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Enhancing Treatment Effectiveness For Psychosocial Disorders After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$253,750.00
Summary
Motor vehicle accidents are a major cause of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) leading to lifelong, crippling disability. In NSW alone, there are approximately 770 new cases of severe brain injury each year. These people require extensive inpatient rehabilitation and many go on to rely upon community resources for the rest of their lives. The social and economic cost of such injury is cumulative. TBI is mainly experienced by young adults (18-24 years of age) who have normal life expectancy and ....Motor vehicle accidents are a major cause of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) leading to lifelong, crippling disability. In NSW alone, there are approximately 770 new cases of severe brain injury each year. These people require extensive inpatient rehabilitation and many go on to rely upon community resources for the rest of their lives. The social and economic cost of such injury is cumulative. TBI is mainly experienced by young adults (18-24 years of age) who have normal life expectancy and each year more casualties are added to this social burden. Adults with TBI frequently experience a reduction in social skills. Loss of social skills presents major obstacles to reintegration into the community by making the sufferer more taxing and less rewarding to interact with socially. This loss of social skills limits their ability to maintain pre-injury relationships, and often creates an off-putting first impression on potential new acquaintances that interferes with their ability to establish new relationships. The following project is designed to develop and evaluate a treatment program to enhance the TBI individual's ability to create a good first impression on meeting new acquaintances - e.g., potential employers, work colleagues, customers, and social acquaintances - and to engage in behaviour that is mutually rewarding. The project will inform current theoretical approaches to remediation, providing an examination of the modifiability of social skills deficits that are the result of underlying cognitive impairments. It will provide a systematic, integrated social skills treatment approach for both individuals and groups where there are currently very few. The identification and refinement of successful treatment techniques will increase the efficiency of brain injury rehabilitation in Australia, improve the quality of life for sufferers of TBI and their families, reduce cost of rehabilitation and reduce reliance upon community resources in the long term.Read moreRead less
Prevalence report by the Australian Advisory Board on Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) estimated that 1 child in every 160 children in the 6-12 year-old age group is affected by ASD. There is no cure for ASD and the causes are not understood. We propose that sex hormones may play a role in the development of these disorders. We will test this hypothesis using knockout and transgenic mouse models which have social interaction deficits and brain structure reminiscent of these disorders.
Experience-dependent Maturation And Plasticity Of The Cerebral Cortex Mediating Schizophrenia-like Endophenotypes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$384,199.00
Summary
We will use genetic mouse models of schizophrenia to understand how specific abnormal behaviours are caused, focusing on cells and molecules within the brain. We will investigate how the gene mutations disrupts communication between, and production of, brain cells (neurons), and the role of mental and physical activity. The results of this project will not only have implications for understanding schizophrenia, but also for other brain disorders involving cognitive problems, such as dementia.
Cognitive-behaviour Therapy For Tinnitus: Dismantling Study To Maximise Treatment Efficacy
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$230,220.00
Summary
Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) is a problem which affects a large number of people and for which there is no generally successful medical treatment. People are usually told that they will have to learn to live with the problem. Cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) has emerged as the principle means of helping people to cope with tinnitus. The proposed study aims to: (a) enhance the efficacy of CBT interventions for tinnitus, (b) identify the active components of CBT that mediate treatment gains, an ....Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) is a problem which affects a large number of people and for which there is no generally successful medical treatment. People are usually told that they will have to learn to live with the problem. Cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) has emerged as the principle means of helping people to cope with tinnitus. The proposed study aims to: (a) enhance the efficacy of CBT interventions for tinnitus, (b) identify the active components of CBT that mediate treatment gains, and (c) specify the mechanisms by which change occurs. The study is designed to dismantle the multi-component CBT tinnitus management protocol to investigate the relative efficacy of the individual components of treatment. The need to identify the types of psychological therapies which work best for potentially different kinds of tinnitus patients is important on both practical and theoretical grounds. Identifying and including only those components of treatment that are beneficial, and eliminating those that are not, is crucial to matching specific treatments to specific patients, which represents a major endeavour in contemporary psychotherapy research. Whether there are individual differences in response to the different components of the treatment or whether there is a single most potent component is of considerable theoretical interest. It is expected that subjects who receive the full treatment will display the largest immediate and long-term gains. Treatments which involve cognitive restructuring will produce better effects than those that do not. This project will contribute to enhanced functioning among tinnitus patients and increase the proportion of those who can benefit from empirically supported therapies.Read moreRead less
Early Intervention For Borderline Personality Disorder In Youth: A Randomised Controlled Trial.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$709,932.00
Summary
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a severe mental disorder involving instability of emotions, impulse control, self-concept and interpersonal relationships. BPD arises during adolescence and has a suicide rate of 10%. This study investigates the most effective form of early intervention for BPD that improves the daily lives of individuals and reduces poor outcomes, such as deliberate self-harm. The findings will inform the dissemination of early intervention for BPD in the health system.
Supraspinal Neural Adaptations In The Transition From Acute Injury To Chronic Pain And Disability
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$429,360.00
Summary
Although there have been significant clinical advances in the management of injury and the control of acute pain following tauma, many people still develop disabling conditions of chronic pain. Chronic pain and disability occurs even though the acute signs of trauma have subsided and injuries have healed. People with chronic pain conditions not only experience ongoing changes in sensation (ie., most commonly lowered thresholds for pain, touch evoked pain and spontaneous pain), they also endure a ....Although there have been significant clinical advances in the management of injury and the control of acute pain following tauma, many people still develop disabling conditions of chronic pain. Chronic pain and disability occurs even though the acute signs of trauma have subsided and injuries have healed. People with chronic pain conditions not only experience ongoing changes in sensation (ie., most commonly lowered thresholds for pain, touch evoked pain and spontaneous pain), they also endure a number of disabilities for example disrupted family and social relations, disturbed sleep, loss of appetite, weight changes, loss of sex drive, changes in menstrual cycle, the inability to cope with stressors, and often moderate to severe anxiety and depression. The proposed research aims to (i) identify changes in brain circuits which are responsible for producing these patterns of pain and disability following injury and (ii) attempts to selectively reverse some of these disabilities by reversing the brain changes. The results of this study will offer for the first time a rational basis for improving the outcomes of injury and pain management in the acute phase of trauma, by identifying and reversing the critical changes which predict the advent of the state state of chronic pain and disability.Read moreRead less
Enhancing Efficacy Of Cognitive Behavioural Treatment For Children With Anxiety Disorders: Treating Parent Anxiety.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$377,961.00
Summary
Much attention is focused on childhood problems such as attention-deficit, depression and substance abuse. However, the most prevalent psychological problem experienced in childhood is anxiety. There is even some evidence to suggest that anxiety may lead to later problems such as depression or substance abuse. We know that anxiety disorders are a widespread problem in our youth. We also know that anxiety, if left untreated, will persist through the child's life and cause significant disruption t ....Much attention is focused on childhood problems such as attention-deficit, depression and substance abuse. However, the most prevalent psychological problem experienced in childhood is anxiety. There is even some evidence to suggest that anxiety may lead to later problems such as depression or substance abuse. We know that anxiety disorders are a widespread problem in our youth. We also know that anxiety, if left untreated, will persist through the child's life and cause significant disruption to their life. The good news is that there has been an increased interest in these disorders and as a result treatments that work have been developed. However, a recent review of the best psychological treatments for anxiety in children showed that on average studies are reporting remission rates of only 56.5%. Clearly we need to develop more effective treatments for anxious children. One possible approach to improve outcomes for children with anxiety is to provide additional treatment for the parents. We know that anxiety runs in families: anxious children are more likely than non-anxious children to have anxious parents. A number of theories have suggested that parental anxiety plays an important role in the development of anxiety in children: An anxious parent may model anxious behaviour, encourage avoidance of anxious situations and reinforce anxious behaviour in their child. The results of this study will determine whether it is possible to improve the efficacy of treatments for anxiety in children by addressing anxiety in their parents. If the data show no additional benefit of the modified treatment, therapists can be more efficient in their treatment of anxious children by ignoring the parent's own anxiety. However, if as expected the modified treatment proves to be more efficacious, then we will have identified an important strategy to increase the efficacy of intervention for this highly prevalent and debilitating childhood problem.Read moreRead less
Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy For Obsessive-Compulsive Checkers: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$156,447.00
Summary
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder that affects up to 3% of the general population. People with the disorder experience unpleasant intrusive thoughts that they find distressing and have a strong urge to perform particular behaviours. Fears about fire and burglary are common and excessive checking of electrical appliances and locks can take many hours a day. Checkers represent one of the largest OCD sub-groups. Because of the time-consuming nature of the condition, soci ....Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder that affects up to 3% of the general population. People with the disorder experience unpleasant intrusive thoughts that they find distressing and have a strong urge to perform particular behaviours. Fears about fire and burglary are common and excessive checking of electrical appliances and locks can take many hours a day. Checkers represent one of the largest OCD sub-groups. Because of the time-consuming nature of the condition, social and occupational functioning is often severely restricted. Many sufferers will also experience extreme social isolation and depression. The World Health Organisation ranks this disorder as 20th among all causes of burden of disease. The development of effective interventions could substantially reduce the economic and social burden of this disabling anxiety disorder. The aim of this project is: (1) to compare the therapeutic efficacy of a new treatment approach (Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy) with that of Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP); It is hypothesised that: (1) subjects who receive 12 sessions of DIRT will show greater post-treatment and follow-up reductions in symptomatology than subjects who receive ERP.Read moreRead less
A Randomised Trial Of The Augmentation Of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy With Fluoxetine For Anxious School Refusing Youth
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$539,191.00
Summary
School refusing youth consistently suffer from anxiety and sometimes depression. They become severely emotionally distressed when taken to school and experience social and academic difficulties in the short and long term as well as psychiatric illness in adulthood. Our program investigates whether treatment can be improved by enhancing psychotherapy (cognitive behaviour therapy) which helps over half of anxious school refusing children, with antidepressant-anxiety medication compared to placebo.