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Why Do Australian Teenagers Fall Pregnant? Exploring The Antecedents Of Teenage Pregnancy.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$542,100.00
Summary
Teenage pregnancy is a major health, social and economic issue for Australia. The teenage birth rate in Australia is higher than many other developed countries and of additional concern is the very high pregnancy and termination rate. Teenage pregnancy places the mother and child at greater risk of lifelong adverse outcomes. Despite research over more than 3 decades, we have only a simplistic understanding of what are likely complex mechanisms leading to early pregnancy. This is thought to be th ....Teenage pregnancy is a major health, social and economic issue for Australia. The teenage birth rate in Australia is higher than many other developed countries and of additional concern is the very high pregnancy and termination rate. Teenage pregnancy places the mother and child at greater risk of lifelong adverse outcomes. Despite research over more than 3 decades, we have only a simplistic understanding of what are likely complex mechanisms leading to early pregnancy. This is thought to be the reason for the failure of nearly all teenage pregnancy prevention efforts worldwide. In addition, there has been little study of this issue in Australian teenagers, and none in Aboriginal teenagers for whom pregnancy is more common and carries worse outcomes. This 2-stage project seeks to elucidate complex biological, psychological, and social pathways to unplanned pregnancy in the teenage years. In Phase 1, perceptions, values and beliefs will be explored in a qualitative study. Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal teenagers attending antenatal, termination and family planning clinics will be interviewed. Data from these interviews will generate new hypotheses regarding pregnancy risk in this age group. In Phase 2, 600 teenagers from schools, antenatal and termination clinics will be surveyed using computerised questionnaires. They will be asked about beliefs (identified in phase 1) and a range of other individual, family, and environmental factors identified in other studies to be risk factors for early pregnancy. Statistical analysis will be used to determine how multiple risk factors interact or combine to shape sexual and childbearing behaviour. This study will lead to new understandings of teenage pregnancy in Australia, and more effective teenage pregnancy intervention programs. Because few researchers in Australia, or elsewhere, have taken such a comprehensive approach to data collection and analysis, the results will be of international significance.Read moreRead less
I am a behavioural epidemiologist in adolescent health. The focus of my research is to assess the effect of the school environment on adolescent health and wellbeing, design and evaluate school-based interventions that promote these and study how schools
Randomised Controlled Trial Of A Financial Counselling Intervention And Smoking Cessation Assistance To Reduce Smoking In Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Groups
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,029,662.00
Summary
Socioeconomically disadvantaged groups are more likely to smoke than other sectors of the community. This difference has been attributed, in part, to increased rates of relapse. Relapse is strongly and consistently predicted by financial stress. This project attempts to reduce relapse by reducing financial stress among disadvantaged smokers through the provision of financial counselling as an adjunct to NRT.
An ethnographic study of obesity risk in a disadvantaged community. This project will investigate how families who are seen as ‘at risk’ of developing obesity respond to Australia's largest obesity intervention, and if messages about healthy eating and increased physical activity are acted upon. Information gathered will provide an important context for what works (and doesn’t work) in obesity intervention.
Being A Father In My New Society: Promoting The Wellbeing Of Fathers From Immigrant And Refugee Backgrounds
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$75,268.00
Summary
Being a father in a new society raises challenges that can impact the mental health and wellbeing of men from migrant and refugee backgrounds. This research will evaluate a program improving access to services, reinforcing social inclusion and supporting men in being accessible, engaged and responsible fathers. This evidence-based program will help health services alleviate sickness for a most vulnerable sector of society and enhance the wellbeing of fathers, their children and their family.
Turning passion for sport into an opportunity to improve child health in remote communities. Working with a rugby league football team, this social marketing project will address the poor health outcomes and high rates of infectious disease among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. The benefits of the project include reduced diarrhoeal, skin and respiratory infections; and engaged and empowered communities.
Theorising and understanding how policy processes affect uptake of evidence on social determinants of health and equity in Australian health policy. This project determines how to apply recent recommendations from the World Health Organisation about the social determinants of health to Australia. Analysis of health sector policies, including detailed case studies, will determine how governments can shape policy and implementation processes to improve Australia’s health.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130101734
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$371,622.00
Summary
Should I stay or should I go? Increasing natural disaster preparedness and survival through animal attachment. This project will determine the extent to which people's willingness to risk their lives to save animals during natural disasters could be reinterpreted as a protective factor by motivating preparedness. This information will be used to create effective public health campaigns designed to increase natural disaster preparedness and save lives.
Indigenous young people's resilience and wellbeing. This project aims to identify factors related to, and those which predict, the development of resilience and wellbeing in Indigenous youth. Resilience protects the social and emotional wellbeing of youth exposed to high levels of adversity, and reduces the likelihood of substance misuse, violence, and risky behaviour. This project will examine the development of resilience and wellbeing in Indigenous youth; compare Indigenous youth’s self-asses ....Indigenous young people's resilience and wellbeing. This project aims to identify factors related to, and those which predict, the development of resilience and wellbeing in Indigenous youth. Resilience protects the social and emotional wellbeing of youth exposed to high levels of adversity, and reduces the likelihood of substance misuse, violence, and risky behaviour. This project will examine the development of resilience and wellbeing in Indigenous youth; compare Indigenous youth’s self-assessment of their resilience and wellbeing between low and high risk cohorts; and study how community services develop youth wellbeing and resilience. The expected benefit of this research is a better understanding of connections among age, cultural identity, resilience, wellbeing and risky behaviours in Indigenous youth.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100387
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$363,782.00
Summary
User driven interventions in the reduction of drug-related harm: analysing structural barriers and capacity building among drug user organisations. Although Australia's consumer-centred approach to harm reduction has been widely praised, consumer participation remains limited in countries such as Britain and Canada. Entailing an international comparative analysis of these three sites, this project focuses on building capacity and reducing structural barriers among drug user organisations.