Kelly Babchishin

Kelly M. Babchishin is an Assistant Professor of forensic psychology within the Department of Psychology. After completing her Ph.D. (experimental psychology, Carleton University), Kelly completed a Banting postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute of Mental Health Research (Ottawa) and the Karolinska Institute Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (Stockholm; 2013-2017). Prior to starting at Carleton, Kelly was a research advisor at Public Safety Canada (2017-2019) and the Parole Board of Canada (2019-2021) where she conducted research to facilitate evidence-based policies for justice-involved individuals within Canada.

Kelly is the director of the Sexually Harmful Behaviour Research Lab. In the lab, we use an epidemiological and socioecological framework to provide novel information on factors involved in the development and maintenance of sexually harmful behaviours with the goal of improving prevention efforts. The research we conduct strives to examine all systems of influences and uses population-based, family-based, cohort, and convenience sampling strategies. We also harness the latest methodological and statistical developments, and use both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The lab is currently supported by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC Insight), the Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund, and internal grants from Carleton University and the Royal Ottawa Hospital.

Ongoing research projects involves: (1) incest and sexual behaviours between siblings, (2) online sexual offending, (3) causal candidates for sexual offending, (4) sexting and the non-consensual sharing of sexual materials, and (5) risk assessment. More information on Kelly’s research can be found on her lab’s website.

Interested in supervision, volunteering, or research assistantships? Students interested in volunteering in the lab, paid research assistantships, or supervision (undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral) are encouraged to peruse the prospective students section of the lab’s website.

Selected Publications (students/trainees are underlined)

Holmes, E. J., & Babchishin, K. M. (2025). Safe sexting, sexual orientation, and gender: Risky sexting in a community sample. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 54(8), 2921-2931. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-024-03050-w

Baskurt, S.,  Babchishin, K. M., Hilkes, G., & Seto, M.C. (2025). A meta-analysis of recidivism rates among individuals who commit child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) offending. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 85, 102080. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600.2024.2404849

Babchishin, K. M., Seto, M. C., & Långström, N. (2025). Psychiatric and neurological morbidity predicts sexual offending: A nationwide, population-based, case-control study. Journal of Criminal Justice, 96, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2025.102355

O’Donaghy, M., Babchishin, K. M., Culp, G., Zarbl, R., & Hinkson, A. G. (2025). An Efficient Measure of Sexual Interest in Children: The Revised Screening Scale for Pedophilic Interests (SSPI-2). Sexual Abuse, 37(8), https://doi.org/10.1177/10790632251350625

Jonkers Both, D., Babchishin, K. M., Bouman, Y. H. A., Burger, J., Sjerps, M., & van den Berg, J. W. (2025). Nodewise Predictability in Cross-Sectional Data Does Not Outperform Mechanical Totals in Predicting Sexual Reoffending. Assessment. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10731911251350552

Babchishin, K. M., Holmes, E. J., Banse, R., Huppertz, L., & Seto, M. C. (2024). Characteristics and risk factors for sibling incest. PloS one, 19(12), e0314550. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0314550

Eke, A. W., Babchishin, K. M., Paquette, S., Scott, S. B., Batinic, M., Fortin, F., & Seto, M. C. (2024). Comparing the Static-99R and the Child Pornography Offender Risk Tool (CPORT) in two Canadian samples adjudicated of child sexual exploitation material offenses. Journal of Criminal Justice, 95, 102303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2024.102303

Holmes, E. J., Baskurt, S., Hilkes, G., & Babchishin, K. M. (2024). Non-consensual forwarding of sexts: Characteristics and overlap with in-person sexual coercion. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 1-16.https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600.2024.2404849

Babchishin, K. M., Dibayula, S., McCulloch, C., Hanson, R. K., & Helmus, L. M. (2023). ACUTE-2007 and STABLE-2007 predict recidivism for men adjudicated for child sexual exploitation material offending. Law and Human Behavior, 47(5), 606-618. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000540

Brown, S., Olver, M., Babchishin, K. M., & Forth, A. (2023). Psychology of Criminal Behaviour: A Canadian Perspective (3rd edition). Pearson.