Increasing Adolescent Resilience Against Depression: Extending RAP To Include A Peer-Interpersonal Relatedness Component
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$76,361.00
Summary
Adolescence is a challenging time and depression may develop due to the stress of school work, parental expectations, peer pressure, or family conflict. The Resourceful Adolescent Program (RAP) teaches coping strategies to build self-esteem and deal with stress. Good peer relationships also protect youths from depression: The RAP-PIR project teaches adolescents additional social skills, strategies for managing bullying, and friendship skills. We expect RAP-PIR will help prevent youth depression.
The Next Generation Of Impact In Cystic Fibrosis - Adolescent Mental Health And Beyond
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$76,365.00
Summary
My project studies adolescents with cystic fibrosis and explore how mental health issues influence and associate with important health outcomes relating to respiratory health, sleep quality, pain issues, family functioning, financial and social status and ability to manage treatment plans. I will recruit participants from the AREST CF (Australian Respiratory Early Surveillance Team for Cystic Fibrosis) project that studies children with CF from diagnosis.
Development Of A Transdiagnostic Intervention For Patients With Cancer Experiencing Anxiety In The Context Of Ongoing Uncertainty
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$72,768.00
Summary
Surprisingly little work has been done to explain how anxiety develops and persists in patients with cancer. A model was recently developed to explain how fears of cancer recurrence develop and persist, which led to a new intervention. This study proposes to extend that work for patients with ongoing cancer threat or poor prognosis. The proposed study will develop a model of cancer-related anxiety and develop and test an intervention for anxiety in cancer patients with ongoing uncertainty.
Behavioural Management Of The Triggers Of Recurrent Headache: Avoidance Versus Coping
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$503,233.00
Summary
The traditional approach to headache management is to advise that the best way to prevent headaches is to avoid the trigger factors. This approach has never been systematically evaluated, however, and it may lead to headache sufferers losing tolerance for the factors that could precipitate a headache. This study will be the first to evaluate the traditional approach, and will also evaluate an innovative approach that includes techniques designed to desensitise people to headache triggers.
Following bereavement, 10%-15% of people suffer prolonged grief (PG) that can cause mental and physical problems for many years. This project will study community and treatment-seeking samples of bereaved people to identify trajectories of grieving, predictors of responding across time, and identify mechanisms of change in treatment of PG. This project represents a significant advance in our understanding of PG and will help reduce the burden of this condition.
A Prospective Study Of Familial Psychological Adjustment And Service Needs On Completion Of Childhood Cancer Treatment.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$307,041.00
Summary
Up to 80% of children with cancer survive into adulthood, yet little research has explored the needs of children and their families when a child completes cancer treatment. This project will describe these needs, and plot distress and resilience in families in the first 12 months after cancer treatment ends. The study will identify predictors of positive and negative outcomes after treatment and develop an intervention to reduce distress and enhance resilience in families after childhood cancer.
Rumination And Deficits In The Recall Of Positive Autobiographical Memories In Depression
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$263,295.00
Summary
The prevalence of depression is increasing and risk of recurrence exceeds 80%. The social and economic burden of depression highlight the urgent need to advance understanding of the habits of thought and memory that keep people feeling depressed, so that psychologists can treat depression more effectively. This project will explain why depressed people feel worse when they recall happy memories. The outcomes will extend theory and guide the improvement of treatments for this condition.
Self-compassion: Promoting Resilience And Wellbeing In Adolescent Populations
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$68,946.00
Summary
The importance of targeting early symptoms of poor mental health in adolescence cannot be underestimated. Self-compassion is linked with psychological wellbeing and may serve as a protective mechanism against psychopathological trajectories. I will investigate self-compassion in adolescence, and develop two early-intervention programs; for a high-school and a chronic illness population. To investigate this, my PhD will involve 2 empirical studies, meta-analysis, and 2 intervention studies.