RAY DEV. PETERS

Professor Emeritus
Department of Psychology

Ph.D. University of Waterloo
M.A. University of Waterloo
A.B. Dartmouth College

(613) 533-6672
(613) 533-6732

Address

Department of Psychology
Queen's University at Kingston
Kingston, Ontario
K7L 3N6

Dr. Peters is a Professor of Psychology at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. He has been involved in the field of child development and children's mental health research for over 35 years. His major research interests concern the promotion of children's well-being and the prevention of children's mental health problems.

As Research Director for the Better Beginnings, Better Futures Project, he heads a multidisciplinary team from 6 Ontario Universities, and local research teams in disadvantaged neighbourhoods across Ontario. The focus of this research is evaluating community-based programs which influence the development of young children and their families. Dr. Peters has been a Visiting Scientist at the Mental Health Division of the World Health Organization in Geneva, and the Social Learning Center in Eugene, OR. He has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Banff International Conference on Behavioural Science since 1981, and chaired the March 2003 meetings on "Effective Progress for Early Childhood Development."

He has also served as a member of the Expert Advisory Committee for the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, and is a member of the Directing Counsel for the Health Canada Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development.

RESEARCH AREAS AND ASSOCIATED PUBLICATIONS/PRESENTATIONS:

Research Area: Prevention of emotional and behavioural problems and promotion of mental health in children

Peters, R. DeV. (2005). A community-based approach to promoting resilience in young children, their families, and their neighbourhoods. In Peters, R. DeV., Leadbeater, B., & McMahon, R.J. (Eds). Resilience in children, families and communities: Linking context to practice and policy (pp. 157-176). New York: Springer.

Herry, Y., Peters, R. DeV., & Arnold, R. (2004). Le project Partir d'un bon pas pour un avenir meilleur: ses effets à court terme auprès de la population de Cornwall. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health.

Peters, R. DeV., Petrunka, K., & Arnold, R. (2003). The Better Beginnings, Better Futures Project. A universal, comprehensive, community-based prevention approach for primary school children and their families. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32, 215-226.

Pancer, S.M., Nelson, G., Dearing, B., Dearing, S., Hayward, K., & Peters, R. DeV. (2003). Promoting wellness in families and children through community-based interventions: The Highfield Community Enrichment Project. In K. Kufeldt & B. McKenzie (Eds.). Child Welfare: Connecting research, policy, and practice (pp. 111-121). Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

Craig, W.M., & Peters, R. DeV. (2002). The mediating role of the peer group in early adolescence. In Wilms, D. (Ed.). Vulnerable Children: Findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth (pp., 317-327). Edmonton: University of Alberta Press.

Nelson, G., Prilleltensky, I., & Peters, R. DeV. (1999). Mental health promotion and the prevention of mental health problems. In Marshall, W. & Firestone, P. (Eds.), Abnormal Psychology. Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice Hall Canada.

Landy, S., Peters, R. DeV., Arnold, R., Allen, A.B., Brookes, F., & Jewell, S. (1998). Evaluation of "Staying on Track": An early identification, tracking, intervention and referral system for infants, young children and their families. Infant Mental Health Journal, 19, 34-58.

Peters, R., DeV., Cameron, G., Narayan, J., & Vanderwood, J. (1997). Kindling community capacity. In Campfeus, H. (Ed.), Community development around the world. North York, Ontario: University of Toronto Press.

Peters, R. DeV., & Russell, C.C. (1996). Promoting development to prevent disorder: The Better Beginnings, Better Futures Project. In Peters, R. DeV. & McMahon, R.J. (Eds.), Preventing childhood disorders, substance abuse and delinquency (pp. 19-47). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Peters, R. DeV. (1994). Better Beginnings, Better Futures. A community-based approach to primary prevention. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 13, 183-188.

Research Area: Forging links among research scientists, practitioners and social policy analysts: The Banff International Conferences on Behavioural Science.

Peters, R. DeV., Leadbeater, B., & McMahon, R.J. (Eds.) (2005). Resilience in children, families and communities: Linking context to practice and policy. New York: Springer.

McMahon, R.J., & Peters, R. DeV. (Eds) (2002). Children of Disordered Parents. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.

Wolfe, D.A., McMahon, R.J., & Peters, R.DeV. (Eds.) (1997). Child Abuse: New directions in prevention and treatment across the lifespan. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Peters, R.DeV., & McMahon, R.J. (Eds.) (1996). Preventing childhood disorders, substance abuse and delinquency. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Research Area: Social policy and child development

Invited address to the Summer Institute on Early Childhood Development (Toronto, June 2005). Peters, R. DeV. (2005). Creating a Comphrehensive Early Child Development System.

Invited address to the B.C. Ministry of Child and Family Development and Community Action Toward Child's Health (Kelowna, B.C., February 2005). Peters, R. DeV. (2005). Linking community development with integrated early childhood development: Research and practice.

Peters, R. DeV. (2004). Comprehensive Community-Based Systems for Early Childhood Development. Invited address to the National Child Day Symposium "Children: A Sound Investment." Saskatoon. November 2004.

Peters, R. DeV. (2004). Does Best Practice Make Perfect? From Efficacy to Effectiveness Research in Early Learning and Child Care. Invited address to the Child Care for a Change Conference. Winnipeg. November 2004.

Peters, R. DeV. (2004) Practices, Policies and Research in Support of Early Childhood Development. Invited address to the Alberta Early Years Conference - Doing What Works. Edmonton. October 2004. Presented by Ray Peters.

Invited address to the 35th Annual Banff International Conference on Behavioural Science (Banff, March 16-19, 2003). Peters, R. DeV. (2003). Comprehensive, community-based projects for early childhood development. Presented by Ray Peters.

Peters, R.DeV., Peters, J.E., Laurendeau, M.C., Chamberlain, C. & Peirson, L. (2001). Social policies for promoting the well-being of Canadian children and families. In I. Prilleltensky, G. Nelson & L. Peirson (Eds.). Promoting family wellness and preventing child maltreatment. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Peters, R. DeV., Arnold, R., Petrunka, K., Angus, D., Brophy, K., Burke, S., Cameron, G., Evers, S., Herry, Y., Levesque, D., Pancer, M., Roberts-Fiati,G., Towson, S., & Warren, W. (2000). Developing capacity and competence in the Better Beginnings, Better Futures Communities: Short-term findings report. Toronto: Government of Ontario. (available through bbbf.queensu.ca)

Peters, R. DeV. (1999). The effects of early support and intervention programs to prevent long-term social problems and costs. Invited article to the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada. (www.hssfc.ca )

Peters, R. DeV. The effects of early support and intervention programs to prevent long-term social problems and costs. Invited address to the Parliament of Canada “Breakfast on the Hill” seminar series sponsored by the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario. December 9, 1999.