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Four leading The Kids Research Institute Australia researchers have been awarded Fellowships from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
Young people transitioning from out-of-home care (OHC) frequently experience poor mental health and resilience due to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). However, there is limited understanding of the factors that mediate and moderate these outcomes. This is the first study to integrate linked administrative and longitudinal data to examine the mediation and moderation effects of placement stability, independent living skills (ILS), social inclusion, and self-determination when examining the association between ACEs and care status on mental health and resilience.
Anxiety is a leading mental health concern in childhood. Whilst a range of therapeutic approaches effectively reduce anxiety in young children, several barriers impact their implementation into practice. Digital interventions could help overcome some of these challenges; however, whether these can effectively target anxiety for children with and without Neurodevelopmental Conditions is unknown.
Perioperative anxiety is a common and distressing aspect of anaesthesia for many children, resulting in management challenges at the time of anaesthesia and potential physical and psychological adverse outcomes. We conducted this qualitative phenomenological study to explore the perspectives of children, parents and staff on perioperative anxiety in our institution. Planned recruitment was 20 each of children who had undergone elective anaesthesia, their parents and staff.
Alcohol use and depression are known correlates of one another, especially in men, and are influenced by a range of demographic and psychosocial factors. This study examined the association between alcohol use and depressive symptoms in a large representative cohort of Australian men. We also tested whether this association differed by men's age, household income, social support, illicit drug use and help-seeking.
Alexithymia is characterised by difficulties identifying and describing feelings, as well as a lack of focus on feelings. Alexithymia is a transdiagnostic risk factor for developing a wide array of psychopathologies, such as anxiety and depression, with a key hypothesised mechanism being the impairing impact of alexithymia on emotion regulation competency. However, no study has tested whether difficulties with emotion regulation mediate the link between alexithymia and psychopathological symptoms using longitudinal designs.
This project uses longitudinal population data provided through the Developmental Pathways in WA Children Project (Developmental Pathways Project).
Young children diagnosed with autism experience high rates of co-occurring anxiety, with uncertainty-related concerns commonly reported. This randomized controlled trial investigated an 8-week parent-mediated group anxiety intervention, “Coping with Uncertainty in Everyday Situations” (CUES-Junior©).
Meaningful involvement of young People with Lived Experience (PWLE) in co-designing youth mental health interventions has been much emphasized globally. However, there is a scarcity of evidence on involving PWLE of mental health problems in designing, implementing and evaluating mental health interventions, especially in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
General practitioners (GPs) have a key role in supporting young people who present with suicidal behaviour/self-harm. However, little is known about young people's opinions and experiences related to GPs' practices for such presentations, and their decisions to disclose suicidal behaviour/self-harm to GPs. Additionally, existing guidelines for the management of suicide risk and/or self-harm have not incorporated young people's perspectives. This study aimed to explore young people's views and experiences related to the identification, assessment and care of suicidal behaviour and self-harm in primary care settings with GPs.