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Research

School-based depression and anxiety prevention programs: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis

Depression and anxiety are often first experienced during childhood and adolescence, and interest in the prevention of these disorders is growing. The focus of this review was to assess the effectiveness of psychological prevention programs delivered in schools, and to provide an update to our previous review from five years ago (Werner-Seidler, Perry, Calear, Newby, & Christensen, 2017).

Research

Parental Challenges, Facilitators and Needs Associated with Supporting and Accepting Their Trans Child’s Gender

Parental support is strongly correlated with protective factors for trans youth yet most experience parental rejection or ambivalence regarding their gender. Many parents report a desire to support their child but indicate lack of understanding and support as key barriers. We aimed to develop a nuanced understanding of the challenges and facilitators experienced by Australian parents in developing understanding, support and acceptance of their child’s gender and their needs to do so.

Research

Knowledge is Power: Trans Young People’s Perceptions of Parental Reactions to Their Gender Identity, and Perceived Barriers and Facilitators to Parental Support

Parental support is strongly correlated with protective factors for trans youth, however, most experience unsupportive parental attitudes. We aimed to better understand how youth perceive parental reactions to their gender identity disclosure and what they consider to be barriers to, and facilitators of, support.

Research

Implementing a combined individual placement and support and vocational peer work program in integrated youth mental health settings

To describe the implementation and outcomes of a combined individual placement and support (IPS) and vocational peer work program for young people with mental ill-health.

Research

Resilience and mental health among care leavers: Role of social inclusion, self-determination, and independent living skills

Young people transitioning from out-of-home care (OHC) frequently experience poor mental health and resilience due to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). However, there is limited understanding of the factors that mediate and moderate these outcomes. This is the first study to integrate linked administrative and longitudinal data to examine the mediation and moderation effects of placement stability, independent living skills (ILS), social inclusion, and self-determination when examining the association between ACEs and care status on mental health and resilience.

Research

Empowering Social Competence: A Scoping Review of Digital Social Skills Training Interventions

Effective social skills are essential for functional social support, help-seeking, and resource access. Digital social skills training plays a key role in empowering individuals to develop social competence, improve access to various support and resources, and enhance locus of control through dynamic media. 

Research

Twenty-five is not a neurobiologically determined age of maturity for gender-affirming medical decision-making

Among the increasing threats to the healthcare of transgender and gender-diverse people globally, are efforts to deny gender-affirming medical care to people under age 25 typically justified by stating that the human brain is not developed until the mid-to-late 20's. Thus, this line of reasoning states young adults are not sufficiently mature to be responsible for autonomous healthcare decision-making— at least in regard to gender-affirming care.

Research

Bridging the gap: unveiling key links between autism and anxiety symptoms in autistic children and youth using a network analysis in pooled data from four countries

Autistic children experience significantly higher rates of anxiety compared to nonautistic children. The precise relations between autism characteristics and anxiety symptoms remain unclear in this population. Previous work has explored associations at the domain level, which involve examining broad categories or clusters of symptoms, rather than the relationships between specific symptoms and/or individual characteristics. We addressed this gap by taking a network approach to understand the shared structure of autism characteristics and anxiety symptoms.

Research

A meta-analytic review and conceptual model of the antecedents and outcomes of goal adjustment in response to striving difficulties

There is growing interest in how and why individuals adjust their goals in response to difficulties encountered during goal striving and the outcomes of such adjustments; however, research on these topics is fragmented across theoretical perspectives and life domains. 

Research

Predicting NSSI among trans young people: the role of transphobic experiences, body image, and gender dysphoria

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is particularly common among trans young people. NSSI is most commonly used as an emotion regulation strategy, which may explain the high prevalence of the behavior among trans young people, who often experience unique stressors. In the current study we test an application of the Pantheoretical Framework of Dehumanization, in which transphobic experiences, body surveillance, body dissatisfaction, and gender dysphoria are all theorized to predict NSSI.