Shelley Clark, McGill University

Research

Depression Family Life Events Resilience Social Support

Latest papers

Sterilization, Infecundity, and Reproductive Autonomy in Rural, Suburban, and Urban America: Results From a National Survey.
Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health · 2025 · first author
Are Rural Areas Holdouts in the Second Demographic Transition? Evidence From Canada and the United States.
Demography · 2024 · first author
A life course perspective on BMI in rural America.
Health & place · 2021 · first author

All 18 publications

Latest funding

Rural Lives in Canada: A Focus on Children, Youth, and Families
SSHRC · 2024 · Principal investigator
$43,900
The Canadian Family Change Project
SSHRC · 2022 · Co-investigator
$67,222
The Canadian Family Change Project
SSHRC · 2022 · Co-investigator
$133,756

All 9 grants and awards

18 publications.

01

Sterilization, Infecundity, and Reproductive Autonomy in Rural, Suburban, and Urban America: Results From a National Survey.

Clark S, Levy Z

Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health2025First author

DOI: 10.1111/psrh.70006 PMID: 40090703

02

Are Rural Areas Holdouts in the Second Demographic Transition? Evidence From Canada and the United States.

Clark S, Brooks MM, Helou AM, Margolis R

Demography2024First author

DOI: 10.1215/00703370-11237867 PMID: 38517144

03

A life course perspective on BMI in rural America.

Clark S

Health & place2021First author

DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2021.102562 PMID: 33765494

04

The Psychological Benefits of Marriage and Children in Rural Malawi.

Clark S, Cotton C, Margolis R, Kohler HP

Studies in family planning2020First author

DOI: 10.1111/sifp.12133 PMID: 32720321

05

The Impact of Childcare on Poor Urban Women's Economic Empowerment in Africa.

Clark S, Kabiru CW, Laszlo S, Muthuri S

Demography2019First author

DOI: 10.1007/s13524-019-00793-3 PMID: 31286428

06

Kin support and child health: Investigating two approaches in an African slum.

Clark S, Madhavan S, Kabiru C

Social science research2018First author

DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2018.08.001 PMID: 30268272

07

An assets-based approach to promoting girls' financial literacy, savings, and education.

Clark S, Paul M, Aryeetey R, Marquis G

Journal of adolescence2018First author

DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2018.07.010 PMID: 30071449

08

Measuring extended families over time in informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya: Retention and data consistency in a two-round survey.

Madhavan S, Beguy D, Clark S, Kabiru C

Demographic research2018

DOI: 10.4054/demres.2018.38.44 PMID: 29706796

09

Variation in the link between parental divorce and children's health disadvantage in low and high divorce settings.

Smith-Greenaway E, Clark S

SSM - population health2017Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2017.04.004 PMID: 28890915

10

Who Helps Single Mothers in Nairobi? The Role of Kin Support.

Clark S, Madhavan S, Cotton C, Beguy D, Kabiru C

Journal of marriage and the family2017First author

DOI: 10.1111/jomf.12404 PMID: 29479116

Rural Lives in Canada: A Focus on Children, Youth, and Families

Principal investigatorSSHRC2024Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Clark, Shelley

Keywords: family change; rural; child well-being; transitions to adulthood

$43,900

The Canadian Family Change Project

Co-investigatorSSHRC2022Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Margolis, Rachel

Keywords: family; demography; marriage; divorce

$67,222

The Canadian Family Change Project

Co-investigatorSSHRC2022Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Margolis, Rachel

Keywords: family; demography; marriage; divorce

$133,756

Are Rural Americans Disadvantaged? Inequalities in Life Course Trajectories across the Rural-Urban Divide

Principal investigatorSSHRC2019Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Clark, Shelley

Keywords: rural/urban inequalities; life course trajectories; family dynamics; education; financial security; human capital; social capital; cultural capital; rural-urban migration

$175,024

Pilot Test of a New Family Support Tree (FST) Survey Instrument in Montréal, Canada and Nairobi, Kenya

Principal investigatorSSHRC2013

Principal investigators: Clark, Shelley

Keywords: family demography; survey instruments

$64,700

Social support and resilience to depression across the life course in Canada

Principal investigatorCIHR2012Planning Grants - Priority Announcement: International Research Collaborations

Principal investigators: Quesnel-Vallée, Amélie; Abrahamowicz, Michal M; Clark, Shelley; Fuhrer, Rebecca; Kaufman, Jay S; Le Bourdais, Céline; Shor, Eran; Wrosch, Carsten

Keywords: Depression; Family; Life Events; Resilience; Social Support

$16,000

Canada Research Chair in Youth, Gender, and Global Health

Principal investigatorSSHRC2012Canada Research Chairs

Principal investigators: Clark, Shelley

Keywords: global health, hiv/aids, youth, adolescents, gender, reproductive health, demography, family structure, quantiative analyses, longitudinal data

$500,000

Gender and parasitic diseases: integrating gender analysis in epidemiologic research on parasitic diseases to optimize the impact of prevention and control measures

Co-investigatorCIHR2009Catalyst Grant: Methods and Measures for Gender, Sex and Health

Principal investigators: Gyorkos, Theresa W

Keywords: Deworming; Epidemiology; Gender Analysis; Global Health; Parasitic Diseases; School-Age Children; Worms

$100,000

Canada Research Chair in Youth, Gender and Global Health

Principal investigatorSSHRC2007Canada Research Chairs

Principal investigators: Clark, Shelley

Keywords: health; hiv/aids; youth; gender; transitions

$500,000

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Rachel Margolis

Sociology

2 shared papers, latest 2024

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their SSHRC grant from 2024

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Depression Dear Professor Clark, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Sterilization, Infecundity, and Reproductive Autonomy in Rural, Suburban, and Urban America: Results From a National Survey." (2025), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your SSHRC-funded project "Rural Lives in Canada: A Focus on Children, Youth, and Families" (2024), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]