has meaning” (pg 13). Additionally, Barthes (1990) expressed in his work that clothing must be considered “above all, as an object of appearance” and emphasizes that dress is fundamentally a social phenomenon (Barthes 1990 p. 245, emphasis original in 1967).
- ItemExperiences of Young Girls in Cape Breton with Period Poverty(Mount Saint Vincent University, 2025-09) Riome, BrennaMenstruation is a natural bodily function that has been heavily stigmatized and viewed as a private issue for individuals. Stigmas surrounding periods can directly impact how people view menstruation and seek help. Period poverty is one of the impacts from stigmatization. The lack of access to menstrual products and education pertaining menstruation significantly affects one's health, education, and social participation. This thesis investigates the experiences of adolescent girls in Cape Breton, a region with little to no research on menstrual health.
- Item‘Playtime with Imena’: Exploring the Importance of Social Play for Children with Down Syndrome – Trisomy 21(Mount Saint Vincent University, 2025) Umuhoza, Lea DanaeThis thesis, Playtime with Imena: Exploring the Importance of Social Play for Children with Down Syndrome – Trisomy 21, delves into the transformative role of structured social play in promoting the holistic development and social inclusion of children with Down syndrome. Inspired by personal experiences growing up alongside Imena, a beloved sibling with Down syndrome, and later volunteering at Tubiteho—a center for children with cognitive disabilities—this study intertwines lived insights with a robust Constructivist research paradigm. Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, it investigates how the microsystems of family and school, supported by community and societal structures, collectively nurture developmental outcomes through social play. Employing a scoping review, this research synthesizes findings from diverse studies, revealing how structured social play enhances communication, social competence, and emotional resilience among children with Down syndrome. The thesis identifies a pressing need for culturally diverse, longitudinal studies and demonstrates the critical role of educator-family collaboration in maximizing the benefits of play. By examining digital tools as bridges between home and school environments, this study shows how real-time parent-teacher engagement amplifies the continuity of developmental support. The findings offer actionable recommendations for educators, families, and policymakers, advocating for inclusive, culturally sensitive play-based interventions that champion the developmental rights of children with Down syndrome. This work underscores the profound potential of structured play as a vehicle for growth, resilience, and social belonging, aiming to shape practices and policies that empower every child to thrive.
- ItemA Scoping Review of the Mental Health Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Newcomber Children and Youth in Canada(Mount Saint Vincent University, 2025-05) Thompson, Kerry AnnThe COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, disrupted the daily lives of children and youth globally. It posed an unprecedented threat to their mental health due to the quarantine orders, the death of family members, and the disruptions in the economy. Studies have shown that the global prevalence of mental illness amongst children and youth increased considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet little is known about the research exploring the effects of the pandemic on one of the most precarious populations of minors: immigrant children. This scoping review aims to map and explore the scope and depth of the research literature relating to the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on newcomer children and youth in Canada. The researcher scoped literature written in English in Canada from March 2020 to fall 2024. A comprehensive search of ten (10) databases produced one hundred and forty-three (143) possible studies to be scoped. Fifteen (15) duplicate copies were removed, and another one hundred and sixteen (116) were removed for other reasons. After the inclusion and exclusion process was applied, one study met the criteria for scoping. Three themes emerged from this scoping review: Economic Support, Resilience, and Social Support, with sub-themes: r food insecurity, adaptation, resourcefulness, the collapse of the economy, and assimilation and acculturation. The findings indicate that there is a glaring lack of research on the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on newcomer children and youth in Canada. The lack of relevant literature on this topic and the negative impacts of the epidemic on newcomer children and youth mental health in Canada related in the lone study, underscores the need for further research on the topic.