Scientific Staff Profiles

This page allows you to read information about people engaged in research at CAMH. You can search for researchers using the name or keyword search engine below.

Dr. Brenda Toner Social Equity and Health Research Centre for Addition and Mental Health 455 Spadina Avenue, Suite 300 Toronto, Ontario     M5S 2G8  (416) 535-8501 ext. 4271 brenda_toner@camh.net Dr. Brenda Toner is the Co-Head for the Social Equity & Health Research unit in the Social, Prevention and Health Policy Research department. Dr. Toner is also a Professor and Head of the Women’s Mental Health Program, and Director of Fellowship Program in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Search again?
Areas of Research Dr. Toner has published and presented on a variety of health related problems that are disproportionately diagnosed in women including eating disorders, anxiety, depression, chronic pelvic pain, chronic fatigue and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). She is particularly interested in investigating factors in the lives of women that cut across diagnoses including violence, body dissatisfaction, poverty, discrimination, and gender role socialization. She has received funding to develop and validate a gender role socialization scale for women. One of Dr. Toner’s major research interests is psychosocial assessment and treatment of functional gastrointestinal disorders in women. Dr. Toner has received international recognition for her work on cognitive-behavioral therapy for IBS and the treatment manual for a randomized control trial for cognitive-behavioral group therapy has been published in a book by Guilford Press. Dr. Toner has also developed and validated two scales in the area of IBS: a treatment satisfaction scale and a cognitive scale for functional bowel disorders. In recognition for her work in this field, Dr. Toner received the Research Scientist Award for outstanding clinical research in brain-gut interactions, Functional Brain Gut Group, American Gastrointestinal Association. Dr. Toner was a co-investigator on a large National Institute of Health funded, multi-centered trial of functional bowel disorders in women. Results of this study, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Versus Education and Desipramine Versus Placebo for Moderate to Severe Functional Bowel Disorders, has recently been published in Gastroenterology, a high-impact journal in the field. Currently, Dr. Toner is the Principal Investigator of a large CIHR clinical trial of functional bowel disorders in women.
Publications Tang, T. N., Oatley, K., & Toner, B. B. (2007).  Impact of life events and difficulties on the mental health of Chinese immigrant women.  Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. 9, 281-290.   Toner, B. (2005) Cognitive-behavioral treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. CNS Spectrums. 10(11) 883-890.   Ali, A., Toner, B.B. (2005) A Cross-Cultural investigation of emotional abuse among Caribbean women and Caribbean-Canadian women.  Journal of Emotional Abuse 5(1) 125-140.   Ross, E., Ali, A., & Toner, B.B.  (2003).  Investigating issues surrounding depression in adolescent girls across Ontario: A participatory action research project. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health 22(1) 55-67.   Drossman, D.A., Toner, B.B., Whitehead, W.E., Diamant, N.E., Dalton, PA.C., Duncan, S., Emmott, S., Proffitt, V., Akman, D., Frusciante, K., Le, T., Meyer, K., Bradshaw, B., Mikula, K., Morris, C.B., Blackman, C., Yuming, H., Huanguang J., Li, J.Z., Koch, G.G. and Bangdiwala, S.I. (2003) Cognitive-Behavioral therapy vs. education and desipramine vs. placebo for moderate to severe functional bowel disorders.  Gastroenterology, 125 19-31.   Ali, A., Oatley, K., & Toner, B.B.  (2002) Life stress, self-silencing and domains of meaning in unipolar depression: An investigation of an outpatient sample of women.  Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.  Vol. 21(4).   Ali, A. & Toner, B.B., (2001). Symptoms of depression among Caribbean women and Caribbean-Canadian women: An investigation of self-silencing and domains of meaning. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 25,175-180.   Toner, B.B.  & Akman, D.E. (2000).  Gender role and IBS: Literature review and hypothesis.  American Journal of Gastroenterology, 95(1), 11-16.   Pinhas, L., Toner, B.B., Ali, A., Garfinkel, P.E., & Stuckless, N. (1999). The effects of the ideal of female beauty on mood and body satisfaction.  International Journal of Eating Disorders, 25, 223-226.   Toner, B.B., Stuckless, N., Ali, A., Downie, F.P., Emmott, S., & Akman, D.E.  (1998). Development of a cognitive scale for functional bowel disorders.  Psychosomatic Medicine, 60(4), 492-497.   Toner, B.B., Segal, Z., Emmott, S., Myran, D., Ali, A., DiGasbarro, I., & Stuckless, N. (1998). Cognitive behavior group therapy for patients with irritable bowel syndrome.  International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 48(2), 215-243.   Ali, A. & Toner, B.B.   (1996).  Gender differences in depressive response: The role of social support.  Sex Roles. 35(5-6), 281-293.   Toner, B.B. (1994). Cognitive-behavioural treatment of functional somatic syndromes: Integrating gender issues. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 1, 157-178.   Toner, B.B., Garfinkel, P.E., Jeejeebhoy, K.N., Scher, H.B., Shulhan, D., & DiGasbarro, I. (1990).  Self-schema in irritable bowel syndrome and depression. Psychosomatic Medicine, 52(2), 149-155.  Abstracted in Clinician's Research Digest, American Psychological Association, 9(2), 6.    BOOKS  Toner, B.B., Segal, Z., Emmott, S., & Myran, D. (2000).  Cognitive-behavioral treatment of irritable bowel syndrome: The brain-gut connection. New York: Guilford Publications Inc.   BOOK CHAPTERS Toner, B.B., Chang, L., Fukudo, S., Guthrie, E., Locke, R. Norton, N. & Sperber. (2006).  Gender, age, society, culture and the patient’s perspective in the disorders of gastrointestinal function.  In: D.A. Drossman, E. Corazziari, N.J. Talley, W.G. Thompson, & W.E. Whitehead (Eds.) The functional gastrointestinal disorders (Rome III), (3rd ed.).  Mclean, Virginia: Degnon Associates. (pp. 231-294)
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