Behavioural Management Of The Triggers Of Recurrent Headache: Avoidance Versus Coping
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$503,233.00
Summary
The traditional approach to headache management is to advise that the best way to prevent headaches is to avoid the trigger factors. This approach has never been systematically evaluated, however, and it may lead to headache sufferers losing tolerance for the factors that could precipitate a headache. This study will be the first to evaluate the traditional approach, and will also evaluate an innovative approach that includes techniques designed to desensitise people to headache triggers.
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
Clinical Genetic Phenotyping Of Autism Spectrum Disorders
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$582,114.00
Summary
Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have difficulty with communication, social interaction and intellectual disability. The cause is generally not known although most cases have a genetic basis involving multiple genes and possibly environmental factors. We will study families of children with ASD and carefully characterize features related to ASD in family members. This will help us to understand how ASD is inherited and serve as the basis for the discovery of autism genes.
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