ORCID Profile
0000-0002-0180-185X
Current Organisations
UNSW Sydney
,
University of Oxford
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2021
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 17-03-2016
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 15-07-2022
DOI: 10.1017/S0033291722002033
Abstract: Lifetime trajectories of mental ill-health are often established during adolescence. Effective interventions to prevent the emergence of mental health problems are needed. In the current study we assessed the efficacy of the cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)-informed Climate Schools universal eHealth preventive mental health programme, relative to a control. We also explored whether the intervention had differential effects on students with varying degrees of social connectedness. We evaluated the efficacy of the Climate Schools mental health programme (19 participating schools average age at baseline was 13.6) v. a control group (18 participating schools average age at baseline was 13.5) which formed part of a large cluster randomised controlled trial in Australian schools. Measures of internalising problems, depression and anxiety were collected at baseline, immediately following the intervention and at 6-, 12- and 18-months post intervention. Immediately following the intervention, 2539 students provided data on at least one outcome of interest (2065 students at 18 months post intervention). Compared to controls, we found evidence that the standalone mental health intervention improved knowledge of mental health, however there was no evidence that the intervention improved other mental health outcomes, relative to a control. Student's social connectedness did not influence intervention outcomes. These results are consistent with recent findings that universal school-based, CBT-informed, preventive interventions for mental health have limited efficacy in improving symptoms of anxiety and depression when delivered alone. We highlight the potential for combined intervention approaches, and more targeted interventions, to better improve mental health outcomes.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 23-05-2022
Abstract: Research suggests affective symptoms are associated with habitual use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies in in iduals with mental health problems. Less is known, however, about whether mental health problems are related to reduced emotion regulation capacity per se. The current study investigates this question using a film-based emotion regulation task that required participants to downregulate their emotional response to highly evocative real-life film footage. We pooled data (N= 512, age: 18-89 years, 54% female) from 6 independent studies using this task. In contrast to our predictions, we found no support that symptoms of depression and anxiety were related to emotion regulation capacity or to emotional reactivity to negative films. These findings raise the possibility that the experience of mental health problems may not be associated with reduced emotion regulation capacity when measured using a regulation task. Implications for the measurement of emotion regulation as well as future directions for research in the field of emotion regulation are discussed.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-04-2023
DOI: 10.1186/S12888-023-04734-8
Abstract: In iduals vary in their ability to tolerate uncertainty. High intolerance of uncertainty (the tendency to react negatively to uncertain situations) is a known risk factor for mental health problems. In the current study we examined the degree to which intolerance of uncertainty predicted depression and anxiety symptoms and their interrelations across the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined these associations across three time points (May 2020 – April 2021) in an international s le of adults ( N = 2087, Mean age = 41.13) from three countries (UK, USA, Australia) with varying degrees of COVID-19 risk. We found that in iduals with high and moderate levels of intolerance of uncertainty reported reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms over time. However, symptom levels remained significantly elevated compared to in iduals with low intolerance of uncertainty. In iduals with low intolerance of uncertainty had low and stable levels of depression and anxiety across the course of the study. Network analyses further revealed that the relationships between depression and anxiety symptoms became stronger over time among in iduals with high intolerance of uncertainty and identified that feeling afraid showed the strongest association with intolerance of uncertainty. Our findings are consistent with previous work identifying intolerance of uncertainty as an important risk factor for mental health problems, especially in times marked by actual health, economic and social uncertainty. The results highlight the need to explore ways to foster resilience among in iduals who struggle to tolerate uncertainty, as ongoing and future geopolitical, climate and health threats will likely lead to continued exposure to significant uncertainty.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-09-2020
DOI: 10.1111/JORA.12576
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 22-09-2023
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 23-06-2020
Abstract: In adolescence, there is a heightened propensity to take health risks such as smoking, drinking or driving too fast. Another facet of risk taking, social risk, has largely been neglected. A social risk can be defined as any decision or action that could lead to an in idual being excluded by their peers, such as appearing different to one’s friends. In the current study, we developed and validated a measure of concern for health and social risk for use in in iduals of 11 years and over (N = 1399). Concerns for both health and social risk declined with age, challenging the commonly held stereotype that adolescents are less worried about engaging in risk behaviours, compared with adults. The rate of decline was steeper for social versus health risk behaviours, suggesting that adolescence is a period of heightened concern for social risk. We validated our measure against measures of rejection sensitivity, depression and risk-taking behaviour. Greater concern for social risk was associated with increased sensitivity to rejection and greater depressed mood, and this association was stronger for adolescents compared with adults. We conclude that social risks should be incorporated into future models of risk-taking behaviour, especially when they are pitted against health risks.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 16-06-2022
Abstract: Adolescence is a period of life when young people increasingly define themselves through peer comparison and are vulnerable to developing mental health problems. In the current study, we investigated whether the subjective experience of economic disadvantage is associated with social difficulties and poorer mental health in early adolescence. We used latent change score modelling (LCSM) on data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, collected at ages 11 and 14 (N=12995). Each LCSM estimated 5 parameters of 10 mental health and interpersonal difficulties-related variables: the mean of the outcome at age 11, and its variance the change of the outcome from age 11 to age 14, and its variance and a self-regressive parameter of the mean at age 11 on the change from age 11 to age 14. Perceived income inequality (e.g., perceiving oneself as belonging to a poorer family than the families of one’s peers) predicted adverse mental health and a range of interpersonal difficulties during adolescence, even when controlling for objective family income. Follow-up analyses highlighted that, at 11 years, young people who perceived themselves as belonging to poorer families than their friends reported worse well-being, self-esteem, internalising problems, externalising problems and victimisation at the same age (relative to those who perceived themselves as richer than or equal to their friends, or who did not know). Longitudinal analyses suggested that victimisation decreased from age 11 to 14 to a greater extent for adolescents who perceived themselves as poorer than other adolescents. Negative social comparisons in early adolescence could further lify the negative effects of economic disadvantage on mental health and behavioural difficulties during this period.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-11-2022
DOI: 10.1111/JCPP.13719
Abstract: Adolescence is a period of life when young people increasingly define themselves through peer comparison and are vulnerable to developing mental health problems. In the current study, we investigated whether the subjective experience of economic disadvantage among friends is associated with social difficulties and poorer mental health in early adolescence. We used latent change score modelling (LCSM) on data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, collected at ages 11 and 14 ( N = 12,995). Each LCSM modelled the mean of an outcome related to mental health and interpersonal difficulties at age 11 (including self‐esteem, well‐being, emotional difficulties, peer problems, bullying, victimisation and externalising difficulties), the change of the outcome from ages 11 to 14 and its predictors, including perceived income inequality among friends (i.e. perceiving oneself as belonging to a poorer family than the families of one's friends). Perceived income inequality predicted adverse mental health and a range of interpersonal difficulties during adolescence, even when controlling for objective family income. Follow‐up analyses highlighted that, at 11 years, young people who perceived themselves as belonging to poorer families than their friends reported worse well‐being, self‐esteem, internalising problems, externalising problems and victimisation at the same age (relative to those who perceived themselves as richer than or equal to their friends, or who did not know). Longitudinal analyses suggested that victimisation decreased from ages 11 to 14 to a greater extent for adolescents who perceived themselves as poorer than other adolescents. The salience of economic inequalities in proximal social environments (e.g. among friends) in early adolescence could further lify the negative effects of economic disadvantage on mental health and behavioural difficulties during this period.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 08-2022
DOI: 10.1037/PAS0001136
Abstract: Social rejection sensitivity has been proposed as a central risk factor for depression. Yet, its assessment has typically been limited to offline contexts. Many of today's social interactions, however, take place online. Here, we developed a measure to assess social rejection sensitivity in both online and offline environments. Across four separate s les including a total of 2381 in iduals (12-89 years), the Online and Offline Social Sensitivity Scale was shown to offer a reliable measure of social rejection sensitivity. The study provides evidence that rejection sensitivity across online and offline social environments shows a moderate to strong association with depressive symptoms and maladaptive ruminative brooding. We also found age-related differences in social rejection sensitivity in online and offline contexts with rejection sensitivity decreasing from early adolescence to older age. The scale has the potential to advance future research on the role of social rejection sensitivity in mental health in a digital age. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 06-10-2019
Abstract: During adolescence the prevalence of certain health risk behaviours, such as binge drinking and illicit substance use, increases. Engagement in these behaviours has been attributed to immature self-regulation, heightened sensation seeking, and peer influence during adolescence. However, more recently, adolescence has been characterised as a time of risk sensitivity rather than universal increases in health-risk behaviour. For ex le, the extent to which in iduals engage in health-risk behaviours may relate to their sensitivity to the social risk involved in engaging in the health-risk behaviour. In the present study we examined how in idual differences in social risk perception relate to an in idual’s expectation of future involvement in risky behaviour during adolescence. One hundred and twenty-two participants (ages 11-17, mean 14 years) reported their expected involvement in a number of risk behaviours and degree to which they thought a) engaging in these behaviours would make people like them more, and b) not engaging in these behaviours would make people like them less. Social risk perception was operationalised as the perceived social benefit gained from engaging in a risk behaviour, from low (people would like you less), to high (people would like you more). We used linear mixed effects modelling to assess the contribution of social risk perception in predicting in iduals expected involvement in health risk behaviours. We found that adolescents who perceived the social benefit associated with engaging in a risk behaviour to be high were more likely to report higher expected involvement in said behaviour. This was true for illicit substance use, aggressive and illegal behaviours, and risky drinking, but not for risky sex. Adolescents who reported a higher degree of peer victimisation showed a stronger relationship between the perceived social benefit of engaging in, and expected involvement in, these risk behaviours. Further, perceived social benefit moderated the relationship between sensation seeking and expected involvement in risky behaviours. Taken together, these data suggest that, across a number of health risking behaviours, adolescents incorporate perceptions of social risk when making decisions regarding their expected involvement. We argue that future investigations of adolescent health risking behaviours should incorporate social risk.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 12-10-2022
Abstract: In the past decade, there have been extensive efforts to raise public awareness about mental health problems, with the goal of reducing or preventing these symptoms across the population. Despite these efforts, reported rates of mental health problems have increased over the same period. In this paper, we present the hypothesis that, paradoxically, awareness efforts are contributing to this reported increase in mental health problems. We term this the prevalence inflation hypothesis. First, we argue that mental health awareness efforts are leading to more accurate reporting of previously under-recognised symptoms, a beneficial outcome. Second, and more problematically, we propose that awareness efforts are leading some in iduals to interpret and report milder forms of distress as mental health problems. We propose that this then leads some in iduals to experience a genuine increase in symptoms, because labelling distress as a mental health problem can affect an in idual’s self-concept and behaviour in a way that is ultimately self-fulfilling. For ex le, interpreting low levels of anxiety as symptomatic of an anxiety disorder might lead to behavioural avoidance, which can further exacerbate anxiety symptoms. We propose that the increase in reported symptoms then drives further awareness efforts: the two processes influence each other in a cyclical, intensifying manner. We end by suggesting ways to test this hypothesis and argue that future awareness efforts need to mitigate the issues we present.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 09-06-2021
Abstract: Social rejection sensitivity has been proposed as a central risk factor for depression. Yet its assessment has typically been limited to offline contexts. Many of today’s social interactions, however, take place online. Here, we developed a measure to assess social rejection sensitivity in both online and offline environments. Across four separate s les including a total of 2381 in iduals (12-89 years), the Online and Offline Social Sensitivity Scale was shown to offer a reliable measure of social rejection sensitivity. The study provides evidence that rejection sensitivity across online and offline social environments shows a strong association with depressive symptoms and maladaptive ruminative brooding. We also found age-related differences in social rejection sensitivity in online and offline contexts with rejection sensitivity decreasing from early adolescence to older age. The scale has the potential to advance future research on the role of social rejection sensitivity in mental health in a digital age.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2020
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 19-05-2023
Abstract: IntroductionEmotion regulation is central to mental wellbeing and depends on good affective control. Training affective control has been shown to improve emotion regulation and have downstream benefits on mental health in adolescents. However, uptake and adherence to affective control training in adolescents has been low. In this study, we will explore the potential of a novel gamified affective control training program (G-AffeCT), the Social Brain Train app, to increase training adherence compared to a standard affective control training (AffeCT) program in adolescents.Methods and AnalysisIn total, 144 adolescents aged 13-16 years will train for 12 days on either the G-AffeCT or AffeCT. The G-AffeCT comprises an affective control training component: the dual n-back task. Together with typical gamification (incl. badges and points) a second cognitive interpretation bias modification (CBM-I) component was introduced as social puzzles to make the training more game-like. These puzzles include ambiguous social scenarios that participants must learn to resolve positively. The AffeCT includes only the dual n-back task. The two training groups will be compared on time spent training as well as gains in affective control, interpretation bias, emotion regulation, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Ethics and DisseminationThis study has been approved by the University of New South Wales Human Research Ethics Committee (HC230164). If the G-AffeCT successfully increases training uptake and adherence and improves affective control and emotion regulation in adolescents as predicted, future definitive trials should investigate its utility to prevent and reduce adolescent mental health problems.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2021
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 18-05-2022
Abstract: BackgroundIn iduals who belong to a sexual minority are at greater risk of adverse health and social outcomes. These effects are observed during adolescence, when many mental health problems, such as depression, first emerge. Here, we employed a network analytic approach to explore the role that sexual minority status plays in the links between depression, interpersonal difficulties and health-risk behaviours in a large s le of mid-adolescents. MethodsA mixed graphical model was estimated on data from 8017 14-year-olds from the UK’s Millennium Cohort Study, of which 490 self-identified as belonging to a sexual minority. We computed measures of node predictability and centrality, and compared edge weight differences within the network. Shortest path analyses determine the shortest path from sexual minority status to other nodes in the network. Finally, consensus community detection was used to identify subgroups of adolescents who demonstrated distinct profiles of adverse outcomes. ResultsSexual minority status was highly central in the network. The largest edge was between sexual minority status and depression, and this was significantly larger than all other edges. Sexual minority status also had direct links with peer and conduct problems. The shortest path to smoking and drug use occurred via conduct problems. The shortest path to drinking, poor social support and closeness with parents and victimisation occurred via depression. Three distinct profiles of adverse outcomes were identified within sexual minority adolescents: increased peer and conduct problems higher smoking, drinking and drug use and elevated depression and victimisation with poor social and parental support.ConclusionsSexual minority status is highly connected to multiple adverse outcomes, sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly. The largest single association was between sexual minority status and depression, and this link mediated multiple negative associations with being in a sexual minority. Finally, our identification of subgroups highlighted in idual differences in adverse outcomes.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 17-09-2019
Abstract: In adolescence, there is a heightened propensity to take health risks such as smoking, drinking or driving too fast. Another facet of risk-taking, social risk, has largely been neglected. A social risk can be defined as any decision or action that could lead to an in idual being excluded by their peers, leading to a reduction in one’s social hierarchy or loss of face such as appearing different to one’s friends or standing up for an unpopular peer. In the current study, we developed and validated a measure of concern for health and social risk for use in in iduals of 11 years and over (N=1399). Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis we show that concerns for health and social risks are distinct categories. Concerns for both health and social risk declined with age, challenging the commonly held stereotype that adolescents are less worried about engaging in risk behaviours, compared with adults. The rate of decline was steeper for social versus health risk behaviours, suggesting that adolescence is a period of heightened concern for social risk. We validated our measure against measures of rejection sensitivity, depression and risk-taking behaviour. Greater concern for social risk was associated with increased sensitivity to rejection and greater depressed mood, and this association was stronger for adolescents compared with adults. We conclude that social risks should be incorporated into future models of risk-taking behaviour, especially when they are pitted against health risks.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 11-09-2019
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.190165
Abstract: In the current study, we were interested in whether adolescents show a preference for social stimuli compared with non-social stimuli in the context of academic diligence, that is, the ability to expend effort on tedious tasks that have long-term benefits. Forty-five female adolescents (aged 11–17) and 46 female adults (aged 23–33) carried out an adapted version of the Academic Diligence Task (ADT). We created two variations of the ADT: a social ADT and non-social ADT. In iduals were required to freely split their time between an easy, boring arithmetic task and looking at a show-reel of photographs of people (in the social ADT) or landscapes (in the non-social ADT). In iduals also provided enjoyment ratings for both the arithmetic task and the set of photographs they viewed. Adolescents reported enjoying the social photographs significantly more than the non-social photographs, with the converse being true for adults. There was no significant difference in the time spent looking at the social photographs between the adolescents and adults. However, adults spent significantly more time than adolescents looking at the non-social photographs, suggesting that adolescents were less motivated to look at the non-social stimuli. Further, the correlation between self-reported enjoyment of the pictures and choice behaviour in the ADT was stronger for adults than for adolescents in the non-social condition, revealing a greater discrepancy between self-reported enjoyment and ADT choice behaviour for adolescents. Our results are discussed within the context of the development of social cognition and introspective awareness between adolescence and adulthood.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 16-08-2019
Abstract: In the current study, we were interested in whether adolescents show a preference for social stimuli compared with non-social stimuli in the context of academic diligence, that is, the ability to expend effort on tedious tasks that have long term benefits. 45 female adolescents (aged 11-17) and 46 female adults (aged 23-33) carried out an adapted version of the Academic Diligence Task (ADT). We created two variations of the ADT: a social ADT and non-social ADT. In iduals were required to freely split their time between an easy, boring arithmetic task and looking at a show-reel of photographs of people (in the social ADT) or landscapes (in the non-social ADT). In iduals also provided enjoyment ratings for both the arithmetic task and the set of photographs they viewed. Adolescents reported enjoying the social photographs significantly more than the non-social photographs, with the converse being true for adults. There was no significant difference in the time spent looking at the social photographs between the adolescents and adults. However, adults spent significantly more time than adolescents looking at the non-social photographs, suggesting that adolescents were less motivated to look at the non-social stimuli. Further, the correlation between self-reported enjoyment of the pictures and choice behaviour in the ADT was stronger for adults than for adolescents in the non-social condition, revealing a greater discrepancy between self-reported enjoyment and ADT choice behaviour for adolescents. Our results are discussed within the context of the development of social cognition and introspective awareness between adolescence and adulthood.
Publisher: F1000 Research Ltd
Date: 24-01-2022
DOI: 10.12688/WELLCOMEOPENRES.17441.1
Abstract: Background: Adolescence is a sensitive period for the onset of mental health disorders. Effective, easy-to-disseminate, scalable prevention and early interventions are urgently needed. Affective control has been proposed as a potential target mechanism. Training affective control has been shown to reduce mental health symptoms and improve emotion regulation. However, uptake and adherence to such training by adolescents has been low. Thus, the current study aims to receive end user (i.e., adolescents) feedback on a prototype of a novel app-based gamified affective control training program, the Social Brain Train. Methods: The proposed study aims to recruit participants aged 13-16 years old ( N = 20) to provide user feedback on the Social Brain Train app. The first group of participants ( n = 5) will complete an online questionnaire assessing demographics, symptoms of depression and anxiety, social rejection sensitivity and attitudes toward the malleability of cognition and mental health. They will complete two tasks assessing cognitive capacity and interpretation bias. Participants will be then be invited to an online group workshop, where they will be introduced to the app. They will train on the app for three days, and following app usage, participants will complete the aforementioned measures again, as well as provide ratings on app content, and complete a semi-structured interview to obtain in-depth user feedback, which will be used to inform modifications to the app. Following these modifications, a second group of participants ( n = 15) will follow the same procedure, except they will train on the app for 14 days. Feedback from both groups of participants will be used to inform the final design. Conclusions: By including young people in the design of the Social Brain Train app, the proposed study will help us to develop a novel mental health intervention that young people find engaging, acceptable, and easy-to-use
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 17-11-2021
Abstract: Background. Lifetime trajectories of mental ill health are often established during adolescence. Effective interventions to prevent the emergence of mental health problems are needed. In the current study we assessed the efficacy of the CBT informed Climate Schools universal eHealth preventive mental health program, relative to a control. We also explored whether the intervention had differential effects on students with varying degrees of social connectedness. Method. We evaluated the efficacy of the Climate Schools mental health program (19 participating schools average age at baseline was 13.6) versus a control group (18 participating schools average age at baseline was 13.5) which formed part of a large cluster randomised controlled trial in Australian schools. Measures of internalising problems, depression and anxiety were collected at baseline, immediately following the intervention and at 6-, 12- and 18-months post intervention. Immediately following the intervention, 2539 students provided data on at least one outcome of interest (2065 students at 18 months post intervention). Results. Compared to controls, we found evidence that the stand alone-alone mental health intervention improved knowledge of mental health, however there was no evidence that the intervention improved other mental health outcomes, relative to a control. Student’s social connectedness did not influence intervention outcomes. Conclusion. These results are consistent with recent findings that universal school-based, CBT informed, preventive interventions for mental health have limited efficacy in improving symptoms of anxiety and depression when delivered alone. We highlight the potential for combined intervention approaches, and more targeted interventions, to better improve mental health outcomes.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 10-10-2022
Abstract: Social and behavioral science research proliferated during the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting the substantial increase in influence of behavioral science in public health and public policy more broadly. This review presents a comprehensive assessment of 742 scientific articles on human behavior during COVID-19. Two independent teams evaluated 19 substantive policy recommendations (“claims”) on potentially critical aspects of behaviors during the pandemic drawn from the most widely cited behavioral science papers on COVID-19. Teams were made up of original authors and an independent team, all of whom were blinded to other team member reviews throughout. Both teams found evidence in support of 16 of the claims for two claims, teams found only null evidence and for no claims did the teams find evidence of effects in the opposite direction. One claim had no evidence available to assess. Seemingly due to the risks of the pandemic, most studies were limited to surveys, highlighting a need for more investment in field research and behavioral validation studies. The strongest findings indicate interventions that combat misinformation and polarization, and to utilize effective forms of messaging that engage trusted leaders and emphasize positive social norms.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 08-12-2021
Abstract: In iduals vary in their ability to tolerate uncertainty. High intolerance of uncertainty is a known risk factor for mental health problems. In the current study we examined the degree to which intolerance of uncertainty predicted depression and anxiety symptoms and their interrelations across the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined these associations across three time points (May 2020 – April 2021) in an international s le of adults (N = 2087, Mean age = 41.13) from three countries (UK, USA, Australia) with varying degrees of COVID-19 risk. We found that in iduals with high and moderate levels of intolerance of uncertainty reported reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms over time. However, symptom levels remained significantly elevated compared to in iduals with low intolerance of uncertainty. In iduals with low intolerance of uncertainty had low and stable levels of depression and anxiety across the course of the study. Network analyses further revealed that the relationships between depression and anxiety symptoms became stronger over time among in iduals with high intolerance of uncertainty and identified that feeling afraid showed the strongest association with intolerance of uncertainty. Our findings are consistent with previous work identifying intolerance of uncertainty as an important risk factor for mental health problems, especially in times marked by actual health, economic and social uncertainty. The results highlight the need to explore ways to foster resilience among in iduals who struggle to tolerate uncertainty, as ongoing and future geopolitical, climate and health threats will likely lead to continued exposure to significant uncertainty.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Jack Andrews.