Kat Cost

Assistant Professor
Katherine Cost

BS (University of Michigan), PhD (Tulane University)

Contact information

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Research interests

My current research focuses on child developmental outcomes within the socio-ecological model framework. Individual factors such as child health behaviours (e.g. screen behaviours, sleep, physical activity), child temperament, and child sex assigned at birth; proximal contexts such as household income and family functioning; and distal ones such as parental employment quality and neighbourhood quality which have been shaped by systemic racism and classism are all known to impact child developmental outcomes. I leverage existing large longitudinal datasets in both population-based and clinical samples, as well as international datasets, to identify influential variables among individual and family context variables associated with child development. My research incorporates several statistical methods (traditional, hypothesis-driven; supervised and unsupervised machine learning) methods to disentangle signal from noise in models with small to moderate effects to identify variables reliably implicated in child development outcomes. My research has appeared in Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open, Canadian Journal of Public Health, and European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry as well as popular press outlets including The New York Times and Elle Magazine.

Selected publications

  1. Korczak D, Lo RF, Rizeq J, Crosbie J, Charach A, Anagnostou E, Birken CS, Monga S, Kelley E, Nicolson R, Arnold PD, Maguire JL, Schachar RJ, Georgiades S, Burton CL, Cost KT. The trajectory of depression and anxiety symptoms among children and adolescents over two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychiatry Research 339 (2024): 116101.Impact Factor 4.200.
  2. Lo RF, Schumacher A, LaForge-Mackenzie K, Cost KT, Crosbie J, Charach A, Anaganastou, E, Birken CS, Monga, S, Korczak, DJ. (2024) Evaluation of an automated matching system of children and families to virtual mental health resources during COVID-19. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 18, 24. Impact Factor 5.600.
  3. Cost KT, Mudiyanselage P, Unternaehrer E, Korczak D, Crosbie J, Anagnostou E, Birken CS, Monga S, Kelley E, Nicolson R, Maguire JL, Burton CL, Schachar RJ, Charach A. (2023)The role of parenting practices in parent and children mental health over time. BJPsych Open 9(5):e147. Impact Factor 5.165.
  4. Cost KT, Unternaehrer E, Tsujimoto KC, Maguire J, Charach A, Birken CS. (2023) Patterns of parent screen use, child screen time, and child socioemotional problems at 5 years. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, e13246. Impact Factor 3.392.
  5. Krakowski A, Cost KT, Szatmari P, Anangnostou E, Crosbie J, Schachar R, Duku E, Georgiades S, Ayub M, Barnett Tapia C. (2022) Characterizing the ASD-ADHD phenotype: Measurement Structure and Invariance in a Clinical Sample. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, March 27, 2022. Impact factor 6.129.
  6. Cost KT, Crosbie J, Anagnostou E, Birken CS, Charach A, Monga S, Kelley E, Nicolson R, Maguire JL, Burton CL, Schachar RJ, Korczak D. (2021) Mostly worse, occasionally better: impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of Canadian children and adolescents. European child & adolescent psychiatry. 2021 Feb 26:1-4. Impact factor 3.339.

Selected research grants and awards

  1. 07/2024 – 07/2026 The Longitudinal Association of Safety at School and Mental Health for School Aged Children in Ontario. Principal Investigator: Korczak DJ. Co-Investigators: Anagnostou E, Birken C, Charach A, Cost KT, Crosbie J, Kelley E, Monga S, Nicolson R, Maguire J, Trinai E, Frei J, Tsujimoto K. Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Centre for Research on Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies. $300,000 CAD.
  2. 07/2024 – 07/2029 ENRICHED: Evaluating CaNada's early leaRnIng and Childcare policy (CWELCC) on children's HEalth and Development. Principal Investigator: Maguire J. Co-Investigators: Anderson L, Baker M, Birken C, Carsley S, Cost KT, Janus M, Keown-Stoneman C, Kucab M, Omand J, Perlman M. Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project Grant. $1,013,626 CAD.
  3. 02/2024 – 02/2026. Temporal Trends in the Distribution of Child and Youth Mental Ill-Health from 1983 to 2023: Evidence from 4 General Population Based Samples in Ontario. Nominated Principal Investigator: Cost KT, Georgiades K. Co-Investigators: Chen C, Dryburgh N, Edwards J, Golberg M, Nolan E, Szatmari P. Collaborators: Merikangas K, Waddell C, Boyle M. Canadian Institutes of Health Research Operating Grant. $75,000 CAD.
  4. 09/2023 – 09/2028. A longitudinal examination of health behaviours, family context, and disruptive behaviour from preschool to primary school. Principal Investigators: Cost KT, Charach A. Co-Investigators: Aglipay M, Bayoumi I, Birken C, Carsley S, Fuller A, Janus M, Keown-Stoneman C, Maguire J,  Szatmari P, Unternährer E, Vanderloo L. Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project Grant. $619,460 CAD.