Marie Josée Letarte

Marie Josée Letarte is a Professor in the Department of Psychoeducation at the Université de Sherbrooke, where she served as Department Director from 2021-2025. She was promoted to full Professor in 2021 after previously serving as Associate Professor from 2012-2021.

Her educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Psychology (2007), Université de Montréal
• Master's in Psychoeducation (1998), Université de Montréal
• Bachelor's in Psychoeducation (1996), Université de Sherbrooke

Dr. Letarte's research focuses on the influence of parental competence on child development and supporting parents in vulnerable contexts. Her work examines parenting practices, school readiness, behavioral problems in children, parent-child relationships, and parenting training programs. She has particular expertise in gender differences in child development and the transition from preschool to elementary school, with a strong emphasis on evidence-based interventions like the 'Incredible Years' program.

Her recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on parenting interventions, child behavior problems, and school readiness. A significant portion of her work examines implementation fidelity of evidence-based parenting programs in child protection services. She frequently investigates how family characteristics moderate program effectiveness and how parenting practices influence child outcomes across various developmental domains.

Her scientific awards include:

• Doctoral Fellowship from the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture (FRQSC) in 2005
• A Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) in 2001 (which she declined)

Dr. Letarte has secured substantial research funding as both principal investigator and co-investigator. Her grants primarily come from Canadian funding agencies including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), and Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture (FRQSC). Her current major project (2021-2026) as Principal Investigator examines 'Effects of Parenting Programs on Trajectories of Medical Service Utilization among Boys and Girls receiving Child Protective Services: A Longitudinal Study' with $295,000 in funding from CIHR. She has received over $2 million in research funding throughout her career.

She is affiliated with the GRISE (Groupe de recherche et d'intervention sur les adaptations sociales de l'enfance), a research group focused on children's social adaptation. Her work involves close collaboration between researchers, practitioners, and community organizations to develop and evaluate interventions for vulnerable children and families, with particular attention to implementation science and knowledge translation.