Anxiety has become a common challenge among Canadian youth, affecting roughly 15% of them. What’s concerning is that anxiety disorders have been on the rise for the past 30 years, and the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this trend. This ongoing increase calls for action and digging deeper into why our youth feel this way. Among the many factors, our genes seem to play a significant role in how we handle anxiety-triggering situations, and this is true across our lifespan. While we start to have a better understanding of the role of genes in anxiety among adults, we know very little about genes in youth. Understanding more about the role genes play in the onset of anxiety disorders will help to shed light on the mechanisms that are at play when youth develop these disorders and inform better ways to treat these conditions. We want to close this gap in knowledge regarding youth anxiety by conducting a collaborative study across 5 study sites in 4 provinces.
By taking part in the GAYA Study, youth can make a real difference in understanding and tackling anxiety disorders in kids and teens, potentially shaping how we support mental health for future generations. Kids participating in this study who are facing extra anxiety and currently not receiving help will be offered access to an online program called Breathe.*
| Title of Project | The GAYA Study – Exploring the Genetic Architecture of Youth Anxiety |
| Objective | To better understand youth anxiety and find better ways to treat this condition. |
| Criteria | • participants can join regardless of their anxiety level (even if they don’t experience anxiety) • youth between the ages of 10-19 • able to speak and read English • have access to a mobile device or tablet to play the app games |
| Potential Risks | Answering questions on mental well-being may make participants feel uncomfortable. If participants don’t like some of the questions, they may skip them. If the questions make them uncomfortable, they are encouraged to talk to someone or contact the researcher. Additionally, participants may experience minimal discomfort (dry mouth) when they give a spit sample.
Procedures are in place that are designed to make it very difficult for the results from the genetic research to be linked to the identity of a participant. However, with the rapid advances in genetic technology, there may be a risk that the genetic information in the samples could be linked back to the participants. This is very unlikely, but a possibility, though the researchers will do everything possible to protect the privacy of study participants. |
| End Date | May 31, 2026 |
| Time Required | Participation is expected to take approximately 45 minutes, and involves completing easy online surveys and playing interactive games on an app. To play these games, participants are required to have access to a smartphone or tablet. Participants will also be mailed a saliva kit delivered to their home (return postage provided). |
| Survey Link | Click here to participate in the study |
| Participation Gift | A $15 Online Amazon Gift Card will be emailed to participants as a thank-you for finishing the study. |
| Contact | If youth or parents have additional questions about the study, please contact [email protected] to learn more about the study before signing up. |
*The GAYA Breathe Program (Optional): We get that talking about mental health isn’t always easy, especially for young people. That’s why participants can skip questions they feel uncomfortable with. Suppose we learn anything that would cause us to believe that a participant has a mental health disorder but is not in treatment (i.e., based on their answers to the questionnaires). In that case, we will contact them by email and ask if they would like further information on how to get help. For those kids facing extra anxiety and currently not receiving help, we’re offering access to an online program called Breathe. This program has been proven in a large clinical trial to help teenagers aged 13 and up handle their anxiety better.