Model of care: A family focussed approach to promote child protection. Childhood neglect and abuse is an issue for all Australians. Models of best practice for child protection services are essential to protect the well-being of these children. This project will draw upon information from consumers and workers to provide a framework for a sustainable model of best practice for child protection that is transferable to other settings. A further benefit of this study is that it will provide insight ....Model of care: A family focussed approach to promote child protection. Childhood neglect and abuse is an issue for all Australians. Models of best practice for child protection services are essential to protect the well-being of these children. This project will draw upon information from consumers and workers to provide a framework for a sustainable model of best practice for child protection that is transferable to other settings. A further benefit of this study is that it will provide insight into occupation health and safety issues associated with working in long term relationships with vulnerable families. Read moreRead less
Psychosocial influences determining Australians' sun safe practices: An examination of attitudes, norms, and control perceptions. Skin cancer accounts for approximately 80% of all new cancers diagnosed annually in Australia. As the performance of sun safe practices is dependent on individual decision-making processes, it is vital to understand the motivations underlying people's sun-protective actions. Identification of the important predictors of motivations to sun-protect will assist in develo ....Psychosocial influences determining Australians' sun safe practices: An examination of attitudes, norms, and control perceptions. Skin cancer accounts for approximately 80% of all new cancers diagnosed annually in Australia. As the performance of sun safe practices is dependent on individual decision-making processes, it is vital to understand the motivations underlying people's sun-protective actions. Identification of the important predictors of motivations to sun-protect will assist in developing specific in-class and online intervention strategies to increase people's performance of sun safety behaviours. The results of the proposed research have significant implications for reducing the incidence of non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancer and sun-related damage in a high risk context, ultimately reducing skin-cancer morbidity and mortality rates.Read moreRead less
Juvenile firelighters intervention program: Towards a best practice framework. Juvenile firelighting results in significant costs to life, property, and the environment. In Australia prevention programs are implemented by trained practitioners from fire services. This project examines the programs of urban, regional and rural fire authorities throughout Australia and focuses, using case study methodology, on the first Australian program, the JFAIP. JFAIP developments will be tracked over time an ....Juvenile firelighters intervention program: Towards a best practice framework. Juvenile firelighting results in significant costs to life, property, and the environment. In Australia prevention programs are implemented by trained practitioners from fire services. This project examines the programs of urban, regional and rural fire authorities throughout Australia and focuses, using case study methodology, on the first Australian program, the JFAIP. JFAIP developments will be tracked over time and place, with alternative theories for the program's impact and effectiveness tested. Validity will be assessed by triangulation of data from different sources. In this way, a framework of empirically-based best practice guidelines will be developed for future Australian programs and adaptations.Read moreRead less
Practical methods to evaluate school breakfast programs. This innovative project will provide a doctoral student with the opportunity to develop in-depth academic research within the practical constraints of field-based program evaluation. The candidate will develop a practical methodology to evaluate community-based programs, specifically school breakfast programs in New South Wales. The outcome of the project will be an evaluation protocol, set of tools and reporting proforma that can be appli ....Practical methods to evaluate school breakfast programs. This innovative project will provide a doctoral student with the opportunity to develop in-depth academic research within the practical constraints of field-based program evaluation. The candidate will develop a practical methodology to evaluate community-based programs, specifically school breakfast programs in New South Wales. The outcome of the project will be an evaluation protocol, set of tools and reporting proforma that can be applied by volunteers and teachers to evaluate school breakfast programs. The research process undertaken by the candidate also will be applicable to the development of evaluation methodologies of a range of community-based programs.Read moreRead less
Effects of omega-3 fatty acids and micronutrients on learning and behaviour of Indigenous Australian children from a remote community school. Indigenous Australian children have disproportionate health problems that are largely related to malnutrition, which affects physical health and may also impact on their emotional health, learning and behaviour. Indigenous Australian children in remote rural communities are performing well below national benchmarks, and the government has earmarked improve ....Effects of omega-3 fatty acids and micronutrients on learning and behaviour of Indigenous Australian children from a remote community school. Indigenous Australian children have disproportionate health problems that are largely related to malnutrition, which affects physical health and may also impact on their emotional health, learning and behaviour. Indigenous Australian children in remote rural communities are performing well below national benchmarks, and the government has earmarked improved education in this population as a top national priority. To date research has not addressed the impact of nutrition on learning in this population. Improving the nutritional status of these children could assist them to derive greater benefit from educational opportunities, and in turn greater equality of access to occupational opportunities later in life.Read moreRead less
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
The Impact of the Introduction of Electronic Gaming Machines on Communities: Health and Wellbeing Consequences. The long-term economic and social impact of EGMs is of great importance to Australia. Gambling is a major industry in Australia, with over 7,000 businesses generating profits in excess of $16 billion annually. Poker machines account for more than half the total revenue collected from all gambling. On the other hand, there are over 290,000 adults in Australia who are experiencing signif ....The Impact of the Introduction of Electronic Gaming Machines on Communities: Health and Wellbeing Consequences. The long-term economic and social impact of EGMs is of great importance to Australia. Gambling is a major industry in Australia, with over 7,000 businesses generating profits in excess of $16 billion annually. Poker machines account for more than half the total revenue collected from all gambling. On the other hand, there are over 290,000 adults in Australia who are experiencing significant problems with their gambling, and on average, the lives of six other people are adversely affected by every problem gambler. This project will inform regulatory frameworks to balance the costs and benefits of gambling. The findings will be used by local governments and regulatory authorities.Read moreRead less
The initiation and maintenance of plasma and platelet donation in Australia: An analysis of the role of donor identity and commitment. Australia strives to be self-sufficient in the provision of plasma and platelets in a context where demand is forecast to grow. Our research will be of significant social and applied benefit to Australia in identifying the key psychosocial determinants of plasma and platelet (apheresis) donation initiation and maintenance. In addition, our research will design an ....The initiation and maintenance of plasma and platelet donation in Australia: An analysis of the role of donor identity and commitment. Australia strives to be self-sufficient in the provision of plasma and platelets in a context where demand is forecast to grow. Our research will be of significant social and applied benefit to Australia in identifying the key psychosocial determinants of plasma and platelet (apheresis) donation initiation and maintenance. In addition, our research will design and assess practical interventions to facilitate the recruitment and retention of apheresis donors. Greater understanding of the determinants of apheresis donor behaviour will help to increase the numbers of Australians choosing to become regular apheresis donors. This will allow Australia to ultimately meet its goal of self-sufficiency in providing critical medical resources.Read moreRead less
Regulating anger: Cognitive reappraisal, emotional suppression, and post-event rumination. Australians bear the substantial psychological, social, and economic costs associated with unrestrained anger. Anger problems are associated with school and work difficulties, poor social relationship quality, alcohol and drug use, financial and legal difficulties, premature cardiovascular mortality, and clinically significant mental health problems. Anger and aggression also cause much harm to society th ....Regulating anger: Cognitive reappraisal, emotional suppression, and post-event rumination. Australians bear the substantial psychological, social, and economic costs associated with unrestrained anger. Anger problems are associated with school and work difficulties, poor social relationship quality, alcohol and drug use, financial and legal difficulties, premature cardiovascular mortality, and clinically significant mental health problems. Anger and aggression also cause much harm to society through crime, domestic abuse, and workplace violence among others. The Australian Institute of Criminology estimates the cost of assault, sexual assault, and homicide in Australia at over $2.5 billion per year. The insights gained from this research may help ameliorate these negative consequences of anger.Read moreRead less