Enhancing Mental Health in Aboriginal Children. The poor health, academic, and mental health functioning of Aboriginal children is one of Australia's major public health problems. This project will identify the specific factors that lead to these problems and empirically evaluate management programs aimed at leading to reduced violence and better mental health. This program aims to interupt the intergenerational cycle of violence and mental health problems in Australian Aborigines.
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL0992334
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,321,000.00
Summary
An Empirical Model of Aboriginal Mental Health. The poor health, academic, and mental health functioning of Aboriginal children is one of Australia's major public health problems. This project will identify the specific factors that lead to these problems and provide an evidence base to shape future empirically-informed interventions to reduce violence and mental health problems in Aboriginal communities. This project directly addresses the National Research Priority of Strengthening Australia ....An Empirical Model of Aboriginal Mental Health. The poor health, academic, and mental health functioning of Aboriginal children is one of Australia's major public health problems. This project will identify the specific factors that lead to these problems and provide an evidence base to shape future empirically-informed interventions to reduce violence and mental health problems in Aboriginal communities. This project directly addresses the National Research Priority of Strengthening Australia's Social and Economic Fabric and a Healthy Start to Life by establishing the empirical platform to shape future policies for enhancing the mental health of Aboriginal youth.Read moreRead less
Genes, neuroanatomy and family process: Predicting adolescent anxiety and depression. Whilst significant gains in outcomes have been obtained in other areas of health by focusing on early intervention and prevention, in the mental health field this approach has been limited by the paucity of developmentally targeted treatment and prevention strategies. This study will provide unique information regarding the risk processes that are operating during early and late adolescence, and will inform us ....Genes, neuroanatomy and family process: Predicting adolescent anxiety and depression. Whilst significant gains in outcomes have been obtained in other areas of health by focusing on early intervention and prevention, in the mental health field this approach has been limited by the paucity of developmentally targeted treatment and prevention strategies. This study will provide unique information regarding the risk processes that are operating during early and late adolescence, and will inform us about how the family environment can act to modulate the impacts of biological vulnerability on risk for mental disorder. This project will contribute to our understanding of who, and what, to target in early intervention and prevention strategies.Read moreRead less
Dissecting the shared genetic architecture of psychiatric and psychological traits with application to prediction of genetic risk. Identification of the early phase of psychiatric disorders is considered critical for early intervention which is the essence of prevention. At present, the main obstacle to targeted early intervention strategies in psychiatric disorders is the non-specific nature of early stage symptoms. Many psychiatric disorders present with symptoms of depressed mood and anxiety ....Dissecting the shared genetic architecture of psychiatric and psychological traits with application to prediction of genetic risk. Identification of the early phase of psychiatric disorders is considered critical for early intervention which is the essence of prevention. At present, the main obstacle to targeted early intervention strategies in psychiatric disorders is the non-specific nature of early stage symptoms. Many psychiatric disorders present with symptoms of depressed mood and anxiety in the early stages, yet best intervention treatments are dependent on the final (unknown) diagnosed disorder. Prediction of genetic risk is likely to make an important contribution for identification of individuals at risk of specific psychiatric disorders so that the best early intervention treatment can be administered. Read moreRead less
Improving Employment Outcomes in Early Psychosis: Social and Economic Benefits of Early Intervention. Over 74% of people with psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia, despite wanting to work, are unemployed, more than any other disability group. This project examines an evidence-based method in which young people with psychosis can be effectively supported to return to the competitive labour market. In Australia, unemployment of people with schizophrenia costs $927 million, over half the total il ....Improving Employment Outcomes in Early Psychosis: Social and Economic Benefits of Early Intervention. Over 74% of people with psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia, despite wanting to work, are unemployed, more than any other disability group. This project examines an evidence-based method in which young people with psychosis can be effectively supported to return to the competitive labour market. In Australia, unemployment of people with schizophrenia costs $927 million, over half the total illness costs of schizophrenia. For people with psychosis, unemployment exacerbates social and economic marginalisation. This project aims to reduce the economic cost of unemployment among the mentally ill as well as using employment to reduce social marginalisation of people with mental illness.Read moreRead less
Emotion processing deficits in childhood: Risk for psychopathology and indications for clinical intervention. Mental health problems and antisocial behaviour cost Australia millions of dollars every year through the mental health and criminal justice systems. Families in rural regions of Australia are particularly disadvantaged in terms of access to clinical services. This research will examine and train emotion recognition skills and other developmental characteristics in children referred for ....Emotion processing deficits in childhood: Risk for psychopathology and indications for clinical intervention. Mental health problems and antisocial behaviour cost Australia millions of dollars every year through the mental health and criminal justice systems. Families in rural regions of Australia are particularly disadvantaged in terms of access to clinical services. This research will examine and train emotion recognition skills and other developmental characteristics in children referred for treatment for a range of behavioural and psychological disorders. Findings will lead to improvements in methods for early detection of child psychopathology with the potential for broad community implementation, and will contribute to the development of clinical protocols and treatment guidelines for early intervention and prevention. Read moreRead less
Recognising, assessing, and managing high risk stalking behaviour: An evidence-based approach. Developing effective methods of assessing and treating stalkers will directly impact the health and safety of thousands of stalking victims across Australia, and reduce the number of stalkers coming into contact with the criminal justice system. Application of the assessment and treatment tools developed during this project by mental health and corrective services around Australia will help to reduce p ....Recognising, assessing, and managing high risk stalking behaviour: An evidence-based approach. Developing effective methods of assessing and treating stalkers will directly impact the health and safety of thousands of stalking victims across Australia, and reduce the number of stalkers coming into contact with the criminal justice system. Application of the assessment and treatment tools developed during this project by mental health and corrective services around Australia will help to reduce physical and psychological harm experienced by both stalkers and their victims. The development and implementation of practical and effective strategies that lessen the impact of stalking will reduce the burden of mental ill-health caused by stalking, increase community safety, and reduce overall levels of victimisation in Australian society. Read moreRead less
Identifying Malingered Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Biological Markers for Legal Assessment. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the most common psychiatric disorder that is claimed in compensation claims in Australia. There are currently no reliable means to distinguish malingered from genuine PTSD. This project aims to develop the most accurate means of identifying malingered PTSD by using the most recent technology to index biological responses, including fMRI, in participants with PT ....Identifying Malingered Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Biological Markers for Legal Assessment. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the most common psychiatric disorder that is claimed in compensation claims in Australia. There are currently no reliable means to distinguish malingered from genuine PTSD. This project aims to develop the most accurate means of identifying malingered PTSD by using the most recent technology to index biological responses, including fMRI, in participants with PTSD, without PTSD, and malingered PTSD. This study will lead to a biological assessment that can objectively index PTSD and be resistant to intentional feigning. These data will significantly enhance legal assessments of PTSD and facilitate compensation resolution.Read moreRead less
Normal and abnormal processes of social attention orienting. Human beings are capable of rapidly detecting the direction of another person's eye-gaze and shifting attention reflexively in that direction. This project will compare shifts of attention to non-social and social cues of direction to determine whether attentional shifts to gaze-direction are fast because humans are biologically hard-wired to respond to social cues of evolutionary significance (eyes) or because humans are well-practice ....Normal and abnormal processes of social attention orienting. Human beings are capable of rapidly detecting the direction of another person's eye-gaze and shifting attention reflexively in that direction. This project will compare shifts of attention to non-social and social cues of direction to determine whether attentional shifts to gaze-direction are fast because humans are biologically hard-wired to respond to social cues of evolutionary significance (eyes) or because humans are well-practiced at using a number of different signals for direction in their environment. Findings from this work will than be used to investigate whether a selective impairment of responding to gaze-direction contributes to the social impairments so characteristic of people with schizophrenia.
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