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Co-designing a trauma-informed program for parents whose infant has had a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) admission

Having a newborn child admitted into a NICU can be highly traumatic for parents. The compounding effects of the NICU clinical environment, having a seriously ill child, in addition to the inability to care or adequately bond with your child can be extremely distressing.

Wellbeing and Type 1 Diabetes

A community-led, trauma-informed psychosocial intervention to improve health outcomes of children and young people with Type-1 diabetes.

Friendly Schools Universal Bullying Prevention Intervention: Effectiveness with Secondary School Students

This study demonstrates the importance of considering the effectiveness of secondary school bullying prevention interventions and real-world implementation support

Impact of the Friendly Schools whole-school intervention on transition to secondary school and adolescent bullying behaviour

These findings demonstrate the immediate value of whole-school interventions to reduce bullying behaviour and associated harms among students

If it's about me, why do it without me? Genuine student engagement in school cyberbullying education

This study reports on a three-year group randomized controlled trial, the Cyber Friendly Schools Project, aimed to reduce cyberbullying among grade 8 students

Tanika Sgherza

Senior Research Officer Tanika Sgherza is on the Healing Kids, Healing Families team.

A group randomized controlled trial evaluating parent involvement in whole-school actions to reduce bullying

Whole-school capacity-building intervention in early and middle childhood can improve the likelihood and frequency of positive parent–child communication about bullying

“Wait with me until it's over”: A reflexive thematic analysis of adolescents’ coping with dissociation

Dissociation is often distressing, yet how affected adolescents manage dissociation in their daily lives is not well understood. This study aimed to describe the strategies adolescents use to manage dissociative symptoms from the perspective of adolescents themselves, their parents, and their clinicians.

Beyond the reactive-proactive dichotomy: Rage, revenge, reward, and recreational aggression predict early high school bully and bully/victim status

We discuss the implications of addressing Revenge and Recreation, as well as Reward and Rage aggression motives, for bullying prevention and intervention strategies

Perceived stigma and self-stigma in young people at ultra-high risk for psychosis: Associations with identity-related, psychological and functional outcomes

Perceived stigma and self-stigma negatively affect identity-related, psychological and functional outcomes among stigmatised populations. There is limited research exploring the impact of stigma among young people at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis. We investigated the association of perceived stigma and self-stigma with these outcomes in young people at UHR.

Lived Experiences of Empowerment in Parents of Trans Children and Adolescents

The construct of empowerment is associated with beneficial outcomes in numerous populations with well-being across multiple domains. Within families, empowerment has been found to be related to both parent and child well-being. As such, empowerment appears to be a promising concept to support parents of young (< 18 years) trans and gender diverse children and adolescents; however, what empowerment means for parents of trans children and adolescents is not known.

Motivational interviewing as a positive response to high-school bullying

We provide a narrative review of Motivational Interviewing and map its core features onto the extant literature on self‐reported motivations for bullying

Psychometric evaluation of the Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory in autistic and non-autistic adults

Measures of autistic traits are only useful – for pre-diagnostic screening, exploring individual differences, and gaining personal insight – if they efficiently and accurately assess autism as currently conceptualised while maintaining psychometric validity across different demographic groups. We recruited 1322 autistic and 1279 non-autistic adults who varied in autism status (non-autistic, diagnosed autistic, self-identifying autistic) and gender (cisgender men, cisgender women, gender diverse) to assess the psychometric properties of the Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory, a recently developed measure of autistic traits that examines six trait domains using 42 self-report statements.

School-based promotion of mental health and wellbeing to address bullying

The complexity of an issue such as school bullying and how this is best addressed as part of a systematic whole-school approach

A systematic review of the thoughts and feelings that are associated with suicidal behaviours in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young peoples

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are custodians of one of the oldest living societies; however, the continued impact of colonisation has led to profound trauma and loss which has spanned generations.

Prevalence and correlates of bullying victimisation and perpetration in a nationally representative sample of Australian youth

The current findings showed that involvement in any bullying behaviour was associated with increased risk of concurrent mental health problems

Comparing education with and without indirect contact to reduce stigma towards youth at-risk for psychosis

Stigma towards individuals with mental health concerns is a global issue, including among young people at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis. This study compared two written anti-stigma resources: (a) Education and (b) Lived Experience + Education, among young adults and parents/caregivers.

The psychosocial burden of childhood overweight and obesity: evidence for persisting difficulties in boys and girls

Overweight and obese children reported greater psychosocial distress than healthy weight children, and these differences were more pronounced for girls than boys.

Aboriginal Consensus on Principles, Priorities and Actions for Culturally Safe Mental Health Services: A Delphi Study

Culturally unsafe mental health services contribute to persistent inequities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, yet existing cultural safety frameworks lack clear, prioritised, community-endorsed implementation guidance. This study aimed to establish Aboriginal consensus on cultural safety principles, implementation priorities and practical actions for culturally safe mental health services.