Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100260
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$457,378.00
Summary
Refugee moral injury: Linking interpersonal trauma and social functioning. This project aims to understand how moral beliefs about past interpersonal traumatic experiences (e.g., torture, rape) are associated with social outcomes considered to be crucial in successful refugee resettlement. This project will investigate the causal impact of these moral beliefs on social adaptation and whether these beliefs are malleable. The project will be a better understanding of how moral beliefs can impact r ....Refugee moral injury: Linking interpersonal trauma and social functioning. This project aims to understand how moral beliefs about past interpersonal traumatic experiences (e.g., torture, rape) are associated with social outcomes considered to be crucial in successful refugee resettlement. This project will investigate the causal impact of these moral beliefs on social adaptation and whether these beliefs are malleable. The project will be a better understanding of how moral beliefs can impact refugees' abilities to navigate and engage with novel social environments. The outcomes of this project will assist service providers and policy makers to understand why some refugees are able to adapt more successfully than others and provide practical tools for improving social outcomes. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101478
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$366,000.00
Summary
Fear changes how the brain processes innocuous information. People who suffer from anxiety disorders essentially treat the world as a dangerous place. They exhibit exaggerated fear responses to trauma or phobia-related cues. Little is known, however, about how they process innocuous cues or information encountered in the course of everyday experience. Recent evidence shows that a state of fear shifts the processing of innocuous information from cortical to subcortical brain regions in the rat. T ....Fear changes how the brain processes innocuous information. People who suffer from anxiety disorders essentially treat the world as a dangerous place. They exhibit exaggerated fear responses to trauma or phobia-related cues. Little is known, however, about how they process innocuous cues or information encountered in the course of everyday experience. Recent evidence shows that a state of fear shifts the processing of innocuous information from cortical to subcortical brain regions in the rat. This project originates in these novel findings and aims to identify what this cortical-to-subcortical shift means for processing of innocuous information and whether it can be reversed by treatments that eliminate fear. The project aims to shed light on how fear regulates information processing in anxiety disorders.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170101198
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$312,708.00
Summary
Psychosocial mechanisms of maladaptive online gaming. This project aims to produce a new model of the cognitive, affective and social mechanisms that underlie maladaptive online gaming. Maladaptive online gaming is a major health threat, especially for young people, but how it develops and persists is unknown. Prevailing models fail to account for the important role of player strategy and skill, motivations and beliefs and identity formation in online gaming. This project will identify the mecha ....Psychosocial mechanisms of maladaptive online gaming. This project aims to produce a new model of the cognitive, affective and social mechanisms that underlie maladaptive online gaming. Maladaptive online gaming is a major health threat, especially for young people, but how it develops and persists is unknown. Prevailing models fail to account for the important role of player strategy and skill, motivations and beliefs and identity formation in online gaming. This project will identify the mechanisms that influence the nature and severity of maladaptive online gaming presentations. Project outcomes are expected to develop primary prevention strategies and intervention measures to reduce maladaptive gaming in diverse populations.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100459
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$369,000.00
Summary
The influence of features of the online environment on risk taking. This project aims to increase our understanding of what aspects of websites encourage people to engage in risky behaviours. Risk taking in online environments can have significant negative consequences, such as being a victim or perpetrator of cybercrime. This project aims to develop and test a conceptual model to understand the psychological processes underlying risk taking online, focusing on the impact of social cues and spec ....The influence of features of the online environment on risk taking. This project aims to increase our understanding of what aspects of websites encourage people to engage in risky behaviours. Risk taking in online environments can have significant negative consequences, such as being a victim or perpetrator of cybercrime. This project aims to develop and test a conceptual model to understand the psychological processes underlying risk taking online, focusing on the impact of social cues and specific online environmental cues. Anticipated project outcomes will benefit policy-makers by identifying how sites can be made safer and may also show how to educate people to make safe decisions online and to avoid sites that may encourage them to take risks or engage in anti-social behaviours.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100471
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$354,171.00
Summary
Expecting the worst: psychosocial contributors to the nocebo effect. This project aims to propose and test a new model of the nocebo effect, a powerful psychological phenomenon in which negative expectations are thought to cause unpleasant or harmful side effects following an inert treatment. Nocebo effects can lead to treatment non-adherence, unnecessary GP visits, reduced quality of life, and increased health costs. Understanding how nocebo effects are formed will assist in the development of ....Expecting the worst: psychosocial contributors to the nocebo effect. This project aims to propose and test a new model of the nocebo effect, a powerful psychological phenomenon in which negative expectations are thought to cause unpleasant or harmful side effects following an inert treatment. Nocebo effects can lead to treatment non-adherence, unnecessary GP visits, reduced quality of life, and increased health costs. Understanding how nocebo effects are formed will assist in the development of strategies to minimise their occurrence with will benefit both individuals and the health system.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100912
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$450,488.00
Summary
Improving Girls’ Body Image via Social Media. Social media platforms are starting to realise their social responsibilities and are looking for ways to reduce harm to their users. This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of specific social media content and activities for improving adolescent girls’ body image. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of social media and body image by developing a novel theoretical model and an evidence base for effective ....Improving Girls’ Body Image via Social Media. Social media platforms are starting to realise their social responsibilities and are looking for ways to reduce harm to their users. This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of specific social media content and activities for improving adolescent girls’ body image. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of social media and body image by developing a novel theoretical model and an evidence base for effective positive social media activities for body image. Body image concerns are a global public health issue with a devastating impact on key aspects of people’s lives. This project has the potential to inform the development of new ways to harness social media to support mental health and wellbeing.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100413
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Neurobiology of parenting and disruptive behaviour disorders in childhood. This project aims to examine the genetic determinants and contribution of parenting to childhood disruptive behaviour disorders. These disorders are often chronic and associated with comorbid conditions in later life, creating enormous personal and social costs for individuals and families, and a burden on the economy. About a third of children do not respond to current forms of early intervention, so clinicians need evid ....Neurobiology of parenting and disruptive behaviour disorders in childhood. This project aims to examine the genetic determinants and contribution of parenting to childhood disruptive behaviour disorders. These disorders are often chronic and associated with comorbid conditions in later life, creating enormous personal and social costs for individuals and families, and a burden on the economy. About a third of children do not respond to current forms of early intervention, so clinicians need evidence of the interaction between parenting practices and the developmental aspects of these disorders This project will examine oxytocin genetics in toddlers with disruptive behaviour disorders and their parents, to ultimately identify the genetic, family, and developmental processes that shape persistent disorders.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100078
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Strengthening parent-child relationships to promote child adjustment. This project aims to provide new insight into how biological and foster parents can support their children during periods of heightened vulnerability when they transition to high school or a new foster care placement. It aims to address the shortage of relationally-focused prevention strategies tailored to both biological and foster parents’ needs and delivered at critical transitions in children’s lives. Outcomes are expected ....Strengthening parent-child relationships to promote child adjustment. This project aims to provide new insight into how biological and foster parents can support their children during periods of heightened vulnerability when they transition to high school or a new foster care placement. It aims to address the shortage of relationally-focused prevention strategies tailored to both biological and foster parents’ needs and delivered at critical transitions in children’s lives. Outcomes are expected to shed light on the effects of attachment quality and to advance evidence-based psychological practice in enhancing child adjustment.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101570
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$409,038.00
Summary
The cognitive basis of anxiety-linked heightened negative expectancies. Problems with anxiety tear at the social and economic fabric of our nation. Individuals with an elevated vulnerability to experience high levels of anxiety display a heightened tendency to expect that the future will be emotionally negative. The current project will test compelling new hypotheses concerning the cognitive mechanisms that causally underpin such negative expectancies, using cutting-edge cognitive methodologies ....The cognitive basis of anxiety-linked heightened negative expectancies. Problems with anxiety tear at the social and economic fabric of our nation. Individuals with an elevated vulnerability to experience high levels of anxiety display a heightened tendency to expect that the future will be emotionally negative. The current project will test compelling new hypotheses concerning the cognitive mechanisms that causally underpin such negative expectancies, using cutting-edge cognitive methodologies that permit not only the sensitive assessment, but also the direct manipulation, of these mechanisms. The findings generated will exert major scientific impact, and will directly contribute to our national strategic efforts to improve the mental well-being of our citizens, and to build healthy and resilient communities.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230100206
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$423,154.00
Summary
Pain: Open to interpretation? This project aims to determine how pain interpretation drives pain experience, using rigorous state-of-the-art lab research. This project expects to generate new knowledge about the psychological mechanisms maintaining pain experience and avoidance behaviour, using novel techniques to measure interpretation of pain sensations. Expected outcomes include the development of an evidence-based psychological model of pain interpretation, enhanced capacity to build interna ....Pain: Open to interpretation? This project aims to determine how pain interpretation drives pain experience, using rigorous state-of-the-art lab research. This project expects to generate new knowledge about the psychological mechanisms maintaining pain experience and avoidance behaviour, using novel techniques to measure interpretation of pain sensations. Expected outcomes include the development of an evidence-based psychological model of pain interpretation, enhanced capacity to build international collaborations, and ecologically valid methods for measuring pain interpretation. This research forms a solid platform for further translational research, to build novel, scalable interventions to improve outcomes for the one in five Australians living with chronic pain.Read moreRead less