ORCID Profile
0000-0002-2386-072X
Current Organisation
University of Tasmania
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Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-01-2016
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 10-07-2016
Abstract: NewAccess is a Low Intensity Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (LiCBT) early intervention pilot, for mild to moderate depression and anxiety. In November 2015 the Australian Government Review of Mental Health Programmes and Services specifically highlighted the program, stating, “Primary Health Networks will.…be encouraged and supported to work towards better utilisation of low intensity ‘coaching’ services for people with lesser needs, building on evaluations of programmes such as the NewAccess model of care, and the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies model of stepped care implemented in the United Kingdom.” NewAccess runs in three sites (Adelaide, Canberra and North Coast New South Wales) based on the successful UK Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) model. NewAccess involves training in evidence-based interventions, regular clinical supervision and recording outcome measures every session. Key performance indicators include functional recovery,loss of diagnosis, return to employment and early intervention. Adaptation to Australia accommodated contextual issues such as geographical isolation and infrastructure of the healthcare system. Initial recovery rates and projected economic viability for NewAccess are very promising, supporting wider adoption of an IAPT model across Australia. In addition it has resulted in the emergence of a new Australian workforce in community mental health with the LiCBT ‘Coach’.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-10-2022
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-022-21222-3
Abstract: Is engaging with gambling-like video game rewards a risk factor for future gambling? Despite speculation, there are no direct experimental tests of this “gateway hypothesis”. We test a mechanism that might support this pathway: the effects of engaging with gambling-like reward mechanisms on risk-taking. We tested the hypothesis that players exposed to gambling-like rewards (i.e., randomised rewards delivered via a loot box) would show increased risk-taking compared to players in fixed and no reward control conditions. 153 participants ( M age = 25) completed twenty minutes of gameplay—including exposure to one of the three reward conditions—before completing a gamified, online version of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). Self-reports of gambling and loot box engagement were collected via the Problem Gambling Severity Index, and Risky Loot-Box Index. Bayesian t-tests comparing BART scores across reward conditions provided moderate to strong evidence for a null effect of condition on risk-taking (BF = 4.05–10.64). Null effects were not moderated by players’ problem gambling symptomatology. A Spearman correlation between past loot box engagement and self-reported gambling severity ( r s = 0.35) aligned with existing literature. Our data speak against a “gateway” hypothesis, but add support to the notion that problem gambling symptoms might make players vulnerable to overspending on loot boxes.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 13-09-2019
Abstract: Whether violent games increase aggression is a contentious issue. The relatively enduring disagreement in the literature about whether violent video games cause increased aggression is reflected in ergent meta-analyses. Though we applaud Mathur and VanderWeele (2019) for attempting to synthesise such ergent meta-analyses to determine an overarching view on the effects of violent media, we argue that their interpretation of the evidence is misguided. Underpinning the notion that the evidence, in general, favours a “violent game effect” lie two problematic assumptions: (a) that the analyses conducted within these meta-analyses are equally methodologically and statistically rigorous and therefore equally valid, and (b) that even tiny effects are veridical. Here, we show that the effects reported by Anderson et al. (2010) appear to overstate the evidence in favour of a relationship between violent game content and aggression, and that bias-corrected models produce only tiny effects (Hilgard et al., 2017). We then compare these smaller effects estimated by Hilgard et al. (2017) and Ferguson (2015) to show that they appear to be in close agreement. Finally, as a reminder that non-zero meta-analytic effect sizes do not guarantee that an effect is meaningful, we compare these effect sizes to the sizes of (significant) yet nonsense effects of Extra Sensory Perception to show that the effects of violent game content on aggression are so small that we should dismiss them as practically meaningless.
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 03-02-2021
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.10705
Abstract: COVID-19 has prompted widespread self-isolation and citywide/countrywide lockdowns. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has encouraged increased digital social activities such as video game play to counteract social isolation during the pandemic. However, there is active debate about the potential for video game overuse, and some video games contain randomised purchases (loot boxes) that may psychologically approximate gambling. In this pre-registered study, we examined the effects of self-isolation and quarantine on excessive gaming and loot box spending. We recruited 1,144 (619 male, 499 female, 26 other) Australian, Aotearoa New Zealand, and US residents who self reported being quarantined or self-isolating ( n = 447) or not ( n = 619) during the COVID-19 pandemic to a cross-sectional natural experiment. We compared the associations between problem gambling symptomology, excessive gaming and loot box spending for isolated and non-isolated participants. Participants completed the Kessler-10 Psychological Distress Scale, Problem Gambling Severity Index, Internet Gaming Disorder Checklist, a measure of risky engagement with loot boxes, concern about contamination, and reported money spent on loot boxes in the past month, as well as whether they were quarantined or under self-isolation during the pandemic. Although, in our data, excessive gaming and loot box spending were not higher for isolated (self-isolated/ quarantined) compared to non-isolated gamers, the established association between problem gambling symptomology and loot box spending was stronger among isolated gamers than those not isolated. Concerns about being contaminated by germs was also significantly associated with greater excessive gaming and, to a lesser extent, loot box spending irrespective of isolation status. Gamers might be managing concerns about the pandemic with greater video game use, and more problem gamblers may be purchasing loot boxes during the pandemic. It is unclear whether these relationships may represent temporary coping mechanisms which abate when COVID-19 ends. Re-examination as the pandemic subsides may be required. More generally, the results suggest that social isolation during the pandemic may inflate the effect size of some media psychology and gaming effects. We urge caution not to generalise psychological findings from research conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic to be necessarily representative of the magnitude of relationships when not in a pandemic.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2014
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-06-2017
DOI: 10.1111/BJET.12473
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.PSYCHRES.2016.02.002
Abstract: Knowledge of a problem gambler's underlying gambling related cognitions plays an important role in treatment planning. The Gambling Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS) is therefore frequently used in clinical settings for screening and evaluation of treatment outcomes. However, GRCS validation studies have generated conflicting results regarding its latent structure using traditional confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). This may partly be due to the rigid constraints imposed on cross-factor loadings with traditional CFA. The aim of this investigation was to determine whether a Bayesian structural equation modelling (BSEM) approach to examination of the GRCS factor structure would better replicate substantive theory and also inform model re-specifications. Participants were 454 treatment-seekers at first presentation to a gambling treatment centre between January 2012 and December 2014. Model fit indices were well below acceptable standards for CFA. In contrast, the BSEM model which included small informative priors for the residual covariance matrix in addition to cross-loadings produced excellent model fit for the original hypothesised factor structure. The results also informed re-specification of the CFA model which provided more reasonable model fit. These conclusions have implications that should be useful to both clinicians and researchers evaluating measurement models relating to gambling related cognitions in treatment-seekers.
Publisher: Akademiai Kiado Zrt.
Date: 05-10-2023
Abstract: Loot boxes are digital containers of randomised rewards available in many video games. In iduals with problem gambling symptomatology spend more on loot boxes than in iduals without such symptoms. This study investigated whether other psychopathological symptomatology, specifically symptoms of obsessive-compulsive behaviour and hoarding may also be associated with increased loot box spending. In a large cross-sectional, cross-national survey ( N = 1,049 after exclusions), participants recruited from Prolific, living in Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, and the United States, provided self-reported loot box spending, obsessive-compulsive and hoarding symptomatology, problem gambling symptomatology, and consumer regret levels. There was a moderate positive relationship between loot box spending and obsessive-compulsive symptoms and hoarding. Additionally, greater purchasing of loot boxes was associated with increased consumer regret. Results identified that those with OCD and hoarding symptomatology may spend more on loot boxes than in iduals without OCD and hoarding symptomatology. This information helps identify disproportionate spending to more groups of vulnerable players and may assist in helping consumers make informed choices and also aid policy discussions around the potentialities of harm.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-08-2020
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 23-03-2020
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 26-04-2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-03-2019
DOI: 10.1111/ADD.14583
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 09-2014
Abstract: Trying to remember something now typically improves your ability to remember it later. However, after watching a video of a simulated bank robbery, participants who verbally described the robber were 25% worse at identifying the robber in a lineup than were participants who instead listed U.S. states and capitals—this has been termed the “verbal overshadowing” effect (Schooler & Engstler-Schooler, 1990). More recent studies suggested that this effect might be substantially smaller than first reported. Given uncertainty about the effect size, the influence of this finding in the memory literature, and its practical importance for police procedures, we conducted two collections of preregistered direct replications (RRR1 and RRR2) that differed only in the order of the description task and a filler task. In RRR1, when the description task immediately followed the robbery, participants who provided a description were 4% less likely to select the robber than were those in the control condition. In RRR2, when the description was delayed by 20 min, they were 16% less likely to select the robber. These findings reveal a robust verbal overshadowing effect that is strongly influenced by the relative timing of the tasks. The discussion considers further implications of these replications for our understanding of verbal overshadowing.
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2018
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 09-2016
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.160360
Abstract: Pro-environment policies require public support and engagement, but in countries such as the USA, public support for pro-environment policies remains low. Increasing public scientific literacy is unlikely to solve this, because increased scientific literacy does not guarantee increased acceptance of critical environmental issues (e.g. that climate change is occurring). We distinguish between scientific literacy (basic scientific knowledge) and endorsement of scientific inquiry (perceiving science as a valuable way of accumulating knowledge), and examine the relationship between people's endorsement of scientific inquiry and their support for pro-environment policy. Analysis of a large, publicly available dataset shows that support for pro-environment policies is more strongly related to endorsement of scientific inquiry than to scientific literacy among adolescents. An experiment demonstrates that a brief intervention can increase support for pro-environment policies via increased endorsement of scientific inquiry among adults. Public education about the merits of scientific inquiry may facilitate increased support for pro-environment policies.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-06-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2023
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 28-02-2017
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 15-07-2020
Abstract: Loot boxes are purchasable randomised rewards contained in some video games. Concerns have been raised that these share psychological and structural features with traditional forms of gambling, and that they may exacerbate excessive video gameplay. Here, we quantitatively summarise two specific research areas regarding loot box spending using meta-analyses. We examined the relationships between loot box spending and (1) problem gambling (15 studies), and (2) excessive gaming (7 studies). We found significant small-to-moderate positive correlations between loot box spending and gambling symptomology, r = 0.26, and excessive gaming, r = 0.25. However, a Trim and Fill analysis increased the estimated relationship between loot box spending and problem gambling symptomology to a moderate association (r = 0.37). Fail-safe N scores indicated that more than 8360 (gambling) and 700 (gaming) studies with a mean effect size of zero would be required to alter the significance of the finding. Our results suggest a small but replicable and potentially clinically relevant relationship between gambling symptomology and loot box spending that is at least as large, if not larger than, the relationship between excessive gaming symptoms and loot box spending. Further research should examine the potential for statistical interactions between these constructs.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 21-02-2018
Abstract: Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998) reported that participants primed with a category associated with intelligence (“professor”) subsequently performed 13% better on a trivia test than participants primed with a category associated with a lack of intelligence (“soccer hooligans”). In two unpublished replications of this study designed to verify the appropriate testing procedures, Dijksterhuis, van Knippenberg, and Holland observed a smaller difference between conditions (2%–3%) as well as a gender difference: Men showed the effect (9.3% and 7.6%), but women did not (0.3% and −0.3%). The procedure used in those replications served as the basis for this multilab Registered Replication Report. A total of 40 laboratories collected data for this project, and 23 of these laboratories met all inclusion criteria. Here we report the meta-analytic results for those 23 direct replications (total N = 4,493), which tested whether performance on a 30-item general-knowledge trivia task differed between these two priming conditions (results of supplementary analyses of the data from all 40 labs, N = 6,454, are also reported). We observed no overall difference in trivia performance between participants primed with the “professor” category and those primed with the “hooligan” category (0.14%) and no moderation by gender.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2021
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 07-10-2020
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-2010
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2021
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 09-2015
DOI: 10.1111/CPSP.12105
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 18-11-2021
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.12299
Abstract: Traditional face-to-face laboratory studies have contributed greatly to our understanding of how misinformation effects develop. However, an area of emerging concern that has been relatively under-researched is the impact of misinformation following exposure to traumatic events that are viewed online. Here we describe a novel method for investigating misinformation effects in an online context. Participants ( N = 99) completed the study online. They first watched a 10-min video of a fictional school shooting. Between 5 and 10 days later, they were randomly assigned to receive misinformation or no misinformation about the video before completing a recognition test. Misinformed participants were less accurate at discriminating between misinformation and true statements than control participants. This effect was most strongly supported by ROC analyses (Cohen’s d = 0.59, BF10 = 8.34). Misinformation effects can be established in an online experiment using candid violent viral-style video stimuli.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 06-04-2021
DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0247855
Abstract: Loot boxes are digital containers of randomised rewards present in some video games which are often purchasable for real world money. Recently, concerns have been raised that loot boxes might approximate traditional gambling activities, and that people with gambling problems have been shown to spend more on loot boxes than peers without gambling problems. Some argue that the regulation of loot boxes as gambling-like mechanics is inappropriate because similar activities which also bear striking similarities to traditional forms of gambling, such as collectable card games, are not subject to such regulations. Players of collectible card games often buy sealed physical packs of cards, and these ‘booster packs’ share many formal similarities with loot boxes. However, not everything which appears similar to gambling requires regulation. Here, in a large s le of collectible card game players (n = 726), we show no statistically significant link between in real-world store spending on physical booster and problem gambling (p = 0.110, η 2 = 0.004), and a trivial in magnitude relationship between spending on booster packs in online stores and problem gambling (p = 0.035, η 2 = 0.008). Follow-up equivalence tests using the TOST procedure rejected the hypothesis that either of these effects was of practical importance (η 2 0.04). Thus, although collectable card game booster packs, like loot boxes, share structural similarities with gambling, it appears that they may not be linked to problem gambling in the same way as loot boxes. We discuss potential reasons for these differences. Decisions regarding regulation of activities which share structural features with traditional forms of gambling should be made on the basis of definitional criteria as well as whether people with gambling problems purchase such items at a higher rate than peers with no gambling problems. Our research suggests that there is currently little evidence to support the regulation of collectable card games.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 04-2013
Abstract: The demands placed upon employees in their roles have long been thought to be important in predicting employee well-being and in reducing the risk of anxiety and depression, increasing cardiovascular functioning and reducing employee burnout. The present study sought to examine the job demands of rural, regional and remote educational leaders. Demand ratings were generally lower for regional areas than rural areas and lower for rural areas than remote areas. Higher qualifications and experience were associated with lower demand ratings. Participants in desired areas rated themselves under lower demand than participants in undesired areas and participants who were undecided about the desirability of their locations. These findings have important implications for the selection, preparation and support of leaders in non-metropolitan contexts.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2020
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-06-2018
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-2012
DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2011.652638
Abstract: In line bisection tasks neurologically intact in iduals tend to bisect lines slightly left of their midpoint for horizontal lines, and above centre for vertical lines, a phenomenon known as perceptual pseudoneglect (Bowers & Heilman, 1980 Van Vugt, Fransen, Creten, & Paquiner, 2000). Recent investigations have demonstrated the leftward bias to extend to mental imagery, a finding known as representational pseudoneglect (McGeorge, Beschin, Colnaghi, Rusconi, & Della Sala, 2007). This paper examined whether the upward bias found in perceptual tasks extended to mental imagery in healthy in iduals. University students studied a diagram depicting a central character and target objects that were located in six positions relative to the person in the diagram (left/right, up/down, and front/back). Following learning, participants recalled the locations of the objects from several imagined orientations. Performance on the recall task revealed faster response latencies for upward targets, providing evidence for vertical representational biases in healthy in iduals.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-06-2018
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 03-04-2014
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-11-2013
DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2869.2012.01060.X
Abstract: Video-gaming is an increasingly prevalent activity among children and adolescents that is known to influence several areas of emotional, cognitive and behavioural functioning. Currently there is insufficient experimental evidence about how extended video-game play may affect adolescents' sleep. The aim of this study was to investigate the short-term impact of adolescents' prolonged exposure to violent video-gaming on sleep. Seventeen male adolescents (mean age = 16 ± 1 years) with no current sleep difficulties played a novel, fast-paced, violent video-game (50 or 150 min) before their usual bedtime on two different testing nights in a sleep laboratory. Objective (polysomnography-measured sleep and heart rate) and subjective (single-night sleep diary) measures were obtained to assess the arousing effects of prolonged gaming. Compared with regular gaming, prolonged gaming produced decreases in objective sleep efficiency (by 7 ± 2%, falling below 85%) and total sleep time (by 27 ± 12 min) that was contributed by a near-moderate reduction in rapid eye movement sleep (Cohen's d = 0.48). Subjective sleep-onset latency significantly increased by 17 ± 8 min, and there was a moderate reduction in self-reported sleep quality after prolonged gaming (Cohen's d = 0.53). Heart rate did not differ significantly between video-gaming conditions during pre-sleep game-play or the sleep-onset phase. Results provide evidence that prolonged video-gaming may cause clinically significant disruption to adolescent sleep, even when sleep after video-gaming is initiated at normal bedtime. However, physiological arousal may not necessarily be the mechanism by which technology use affects sleep.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-09-2022
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-022-20549-1
Abstract: Loot boxes are randomised rewards available in some video games, often purchasable for real-world money. Loot boxes have been likened to conventional forms of gambling and may satisfy legal requirements to be considered bona fide gambling in some jurisdictions. Research has consistently shown that people with problem gambling symptoms report spending more on these mechanisms than people without such symptoms. However, a significant gap in our current understanding is whether engaging with these mechanisms is associated with harm. Here we examine the prevalence rates of severe psychological distress among purchasers of loot boxes relative to non-purchasers. A reanalysis of two cross-sectional surveys collected online via online collection platforms. Participants were 2432 Aotearoa New Zealand, Australian, and United States residents recruited through online survey. Our results show that purchasers of loot boxes are at approximately 1.87 times higher risk of severe psychological distress on a standardised clinical screening tool than people who do not purchase loot boxes. These relative risk rates are not due to gender, age, spending on other video game related purchases, or problem gambling symptoms. In iduals who purchased loot boxes appeared to also have higher risk of severe psychological distress irrespective of demographic characteristics or problem gambling status. Loot boxes appear to be associated with significantly higher risk of experiencing psychological harm even for players without problem gambling symptoms.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 07-2020
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.200373
Abstract: Whether video games with aggressive content contribute to aggressive behaviour in youth has been a matter of contention for decades. Recent re-evaluation of experimental evidence suggests that the literature suffers from publication bias, and that experimental studies are unable to demonstrate compelling short-term effects of aggressive game content on aggression. Long-term effects may still be plausible, if less-systematic short-term effects accumulate into systematic effects over time. However, longitudinal studies vary considerably in regard to whether they indicate long-term effects or not, and few analyses have considered what methodological factors may explain this heterogeneity in outcomes. The current meta-analysis included 28 independent s les including approximately 21 000 youth. Results revealed an overall effect size for this population of studies ( r = 0.059) with no evidence of publication bias. Effect sizes were smaller for longer longitudinal periods, calling into question theories of accumulated effects, and effect sizes were lower for better-designed studies and those with less evidence for researcher expectancy effects. In exploratory analyses, studies with more best practices were statistically indistinguishable from zero ( r = 0.012, 95% confidence interval: −0.010, 0.034). Overall, longitudinal studies do not appear to support substantive long-term links between aggressive game content and youth aggression. Correlations between aggressive game content and youth aggression appear better explained by methodological weaknesses and researcher expectancy effects than true effects in the real world.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2022
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-2008
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 30-01-2022
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1037/XAP0000050
Abstract: The potential influence of video game violence on real-world aggression has generated considerable public and scientific interest. Some previous research suggests that playing violent video games can increase postgame aggression. The generalized aggression model (GAM) attributes this to the generalized activation of aggressive schemata. However, it is unclear whether game mechanics that contextualize and encourage or inhibit in-game violence moderate this relationship. Thus, we examined the effects of reward structures and narrative context in a violent video game on in-game and postgame aggression. Contrary to GAM-based predictions, our manipulations differentially affected in-game and postgame aggression. Reward structures selectively affected in-game aggression, whereas narrative context selectively affected postgame aggression. Players who enacted in-game violence through a heroic character exhibited less postgame aggression than players who enacted comparable levels of in-game violence through an antiheroic character. Effects were not attributable to self-activation or character-identification mechanisms, but were consistent with social-cognitive context effects on the interpretation of behavior. These results contradict the GAM's assertion that violent video games affect aggression through a generalized activation mechanism. From an applied perspective, consumer choices may be aided by considering not just game content, but the context in which content is portrayed.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 24-05-2022
Abstract: Loot boxes (randomized rewards in video games) possess structural similarities to traditional forms of gambling, with a well-documented and robust link between problem gambling symptomatology and loot box spending. In this research, we present two studies investigating the role of impulsivity (an established predictor for problem gambling behaviour) and reward unishment sensitivity in predicting loot box spending. Across two s les, a first recruited from MTurk (n = 342) and a second from Prolific Academic (n = 1142), Positive Urgency and Sensation Seeking (measured using the short UPPS-P) and BAS-Drive (measured using the BIS/BAS) were positively correlated with loot box spending. Combined, results indicate a positive reinforcement process is important in understanding loot box spending but provide evidence against a negative reinforcement mechanism (i.e., purchasing loot boxes to mitigate negative affect). Beyond problem gambling symptomatology, impulsivity may play a role in loot box purchasing, although there appear to be differences between problem gamblers and loot box purchasers in terms of impulsive features implicated.
Start Date: 2019
End Date: 2022
Funder: Marsden Fund
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