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Amanda L. McGowan, PhD

Assistant Professor, Psychology


Amanda L. McGowan, PhD
Concordia University, photo by Marc Bourcier
Phone: (514) 848-2424 ext.
Email: amanda.mcgowan@concordia.ca
Website(s): https://amandalmcgowan.weebly.com/
https://github.com/amandamcgow
https://osf.io/y6mra/
Availability: PSYC316 Office Hours: Tuesdays 10:15-11:15am
ORCID: 0000-0003-3422-0135

Education

Postdoctoral Researcher Addiction Health & Adolescence Lab, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania

PhD Kinesiology (Cognitive Motor Neuroscience), Michigan State University

MSc Experiential Education, Minnesota State University, Mankato

BA (Hons) Kinesiology & General French, Wilfrid Laurier University

Research Interests

Amanda McGowan is Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Concordia University. She is a health neuroscientist curious about how we can improve physical and mental health for children and families. She makes use of theoretical and empirical frameworks across affective, cognitive, educational, and developmental sciences to best answer her research questions. She combines ambulatory and experience-sampling techniques (smartphone applications, accelerometry), psychophysiological measures (MRI, eye-tracking, EEG), and network science tools. Her most recent work is examining the interrelationships among parent-child emotion regulation, physical activity, sleep, and sedentary behavior. 

Research Topics

Digital and mobile health; physical activity, sleep, screen time; wellbeing; sports-related concussion; mindfulness; substance use; emotion regulation; self-regulation; academic achievement; network science; complex systems

Biographie

Amanda McGowan est professeure adjointe au département de psychologie de l'Université Concordia. Elle est une neuroscientifique de la santé curieuse de savoir comment nous pouvons améliorer la santé physique et mentale des enfants et des familles. Elle utilise les cadres théoriques et empiriques des sciences affectives, cognitives, éducatives et du développement pour mieux répondre à ses questions de recherche. Elle combine des techniques ambulatoire et de la santé numerique (les applications smartphones et l'accélérométrie), des mesures psychophysiologiques (IRM, eye-tracking, EEG) et des outils de science des réseaux. Ses travaux les plus récents portent sur les interrelations entre la régulation des émotions des parents et des enfants, l'activité physique, le sommeil et le comportement sédentaire. 

Research Program
Photo credit: Amanda L. McGowan

Teaching activities

Assistant Professor Concordia University

PSYC 316: Statistical Analysis II

Assistant Professor (Fixed-Term) Michigan State University

All ratings are obtained from the MSU Student Instructional Rating System. Scores range from Superior (1) to Inferior (5).
 

KIN173: Foundations of Kinesiology (Overall student evaluation 1.4 out of 5)

KIN330: Biomechanics of Physical Activity (Overall student evaluation 1.7 out of 5)


Instructor Michigan State University

All data obtained from Michigan State University Student Instructor Rating System ranging from superior (1) to inferior (5).

KIN360: Physical Growth & Motor Behavior (Overall student evaluation of 1.9 out of 5)

KIN250: Measurement in Kinesiology (Overall student evaluation of 2.4 out of 5)

Laboratory Instructor

All data obtained from Michigan State University Student Instructor Rating System ranging from superior (1) to inferior (5). 

KIN251: Principles of Human Movement (Overall student rating of 1.9 out of 5)

KIN173: Foundations of Kinesiology (Overall student rating of 1.8 out of 5)

Writing & Communication Specialist (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics) University of Waterloo

Data obtained from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and University of Waterloo Writing Centre from Below Expectations (1) to Exceeded Expectations (5).

TERRE CREATE: Technical Writing (Overall student evaluation of 4.5 out of 5)

BIOL690: Scientific Communication (Overall student evaluation of 4.5 out of 5)

PHARM601/616: MSc Thesis Proposal & PhD Dissertation Proposal (Overall student evaluation of 4.6 out of 5)

STAT938: Statistical Consulting (Overall student evaluation of 4.6 out of 5)

ECON472: Senior Honours Thesis (Overall student evaluation of 4.7 out of 5)

PHYS491: Special Topics in Life, Medical, and Biophysics (Overall student evaluation of 4.6 out of 5)

BASE44: Writing Skills (Overall student evaluation of 4.6 out of 5)


Publications

Selected Publications

1. McGowan, A.L., Boyd, Z.M., Kang, Y., Bennett, L., Mucha, P.J., Ochsner, K.N., Bassett, D.S., Falk, E.B., Lydon-Staley, D.M. (accepted). Within-person temporal associations among self-reported physical activity, sleep, and well-being in college students. Psychosomatic Medicine. Preprint:  https://psyarxiv.com/q4jn3

2. McGowan, A.L., Parkes, L., He, X., Stanoi, O., Kang, Y., Lomax, S., Jovanova, M., Mucha, P.J., Ochsner, K.N., Falk, E.B., Bassett, D.S., & Lydon-Staley, D.M. (2022). Controllability of structural brain networks and the waxing and waning of negative affect in daily life. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsgos.2021.11.008

3. McGowan, A.L., Falk, E.B., Zurn, P., Bassett, D.S., & Lydon-Staley, D.M. (2022). Daily and momentary sensation-seeking and urgency in young adults: Associations with risk-taking and sleep. Addictive Behaviors, 127, 107219. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107219

4. McGowan, A.L., Gerde, H.K., Pfeiffer, K.A., & Pontifex, M.B. (2022). Meeting 24-hour movement behavior guidelines in young children: Improved quantity estimation and self-regulation. Early Education and Development. doi: 10.1080/10409289.2022.2056694

5. McGowan, A. L., Chandler, M.C., & Pontifex, M.B. (2021). Aerobic fitness relates to superior exact and approximate arithmetic processing in college-aged adults. Trends in Neuroscience & Education, 23(2021), 100154

6. McGowan, A.L., Bretzin, A.C., Anderson, M., Pontifex, M.B., & Covassin, T. (2021). Paired cognitive flexibility task with symptom factors improves detection of sports-related concussion in high school and collegiate athletes. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 428(2021), 117575

7. McGowan, A.L., Chandler, M.C., Brascamp, J.W., & Pontifex, M.B. (2019). Pupillometric indices of locus-coeruleus activation are not modulated following single bouts of exercise. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 140, 41-52

Preprints (in review): 
1. McGowan, A.L., Sayed, F., Boyd, Z.M., Jovanova, M., Kang, Y., Speer, M.E., Cosme, D., Mucha, P.J., Ochsner, K.N., Bassett, D.S., Falk, E.B., Lydon-Staley, D.M. (in review). Dense sampling approaches for psychiatry research: Adventures with scanners and smartphones

2. Wang, X., McGowan, A.L., Fosco, G.M., Falk, E.B., Bassett, D.S., & Lydon-Staley, D.M. (in review). A socioemotional network perspective on momentary experiences of family conflict in young adults. Preprint: 10.31234/osf.io/wj92g

3. McGowan, A.L., Chandler, M.C., & Gerde, H.K. (in review). Infusing physical activity into early childhood classrooms: Guidance for best practices. 

Selected Conference Presentations

McGowan, A.L., Sayed, F., Boyd, Z.M., Jovanova, M., Kang, Y., Speer, M.E., Cosme, D., Mucha, P.J., Ochsner, K.N., Bassett, D.S., Falk, E.B., Lydon-Staley, D.M. (accepted). Dense sampling approaches for psychophysiological research: Current reality and future possibilities for studying real-world behavior [Poster]. Society for Psychophysiological Research Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC, September 28-October 1, 2022. 

McGowan, A.L. & Lydon-Staley, D.M. (accepted). Exploring parent-child dyadic networks to design a smartphone-based mindfulness intervention for underserved families [Poster]. The Association of Computing Machinery International Conference on Mobile Human-Computer Interaction, Vancouver, BC, September 28-October 1, 2022.

McGowan, A.L. (2022). Combining smartphones and scanners: Controllability of structural brain networks and the waxing and waning of negative affect in young adults’ daily life. In N. Chaku & A.M. Beltz (Chairs), Intensive longitudinal methods for studying multidimensional developmental processes [Symposium]. Association for Psychological Science 34th Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, United States. 

McGowan, A.L. (2022). Network analysis of within-person associations among physical activity, sleep, and wellbeing in college students’ daily lives. Presented to Higher-Order Models in Network Science: A NetSci 2022 Satellite Workshop. 

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