Frazer Faculty of Education, Ontario Tech University
Mental Health in the Digital Age Lab
Researching holistic well-being and digital flourishing across the lifespan.
Publications List (Selected)
Book Chapters
Laffier, J., & Westley, M. (2025). ‘Digital Identity Congruence’: Exploring the importance of congruent online identities for adolescents. In L. O. Nweke (Ed.), Online identity: Recent studies and insights. IntechOpen. DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.1012336
Laffier, J., Rehman, A., & Westley, M. (2025). The promise of digital wellness to promote youth well-being and healthy communities. In J. Ferreira (Ed.), Interpersonal relationships in the digital age. IntechOpen. DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.1008817
Laffier, J., Westley, M., & Rehman, A. (2025). The art of mentoring trauma-informed educators: Considerations for teacher education programs. In C. Smith, G. Salinitri, & X. T. Nguyen (Eds.), Mentoring to support teacher candidate development. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02333-9_10
Laffier, J., Perry, B., & Westley, M. (in press). Combating hate-based behaviours in the rural lives of youth: Lessons learned from the first National Youth Forum on Hate in Canada. In C. Jones & A. Farrell (Eds.), Rural education in Canada. University of Toronto Press.
Laffier, J., Westley, M., & Puy-as, J. (in press). Building resilience for pre-service teachers with Mental Health First Aid training. In B. Kutsyuruba, K. Walker, & S. Cherkowski (Eds.), Research handbook on educator wellbeing and resilience. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Westley, M., & Laffier, J. (in press). The life of a veteran teacher: Staying engaged and flourishing. In B. Kutsyuruba, K. Walker, & S. Cherkowski (Eds.), Research handbook on educator wellbeing and resilience. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Laffier, J., & Rehman, A. (2023). Virtual reality and trauma: Consideration for future teachers and trauma-informed practices. In A. Fegely & T. Cherner (Eds.), Bridging the XR technology-to-practice gap: Methods and strategies for blending extended realities into classroom instruction (Vol. 2). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/222293/
Petrarca, D., Van Nuland, S., Laffier, J., & Ruttenberg-Rozen, R. (2022). Ontario Tech University’s Bachelor of Education program--A continuous state of learning. In J. Kitchen & D. Petrarca (Eds.), Initial teacher education in Ontario: The four-semester teacher education programs after five years. In Canadian research in teacher education: A polygraph series (Vol. 12) [eBook]. Canadian Association for Teacher Education/Canadian Society for the Study of Education. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/114502
Laffier, J. (2020). Depression and suicide in the virtual worlds of youth. In D. Lester (Ed.), Understanding suicide ideation (pp. 137-165). Nova Science Publishers. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-38551-008
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Westley, M., Laffier, J., Rehman, A., Eriksen, G., & Sønderby, R. (2026). Using psychological principles to design an evidence-based mental health check-in for post-secondary students. Academia Mental Health and Well-Being, 3(1). https://www.doi.org/10.20935/MHealthWellB8157
Laffier, J., Westley, M., & Rehman, A. (2025). The role of digital wellness in digital citizenship and digital literacy models in schools: A qualitative comparative analysis. Academia Mental Health and Well-Being, 2(4). https://www.doi.org/10.20935/MHealthWellB8019
Laffier, J., Westley, M., & Farrow, M. (2025). Navigating digital wellness for teens with mental health needs: Developing an evidence-based toolkit to support youth well-being. Future Review: International Journal of Transition, College, and Career Success, 6(3). https://www.adastrari.org/_files/ugd/d9226a_39e86c314691420b8cfeca4b58c8ab5c.pdf
Laffier, J., Rehman, A., & Westley, M. (2025). A conceptual framework to understand the relationships between digital wellness and artificial intelligence. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 28(7), 478-488. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2024.0546
Laffier, J., & Rehman, A. (2023). Deepfakes and harm to women. Journal of Digital Life and Learning, 3(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.51357/jdll.v3i1.218
Laffier, J. (2016). Empowering bullying victims through artistic expression. Canadian Art Therapy Association Journal, 29(1), 12–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/08322473.2016.1171987
Refereed Conference Proceedings Publications
Laffier, J., Westley, M., Rehman, A., Erikson, G., & Sonderby, R. (2025). Tech with a conscious: A technology intervention for student mental health. INTED: 19th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference (pp. 7186-7194). Valencia, Spain: IATED. doi: 10.21125/inted.2025.1863
Laffier, J., Rehman, A., & Westley, M. (2025). A theoretical framework for integrating AI and mental health literacies to enhance youth well-being and education. INTED: 19th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference (pp. 7179-7185). Valencia, Spain: IATED. doi: 10.21125/inted.2025.1862
Laffier, J. (2025). Digital Wellness: A new Psychological Framework that supports psychoeducational practices. INTED: 19th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference (pp. 7148-7154). Valencia, Spain: IATED. doi: 10.21125/inted.2025.1857
Rehman, A., Laffier, J., & Westley, M. (2025). Leveraging AI to enhance mental health support in post-secondary institutions. INTED: 19th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference (pp. 6191-6195). Valencia, Spain: IATED. doi: 10.21125/inted.2025.1604
Westley, M., & Laffier, J. (2024). Caution: This content may be triggering! Consideration for
classroom media and trauma-informed practices by educators. EDULEARN24: 16th annual International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (pp. 373-379). Valencia, Spain: IATED. https://doi.org/10.21125/edulearn.2024.0149
Laffier, J., & Westley, M. (2024). Exploring classroom media, trauma, and impacts on
marginalized youth. EDULEARN24: 16th annual International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (pp. 7877-7886). Valencia, Spain: IATED. https://doi.org/10.21125/edulearn.2024.1848
Laffier, J., Rehman, A., & Westley, M. (2024). Exploring digital wellness perspectives among graduate students. EDULEARN24: 16th annual International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (pp. 3055-3059). Valencia, Spain: IATED. https://doi.org/10.21125/edulearn.2024.0811
Laffier, J. & Rehman, A. (2024). A youth in policing initiative in Ontario: Empowering youth to be mental health advocates in their schools and communities. EDULEARN24: 16th annual International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (pp. 3060-3067). https://library.iated.org/view/LAFFIER2024AYO
Laffier, J., & Westley, M. (2024). Exploring trauma-informed practices for media use in the classroom and recommendations for educator training. In J. Cohen & G. Solano (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 2116-2122). Las Vegas, Nevada, United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/224268/
Collins, C., Arbour, S., Beals, N., Yama, S., Laffier, J., & Zhao, Z. (2022). Covid Connect: Chat-Driven Anonymous Story-Sharing for Peer Support. In Proceedings of the 2022 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (pp. 301–318). New York, NY, United States: Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3532106.3533545
Laffier, J., & Westley, M. (2022). Young adults, movies, and trauma: Educating pre-service teachers about trauma informed practices. In E. Langran (Ed.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 325-333). San Diego, CA, United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/221123/
Laffier, J., & Bowman, M. (2021). Graffiti in the 21st-century classroom: Promoting learning and empowerment for students with traditional and digital graffiti. In T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 1-6). United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/219631/
Laffier, J., & Luchka, L. (2021). Supporting 21st-century student learning and well-being with comics: A review of the literature. In E. Langran & L. Archambault (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 1269-1275). Online, United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/219283/
Kay, R., & Laffier, J. (2020). Exploring gender differences in how preservice teachers learn new technology. In Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 401-405). Online, The Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/217329/
Laffier, J. (2019). Online learning: Why is it a source of stress for some post-secondary students? In S. Carliner (Ed.), Proceedings of E-Learn: World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education (pp. 306-315). New Orleans, Louisiana, United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). https://www.learntechlib.org/p/212792
Reports
Laffier, J., & Rehman, A. (2024). Understanding post-secondary students’ mental health (Report no.1). Report created for Student Pulse and the Denmark Innobooster Project, Denmark.
Laffier, J., & Rehman, A. (2024). Exploring educational interventions for student learning and well-being (Report no.2). Report created for Student Pulse and the Denmark Innobooster Project, Denmark.
Laffier, J., & Rehman, A. (2024). Exploring current mental health models (Report no.3). Report created for Student Pulse and the Denmark Innobooster Project, Denmark.
Laffier, J., & Rehman, A. (2024). Matching student's needs: Design alignment (Report no.4). Report created for Student Pulse and the Denmark Innobooster Project, Denmark.
Laffier, J., & Rehman, A. (2024). Evaluations of StudentPulse check-in and prompts (Report no.5). Report created for Student Pulse and the Denmark Innobooster Project, Denmark.