Dr. Katherine Matheson is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa. She completed her medical school and residency training at Dalhousie University in Halifax, with additional fellowship training in Ottawa and Toronto. Dr. Matheson is the co-lead of the CHEO Infant and Early Childhood team and is passionate about working with young children and their families. She is a proponent of trauma-informed care and is focused on education/research predominantly in the area of infant mental health and adverse early experiences. When not at the hospital, Dr. Matheson can be found leading family room dance parties with her three young children.
Research Projects
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Dyadic attachment-based therapies for infants and young children with mental health problems: a scoping review
12/11/2025
Early child-caregiver attachment is foundational to mental health (MH). While prevention efforts often aim to improve attachment quality, clinicians frequently encounter infants and young children already exhibiting clinical symptoms of MH disorders. A comprehensive summary of attachment-based dyadic interventions for this population is lacking. This scoping review aims to address this gap.
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Quick, effective screening tasks identify children with medical conditions or disabilities needing physical literacy support.
03/01/2024
Activity adequacy, alone or with screen time, most effectively identified children likely to benefit from physical literacy support. Adequacy and screen time questionnaires are suitable for clinical use. Similar results regardless of diagnosis suggest physical competence deficits are not primary determinants of active lifestyles. Research to enhance screening specificity is required.
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Characterization of physical literacy in children with chronic medical conditions compared with healthy controls: a cross-sectional study
09/03/2021
Physical competence (motor skill, fitness) interventions, rather than motivation or education, are needed for these youth.