Centre Of Research Excellence In Cognitive Health: Evidence, Intervention And Population Modelling
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,499,872.00
Summary
Cognitive health is essential for productivity at all ages. Common chronic diseases such as diabetes, and risk factors such as smoking, can reduce cognitive function and increase risk of cognitive decline. Our Centre aims to build evidence about the things that impact on cognitive health and lead to cognitive decline; to develop methods of reducing cognitive decline; and to measure the impact of cognitive impairment at the national level to inform the government on costs and planning.
Researching Effective Sleep Treatments (Project REST): A Partner-Assisted Intervention To Improve Adherence In Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Insomnia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,130,307.00
Summary
Insomnia is highly prevalent and predicts many other mental and physical problems. While very good behavioural treatments exist for insomnia, not everyone is able to comply with the difficult behaviour changes required to improve. Bed partners often influence sleep behaviours, and thus, can play a helpful role in the treatment of insomnia, if they are taught how. We will test the first intervention ever developed integrating the partner into insomnia treatment as a means of improving outcomes.
Affective influences social thinking and behaviour: A social neuroscience approach. Affective states have a major influence on how people think and behave in everyday life. However, the psychological and neural mechanisms producing these effects remain incompletely understood. This project will investigate how external situations and internal cognitive and neurological mechanisms interact to facilitate or inhibit affective influences on judgments and behaviour. The project will also develop and ....Affective influences social thinking and behaviour: A social neuroscience approach. Affective states have a major influence on how people think and behave in everyday life. However, the psychological and neural mechanisms producing these effects remain incompletely understood. This project will investigate how external situations and internal cognitive and neurological mechanisms interact to facilitate or inhibit affective influences on judgments and behaviour. The project will also develop and test an innovative information processing theory of affective influences, and develop new empirical methods for measuring the cognitive and behavioural consequences of affect. Studies will also investigate the influence of affect on clinical, organisational, educational and health outcomes, and on various real-life behaviours.
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Feeling, thinking and doing: Affective influences on social cognition and behaviour. Affect has a major influence on how people think and behave in social situations, yet the psychological mechanisms responsible for these effects remain incompletely understood. The proposed experiments will investigate the circumstances that facilitate or inhibit affect infusion into social thinking, judgments and behaviours and explore the real-life consequences of these effects. A comprehensive theoretical mod ....Feeling, thinking and doing: Affective influences on social cognition and behaviour. Affect has a major influence on how people think and behave in social situations, yet the psychological mechanisms responsible for these effects remain incompletely understood. The proposed experiments will investigate the circumstances that facilitate or inhibit affect infusion into social thinking, judgments and behaviours and explore the real-life consequences of these effects. A comprehensive theoretical model, the recently revised Affect Infusion Model will be tested as an integrative explanation for affect infusion phenomena.Read moreRead less
Advancing occupational stress research: a comprehensive trial of the Healthy Workplaces program. The project will provide a comprehensive controlled trial of an innovative stress management intervention focusing on leadership development, in one police service. Pilot results indicated significant improvements in both leader and subordinate’s health and job performance and produced economic savings.
Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy For Obsessive-Compulsive Checkers: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$156,447.00
Summary
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder that affects up to 3% of the general population. People with the disorder experience unpleasant intrusive thoughts that they find distressing and have a strong urge to perform particular behaviours. Fears about fire and burglary are common and excessive checking of electrical appliances and locks can take many hours a day. Checkers represent one of the largest OCD sub-groups. Because of the time-consuming nature of the condition, soci ....Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder that affects up to 3% of the general population. People with the disorder experience unpleasant intrusive thoughts that they find distressing and have a strong urge to perform particular behaviours. Fears about fire and burglary are common and excessive checking of electrical appliances and locks can take many hours a day. Checkers represent one of the largest OCD sub-groups. Because of the time-consuming nature of the condition, social and occupational functioning is often severely restricted. Many sufferers will also experience extreme social isolation and depression. The World Health Organisation ranks this disorder as 20th among all causes of burden of disease. The development of effective interventions could substantially reduce the economic and social burden of this disabling anxiety disorder. The aim of this project is: (1) to compare the therapeutic efficacy of a new treatment approach (Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy) with that of Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP); It is hypothesised that: (1) subjects who receive 12 sessions of DIRT will show greater post-treatment and follow-up reductions in symptomatology than subjects who receive ERP.Read moreRead less
Management Of Breathlessness. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For People With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (BREVE RCT)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$402,875.00
Summary
For people with chronic lung disease, breathlessness is common, distressing and difficult to relieve. Pulmonary rehabilitation programs have been demonstrated to improve exercise capacity and quality of life. This study will determine whether changing the way people think about the sensation of breathlessness while completing pulmonary rehabilitation, further reduces distress/anxiety and health service use and improve exercise capacity, disability related to breathlessness and quality of life.