ORCID Profile
0000-0002-8464-4588
Current Organisations
Monash University
,
Federation University
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 18-11-2022
DOI: 10.1177/21676968221138638
Abstract: Western cultural environments present an increasingly challenging landscape for young people’s mental health. To better understand how this cultural environment may be influencing the lives of young people, we conducted 50 semi-structured interviews with young Australians, discussing participants’ values, life goals, social attitudes and behaviours, and life stressors. We find that while participants tended to see factors such as maintaining strong relationships and personal growth as important to them, their ambitions, attitudes, and social behaviours were often driven by self-centred and materialistic aims. Participants also perceived outcomes specific to these drivers, including poor social support, feelings of competitiveness, and uncertainties around their future, as significant contributors to the stress they experienced in their lives. These findings help us better understand how prevailing Western cultural norms, including in idualistic and materialistic practices, may influence young people’s psychological wellbeing.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 13-04-2021
DOI: 10.3390/BS11040050
Abstract: Past research has found that a perceived meaning in life can act as a protective factor against adverse mental health symptomology, while also providing coping resources to buffer against the impact of negative life events. The current research investigated how the impact of self-perceived meaning in life as well as its predictors interact with stressors and worry related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We collected survey based data (n = 260) from Australian participants during the pandemic, measuring their meaning in life, orientation to differing life goals and COVID-19 related stressors via the impact of events scale. We found that meaning in life predicted less stress and worry associated with COVID-19. We also found that intrinsic based aspirations related positively to meaning in life within this context whereas extrinsic based goals related negatively to it, although these aspirations were not significant in reducing the stressors associated with COVID-19. These results reinforce past findings that meaning in life can effectively buffer against the impact of negative life events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. They also suggest that intrinsic based aspirations centred on relationships and self-acceptance may be an important mechanism in how people choose to pursue life meaning during uncertain life events.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 08-03-2020
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 22-12-2021
DOI: 10.3390/YOUTH2010001
Abstract: An increasing body of research suggests that young people living in Western societies are becoming increasingly in idualistic in the way they orientate themselves socially, with further findings suggestive that such orientations may be associated with reduced wellbeing outcomes. Through a systematic review of past research, this paper examines the findings on in idualism and the wellbeing of young people living within Western contexts. Findings from our review indicate that whilst in idualistic cultures may be associated with higher wellbeing outcomes when compared with collectivistic cultures, such associations tend to disappear when explored at the personal level. Additionally, we find that distinguishing how in idualism is measured provides important insight into specific traits associated with in idualism that can lead to poorer wellbeing outcomes. Based on the studies reviewed, we propose that whilst the freedom and autonomy embedded within in idualistic social orientations can have positive associations, there is an emerging understanding of some of the darker traits that can be associated with these values. These synthesized findings increase our understanding of the connection between in idualism, its associated behaviours, and the mental health of young people.
Publisher: STAR Scholars Network
Date: 20-07-2021
Abstract: Australian universities are understood to have the highest number of international students per capita worldwide. The sector contributes over $40 billion to the national economy and sustains many thousands of jobs. Despite their importance to the Australian economy and society, international students are often overlooked in mainstream health promotion and support services. Of the many difficulties and hardships international students experience, mental health presents a significant problem. Evidence indicates that the mental health of international students was declining before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in Australia. The impact of the pandemic appears to have exacerbated this issue. Our findings from an online survey (n=135) and semi-structured interviews (n=20) reinforce the importance of international students maintaining close social connections for optimizing their mental health. They also bring clarity to the challenges students from highly socially engaged (collectivistic) cultures face, when studying in in idualistic environments like Australia amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 21-03-2022
DOI: 10.3390/BS12030086
Abstract: Social connections are crucial for an in idual’s health, wellbeing, and overall effective functioning. During the COVID-19 pandemic, one major preventative effort for reducing the spread of COVID-19 involved restricting people’s typical social interactions through physical distancing and isolation. The current cross-sectional study, conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, explored the relationship among fear of COVID-19, social connectedness, resilience, depressive symptomologies, and self-perceived stress. Participants (N = 174) completed an anonymous, online questionnaire, and results indicated that social connectedness mediated the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and psychological wellbeing. In contrast, the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and psychological wellbeing was not mediated by resilience. These findings highlight the important role that social connections and resilience play in buffering against negative psychological wellbeing outcomes, especially during a pandemic.
No related grants have been discovered for Ashley Humphrey.