Juggling priorities: How do tertiary students balance work and study? This project aims to apply boundary management theory to examine how tertiary students cope with the competing demands of work and study while at university. The project will use survey, interview, and diary studies to test the associations between work demands and academic, career, and well-being outcomes over time. The expected outcomes will contribute an improved understanding of these relationships and the underlying mecha ....Juggling priorities: How do tertiary students balance work and study? This project aims to apply boundary management theory to examine how tertiary students cope with the competing demands of work and study while at university. The project will use survey, interview, and diary studies to test the associations between work demands and academic, career, and well-being outcomes over time. The expected outcomes will contribute an improved understanding of these relationships and the underlying mechanisms with potential benefits for individuals, tertiary institutions, and the community.Read moreRead less
Furthering Positive Futures for Children with Intellectual Disabilities: A Longitudinal Investigation. This project will address the paucity of empirical research on drivers of psychosocial and physical well-being (PPW; for example self-concept, depression, behavioural problems, physical fitness, weight) of children with Intellectual Disabilities (ID). This proposal presents an extensive research program aimed at understanding the effects of school life and Physical Activity (PA) on PPW for Aust ....Furthering Positive Futures for Children with Intellectual Disabilities: A Longitudinal Investigation. This project will address the paucity of empirical research on drivers of psychosocial and physical well-being (PPW; for example self-concept, depression, behavioural problems, physical fitness, weight) of children with Intellectual Disabilities (ID). This proposal presents an extensive research program aimed at understanding the effects of school life and Physical Activity (PA) on PPW for Australian children with ID. This program examines: the relations between school life and PPW; the benefits, barriers and predictors of PA; moderators (personal characteristics, educational settings). The overarching objective is to advance theory and research in this area, and to inform intervention strategies furthering more positive futures for children with ID.Read moreRead less
The Helmsman Project: Giving at-risk adolescents skills to navigate life’s journey and make a difference. This project aims to investigate how to keep able but disadvantaged youth engaged in school and give them the psychological tools they need to succeed. To meet this challenge, this project aims to propose a randomised control and extended baseline control test of a combined personal coaching and outdoor education (sailing experience) program designed to foster positive psychological outcomes ....The Helmsman Project: Giving at-risk adolescents skills to navigate life’s journey and make a difference. This project aims to investigate how to keep able but disadvantaged youth engaged in school and give them the psychological tools they need to succeed. To meet this challenge, this project aims to propose a randomised control and extended baseline control test of a combined personal coaching and outdoor education (sailing experience) program designed to foster positive psychological outcomes by developing goal strategies, hope, resilience, and self-regulation. The study aims to be extensive and novel, capturing the experiences of not just the participants but their peers, parents, teachers, and alumni mentors of the program. Both traditional survey and experience sampling data will be collected.Read moreRead less
Uncovering the coping toolbox for social and academic resilience in youth. This project aims to provide important new knowledge on youth stress, life adversity and coping to assist the development of efficient and successful resilience programs. Coping with stress is the number one concern of today's Australian teenagers. The project intends to address coping flexibility and resilience across the transition of youth from primary to secondary school and through the final years of secondary school ....Uncovering the coping toolbox for social and academic resilience in youth. This project aims to provide important new knowledge on youth stress, life adversity and coping to assist the development of efficient and successful resilience programs. Coping with stress is the number one concern of today's Australian teenagers. The project intends to address coping flexibility and resilience across the transition of youth from primary to secondary school and through the final years of secondary school. Expected outcomes include findings that can be translated into interventions that can assist individuals coping with life transitions at any age and those facing significant social, medical, workplace or academic stressors in other times of their life.Read moreRead less
A RCT of an education reengagement program for at-risk youth. A RCT of an education reengagement program for at-risk youth. This project aims to determine the best and most cost-effective way to help 12–15 year olds re-engage with school when they become at-risk for dropping out, by conducting a gold-standard randomized-control trial. 20% of Australians fail to attain a Year 12 or equivalent certificate, often for preventable reasons. Dropouts are more likely to be unemployed, have psychological ....A RCT of an education reengagement program for at-risk youth. A RCT of an education reengagement program for at-risk youth. This project aims to determine the best and most cost-effective way to help 12–15 year olds re-engage with school when they become at-risk for dropping out, by conducting a gold-standard randomized-control trial. 20% of Australians fail to attain a Year 12 or equivalent certificate, often for preventable reasons. Dropouts are more likely to be unemployed, have psychological, social, and health problems, and end up in prison. This project could influence implementation of programmes and policy related to youth dropout, promote youth economic, social and physical wellbeing, and decrease their chance of committing crimes and becoming a social burden.Read moreRead less
Square Eyes or All Lies? Understanding Children's Exposure to Screens. This project will examine Australian parents’ number one concern about their children’s health and behaviour – their interactions with electronic screens. Current screen time guidelines are based on low-quality evidence and lack the nuance required to address this complex issue. This project will use innovative technology to resolve these weaknesses. Wearable cameras will measure what children are doing on screens, and where, ....Square Eyes or All Lies? Understanding Children's Exposure to Screens. This project will examine Australian parents’ number one concern about their children’s health and behaviour – their interactions with electronic screens. Current screen time guidelines are based on low-quality evidence and lack the nuance required to address this complex issue. This project will use innovative technology to resolve these weaknesses. Wearable cameras will measure what children are doing on screens, and where, when, and how long they are doing it. The project will also investigate how screen time impacts children’s development and how it is influenced by their environment. This evidence will benefit children by improving screen time guidelines, and help parents understand the impact of screen time on children’s development.
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The role of social-emotional learning in attaining literacy and numeracy. This project aims to characterise variability in developmental pathways to literacy and numeracy, and the factors that contribute to this variation, utilising innovative analytical approaches and population data. This project expects to generate new knowledge regarding the role of school-based social-emotional learning programs in supporting children’s achievement of literacy and numeracy. Expected outcomes of the project ....The role of social-emotional learning in attaining literacy and numeracy. This project aims to characterise variability in developmental pathways to literacy and numeracy, and the factors that contribute to this variation, utilising innovative analytical approaches and population data. This project expects to generate new knowledge regarding the role of school-based social-emotional learning programs in supporting children’s achievement of literacy and numeracy. Expected outcomes of the project include enhanced collaboration with government to deliver policy-relevant information on the most effective targets and timing for delivering social-emotional programs that maximise academic learning. This should assist policy makers to develop better strategies to support every child’s academic achievement.Read moreRead less
Health-related physical activity: Psychological determinants, consequences, and experimental interventions. Increasingly sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity constitute a worldwide health problem. Despite well-known benefits of physical activity, preventive-medicine interventions have had limited success. Instead, we propose an innovative psychological approach, emphasising quality of subjective experience (flow), motivation, physical self-concept, and the transtheoretical model of beha ....Health-related physical activity: Psychological determinants, consequences, and experimental interventions. Increasingly sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity constitute a worldwide health problem. Despite well-known benefits of physical activity, preventive-medicine interventions have had limited success. Instead, we propose an innovative psychological approach, emphasising quality of subjective experience (flow), motivation, physical self-concept, and the transtheoretical model of behavioural change. We propose psychological determinants of physical activity and a new experimental intervention to significantly enhance health-related physical activity. The research breaks new theoretical ground, extending and integrating different theoretical perspectives, offering a synergy between qualitative and quantitative research traditions, and providing practical benefits to mental and physical health and to quality of life.Read moreRead less
Content and source of teasing and victimisation in adolescents. This project aims to determine the content and source of teasing that are most toxic for adolescents' personal adjustment. Rejection, teasing and victimisation can distress teens, and cause eating disorders, body and muscle distortion, social anxiety and depression. This project will investigate these associations and discover whether teasing is more toxic depending on the content, and if the teaser’s sex causes more mental health p ....Content and source of teasing and victimisation in adolescents. This project aims to determine the content and source of teasing that are most toxic for adolescents' personal adjustment. Rejection, teasing and victimisation can distress teens, and cause eating disorders, body and muscle distortion, social anxiety and depression. This project will investigate these associations and discover whether teasing is more toxic depending on the content, and if the teaser’s sex causes more mental health problems. It will examine how coping, competence and support from others protect against the toxicity of teasing. The project expects to develop a theoretical model that guides effective intervention and identify factors that protect against the toxicity of teasing.Read moreRead less
Psychological determinants of physical activity across the life span and critical life-stage transitions: Cross-sectional, longitudinal causal modelling, and experimental interventions. Increasingly, sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity are major worldwide health problems. Despite well-established health benefits of physical activity, existing medical-oriented interventions have had limited effects on increasing population-levels of activity. We propose a psychological approach, emphasiz ....Psychological determinants of physical activity across the life span and critical life-stage transitions: Cross-sectional, longitudinal causal modelling, and experimental interventions. Increasingly, sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity are major worldwide health problems. Despite well-established health benefits of physical activity, existing medical-oriented interventions have had limited effects on increasing population-levels of activity. We propose a psychological approach, emphasizing quality of subjective experience (flow), motivation, physical self-concept, and the transtheoretical model of change. We will evaluate psychological determinants of health-related physical activity and implement experimental physical activity enhancing interventions at two critical life stages: for late-adolescents and older Australians. The proposal advances theory and methodology in a National Research Priority area, providing practical solutions to important societal problems with socioeconomic benefits for Australia.Read moreRead less