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.
The emotional psychology of blood donors: understanding and using the affective key to donor return. Every week in Australia 27,000 blood donations are required to meet medical needs. Though donors are continually recruited, each year around 40per cent of Australian donors fail to re-donate. Why this occurs and how to prevent this is not well understood. Using an approach grounded in psychology and affective science, this project comprises a program of studies that aims to advance understanding ....The emotional psychology of blood donors: understanding and using the affective key to donor return. Every week in Australia 27,000 blood donations are required to meet medical needs. Though donors are continually recruited, each year around 40per cent of Australian donors fail to re-donate. Why this occurs and how to prevent this is not well understood. Using an approach grounded in psychology and affective science, this project comprises a program of studies that aims to advance understanding of the affective factors that contribute to blood donor return and translate that understanding into interventions to increase donor return. The project aims to advance the psychological conceptualisation of blood donation by integrating insight from affective science, while also enabling the Blood Service to meet the nation's demand for blood products.Read moreRead less
How pain shapes our social world. Pain is an important source of human experience. Traditionally it has been defined by its social and psychological costs and treated as a problem that needs to be ‘fixed’. This project represents the first systematic study of the ways in which pain may motivate social and behavioural responses that serve to enhance affiliation, communication, solidarity, and group formation. In this way, pain may serve to connect people with their social worlds - it may act as s ....How pain shapes our social world. Pain is an important source of human experience. Traditionally it has been defined by its social and psychological costs and treated as a problem that needs to be ‘fixed’. This project represents the first systematic study of the ways in which pain may motivate social and behavioural responses that serve to enhance affiliation, communication, solidarity, and group formation. In this way, pain may serve to connect people with their social worlds - it may act as social glue - bringing people together and strengthening social connection. The findings will help to to provide a broader perspective on physical pain and will lead to insights that are important when treating pain.Read moreRead less
Heart rate variability biofeedback coaching in reducing workplace stress: laboratory and field investigations. Targeted and informed intervention in workplace stress is a vital concept in stress management, yet it is often misinformed. Using mobile heart rate monitors we are able to measure the causes and consequences of stress in a controlled and natural environment and design specific biofeedback interventions to attack primary sources of employee strain.
A multi-level approach to the management of demands and resources to minimise the risk of psychosocial injury in the workplace. This project aims to identify ways supervisors can effectively manage workplace stress experienced by team members. Expected outcomes include better management of workplace stress and reduction in the number of employees suffering from the stress-induced ill-health, thereby reducing workers' compensation claims for stress and lowering costs.
Supervisor strategies for managing employee stress and strain: a national approach to psychosocial risk management. This research aims to identify supervisor strategies for managing occupational stress in their work teams. Expected outcomes include reduction in the number of employees reporting that they are exposed to stress and suffering from the effects of ill-health, thereby reducing workers' compensation claims for stress and lowering associated costs.
Identifying the biopsychosocial factors promoting healthy, productive, and fulfilling transitions from high school: A seven-year longitudinal study. The post high-school transition represents the confluence of a number of developmental tasks. While there is considerable research on individuals after this transition, little research has examined adolescent development to identify early indicators of transition success. This project seeks to extend the multi-state, multi-year Australian Character ....Identifying the biopsychosocial factors promoting healthy, productive, and fulfilling transitions from high school: A seven-year longitudinal study. The post high-school transition represents the confluence of a number of developmental tasks. While there is considerable research on individuals after this transition, little research has examined adolescent development to identify early indicators of transition success. This project seeks to extend the multi-state, multi-year Australian Character Study (ACS), at the critical period when the ACS cohort will be transitioning out of school. Using a biopsychosocial approach, the research will explore the degree to which character strengths, contextual factors, and their interaction lead to positive transition experiences across a wide variety of domains, including social, spiritual, physical, and educational and occupational attainment.Read moreRead less
A general theory of multiple-goal pursuit. The aim of this project is to develop and test a formal theory that explains the mechanisms by which people make choices amongst competing goals in a dynamic and uncertain environment (‘multiple goal pursuit’). People have to manage competing goals in a wide range of settings (for example, work, education, sport), yet the mechanisms are poorly understood. The theory is expected to integrate formal theories of self-regulation with formal theories of deci ....A general theory of multiple-goal pursuit. The aim of this project is to develop and test a formal theory that explains the mechanisms by which people make choices amongst competing goals in a dynamic and uncertain environment (‘multiple goal pursuit’). People have to manage competing goals in a wide range of settings (for example, work, education, sport), yet the mechanisms are poorly understood. The theory is expected to integrate formal theories of self-regulation with formal theories of decision making, to provide a more general account of multiple goal pursuit. The project aims to test the predictions of the theory in a series of experiments in which people have to pursue two goals simultaneously. The experiments allow us to test competing views, and understand the mechanisms involved.Read moreRead less
Antisocial behaviour in young Australian adults: Social and economic influences. Antisocial behaviour is prevalent in Australia and imposes large social and economic costs. Currently, much of the crime prevention research has been conducted overseas. The findings of this study will provide important insights into the development of antisocial behaviour from childhood and adolescence through into young adulthood in the Australian context. By better understanding how factors such as unemployment, ....Antisocial behaviour in young Australian adults: Social and economic influences. Antisocial behaviour is prevalent in Australia and imposes large social and economic costs. Currently, much of the crime prevention research has been conducted overseas. The findings of this study will provide important insights into the development of antisocial behaviour from childhood and adolescence through into young adulthood in the Australian context. By better understanding how factors such as unemployment, alcohol-related entertainment, and sporting participation influence antisocial behaviour in young adulthood, prevention and early intervention programs can be developed to target specific subgroups. In this way spending on criminal justice systems can be reduced and a safer, more harmonious community can be fostered.Read moreRead less
Western-style diet and impairments in food-intake control in humans. Animals fed a Western-style (W-S) diet high in saturated fat and added sugar rapidly develop cognitive impairments, which include disrupted food-intake control. This project aims to see if this also occurs in lean healthy people who eat a W-S diet. That is, are W-S diets associated with impaired cognition, and especially food-intake control, in adults and children, and is this caused by a W-S diet? Obesity is a major public hea ....Western-style diet and impairments in food-intake control in humans. Animals fed a Western-style (W-S) diet high in saturated fat and added sugar rapidly develop cognitive impairments, which include disrupted food-intake control. This project aims to see if this also occurs in lean healthy people who eat a W-S diet. That is, are W-S diets associated with impaired cognition, and especially food-intake control, in adults and children, and is this caused by a W-S diet? Obesity is a major public health issue and the significance of this project lies in testing a new account of how overeating may first occur. The expected outcome aims to show that a W-S diet can disrupt various aspects of cognition in adults and children, including food-intake control, providing an entirely new basis to argue for a better diet.Read moreRead less