Protect from harm or lead into danger? The influence of peers in leisure activities on adolescent behaviour. When are peers a bad influence? This project will offer answers about the leisure settings that expose young people to risk and those that protect them from harm during the high school years. This research will also help identify those youth who may be especially vulnerable to negative effects of peer influence.
Which children develop severely disruptive school behaviour? By systematically tracking 250 children through the first six years of school, this project aims to identify factors contributing to the development, perpetuation and exacerbation of disruptive school behaviour. Disruptive student behaviour has been identified as one of the most significant issues confronting Australian schools. Yet common educational responses often inflame rather than reduce problem behaviours. The project aims to pr ....Which children develop severely disruptive school behaviour? By systematically tracking 250 children through the first six years of school, this project aims to identify factors contributing to the development, perpetuation and exacerbation of disruptive school behaviour. Disruptive student behaviour has been identified as one of the most significant issues confronting Australian schools. Yet common educational responses often inflame rather than reduce problem behaviours. The project aims to produce new knowledge about how best to address those factors in the early years while student attitudes and behaviour are still relatively malleable.Read moreRead less
A longitudinal study into the development of personal vulnerabilities and well-being in adolescence. This longitudinal study examines the temperament and environmental factors that promote character strengths in adolescents. Character strengths such as empathy and emotion-management skills are potentially teachable and help prevent an adolescent from experiencing difficulties in social, emotional and academic adjustment.