A Parent Education And Skills Training Intervention For Young Adolescents With Autism
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$436,500.00
Summary
Autism is a most severe and prevalent lifelong developmental disorder affecting approximately one in every thousand children and their families. Autism is associated with personal suffering and is a significant burden and stress for parents, families and carers and cost to the community. In earlier work we have demonstrated that providing a structured program of parent education and guidance to families with preschool children with autism leads to improved parental adjustment and mental health. ....Autism is a most severe and prevalent lifelong developmental disorder affecting approximately one in every thousand children and their families. Autism is associated with personal suffering and is a significant burden and stress for parents, families and carers and cost to the community. In earlier work we have demonstrated that providing a structured program of parent education and guidance to families with preschool children with autism leads to improved parental adjustment and mental health. The program also led to behavioural and developmental benefits for the child. The early secondary school years bring further stress and difficulty to adolescents with autism and their families. This project aims to assess the effectiveness of a parent education and training program for parents with autistic adolescents aged 12-14 years. If shown to be effective, this manual based intervention can be readily used by professionals to promote parent mental health, family adjustment and improve the wellbeing and outcome for adolescents with autism. As a result, family stress and the necessity of out of home care may be reduced and school participation improved.Read moreRead less
Behaviour and emotional problems in young children with developmental delay. This research will provide health professionals, researchers and service providers with a reliable and valid measure to assess behaviour in young children with developmental delay. This will be the first instrument of its kind worldwide. The study will provide the largest and most comprehensive survey of behaviour and emotional problems in young children with developmental delay internationally to date. It will provide ....Behaviour and emotional problems in young children with developmental delay. This research will provide health professionals, researchers and service providers with a reliable and valid measure to assess behaviour in young children with developmental delay. This will be the first instrument of its kind worldwide. The study will provide the largest and most comprehensive survey of behaviour and emotional problems in young children with developmental delay internationally to date. It will provide information on the types of treatment that are needed for these children and what support is needed for their families. The outcomes of this study have the potential to promote the best possible start in life and long term mental health of this group of at risk and disadvantaged young Australians.Read moreRead less
Estrogen - A Potential New Treatment For Women & Men With Schizophrenia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$227,545.00
Summary
Estrogen - the major female hormone, has been shown in animal studies to decrease the two main brain chemicals (dopamine and serotonin) that are implicated in causing schizophrenia. The effect of estrogen in the brain is similar to current antipsychotic drugs. We have carried out a study that showed that when we gave 12 young women with schizophrenia 100 micrograms of estrogen in a skin patch form plus standard antipsychotic drug treament they recovered more quickly than 12 young women who recei ....Estrogen - the major female hormone, has been shown in animal studies to decrease the two main brain chemicals (dopamine and serotonin) that are implicated in causing schizophrenia. The effect of estrogen in the brain is similar to current antipsychotic drugs. We have carried out a study that showed that when we gave 12 young women with schizophrenia 100 micrograms of estrogen in a skin patch form plus standard antipsychotic drug treament they recovered more quickly than 12 young women who received standard antipsychotic drug treatment only. 100mcg is a safe dose of estrogen. In this proposal we want to expand and clarify the pilot study resutls by conducting a 28 day trial in a total of 60 women with schizophrenia. 30 women would receive 100 mcg skin patch estrogen plus antipsychotic medication and 30 women would receive antipsychotic medicationly only. We also tested the value of adding a very small dose of oral estrogen to antipsychotic drug treatment in five men with schizophrenia and found that they made a better recovery compared to five men who received standard antipsychotic drugs only. We trialled the use of estrogen for seven days in men, but this may not have been long enough to examine the real impact of estrogen treatment in men. In this proposal we want to conduct a 14 day trial in a total of 60 men with schizophrenia. 30 men would receive 2mg of oral estrogen plus antipsychotic drug treatment and their results would be compared with 30 men who received standard antipsychotic drug treatment plus a placebo tablet identical in appearance to estrogen. For 14 days, this low dose of estrogen is very safe. Potentially estrogen may be a useful addition to the current standard treatment of schizophrenia. It may decrease the duration of acute illness and in women it may have a role in preventing relapses of schizophrenia as well as improving the general health of women with schizophrenia.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354823
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
National network for the study of cognitive processes and treatment across the phases of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is associated with great costs to the community and individual. Controlled studies have demonstrated Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is efficacious in treating symptoms of schizophrenia. Studies of cognitive processes have also advanced understanding of psychotic phenomena. This initiative affords the opportunity to
1) Improve treatment efficacy by developing, testing and appl ....National network for the study of cognitive processes and treatment across the phases of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is associated with great costs to the community and individual. Controlled studies have demonstrated Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is efficacious in treating symptoms of schizophrenia. Studies of cognitive processes have also advanced understanding of psychotic phenomena. This initiative affords the opportunity to
1) Improve treatment efficacy by developing, testing and applying theoretically-driven models of psychotic symptoms.
2) Disseminate the findings of research on CBT for psychotic disorders in clinical settings by (a) training the work-force, and (b) facilitating CBT delivery in routine practice.
3) Apply CBT in various settings with a variety of psychotic populations to test its effectiveness in routine clinical settings.
Read moreRead less
Behavioural And Neuropsychiatric Aspects Of Transition To Severe Conduct Disorder In Adolescence.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$343,100.00
Summary
Conduct disorder represents an enormous cost to Australian society directly via the mental health and forensic systems, and indirect costs via its associations with other mental health problems, relationship problems, impaired social functioning, and substance use problems. Behavioural-family-based treatment have good success rates with young children with cooperative parents, however, there are a minority who progress to chronic problems despite this. Risk and resilience factors identifying chr ....Conduct disorder represents an enormous cost to Australian society directly via the mental health and forensic systems, and indirect costs via its associations with other mental health problems, relationship problems, impaired social functioning, and substance use problems. Behavioural-family-based treatment have good success rates with young children with cooperative parents, however, there are a minority who progress to chronic problems despite this. Risk and resilience factors identifying chronic patterns in early childhood are the key to early intervention. In previous research, this research team showed for the first time that callous-unemotional traits, a feature of chronic psychopathy, could be measured in children as young as 4 years, and was predictive of a range of negative outcomes. However, it was also found that the key neuropsychiatric markers characteristic of psychopathy, including reward dominance-punishment insensitivity and deficits in affective empathy, did not exist in conduct problem children prior to adolescence. Around the time of puberty, it appears that important changes occur in cognitive-affective processing styles that are associated with the adult form of psychopathy and antisocial behaviour. Thus, this research raises critical questions about the development of severe antisocial behaviour (or psychopathy) through the childhood to adolescent years. Our evidence indicates that early adolecence may be the period when intrapsychological characteristics representing chronic risk become concrete. The current research will be the first to map the development common neuropsychiatric markers (affective empathy, punishment insensitivity) of severe antisocial processes through the late childhood-adolescent period. The findings will have clear implications for models of antisocial behaviour and clinical approaches to working with conduct problem children and adolescents.Read moreRead less
Beyond psychopathology: Pathways to suicide in mentally well young adult males. Increased knowledge of risk factors for suicide among mentally well males can lead to better informed preventive health policies, earlier intervention and community education. The tragic impacts of suicide lead to long-term societal problems which result in disconnection and alienation, particularly for those who are left behind; findings from this study will assist development of initiatives aimed at increasing soci ....Beyond psychopathology: Pathways to suicide in mentally well young adult males. Increased knowledge of risk factors for suicide among mentally well males can lead to better informed preventive health policies, earlier intervention and community education. The tragic impacts of suicide lead to long-term societal problems which result in disconnection and alienation, particularly for those who are left behind; findings from this study will assist development of initiatives aimed at increasing social connectedness and awareness. Also, males compose the predominant workforce in Australia and the costs saved as a result of effective prevention initiatives may be enormous, given that economic costs to suicide are estimated at 900 million dollars annually. Read moreRead less
I am a consultant psychiatrist and clinical researcher. Over the last 15 years I have been trying to detect people at risk of development of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders by the prospective identification of the prodromal phase of these diso
Developmental Influences On Brain Structure And Connectivity: Implications For Emerging Borderline Personality Disorder
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$147,611.00
Summary
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe, debilitating mental illness that has usual onset in adolescence. Research has highlighted the importance of adolescent brain development, particularly the maturation of brain connections, in onset of mental illness. Brain mapping techniques will be applied to gain a better understanding of BPD onset and progression within an approach that integrates neurobiology and psychosocial context. This is critical for understanding development of BPD.