Psychology

Chae Rose

Lecturer, Psychology
chae.rose@jcu.edu.au

Lucy Bird

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
lucy.bird@jcu.edu.au

Nerina Caltabiano

Adjunct Professor
nerina.caltabiano@jcu.edu.au

Kannan Singaravelu Jaganathan

Lecturer Psychology
kannan.singaravelujaganathan@jcu.edu.au

Janine Lurie

Lecturer, Psychology
janine.lurie@jcu.edu.au

Liza van Eijk

Senior Lecturer, Psychology
liza.vaneijk@jcu.edu.au

Marie Caltabiano

Adjunct Professor
marie.caltabiano@jcu.edu.au

Kerry McBain

Associate Professor
kerry.mcbain@jcu.edu.au

DeStress for Success adaptation for Indigenous adolescent Queenslanders

Zoltan Sarnyai - Psychology

25 Nov 2024 - 20 Dec 2024

DeStress for Sucess is an evidence-based, 5x40 minute, neuropsychological school-based program designed to teach young people how to recognise and respond to stress in themselves and others. The program was developed and evaluated in the Canadian context for use with mainstream middle school students and severely disadvantaged young males. In addition to qualitative data, the evaluations collected psychometric (e.g. symptoms of depression), and biological data (e.g. cortisol). This project seeks to adapt the resources to the Queensland context with and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (henceforth, respectfully, Indigenous) young people, and to conduct a similar evaluation. Aims: 1) Adapt the program resources (PowerPoint slides, scripts and activities) for young Indigenous people and trial implementation with Indigenous secondary students at 2-3 north Queensland schools. 2) Evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and accessibility of the adapted program and its cultural appropriateness. 3) Measure program effect pre-post implementation using cortisol (salivary, hair, fingernail, wearable biometric monitoring) and psychometric tools. 4) Inform a controlled or quasi-experimental trial at multiple sites. Initial consultations have been conducted with school leaders and they await presentation of the resources to finalise an agreement to progress. An ethics application for both the adaptation and delivery of the program will be submitted to the JCU HREC. Consultations with community and other stakeholders will follow. Participation in the project is anticipated to be very low risk, with informed consent and measures taken to avoid coercion. Individual participants will have access to their own data.

Evaluation of NQPHN's mental health stepped care model

Sam Teague - Psychology

02 Dec 2024 - 30 Sep 2026

The NQPHN is commissioning a provider to undertake an evaluation of their new mental health stepped care model. The PAHL group, led by James Dimmock, Ben Jackson (UWA), and Sam Teague, has been invited to submit an application by NQPHN.

Evaluation of NQPHN's mental health stepped care model

James Dimmock - Psychology

02 Dec 2024 - 30 Sep 2026

Evaluation of NQPHN's mental health stepped care model

James Dimmock - Psychology

02 Dec 2024 - 30 Sep 2026

1 in 10 men: Informing prevention of and treatment for paternal mental health problems

Sam Teague - Psychology

01 Jan 2024 - 31 Dec 2026

Every year, 30,000 Australian babies are born to 1 in 10 fathers who struggle with mental health problems. Awareness of paternal mental illness is low, and few effective treatments exist. With Movember and Healthy Male, our vision is to transform paternal mental health prevention and healthcare. We aim to generate and mobilise new evidence to inform healthcare supports that will reduce rates of paternal mental illness, improving outcomes for dads in need and their families.

Beyond the bump: Leveraging social media to build positive perinatal mental health in regional, rural and remote North Queensland women

Sam Teague - Psychology

13 Jan 2025 - 12 Jan 2027

This project aims to codesign, develop, and evaluate a preventative intervention to address mental health among perinatal women in regional, rural, and remote (RRR) areas. Co-designed with RRR perinatal parents and mental health professionals, the intervention will deliver a established psychotherapeutic techniques that are effective for preventing perinatal depression and anxiety (psychoeducation and behavior change on health literacy, interpersonal therapy) at-scale, tailored to the unique needs of the RRR maternity and mental health system. The evaluation will assess the feasibility, reach, engagement, and acceptability of the intervention, enabling a future larger-scale efficacy and implementation trial.

Professionally Psyched: A podcast to build professional identity, career clarity, and belongingness.

Amanda Krause - Psychology

Advancing data analysis skills through a Digital Resource Library.

Amanda Krause - Psychology

Developing a psychology resource library.

Amanda Krause - Psychology

We have gathered student and staff feedback (see Appendix for quotes), which will inform further library developments. Overall, the feedback received has been largely positive; participants have praised the library as an open-access "one-stop-shop" for statistics-related content. All interviewees have stated they would use this resource, though intended uses varied depending on degree stage (e.g., to understand basic concepts v. thesis writing) and role (staff noted they could use it to learn jamovi themselves and as a teaching aid). Highlighted features include the glossary, colour-coded write-up details, and table of contents page as a navigational tool. Participants wanted interactive definitions within individual resources and helpful visuals (e.g., images and tables). The fact that staff and students also suggested additional topics to be included in the library suggests that it will be a resource that can assist the Department in delivering better research methods education in online and flex delivery modes.

“Bonus chats”: A podcast series to build professional identity.

Amanda Krause - Psychology

We successfully delivered 10 podcast episodes that involved Honours, HDR and ECR students and staff as interviewees. Anecdotal feedback from participants via email was very positive, with more students than required indicating interest in participating in subsequent seasons. The podcast series, Professionally Psyched, has been well received by students (as of Dec, 2024, there had been 179 plays of episodes and 50 Spotify followers). However, most engagement seems to have been from Honours students – likely due to their involvement as podcast interviewers. The impact on professional identity is too early to identify, however preliminary data from the baseline assessment survey has found that there is a significant positive moderate-strong correlation between professional identity and a sense of belonging at JCU (r(54)=.590, p<.001). This finding is promising in increasing professional identity may further build a sense of belonging and therefore have implications towards retention for JCU Psychology students.