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Talk-based psychotherapy and physical activity are both recognised as effective treatments for child and adolescent mental illness. Despite this, talk therapy and physical activity are rarely integrated-an approach hereafter termed "active counselling (AC)" -in clinical practice for youth mental health. The purpose of this study was to explore parents' perspectives of AC for their child who had been receiving this type of therapy from a provider in Australia. Parental perceptions were also used to identify possible psychological mechanisms underpinning the effects of AC.
Approximately 8% of all children experience developmental and mental health conditions. Similarities in characteristics across neurodevelopmental conditions-such as difficulties in communication and language, social interaction, motor coordination, attention, activity regulation, behavior, mood, and sleep-make it challenging to attribute these characteristics exclusively to specific diagnoses and assessments. The purpose of this study was to identify symptomatic domains across neurodevelopmental conditions in children and to explore dimension reduction for transdiagnostic assessment.
Influenza and COVID-19 vaccine uptake among pregnant women is sub-optimal. We assessed the effectiveness of a multi-component behavioural nudge intervention to improve COVID-19 and influenza vaccine uptake among pregnant women.
People living with severe mental illness have a reduced life expectancy when compared to the general population largely due to physical health comorbidities. Exercise is a valuable, evidence-based component of mental healthcare, with positive effects on physical health, mental health, and quality of life.
Loneliness is an unavoidable facet of human existence. When chronic and intense, adolescent loneliness is associated with maladjustment over time. A prospective multiple-cohort study examined the links between child-reported loneliness and coping skills and parent-rated child mental health in early adolescence, with a total of 266 students from 75 primary and 152 secondary schools.
Autism genetics has historically attracted a substantial proportion of autism research funding internationally. However, more recently, several controversies centered on ethical conduct and lack of community consultation have emerged. This has triggered Autistic-led protests for the functional and meaningful inclusion of Autistic voices in the research design.
Alexithymia—a trait characterized by difficulties in emotion processing—is of high interest in the autism field. However, the lack of validated alexithymia measures for autistic individuals limits progress. This study aimed to address this gap by examining the psychometric properties of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ) across autistic and non-autistic samples. Using the PAQ, we investigated how alexithymia manifests in autistic individuals and its links with poor mental health outcomes (anxiety).
In this scoping review, we explore the concept of human thriving in work populations that are repeatedly exposed to high stress, elevated threat, and potential trauma-professions such as first responders and front-line military personnel. The concept of thriving, defined as the joint experience of development and success, shares some similarities with other psychological concepts (e.g., resilience, posttraumatic growth, flourishing), but is distinct due to the consideration of physical wellbeing, and success (e.g., performance).
Risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, and mental disorders) arise in adolescence but are mostly framed as relevant to health in adulthood; little is known about the relationship between co-occurring NCD risks and mental wellbeing in young people.
Rates of mental illness are disproportionately high for young adult and higher education (e.g., university student) populations. As such, universities and tertiary institutions often devote significant efforts to services and programs that support and treat mental illness and/or mental distress. However, within that portfolio of treatment approaches, structured exercise has been relatively underutilised and greater research attention is needed to develop this evidence base.