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Concordia University Concordia celebrates 50 years!

School of Irish Studies

School of Irish Studies

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Dr. Linda Booij, PhD

  • Professor, Psychology

Research areas: Eating Disorders, Brain Development, (Epi)genetics

Contact information

Email:

linda.booij@concordia.ca

Biography

Research Interests

Dr. Booij’s research programme has a special focus on biopsychosocial pathways to eating disorders. She conducts her research in both clinical populations and longitudinal community-based samples and uses a combination of neuro-imaging, genetic, epigenetic, behavioural and cognitive assessments. 

Topics of ongoing research projects include:
- Brain development and eating disorders
- Early risk factors, DNA methylation and eating disorders
- Emotional-cognitive processing in (risk for) eating disorders
- In utero environment and brain development in children and associated epigenetic mechanisms

Dr. Booij is also a psychologist and researcher at the Eating Disorders Continuum of the Douglas Institute/CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal.

****Please note that Dr. Booij will not be accepting any graduate students at Concordia University for the 2025-2026 year ****


Education

PhD (Leiden University, the Netherlands)

Publications

Selected Recent Publications

Dufour R., Breton E., Morin, A.J.S., Côté S., Vitaro F., Boivin M., Dubois L., Tremblay R.E., & Booij L. (2023). Childhood hyperactivity, eating behaviours, and executive functions: Their association with the development of eating-disorder symptoms in adolescence. Journal of Eating Disorders, in press.

Booij, L., Israel., M., Ferrari, M., St-Hilaire, A., Paquin-Hodge, C., Allard, M., Blaquière, A., Dornik, J., Freiwald, S., Long, S., Monarque, M., Pelletier, W.D., Thaler, L., Yaffe, M., & Steiger, H. (2023). Development of a transdiagnostic digital interactive application for eating disorders: Psychometric properties, satisfaction, and perceptions on implementation in clinical practice. Journal of Eating Disorders, 11(1):146. doi: 10.1186/s40337-023-00871-3.

Alberga, A.S., Sacco, S., & Booij, L. (2023). Unintended consequences: The overlooked outcomes in pediatric obesity management. JAMA Pediatrics, Aug 7. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.2190.  

Coelho, J.**, Booij, L.**, Katzman, D., Dimitropoulos, G., & Obeid, N. (2023). The economic impact of eating disorders in children and youth in Canada: a call to action to improve youth eating-disorder research and care. Journal of Eating Disorders, 11(1):74.  doi: 10.1186/s40337-023-00794-z. **SHARED first authorship

Breton, E., Cote S., Dubois L., Vitaro, F., Boivin, M., Tremblay, R.E., & Booij, L. (2023). Childhood overeating and disordered eating from early adolescence to young adulthood: a longitudinal study on the mediating role of BMI, victimization and desire for thinness. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 52(8):1582-1594. doi: 10.1007/s10964-023-01796-5. 

Novack, K., Dufour, R., Picard, L., Taddeo, D., Nadeau, P-O, Katzman, D., Booij, L., & Chadi, N. (2023). Canadian pediatric eating disorder programs and virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods approach to understanding clinicians’ perspectives. Annals of General Psychiatry, 22(1):16. doi: 10.1186/s12991-023-00443-4

Breton, E., Juster, R-P, & Booij. L. (2023). Gender and sex in eating disorders: A narrative review of the current state of knowledge, research gaps, and recommendations. Brain & Behavior, 13(4):e2871. doi: 10.1002/brb3.2871. 

Steiger, H.**, Booij, L.**, Thaler, L., St-Hilaire, A., Israel, M., Casey, K.F., *Oliverio, S., *Crescenzi, O., Lee, V., Turecki, G., Joober, R., Szyf, M., * Bréton, E. (2023). DNA methylation in people with anorexia nervosa: Epigenome-wide patterns in actively ill, long-term remitted, and healthy-eater women. World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 24(3):254-259.  doi: 10.1080/15622975.2022.2089731. ** SHARED first-authorship.

Loose, T., Geoffrey, M-C., Orri, M., Chadi, N., *Scardera, S., Booij, L., Breton, E., Tremblay, R.E., Boivin, M., Côté, S. (2023) Pathways of association between disordered eating in adolescence and mental health outcomes in young adulthood during the COVID-19 pandemic. Canadian journal of public health, 114(1), 22–32. doi:10.17269/s41997-022-00715-8. 

Dufour, R., Novack, K. Chadi, N., & Booij, L. (2022) The use of technology in the treatment of youth with eating disorders: A scoping review. Journal of Eating Disorders, 10(1):182. doi:10.1186/s40337-022-00697-5.

Thaler, L., Booij, L., Burnham, N., Kenny, S., Oliverio, S., Israel, M., & Steiger, H. (2022). Predictors of non-completion of a day treatment program for adults with eating disorders. European Eating Disorders Review, 30(2):146-155. doi: 10.1002/erv.2879.

Novack, K., Dufour, R., Picard, L., Booij, L., & Chadi. N. (2022). An intensive ambulatory care program for adolescents with eating disorders combining in-person and virtual care: Protocol for a singe-site naturalistic trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research Protocols. 11(11):e37420. doi:10.2196/37420. 

Breton, É. & Booij, L. (2022). Du cerveau à l’assiette: Coup d’œil sur les troubles alimentaires. Revue Quebecoise, 43(1): 1-22

Breton, E., Fotso-Soh, J., & Booij, L. (2022). Immunoinflammatory processes: overlapping mechanisms between obesity and eating disorders? Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 138:104688. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104688.

Steiger, H., Booij, L., Singer, I., Crescenzi, O., Oliverio, S., Thaler, L., St-Hilaire, A., & Israel, M (2022). In-person versus virtual therapy in outpatient eating-disorder treatment: A COVID-19 inspired study. International Journal of Eating Disorders. 55:145-150. doi: 10.1002/eat.23655. 

Mortaji, N., Krzeczkowski, J.E., Boylan, K., Booij, L., & Van Lieshout, R. (2021). Individual and joint effects of maternal pregnancy diet and postnatal home environment on executive function and behaviour in 3-4 year-olds. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 114(4):1418-1427.  doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqab202

Khundrakpam, B., Tuerk, C., & Booij, L. (2021). Understanding heterogeneity in autism spectrum disorder: A methodological shift in neuroimaging research from investigating group differences to individual differences. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 6: 762–764. doi:10.1016/j.bpsc.2021.04.004

Wu, Y., Marc, I., Bourchard, L., Ouyang, F., Luo, Z.C., Fan, J., Dubois, L., Mâsse, B., Zhang, J., Leung, P., Liao, X. P., Herba, C., Booij, L., Shen, J., Lewin, A., Jian, H., Wang, L., Xu, J., Wu, W., Sun, W., Wu, J., Li, H., Lei, C., Korzyrski, A., Semenic, S., Chaillet, N., Masse, L., Zhan, J., Knoppers, B., Baillargeon, J. P., Velez, M., Zhang, H., Yu, Y., Yu, W., Ding, Y., Vaillancourt, C., Liu, H., Tetu, A., Fang, W., Zhao, X., Jin, Y., Liu, X., Zhang, H., Chen, Z., Hao, Y., Abdoulahab, N., Fraser, W. D., & Huang, H.(2021). Community-Family-Mother-Child Intervention Study to Prevent Childhood Obesity: Study protocol for the Sino-Canadian Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (SCHeLTI)- a randomized controlled trial. BMJ open, 1, 11(4): e045192. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-045192

Scardera, S., Sacco, S., DiSante, J., & Booij, L. (2021). Body image-related cognitive fusion: Role of disordered eating, self-compassion and sad mood. Eating and Weight Disorders, 46: 483-490. doi:10.1007/s40519-020-00868-w.

Booij, L. & Steiger, H. (2020). Applying epigenetic science to the understanding of eating disorders: A promising paradigm for research and practice. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 33:515–520. 

Sansfacon, J.**, Booij, L.**, Gauvin, L., Fletcher, F., Islam, F., Israel, M., & Steiger, H. (2020) Pre-treatment motivation and therapy outcomes in eating disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.  International Journal of Eating Disorders, 53: 1879–1900 **SHARED first authorship.

Steiger, H. , & Booij, L. (2020). Eating disorders,heredity and environmental activation: Getting epigenetic concepts into practice. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 9(5):1332. doi:10.3390/jcm9051332.

Burdo, J., Booij, L., Kahan, E., Thaler, L., Israel, M., Agellon, L.B., Nitschmann, E., Wykes, L., & Steiger, H. (2020). Plasma levels of one-carbon metabolism pathway nutrients in women with Anorexia Nervosa. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 53: 1534–1538. doi:10.1002/eat.23292

Kirkpatrick, R., Munoz, D. Khalid-Khan, S., & Booij, L. Methodological and clinical challenges associated with biomarkers for psychiatric disease: A scoping review. Journal of Psychiatric Research, doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.11.023 

Thaler, L., Brassard, S., Booij, L., Kahan, E., McGregor, K., Labbe, A., Israel, M., & Steiger, H. (2020). Methylation of the OXTR gene in women with Anorexia Nervosa: Relationship to social behavior. European Eating Disorders Review, 28:79–86. doi:10.1002/erv.2703

Booij, L. (2019). Genetic and epigenetic regulation of CRTC1 in human eating behaviour and fat distribution: Methodological and clinical insights and considerations. EBioMedicine, 45: 15–16. doi:10.1016/j.ebiom.2019.06.019. 

Sild, M., & Booij, L. (2019). Histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) – a new player in anorexia nervosa? Molecular Psychiatry, 24: 1425–1434. doi:10.1038/s41380-019-0366-8

Kirkpatrick, R., Booij, L. Vance, A., Marshall, B., Kanellos-Sutton, M., Marchand, P., & Khalid-Khan, S. (2019). Eating disorders and substance use in adolescents: How substance users differ from non-substance users in an outpatient eating disorders treatment clinic. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 52: 175–182. doi:10.1002/eat.23017

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