Projects in Progress
The following information is an extract of the ReCAP 2006 Annual Report outlining the research projects in progress for the School of Psychology in 2006.
Dr J. Bell, Dr R. Kane, & Dr N. Gasson
Psychological and physical health factors related to memory functioning in older adults
In a series of studies we have investigated factors which may cause the large individual differences which characterise memory performance in older adults. The ability to regulate blood glucose levels is one factor which is significantly related to verbal recall, and has a curvilinear function, so that good blood glucose regulation is positively associated with recall, but poor regulation is negatively associated with recall. The role of health problems, such as obesity is also being studied. Psychological factors such as beliefs about one's memory function are also found to relate to memory performance so that belief of having a poor memory is associated with poor memory performance. This finding has implications for improving memory functions in older adults. Further research is aimed at evaluating types of memory training. In 2006, a new memory aid was trialled for older adults and people with Parkinson's disease.
Dr R. Burgess-Limerick, Dr A. Neil, Professor J. Joy, Assoc Professor L. Straker, Dr M. Griffin, & Professor C. Pollock
Implementation of an ergonomics intervention program to prevent musculoskeletal injuries caused by manual tasks
This research follows on from a NHMRC funded project that developed the use of a participative ergonomics approach in small and medium health, food manufacturing and construction businesses in which training successfully enabled employees to identify and solve ergonomics problems in their own workplaces. This project has extended the approach to the coal mining industry which has much larger organisations, more complex management structures and critical safety issues.
Dr M. Collins, Dr R. Kane, Dr A. Fox, & Dr K. Dyer
Cognitive function in methamphetamine and alcohol dependent patients undergoing rehabilitation
The East Perth Neuropsychological Clinic (EPNC) was established by Dr Marjorie Collins (Murdoch School of Psychology), Dr Dyer (UWA Medicine and Pharmacology), and Dr Fox (UWA School of Psychology) to assess neuropsychological function among patients receiving treatment for methamphetamine or alcohol dependence at Next Step Drug and Alcohol Services. Eighty patients entering treatment for methamphetamine dependence or alcohol dependence have already been tested on a neuropsychological assessment battery developed by Drs Collins and Fox. We are currently developing regression models of predictors of test performance.
E. Dourado, Dr N. Hennessey, & J. Beilby
Emotionality, speech rate and stuttering: Exploring a hypothesised stuttering deficit
Previous research suggests stuttering may be contributed to by deficient processing at the muscle command preparation stage (the stage at which prosodic parameters such as speech rate, amplitude and pitch are specified). This stage is also thought to be implicitly affected by emotionality. The present study employed verbal and manual reaction time measures in the context of an Emotional Stroop task to investigate processing at this stage for adults who stutter and a comparison group of age-matched non-stuttering controls. Analysis of the results suggested an emotionality effect for people who stutter on the verbal but not the manual reaction time tasks. No effects of emotionality were found for control participants.
Dr S. Egan & E. Britten
The role of perfectionism and dichotomous thinking in eating disorder symptomatology
This study aims to examine the relationships and impact of perfectionism and dichotomous thinking on sub-clinical eating disorder symptomatology in a sample of female undergraduate university students. To date it has been suggested that both perfectionism and dichotomous thinking are important factors in eating disorders, yet no studies to date have investigated in an integrated way the impact of these variables on eating disorder symptoms. Therefore this study aims to investigate the complex nature of the relationship between these variables by testing a path model to determine the potential moderating effect of dichotomous thinking and perfectionism in eating disorders. This is important as it may help to better understand the role of cognitive variables in the prediction of eating disorders, and potentially inform which variables are most important to target in the cognitive behavioural treatment of eating disorders.
Dr S. Egan & D. Elek-Roser
Construct Validity of the Positive and Negative Perfectionism Scale: Is the Positive Perfectionism subscale a 'pure' measure of positive perfectionism?
This study is aiming to determine the validity of a commonly used measure of positive and negative perfectionism, the Positive and Negative Perfectionism Scale (PANPS). There has been disagreement in the literature as to the validity of the construct of positive perfectionism. Measures used to assess positive perfectionism have been criticised due to inconsistent findings in regards to the association between positive perfectionism and psychopathology. This study aims to improve the measurement of positive perfectionism and the validity of this construct through factor analysis of a large student sample and removal of items which may not be 'pure' measures of the construct.
Dr S. Egan, Dr N. Gasson, & P. Nicoloau
The psychological impact on caregiver's of people with Frontotemporal Dementia vs Alzheimer's Disease
This study aims to build on existing literature and explore the needs, level of burden, depression and anxiety of carers of people with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) versus Alzheimer's Disease. This is the first study that has attempted to specifically uncover the unique perceptions and psychological distress of carers of people with FTD.
Dr S. Egan & P. Hine
Cognitive Behavioural Treatment of Perfectionism: A single case experimental design series
This study is examining the effectiveness of individual cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) in treating perfectionism in adults with diagnoses of anxiety and depression. To date there have been few studies examining the effectiveness of treatments for perfectionism. Findings may have implications for the treatment of anxiety and depression, where perfectionism is an important maintaining factor. Reducing perfectionism may have the potential to improve treatment success across a range of psychological disorders.
Dr S. Egan, L. Holyoake, L. Kobelke, & E. Woods
A comparison of positive and negative perfectionism between students and a community sample
Most studies investigating positive and negative perfectionism have used university students as a 'control' sample to represent 'normal' levels of perfectionism. However, studies have not compared students with a community sample to verify whether students provide an accurate representation of levels of perfectionism in the wider community. This is an important issue to investigate because students may not be representative of general community levels of perfectionism due to being in an achievement oriented setting. The study will compare positive and negative perfectionism between students and a community sample and also dichotomous thinking, to determine if this cognitive variable can explain any observed differences between the samples. Understanding further the differences in types of perfectionism between samples may help to improve the measurement of perfectionism and further our understanding of this variable which is important to the treatment of a range of psychological disorders.
Assoc Prof J. Grant, Dr D. Indermaur, C. Chamarette, S. D'Souza, Dr J. Thornton, & G. Stevens
Risk factors and treatment outcomes in intra-familial adolescent sex offenders
This study investigates risk factors and other predictors of treatment outcome in intra-familial adolescent sex offenders. It will evaluate how risk factors relate to treatment efficacy and what impact treatment has on reducing risk factors and relapse. It is an exploratory study utilising both quantitative data in the form of psychometric measures taken pre/post treatment and at one-year follow-up and qualitative data that will be derived from semi-structured clinical interviews. The study will contribute towards the development of improved risk assessment methodologies for adolescent intra-familial sex offenders and contribute to development of best-practice treatment guidelines. This has been funded for three years by the Criminology Research Council.
Assoc Professor J. Grant & Assoc Professor M. Schofield
Career-long supervision: Realities and controversies
This project is a subset of a larger project on the PACFA Workforce Survey, funded by the Victorian Department of Human Services. It examines the experiences, frequency, commitment, models, and types of supervision for counsellors and psychotherapists. Data is based on an ongoing survey of all PACFA (Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia) members.
Professor D. Hay, Dr F. Levy, Professor Nick Martin, Dr Neilson Martin, & Dr K. Bennett
The relationship between childhood Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and adult psychopathology
There is much interest in how ADHD is manifested in adulthood and what behaviours are seen among the adult relatives of children with ADHD. Given the resources of the Australian Twin ADHD Project, we are in a unique position to examine adult ADHD. There are major differences between the subtypes of ADHD in the patterns of symptoms on the Brief Symptom Inventory. Compared with controls, the rates of depression and of suicidal ideation were higher in those with ADHD, identifying another area of comorbidity that must be assessed in managing adults with ADHD.
Professor D. Hay, Professor F. Levy, & Professor J. Piek
How can identical twins be discordant for ADHD?
In 2003 our NHMRC grant of some $583,000 over three years commenced. This involves recruiting and screening some 6000 families with twins aged 6-17 and will be a major national resource for twin research in the future. The power of the twin design has already been shown by the evidence that differences in obstetric complications are always associated with differences in ADHD Inattention symptoms in identical twins, a much clearer role for birth insults than has ever been reported before. A major finding has been that the excess of ADHD in twins is now much more than in our earlier cohorts and is associated with the increased survival of very preterm multiples. There are five PhD students whose projects are based on this study.
Professor D. Hay, Professor P. Preedy & Dr N. Martin
Developing the Multiples in School website - developing teacher training
Issues to do with school readiness in preterm multiples, separation of twins in school and competition between multiples are problems faced by many parents and teachers of multiples. In the late 1980s Professor Hay carried out the first large-scale twin survey of the specific educational needs of families and schools. With his support a similar study has just been completed in the UK for a PhD by Professor Preedy. With financial support from Curtin and from parents groups here and in the UK, a very large website www.twinsandmultiples.org has been developed to provide parents, multiples and schools with information, including downloadable questionnaires for help in reaching decisions about particular sets of multiples. The UK parents organization, TAMBA have recently worked with schools to develop a teacher-training module and this has been incorporated into the website, along with resources that will allow multiple-birth parents who are teachers to run in-service courses.
Professor D. Hay, Professor R. Todd, Professor F. Levy, Dr Neilson Martin, & Dr K. Bennett
Large twin studies dataset comparison
An NIMH grant has allowed the sharing of data from the world's largest twin studies of ADHD in the US, here and in the Netherlands. The main aim is to compare different methods of analysis of the causes of ADHD but combining datasets to ensure the sample sizes are suitably powerful. Latent class analysis has shown the common Inattentive type of ADHD has two genetically distinct forms, one with associated reading problems and one without. This has major implications not only for genetic studies but also for the many neuropsychological studies of ADHD that fail to recognise such distinctions.
Professor D. Hay & Dr T. Westerman
Indigenous ADHD
The award of an NHMRC Health Professional Fellowship to Dr Tracy Westerman is allowing the development of an indigenous focus on what has long been a very difficult diagnosis even in mainstream society. Moving from task to task and impulsive behaviours are common in Indigenous children and youth. This Fellowship will permit more thorough analysis of those behaviours considered "normal" and accepted and those that are seen as disruptive.
Dr N. Hennessey, E. Dourado, J. Beilby
Emotional reactivity in adults who stutter: Is there an impact on muscle command preparation of speech?
This study is currently supported by a Curtin Strategic Research Grant awarded to N. Hennessey in 2006, and investigates the influence of emotional reactivity on speech motor control in adults who stutter. Using an emotional Stroop task, verbal and manual reaction times of adults who stutter are compared to age and gender matched fluent speaking controls.
Dr N. Hennessey, P. Willis, Dr. S. Leitão
Phonological disorders in children: Distinguishing phonological from articulatory difficulties
This study is currently supported by a Curtin Strategic Research Grant awarded to N. Hennessey in 2006. Preschool children with phonological disorder and typically developing controls are being compared on tasks that are sensitive to speech motor planning and execution and tasks that are sensitive to phonological processing ability. The aim of the study is to investigate whether children with phonological disorder also demonstrate difficulties in speech motor control rather than a localised deficit in their phonological organization of spoken language.
Assoc. Professor Kathryn Hird, Assoc. Professor Susan Prescott, Prof. Karen Simme, Dr. Jan Dunstan., Suzanne Meldrum
The general aim of this project is to track the trajectory of cognitive development via the emergence of intentionally, non-verbal and verbal communication skills in infants. The study investigating the effects of high dose postnatal fish oil supplementation on neurodevelopment of approximately 300 term infants will provide an important opportunity to determine the impact of high doses of LCPUFA on the cognitive outcomes for infants from 18 months to 2.5 years of age.
Professor Yves Joanette, Y., Dr. Helen Cote, H., Dr. Ska, B, Professor Leonard La Pointe & Associate Professor Kathryn Hird
Kathryn Hird is managing the collection of Australian normative data for the Montreal Protocol for the Evaluation of Communication. In addition she will provide acoustic data for the prosodic stimuli presented and elicited in the protocol.
Professor Kim Kirsner, Assoc. Professor Craig Speelman, & Associate Professor Kathryn Hird
Cognitive scientists tend to work on distinct paradigms. Our project was inspired by an opportunity for synthesis. The mathematical descriptions of practice (learning), abundance distributions (representation), and language production (speaking) arguably reflect related mathematical functions. This project will test the hypothesis that they involve a single process, and identify the mechanism responsible, creating 'little brother' communication environments involving selected topics, and exploring the extent to which the performance parameters in each distribution conform to the same principle.
Professor K. Kirsner, Assoc Professor J. Dunn, & Assoc Professor K. Hird
Investigation of the component distributions of pause duration in spontaneous speech: Constraints for models of language production
This ARC funded project was designed to improve understanding of the cognitive processes that accompany and control speaking. A secondary aim of the project is to develop procedures for detecting and monitoring changes in speaker fluency, a critical issue for developmental, acquired (e.g., stroke) and degenerative (i.e., Alzheimer's disease) communication disorders. These questions will be explored by examining the durations of the pause (silent) and speech (talking) segments that occur in natural speech. Secondary analyses involving the 'amount of information' communicated in a given period will be used.
Professor Kim Kirsner, Benjamin Jardine, Assoc. Professor John Dunn and Associate Professor Kathryn Hird
This project is developing a WEB-based system to measure fluency in natural language. The project will capitalize on recent discoveries by the group. The discoveries involve the characteristics of pause and speech segment duration distributions in natural language. The WEB-site will provide remote and automatic measurement of speech for both scientific and clinical purposes. The initial implements will involve second language learning and aphasia. The procedures were developed and refined with support from the Australian Research Council.
Dr S. Leitão & M. Claessen
Phonological representations: A window into the lexicon
A pilot study, funded by a Women in Research seeding grant from Curtin University and matched by a ReCAP grant commenced data collection with children with speech and language impairment using the task battery developed by the Catch them before they fall team. Data from a pilot sample of 32 participants were collected, analysed and a paper was presented at the Speech Pathology Australia conference in 2006. A Curtin University Strategic Research Grant funded a full data collection phase which was completed in 2006, collecting data on 70 children of pre-primary age with specific language impairment. The data are currently being analysed, a paper is in preparation and follow-up data collection will take place in 2008. The follow-up data will complete a unique WA data set comprising 2 cohorts of children - mainstream and specific language impaired pre-primary children with follow-up data in year 2.
Dr S. Leitão, M. Claessen, Dr J. Hogben, Dr J. Fletcher, & Dr S. Heath
Dyslexia longitudinal study: "Catch them before they fall"
This is a collaborative study between UWA and Curtin University researchers. Dr Suze Leitão and Mary Claessen's initial role was to develop the phonological representations component of the pre-literacy assessments for this DET funded project. To date, data have been analysed and presented at the 26th World Congress of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics in 2004, the Canterbury Conference on Communication Disorders in New Zealand in 2005, and the Australasian Human Development Conference, Perth WA in 2005, the Speech Pathology Australia National Conference and the Australasian Human Development Conferences in 2006. A journal article has been submitted and two more are in preparation.
N. Martin.
The ADHD Resource and the genetic basis of the subtypes and comorbidities of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been shown to be a relatively common disorder of complex inheritance involving several different genes. New research is complicated by the vast amount of data available and questionable genetic validity of the diagnostic phenotypic subtypes. This project aims to elucidate the true genetic nature of each subtype as the beginning of an online database of information for ADHD research. This will be the first facility of its kind and will become an essential tool for anyone exploring this field. It may also provide a blueprint for similar tools for other diseases and disorders.
Dr R. Morrow
A profile of known young carers and identification and snapshot of those who are hidden
This research project was a first of its kind in Australia in so far as it allowed for a profile of young carers to be developed from the perspective of the parent and the young carer. After developing a profile of these young carers a checklist was developed for use in schools and other health care areas to help identify young children who are in a caring role.
C. Nang, Dr N. Hennessey, & J. Beilby
Word retrieval function and compensation in stuttering
The literature lacks information about why adults who stutter (AWS) and controls differ, such as at different stages of speech production. Thus, the cause of stuttering is still unknown due to lack of theoretically driven investigations. Word retrieval processes (semantic activation, phonological encoding, motor programming and execution) (Levelt, 1989) were examined using reaction time (RT) behavioural tasks in 18 AWS and 18 controls. Clinical information about stuttering severities and use of compensatory mechanisms were also gathered. Word retrieval functioning was examined in AWS compared to controls, and also relationships with clinical measures.
P. Nathan, H. Street, & Dr C. Rees
Clinicians attitudes to evidence-based practice
This study is looking at mental health practitioners attitudes to the use of evidence-based treatments. A sample of psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, psychiatric nurses and occupational therapists have been interviewed in focus groups and are also completing comprehensive questionnaires.
J. Pearsall-Jones, Professor J. Piek, Dr R. Kane, Dr P. Swanson, & K. Dare
What helps major caregivers cope with the demands of caring for children with cerebral palsy?
Analysis of the data for this project, which was supported by a grant from the Telstra Foundation, continued in 2006. Of the 100 young people with CP who participated in this project, 70 had at least one comorbid medical condition and 68 had at least one comorbid mental health condition. This was a far higher rate of comorbidity than we had anticipated. Of the 100 children with CP, the three most common forms were hemiplegia (42%), diplegia (31%) and quadriplegia (11%). We found that caregiver anxiety, stress, strain and depression increased as their resources and social supports decreased. We also found that the older the child, the greater the caregiver anxiety, stress, strain and depression.
Professor J. Piek, Assoc Prof C Roberts, Dr R. Rooney & Ms S Elsley.
A movement program at pre-primary level to promote physical and mental health.
Appropriate motor skill development is essential in children. Children with poor motor ability have been found to engage less in physical activities than other children and a lack of physical activity has been linked to problems such as obesity, lower mineral density and cardiovascular risk factors. If children are competent with their motor skills, they are more likely to engage in physical activities such as sports, dancing and other physical activity programs outside of the school curriculum. The primary objective of this project is to develop an effective physical activity program for young pre-primary children that can be easily incorporated into the curriculum. The project will be conducted in two stages. In 2006, a movement program was developed for pre-primary children, with the assistance of key stakeholders and movement specialists. This program incorporates key fine and gross motor skills, as well as a social-emotional component. In stage 2, we will pilot this new program. Both qualitative and quantitative data will be collected to evaluate the program and provide feedback for further refinement. This project is funded by a Healthway Starter Grant.
Professor J. Piek, Professor J. Sergeant, Professor D. Hay, Professor F. Levy, & Dr J. Oosterlaan
The genetic and diagnostic relationship between ADHD and DCD
Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often have comorbid Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). This project utilises the expertise of leading researchers in Australia and the Netherlands to investigate the genetic and diagnostic relationship between these two disorders using a large sample of twins and their siblings. It examines the neuropsychological functioning in these groups of children in order to gain a better understanding of their genetic relationship. These findings will provide insight into the current DSM-IV classification of these disorders.
Professor J. Piek, Assoc Professor L. Smith & Dr N. Gasson
Motor coordination in infancy and its relationship to motor and psychosocial development in childhood
Early spontaneous motor activity has been acknowledged as an important prerequisite for later motor development, yet few studies have carried out longitudinal investigations examining this link. This study, funded by an ARC Discovery Grant, aims to use data collected previously on infant motor activity in fullterm and preterm infants for comparison with their motor and psychosocial development once they reach school age. As major and minor motor coordination problems have been linked to premature birth, this study will provide insight into early abnormalities that may be important for early identification and assist in developing intervention strategies. It will also add to our understanding of laterality and the development of asymmetries from birth to school age. The study is in the final stages of data collection. Once all data are collected, longitudinal analyses will commence.
Professor J. Piek, Dr N. Gasson, Assoc Professor L Smith & L. Dawson
Predicting developmental outcomes at 3 and 4 years from infant performance: A dynamic systems approach
Children born preterm, with low birth weight, or via a complicated birth, are more likely to display developmental delays than their fullterm counterparts. In this study, the parent-completed Ages and Stages Questionnaire (Squires, Potter & Bricker, 1995) is being used to examine the development of fullterm, low risk preterm, and 'at risk' infants from 4 to 48 months of age. Children are being assessed on five developmental dimensions (gross motor, fine motor, communication, problem-solving, and personal-social) at 11 points within the 48 month period. The current study is investigating the predictive ability of the 5 developmental dimensions (measured at 8 months of age) on outcomes recorded between 6 and 11 years of age. Results indicate that early infant performance is a good predictor of later outcomes after controlling for the effects of gestational age, birth weight and sex. In order to predict later development, there is evidence that it is important to investigate the many dimensions of early development. The current trend to focus intervention on only one dimension during infancy may not provide a realistic representation of the child's abilities at a later age.
Dr L. Priddis
The Tuned In Parenting (TIP) Programme for at risk parents of young children
This study is an ongoing study that has been successively funded by the State Perinatal Reference group and now Telstra Community Foundation. The programme is designed for use by trained therapists and/or infant mental health practitioners, with any parent or caregiver where there is a desire to improve parental or caregiver attunement and sensitive responsiveness to their infant and parental reflective functioning. It is video-based in the sense that the interventions are guided by the observations made of the parent and infant interacting for 15 minutes of unstructured play and the video provides a medium by which mother and therapist together can watch and discuss the effect of the responses made by the parent. TIP is grounded in a solid theoretical attachment based framework. It was developed from clinical practice with individuals and adapted for small group work. It is trialled in this project with a view to establishing its effectiveness and efficacy for use in the field of infant mental health.
Dr C. Rees
Metacognitive Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
This project extends upon an earlier pilot project which found excellent outcomes for patients with OCD who received metacognitive therapy. The present project involves up to 60 patients with OCD being treated with 8 weeks of metacognitive therapy. OCD is known to be a heterogeneous disorder with many different symptom presentations. Mataix-Cols, Marks, Greist, Kobak and Baer (2002) found that sexual/religious obsessions predicted poorer outcomes, and that hoarding behaviour was associated with higher dropout rates and less improvement with behaviour therapy. One explanation for this is that the content of the intrusive thoughts are typically very disturbing and the individual tends to ascribe meaning and importance to these thoughts. Individuals with obsessions involving contamination or symmetry may not exhibit the same degree of significance and meaning to the occurrence of the obsessional thoughts. No study to date has examined the applicability of the metacognitive model across different OCD presentations. This issue requires investigation and will be the focus of the proposed research.
Assoc Professor C. Roberts, Assoc Professor B. Bishop, Professor J. Piek, Dr D. Vicary, & Dr T. Westerman
'Promoting resilience in West Kimberley Aboriginal Children and Youth'
The final stage of this project focused on supporting One Arm Point Community to develop and implement activities which build resilience and promote the wellbeing and mental health of young people, families and the community as a whole and sustaining these activities over time. As part of this process, One Arm Point community, in partnership with the Curtin Project Team, developed a youth project named 'Baawa Ingul Gooron', or 'Kids Having Fun' (in the community's traditional language, Bardi). A Youth Council and Youth Working Party was formed in November 2004 to help make decisions and carry out work required to keep the Youth Project functioning. With funding secured through Healthway it has been possible for the community to further pursue their own solutions to problems for youth in the community into 2006 and 2007. With support from a range of agencies, mentors from outside the community, and continued dedication and drive from key people within the community 'Baawa Ingul Gooron' has continued. A follow-up evaluation of the project conducted in December 2006 indicated that regular activities were being conducted for children and youth, including a regular 'Drop in' centre. Children, youth and families are satisfied with the activities which deal with both fun activities as well health promotional courses (e.g. sex education), and youth are engaging in leadership roles. Young people would like to participate in more sporting activities, but a lack of funds to fix sporting infrastructure has been a barrier to this goal.
Assoc Professor C. Roberts, Assoc Professor D. Cross, & R. Drake-Brockman
Family-based mental health promotion for younger adolescents. The Aussie Optimism Program
The project has investigated the long-term follow-up results of universal family- and school-based intervention to prevent anxiety and depression in younger adolescents. The intervention aims to enhance family protective factors such as family cohesion and support, and reduce family risk factors such as family conflict. It is implemented in the final year of primary school, as students and their families prepare for the transition to secondary school. The program encourages families to take an active role in promoting the mental health of their child. The results of the controlled trial of this intervention in comparison to a school-based intervention only and a control group who received their regular health education curriculum, indicated that families who received the family-based intervention as their child made the transition to high school, reported better family functioning up to three years after the program. In 2006, this program has been enhanced with the use of wholes school strategies such as newsletter items about promoting resilience in children, parent talks, and information for individual parent-teacher meetings. A CD-Rom has been produced to facilitate school implementation of these components.
Assoc Professor C. Roberts, Dr R. Kane, Professor D. Cross, Professor S. Zubrick, & Professor S. Silburn
Diffusion & dissemination of a mental health promotion innovation in an educational setting
The aim of this project was to develop and evaluate sustainable strategies for disseminating mental health promotion programs into primary schools in Western Australia. The Aussie Optimism Program is a school-based mental health promotion program, which has shown efficacy in preventing anxiety and depression in young adolescents. These common childhood mental health problems, affect up to 18% of younger adolescents in Australia. The study has found that this program can be easily disseminated into primary schools, that teacher training results in increases in teachers knowledge, concern and awareness about mental health promotion in their students, and that they feel more confident to implement such programs. Year 6 and 7 teachers taught the programs with a high level of fidelity. The results indicated that Aussie Optimism plus teacher training with or without coaching resulted in; decreased prevalence of depressive disorders in depressed children after the transition to high school and increased incidence of recovery from depressive disorders at follow-up. Also, Aussie Optimism plus teacher training and coaching resulted in reduced likelihood of student taking up drinking at post-test & follow-up and reduced likelihood of smoking at follow-up.
Assoc Professor C. Roberts, Professor M. Sanders, T. Mazzucchelli, & L. Studman
Stepping Stones Triple P - Early intervention for challenging behaviours in children with developmental disabilities
This project involves an ongoing collaboration with the WA Disability Services Commission. It incorporates a controlled trial of a variety of formats of a family based early intervention program for children with developmental disabilities who also have elevated levels of disruptive behaviour. Trials of individual family based interventions have shown effectiveness in decreasing child challenging behaviour, dysfunctional parenting practises and maternal stress. This study was published in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology in early 2006. More recently, this collaboration has been evaluating the efficacy of group-based, and self directed interventions based on the Stepping Stones Triple P model. These formats are both cost effective and provide flexible and accessible intervention for families with different needs. In association with this research PhD student Nicole Walsh and Honours student Kristy Myers has been investigating therapeutic processes and the impact that these have on the success of Stepping Stones Triple P groups. The group program has been associated with enhancement of parenting styles, and parental outcomes and satisfaction has been associated with the working alliance between group facilitators and parents, as well as therapeutic interaction processes that limit parent resistance. This information will be very useful for clinicians when tailoring their interventions to suit families and in assisting families to over-come barriers to success.
Dr R. Rooney, Assoc Professor C. Roberts, Dr R. Kane, Professor S. Silburn, & Assoc Professor L. Pike
The effectiveness of the Positive Thinking Program in preventing internalising disorders in 8-9 year old children
The central aim of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of the Positive Thinking Project (PT), a cognitive-behavioural based intervention, designed to prevent depressive and anxiety symptoms and disorders among children aged 8-9 years. Specific research objectives include: (a) Establishing baseline levels of anxiety and depressive symptomatology, and point prevalence rates for depressive and anxiety disorders; (b) Training teachers to implement the PT program as part of the regular health education program with Year 4 children aged 8-9 years; (c) Measuring the short-term effectiveness of the PT intervention compared to a usual care condition in terms of the integrity of program implementation, social acceptability, mental health symptomatology, and prevalence of clinical disorders; and (d) Measuring the long-term effectiveness of the PT intervention at 6 and 18 months follow-up in terms of mental health symptomatology, prevalence and onset of clinical disorders. So far, pre-test, intervention and post-test phases have been carried out. This research has been supported by grants from the Australian Health Management Group and Healthway.
Assoc Professor M. Schofield & Assoc Professor J. Grant
Supervision of psychotherapy: Espoused theory and theory-in-action
This project funded by a UNE priming grant ($14,977) examines theories, experiences, and reflective learning processes among psychotherapy supervisor and supervisee pairs, including the influence of theoretical orientation. Phase 1 utilises in-depth interviews while Phase 2 utilises the IPR (Interpersonal Process Recall) methodology in reviewing a videotape of a supervision session by both supervisor and supervisee (separately). Espoused theory is compared with theory-in-action. A model will be developed that links supervision processes with supervisee performance and impact on clients to inform policy development, professional training and practice.
Professor M. Schofield & Assoc Professor J. Grant
Supervision of psychotherapy: Understanding the processes that build professional competence
This project is funded by an ARC grant ($157,100) commencing in 2007. Clinical supervision is the main method of assuring accountability, providing support, and preventing burn-out in mental health professionals. Yet relatively little is known about the processes of supervision and how they impact on therapist competence. This study involves a multi-method qualitative interview study of psychotherapy supervisor-supervisee pairs. It aims to better understand the supervisory processes that build professional competence and factors that influence supervision effectiveness. A model will be developed that links supervision processes with supervisee competence with clients; it will inform policy development, professional training and practice.
Dr L. Steed
The adoption experience
Several studies are being carried out to explore the experience of reunions between adoptees and birth parents, and the impact that these have on adoptive parents. In addition, the experience of inter-racial adoptions is being explored.
Assoc Professor L. Straker, Dr R. Burgess-Limerick, Dr K. Murray, & Professor C. Pollock
Effects of different computer workstations on children and young adults
This NHMRC funded project draws together staff from physiotherapy, human movement, medicine, and psychology to study the impact on children and young adults of working at different workstations and comparing performance on similar tasks using computer-based or book-based materials. The research will help in the development of guidelines for children, parents and educators in the optimal way to implement computers in classrooms to get the most benefit in performance, but avoiding physical stress.
Dr P. Swanson, Dr R. Kane, C. Swanson, & J. Pearsall-Jones
How fathers, compared to mothers, cope with the death of a twin or higher multiple
Research published in 2002 reported on how mothers cope after losing a twin or higher order multiples (HOMs). Currently, qualitative and quantitative data from bereaved fathers of multiples are being analysed and compared with the 2002 mother data. Tentative analyses indicate that fathers suffer, like mothers, acutely and chronically from loss of their HOMs. Differences include the timing of their grief reactions, modes of expressing grief, communication of their feelings about their losses, support systems, and acceptance of their losses, both short and long term. It is anticipated that a third paper regarding how siblings cope with the loss of HOMs will be produced. Collectively, this research will help families, medical personnel, clergy, educators, social workers, and any whose work or life is touched by multiple birth deaths to understand, gain and share compassion, and to cope more effectively.
Dr C. Williams, Dr H. Coates, Y. Axford, I. Nannup, & E. Pascoe
Incidence of ear disease in urban Aboriginal children
This study tracks the incidence of ear disease in urban Aboriginal children over a 5 year period, using data collected as a part of the Princess Margaret Hospital outreach program. It will provide the first detailed analysis of ear disease in urban Aboriginal children.
Dr C. Williams
Teacher perceptions of the language skills of children in the early years of schooling
This study compared teacher judgments of the language skills of children in the early years of schooling (K-1) with formal testing of language skill. The study was funded by the Department of Education, Western Australia.
Dr E. Wood, Assoc Professor V. Marshall, & Dr D. Bonner
Investigating career anchor preferences across generational and cultural groups
This study is utilising longitudinal data from over 15 countries to investigate the developing career anchors of different generations and cultural groups of employees.
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