Outcomes of a randomised controlled trial of the application of cognitive and behaviour therapies for problematic gambling : implications for the Statewide Gambling Therapy Service treatment model

Through an ongoing research programme, the Statewide Gambling Therapy Service (SGTS) in South Australia has been systematically developing approaches to treatment and relapse prevention in order to include a wider range of clients in the treatment programme, help them recover from their gambling problems and support them to avoid relapse to problematic gambling post treatment.In a recent randomised controlled trial exploring the efficacy of cognitive versus behavioural therapy in the treatment of problematic gambling disorders in SGTS, no significant differences were found between clinical outcomes of the two treatment modalities. Both purely cognitive and purely bahavioural approaches to therapy had similar outcomes in terms of improvements in measures of health and wellbeing (Work and Social Adjustment Scale: WSAS), general depressioni (Kessler 10: K10) and problematic gambling (Victorian Gambling Screen: VGS). Further studies are planned to test more precisely whether both approaches are indeed equivalent in terms of outcomes achieved for clients. In the mean time, the fact that behavioural therapy (BT) tends to required less treatment sessions to achieve the same outcomes as cognitive therapy (CT) suggests that working to retaining clients in treatment using BT may be a more effective and parsimonious treatment option for people with gambling disorders . This current paper provides an overview of SGTS client engagement and management strategies following the completion of our recent RCT.

The applicability of self-regulation theories in sport: Goal adjustment capacities, stress appraisals, coping, and well-being among athletes

We examined a model, informed by self-regulation theories from the health psychology literature, which included goal adjustment capacities, appraisals of challenge and threat, coping, and well-being. Two-hundred and twelve athletes from the United Kingdom (n 147)= or Australia (n = 65), who played team (n = 135) or individual sports (n = 77), and competed at international (n = 7), national (n = 11), county (n = 67), club (n = 84), or beginner (n = 43) levels participated in this study. Participants completed measures of goal adjustment capacities and stress appraisals two days before competing. Athletes also completed coping and well-being questionnaires within three hours of their competition ending.The way an athlete responded to an unattainable goal was associated with his or her well-being in the period leading up to and including the competition. Goal reengagement positively predicted well-being, whereas goal disengagement negatively predicted well-being. Further, goal reengagement was positively associated with challenge appraisals, which in turn was linked to task-oriented coping, and task-oriented coping positively associated with well-being.When highly-valued goals become unattainable, consultants and coaches could encourage athletes to generate alternative approaches to achieve the same goal or help them develop a completely new goal in order to promote well-being among athletes.

BIM adoption within Australian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) : an innovation diffusion model

Despite the envisaged benefits of BIM adoption for SMEs, BIM in SMEs has remained an underrepresented area within the available academic literature. This study proposes and draws upon a framework grounded on innovation diffusion theory (IDT) to provide an illuminating insight into the current state of BIM and the main barriers to BIM adoption within Australian SMEs. Based on analyses of 135 questionnaires completed by SMEs through partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and grounded on the proposed framework, the current state of BIM adoption and barriers to BIM adoption for SMEs are discussed. The findings show that currently around 42% of Australian SMEs use BIM in Level 1 and Level 2 with only around 5% have tried Level 3. It comes to light that lack of knowledge within SMEs and across the construction supply chain is not a major barrier for Australian SMEs. In essence, the main barriers stem from the risks associated with an uncertain return on investment (ROI) for BIM as perceived by key players in SMEs. The findings also show the validity of the framework proposed for explaining BIM adoption in Australian SMEs.

Robust partial feedback linearizing excitation controller design for multimachine power systems

This paper presents a new robust nonlinear excitationcontroller design for synchronous generators in multimachine powersystems to enhance the transient stability. The mismatches betweenthe original power system model and formulated mathematical modelare considered as uncertainties which are modeled through thesatisfaction of matching conditions. The exogenous noises appearingfrom measurements are incorporated with the power system modelincluding the two-axis model of synchronous generators. The partialfeedback linearization technique is used to design the controller whichtransforms the original nonlinear multimachine power system modelinto several reduced-order linear and autonomous subsystems. Thedesired control law is obtained for each subsystem and implemented ina decentralized manner provided that the dynamics of the autonomoussubsystems have no effects on the overall stability of the system. Theanalysis related to the dynamics of noisy autonomous subsystems isalso included and the proposed controller has the excellent capabilityto decouple these noises. Finally, the performance of the proposedcontrol scheme is evaluated on an IEEE 39-bus benchmark powersystem following different types of large disturbances. The performanceof the proposed controller is compared to that of a partialfeedback linearizing controller, which is designed without robustnessproperties, to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.