Adolescent Depression: Evaluation Of A Preventive Intervention And Identification Of Risk Factors
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$307,313.00
Summary
This project will evaluate the long-term effectiveness of a school-based program to prevent depression among adolescents. It also aims to identify factors that predict the onset of depression in those who do not receive the intervention. The intervention focuses on the training of interpersonal problem solving skills and enhancement of optimistic thinking styles within a classroom-based curriculum. This project extends the current research program of the applicant. The intervention has already b ....This project will evaluate the long-term effectiveness of a school-based program to prevent depression among adolescents. It also aims to identify factors that predict the onset of depression in those who do not receive the intervention. The intervention focuses on the training of interpersonal problem solving skills and enhancement of optimistic thinking styles within a classroom-based curriculum. This project extends the current research program of the applicant. The intervention has already been developed and implemented with 1600 young people, with the support of local education authorities. The evaluation uses well-researched measures and includes a control group of adolescents who do not receive the intervention. Around 5% of adolescents experience clinical levels of depression and an even larger percentage show subclinical levels. Depression results in many debilitating consequences such as impaired school, work and social functioning and is also a risk factor in adolescent suicide. The prevention of mental health problems is a priority for Commonwealth and State governments and yet there is minimal research to demonstrate the effectiveness of preventive interventions, particularly in the area of depression. If the present study demonstrates a positive outcome, it will provide important guidelines as to preventive materials that should be included in the school curriculum. It is predicted that: a) the intervention will be associated with lower levels of depression over the 4 year follow-up, particularly for adolescents who are assessed as showing mild symptoms of depression, poor problem solving skills or pessimistic cognitive style prior to intervention b) risk factors for the development of depression in adolescents who do not receive the intervention will include initial mild symptoms of depression, poor problem solving skills and pessimistic attributional style.Read moreRead less
Smoking Cessation For Youth Project Booster And Cohort Tracking Study
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$135,550.00
Summary
Adolescence is a critical period for the establishment of adult drug use behaviours. If smoking does not commence in teenage years it is unlikely to occur. This innovative project not only continues to address tobacco control with this important age group but also builds on evidence from a randomised intervention trial involving over 4,000 Year 9 students tracked over two years. This project was called the Smoking Cessation for Youth Project (SCYP). Preliminary longitudinal analyses of the SCYP ....Adolescence is a critical period for the establishment of adult drug use behaviours. If smoking does not commence in teenage years it is unlikely to occur. This innovative project not only continues to address tobacco control with this important age group but also builds on evidence from a randomised intervention trial involving over 4,000 Year 9 students tracked over two years. This project was called the Smoking Cessation for Youth Project (SCYP). Preliminary longitudinal analyses of the SCYP data indicate that the intervention students were significantly less likely to smoke heavily (smoking five or more days per week) than the control group and that intervention students were also significantly less likely to have tried smoking than the control group. These results represent a world first in evidence that population-based smoking cessation interventions among teenagers can be successful. The proposed project will determine the extent to which these positive intervention effects are sustainable, two years post intervention, as our cohort moves into Year 12. In addition to tracking the possible decay of SCYP intervention effects, the proposed project will also measure the effects of a booster intervention delivered students when they are in Year 12 (2002). The Year 12 intervention will comprise an innovative self-help 'magazine style' booster and a supportive environmental intervention involving school nurses and local GPs. This proposal represents a cost-effective opportunity to measure the effectiveness of a Year 12 tobacco cessation booster intervention. Further data on tobacco smoking behaviour in 2002 will also enable us to determine how long the SCYP intervention appears to affect behaviour and whether 'boosters' are needed in later secondary school years to maintain the benefits.Read moreRead less
Reconceptualising Health Promotion: The Role Of Values, Ethics And Evidence In Obesity Intervention.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$485,103.00
Summary
Obesity and overweight are public health priorities. Population-level programs, campaigns and regulations are required to prevent and reduce obesity. How should these interventions proceed? What is effective? What is ethical? How can we avoid doing harm? At present, we do not know. By studying current interventions in detail, and working with experts and practitioners in health promotion and ethics, this project will develop a new framework to guide overweight and obesity intervention in future.
Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of Mobile Preschool For Child Health And Development In Remote Aboriginal Communities
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$456,369.00
Summary
This project is a retrospective study of the effectiveness of the NT Mobile Preschool Program using assessment data for children's emergent literacy, social and emotional competencies and health status. Effectiveness will be established by comparison with achievement and health status data for children not attending preschool and those in communities with no preschool service. The study will identify and describe the key factors influencing the health and learning outcomes of the three groups.
A Randomised Trial Assessing A Shade Development Intervention In Secondary Schools For Adolescent Skin Cancer Prevention
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$709,615.00
Summary
Skin cancer is a significant burden to health costs, and morbidity and mortality in Australia. Reduction of exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) in sunlight, particularly during childhood and adolescence is an important strategy for preventing skin cancer in later life. Adolescents have been particularly resistant to skin cancer prevention messages. Despite a high knowledge of skin cancer, the majority of Australian adolescents report a reliance on sunscreen, a resistance to hat wearing, and ....Skin cancer is a significant burden to health costs, and morbidity and mortality in Australia. Reduction of exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) in sunlight, particularly during childhood and adolescence is an important strategy for preventing skin cancer in later life. Adolescents have been particularly resistant to skin cancer prevention messages. Despite a high knowledge of skin cancer, the majority of Australian adolescents report a reliance on sunscreen, a resistance to hat wearing, and commonly experience sunburn, an important indicator of increased risk of skin cancer. Psycho-social interventions have shown limited influence on adolescents' sun protective behaviours to date. The current research proposal explores an alternative approach to psycho-social interventions for adolescents. The study will assess the effect of increasing available shade at secondary schools. In a randomised control trial study design, the change in the number of students using certain outdoor areas at intervention schools will be observed 'before' and 'after' the installation of built shade sail structures. Our main hypothesis states that the number of students using these newly shaded areas in intervention schools will increase compared with use of equivalent unshaded areas in control schools. Shade development is increasingly becoming an issue for secondary schools and given both the high cost of providing shade structures and adolescents' resistance to other forms of sun protection it is important to establish that adolescents will use this form of sun protection. This study will determine whether adolescents actively avoid or seek shade and so provide evidence for informing decisions about further investment in shade provision in schools.Read moreRead less
Improving Outcomes Of Preschool Language Delay In The Community: Randomised Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$927,327.00
Summary
7-15% of preschool children have language delay, so are vulnerable to poor lifelong academic, social and economic outcomes. Small trials suggest that intervention helps. This randomized trial aims to find out the population costs and benefits of optimized intervention for 4 year olds following systematic identification of language delay. Because we have studied the 1500 participants since infancy, the trial could also shed light on why some children respond better than others to treatment.
The Beyondblue Schools Research Initiative: A Two-year Follow-up.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$827,285.00
Summary
The prevalence of Depressive Disorders among children and adolescents was estimated in the Australian National Child and Adolescent Mental Health Survey to be 3.7%. This means that at any single point of time, approximately 138,000 Australian children and adolescents are experiencing a Depressive Disorder. Furthermore, the National Survey found that less than half (46%) of those with a Depressive Disorder received any help over a 6 month period prior to the survey, with only 8% attending a menta ....The prevalence of Depressive Disorders among children and adolescents was estimated in the Australian National Child and Adolescent Mental Health Survey to be 3.7%. This means that at any single point of time, approximately 138,000 Australian children and adolescents are experiencing a Depressive Disorder. Furthermore, the National Survey found that less than half (46%) of those with a Depressive Disorder received any help over a 6 month period prior to the survey, with only 8% attending a mental health clinic, and only 4% attending a hospital-based Department of Psychiatry. These findings emphasise the importance of finding alternative approaches to help the large number of young people with depression who do not receive help from professional services. This application seeks funding to evaluate the beyondblue Schools Research Initiative. The key features of the initiative are the development of a strong partnership between the health and education sectors and a focus on both individual-level and school-level risk factors. This has enabled us to provide a much longer duration of intervention than previous studies, to test the intervention in several different Australian States, and to utilise a broadly based intervention that includes a range of approaches, each of which have the potential to help reduce adolescent depression. The significance of the project lies in its potential to identify effective interventions which can reduce rates of depression experienced by adolescents, and the quality of the ongoing research partnership we have established across the education and health sectors. We anticipate that this partnership will be utilised for ongoing research in this area.Read moreRead less
Prospective Study Of The Influence Of Social Networks & School Environments On Emotional Well-being Of Young Adults
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$202,200.00
Summary
It has become clearer in recent years that the role of the social environment may be as important as individual or interpersonal factors in understanding the risk and protective factors associated with disease prevention. Adolescence is the time when many preventable causes of premature morbidity and mortality arise. It is likely that the social environments encountered during early adolescence will have an impact on the development of emotional and physical well being in early adulthood. This s ....It has become clearer in recent years that the role of the social environment may be as important as individual or interpersonal factors in understanding the risk and protective factors associated with disease prevention. Adolescence is the time when many preventable causes of premature morbidity and mortality arise. It is likely that the social environments encountered during early adolescence will have an impact on the development of emotional and physical well being in early adulthood. This study will prospectively research the impact of school environment and quality of social networks in early adolescence on the emotional well being and health risk behaviours of young adults through the continued surveillance of a cohort of 2,782 students participating in the Gatehouse Project. This cohort has been surveyed four times; twice in Year 8 1997; once in Year 9 1998 and Year 10 1999. In 2002 the cohort will be on average 18 years old and will be first year post-secondary school. The major aim of the study is to investigate the prospective relationships between school environment in early adolescence and the mental and behavioural outcomes for young people in young adulthood. The continued surveillance of this cohort will allow us to assess the long term effects of school environments and adequacy of social networks at early adolescence on the emotional well being and social connectedness of older adolescents. This will contribute to our understanding of risk and protective factors in school-social environments that impact the health and well being of young adults. It will also inform further preventive intervention work that needs to take place in schools and communities to improve health outcomes for young adults.Read moreRead less