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OPUS: Open Ulethbridge Scholarship

Open ULeth Scholarship (OPUS) is the University of Lethbridge's open access research repository. It contains a collection of materials related to research and teaching produced by the academic community.

Self-archiving your research in OPUS is one way to meet Open Access policies of granting agencies. It is important to retain your final, post-peer-reviewed drafts for submission to OPUS, as this is often the only version publishers will allow to be archived. Click here for information on the U of L Open Access Policy.

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    Transgender youth's perspectives on the relationships between pregnancy, contraceptives, and dysphoria
    (Elsevier, 2025) Lowik, A. J.; Al-Anzi, Shams M. F.; Chan, Ace; Ybarra, Michele; Saewyc, Elizabeth
    Purpose: To explore how trans youth with pregnancy capacity think through and understand the associations between pregnancy, contraception methods, and dysphoria. Methods: We conducted 8 asynchronous online focus groups (n ¼ 152) between 2020 and 2021 with trans youth assigned female at birth, and thus presumed capable of pregnancy, aged 14e18, who were living in the United States. Data were analyzed using a qualitative thematic approach informed by interpretive description. Results: Some youth participants were unequivocal in their belief that both pregnancy and contraception would give rise to gender-related distress, which affected how they framed the acceptability of pregnancy and various methods for its prevention. Others had more dynamic understandings of dysphoria, recognizing that it is not inevitable or uniformly experienced. Still others posited that dysphoria that does occur can be managed considering the individual’s priority goal or desire e whether to become a gestational parent or to prevent pregnancy. Participants discussed the importance of accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare, even if doing so requires them to navigate terrains of potential dysphoria, including dysphoria that is provoked by having to access gendered spaces and services and due to the use of gendered language. Discussion: Youth participants had varied, nuanced understandings of dysphoria and its potential impact on their conception, pregnancy, and contraception experiences. Many did not hold prescriptive views that dysphoria is a defining aspect of their lives as trans people. Findings suggest strategies for the delivery of gender-affirming, youth-friendly sexual and reproductive healthcare that attends to dysphoria-as-distress when it occurs.
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    Association between serum testosterone and measures of cardiovascular health among transgender individuals using gender-affirming testosterone therapy: a cross-sectional study
    (Springer Nature, 2025) Pattar, Badal S. B.; Harrison, Tyrone G.; Saad, Nathalie; Dumanski, Sandra M.; Lowik, A. J.; Ronksley, Paul E.; Greene, Dina N.; Whitley, Cameron T.; Rytz, Chantal L.; Turino Miranda, Keila; Peace, Lindsay; Newbert, Amelia M.; Sola, Darlene Y.; Ahmed, Sofia B.
    Background: Gender-affirming testosterone therapy (GATT) use may be associated with increased systolic blood pressure (SBP). The association between serum testosterone and cardiovascular health in individuals using GATT is unknown. The objective of this study was to estimate the association between serum testosterone and validated measures of cardiovascular health, including SBP and arterial stiffness, in persons assigned female sex at birth using GATT. Methods: Healthy participants assigned female sex at birth on a stable GATT regimen for ≥ 4 months were recruited to this community-partnered exploratory cross-sectional study. Exposures of interest were total and free serum testosterone concentration. As our primary outcome, SBP was measured by an automated sphygmomanometer, and carotid-radial pulse wave velocity (PWVcr) and aortic augmentation index (AIx) were used to measure arterial stiff ness via applanation tonometry. Results: Participants (n = 18, median age 28 years, range: 18, 50) who predominantly self-identified as white (94%) and had been using GATT for a median of 48 months (range: 5, 84) were studied. Resting SBP, PWVcr, and AIx were 113 mmHg (range: 102, 129), 7 m/s (range: 4, 9), and 9% (range: − 10, 23), respectively. Total and free serum testoster one were not significantly associated with SBP or PWVcr. Free, but not total, serum testosterone was positively associ ated with AIx (p = 0.03). Sensitivity analyses did not modify any results. Conclusions: In healthy transgender individuals, serum testosterone concentrations may not be associated with measures of cardiovascular health. However, these results need to be interpreted with caution given the limited sample size.
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    Embedding research capacity strengthening in multicountry sexual health research
    (BMJ, 2025) Fine, Elizabeth; Muriuki, Peter; Hunter, Erin C.; Gonsalves, Lianne; Brizuela, Vanessa; CoTSIS Study Group; Lowik, A. J.
    Research capacity strengthening (RCS) is fundamental for advancing sustainable sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) research. This article examines how RCS was embedded into the CoTSIS study, a multicountry cognitive testing initiative across 19 countries based on existing frameworks and experience. We offer lessons learnt for others intending to embed RCS in multicountry research implementation. The CoTSIS study incorporated RCS at all stages of study implementation. Capacity strengthening was incorporated in study start- up through the application and selection process of study teams, protocol co- creation and adaptation of the study tool into 15 languages. RCS was also embedded through training of study teams in cognitive interviewing techniques, ethics and sensitive research methods using a flipped classroom approach, as well as by providing ongoing support during data collection and during joint analysis and results write- up. There were several lessons learnt from this experience, such as: (1) include RCS goals and budget during study planning; (2) plan for training and needs assessments; (3) benefit from the advantages of online tools; (4) budget resources for knowledge translation activities; and (5) plan for assessing sustained capacity strengthened. By embedding specific and intentional RCS goals and activities, multicountry studies can contribute to long- lasting and sustainable RCS, encouraging power shifts and country ownership
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    The impact of executive function on stress, difficulties, and teaching behaviours of pre-service teachers on their first practicum placement
    (Elsevier, 2025) MacCormack, Jeffrey; Brenner, Charlotte
    This article describes the impact of executive function on pre-service teachers’ experiences during their first practicum placement, with a focus on the key stressors and their perceptions of difficulties. Participants, pre-service teachers with normative executive function (n = 28) and elevated executive function difficulties (n = 23), answered weekly questions about their stressors and frequency of troubles while on their first practicum placement. Analyses of their responses suggest that pre-service teachers with elevated executive function difficulties report higher levels of stress and more frequent troubles than their peers with normative executive function skills. Implications for teacher education programs and practice are discussed.
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    Great Egret (Ardea alba) × Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) hybrid nestlings observed in Parkland County, Alberta
    (Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club, 2026) Stoker, Dan; Scott, David R.
    We report multiple observations of four Great Egret (Ardea alba) × Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) hybrid nestlings in Parkland County, Alberta, in July 2025. To our knowledge, this is the first published report of an observation of this hybrid combination in Canada and the first report of a nest with young of this hybrid combination anywhere. We outline the timeline and nature of the observations, provide photographs of the nestlings and an adult Great Egret visiting the nest, and briefly discuss the breeding ecology of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons. Finally, we note observations, including photographs, of an apparent hybrid Great Egret × Great Blue Heron observed in Calgary, Alberta, in September 2025.