News and Events

MDI Data Trends & Exploring the New Data Dashboard

Dr. Eva Oberle, scientific lead for the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI), and others from the MDI team, share highlights from the 2022-23 MDI data collection of over 47,000 children in grades 4 through 8 in BC.

MDI Questionnaire Updates 2022-23

In 2022-23, we have made some updates to the MDI questionnaires based on feedback from our school and community partners, and to align with emerging trends and research in middle childhood development.

Three years on – mental health, early adolescence and the pandemic: What we know from the student perspective

Join Dr. Eva Oberle, lead for the MDI, with Dr. Kimberly Thomson and Randip Gill, as they share highlights from the latest MDI data and shed light on children’s well-being over time and, in particular, changes that have occurred during the current pandemic.

Positive Personal and Cultural Identity and the MDI

The MDI aligns with the BC Curriculum’s Core Competencies on Positive Personal and Cultural Identity, which “involves the awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the factors that contribute to a healthy sense of oneself; it includes knowledge of one’s family background, heritage(s), language(s), beliefs, and perspectives…

Embedding MDI Conversations in Classrooms

Following a workshop for school teams from the Sunshine Coast School District to dig into recent School District MDI data, interest emerged from schools to connect further with students in interpreting MDI data and deciding how to move to action. The district team developed lesson plans…

How the MDI aligns with mental health promotion as we head back to school

With new funding and the release of the Ministry of Education’s Key Principles and Strategies for K-12 Mental Health Promotion report, new opportunities to align MDI with the framework and support its implementation are emerging.

How are the kids?

Join Dr. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl as she shares highlights from the latest MDI data collected earlier this year from over 38,000 children in grade 4 through 8 in British Columbia, with comparisons to MDI data collected in past years in order to shed light on children’s well-being over time both before and during the current pandemic…

MDI School District & Community Reports for the 2020/21 school year are now available.

The Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI) School District & Community Reports for the 2020/21 school year are now available. These reports provide a comprehensive overview of MDI results for participating school districts in BC, including neighbourhood profiles and maps.

Promoting Outdoor Play in Schools and Communities

Outdoor play promotes children’s healthy social and physical development, emotional wellbeing, self-confidence, risk management and provides opportunities for being physically active. However, free outdoor play in childhood has declined…

Sharing your MDI Data with Your School Community

Current research on the impacts of the pandemic on school-aged children are signaling an urgent and ongoing need to address the additional pressures on children’s mental health and well-being.

Discover MDI

A field guide to well-being in the middle years

A powerful tool to understand and support children’s well-being and positive development in the middle years

Faculty of Medicine

School of Population & Public Health