Dr. Alex Bierman

The CAFE Study is a national longitudinal survey of over 4,000 Canadian older adults between 2021 and 2022 that examines how caregiving and financial conditions influence the mental health of Canadian older adults.  Social psychology plays a central role in this study, as it examines how attitudes about one’s self and social relationships--including self-esteem, mastery, mattering, and loneliness--intercede in the mental health effects of caregiving and financial stress.  Furthermore, the CAFE Study examines a number of religious beliefs in more detail than is common in research on Canadian older adults.  This includes whether people believe that they have a supportive relationship with a higher power or believe that a higher power influences their lives.  The CAFE Study is, therefore, able to examine the potential mental health ramifications of religious beliefs in much more detail than in previous research on Canadian older adults.  The CAFE Study is funded by an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, with Dr. Bierman as Principal Investigator. 

The C-QWELS study is a multi-pronged national longitudinal study of working Canadians prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.  One leg of this study follows multiples samples of Canadians from prior to the pandemic into the pandemic.  The first two of these samples were gathered in the fall of 2019 and March of 2020, and both have been repeatedly surveyed throughout the pandemic.  A second leg of this study has surveyed additional working Canadians every fall between 2020 and 2023, with these additional samples also followed longitudinally.  This research can, therefore, trace individuals throughout the pandemic and beyond, and while also providing snapshots of the Canadian workforce once a year between 2019 and 2023.  As a part of this study, Dr. Bierman has published research on the health effects of changes in social isolation, loneliness, and financial stress, as well as how social trust changed during the pandemic.