Beyond mental illness

The Introducing Me program was developed as a recovery-oriented intervention program for people with mental illness. Program trials revealed improvements in self-concept, self-esteem, reduced social anxiety, and overall positive feedback. This novel and innovative program has important implications for the treatment and wellbeing of persons with a severe mental illness. The Professional Portfolio discusses issues relating to the assessment and diagnosis of depression in adolescents and factors determining appropriate treatment recommendations. Four case studies are presented.

Sociocultural influences of body image among Australian and Fijian girls

Despite a traditional emphasis on a large body size in Fiji, both Australian and Fijian girls' had relatively similar body image attitudes and weight change behaviours. However, in comparison to Australian girls, Fijian girls experienced conflicting messages about losing and gaining weight.

Parental influences upon their children's body image concerns and behaviours

An examination of the influence of parents revealed that sons' and daughters' perceptions of the direct and indirect pressures exerted by both mothers and fathers were more predictive of their body image concerns and body change strategies than the messages reported by parents. The professional portfolio presents four case studies of children referred to a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service with depressive symptomatology in relation to attachment theory.

Food habits of Hong Kong adolescents and their families

Findings from this research indicate that parents' eating habits and school food policy did not exert a positive influence on students' food choices. Only very few principals believed education influenced eating habits, and there were discrepancies between the attitudes and expections of parents and principals.

Kiwi ACE

This study used a RCT to determine the efficacy of a school-based indicated preventive depression programme with adolescents identified as experiencing depressive symptoms. At one-year follow-up students had significantly improved scores effective across gender and ethnicity. Findings were supported by data from teachers and student focus groups.

Biopsychosocial factors related to Australian and Fijian adolescent body image distortion

The thesis study was a cross-cultural comparison of the biopsychosocial predictors of body image perception and ideals among 294 Australian and 101 Fijian adolescents. The results demonstrated similarities across cultural groups, but parents, peers and the media were stronger influences for Fijians. These findings have implications for body image intervention programs.The portfolio presented a thorough review of the evidence for the cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) treatment option for adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD). Four case studies are presented.

Spirituality and coping in young adults with diabetes

This exploratory study with a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods addressed an important aspect of life that could help young adults with diabetes cope with stressful situations and manage their diabetes. The study aimed to explore young adults with diabetes' spirituality and how spirituality that focuses on inner-self and transformation can enhance their coping and diabetes management. The findings can also help health professionals integrate spirituality into diabetes care.

Evaluation of an early intervention program for childhood conduct problems

Treatment outcomes of an early intervention program for childhood conduct problems were evaluated. Results provided support for the longitudinal effectiveness of the program in reducing conduct problems, social difficulties, and psychosocial impairment for young primary school aged children. Children's experience and expression of anger also reduced across the program's duration. The portfolio presents four case studies whose results provide further support for Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) as an effective and clinically useful treatment for paediatric OCD in everyday clinical contexts.

Basic symptoms in young people at ultra high-risk of psychosis

Basic Symptoms are cognitive and emotional disturbances characteristic of the early stage of psychosis. This study established the utility of an instrument to identify Basic Symptoms amongst young people at high-risk for developing psychosis, thereby facilitating the pathway to treatment for these individuals. The portfolio focuses on how having an unwell parent contributes to and influences the development of psychopathology in offspring. The four clinical case studies are presented in detail, and the intervention strategies for each individual are evaluated.

Spectral bequest

The exhibition held 15 paintings and covered over a year of work investigating the relationship of tonal interactions in a large body of work. This modulates suite of paintings comprised many enigmatic, mystical images, beautifully painted in a classical style. This is a solo exhibition of a series of metaphysical paintings, exhibited for the first time at a leading gallery in Brisbane.

The importance of family management, closeness with father and family structure in early adolescent alcohol use

Aims To examine the importance of family management, family structure and father–adolescent relationships on early adolescent alcohol use.

Design Cross-sectional data was collected across 30 randomly selected Australian communities stratified to represent a range of socio-economic and regional variation.

Setting Data were collected during school time from adolescents attending a broad range of schools.

Participants The sample consisted of a combined 8256 students (aged 10–14 years).

Measurements Students completed a web-based survey as part of the Healthy Neighbourhoods project.

Findings Family management—which included practices such as parental monitoring and family rules about alcohol use—had the strongest and most consistent relationship with alcohol use in early adolescence. Adolescents reporting higher family management were less likely to have drunk alcohol in their life-time, less likely to drink alcohol in the preceding 30 days and less likely to have had an alcohol binge. Adolescents reporting emotionally close relationships with their fathers were less likely to have drunk alcohol in their life-time and less likely to have had an alcohol binge in the preceding fortnight.

Conclusions Findings indicate that family management practices may contribute to alcohol abstinence in adolescents. Furthermore, emotionally close father–adolescent relationships may also foster abstinence; however, fathers’ drinking behaviours need to be considered.

Post-disaster fiction for young adults : some trends and variations

In the forty years or so since it began to develop as a sub-genre of young adult fiction, post-disaster fiction has commented on a range of issues, including perceived social fears of the time, the nature of various types of society, and what people need in order to be truly human. This paper explores how young adult post-disaster fiction makes comment on these and other issues. It argues that within this genre there are three connected sub-genres, with the disaster having a different function in each, and the nature of the comments made by each of these sub-genres tending also to be different. As its title suggests, this paper includes texts in which the focus is on life after the disaster. The genre’s strong link with both the nature of young adult fiction and with adolescence itself suggests that it will continue to flourish as a sub-genre.

Cognitive function in adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome

This thesis explored cognitive function in adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome. Counter to what has been found in adults, adolescents with CFS performed as well as their peers on demanding tests of executive function, information processing, memory and attention. The results suggest that CFS might impact differently on the developing brain. The portfolio used a case study approach to examine the effectiveness and utility of Finn's Therapeutic Assessment model in four clients.

Adolescent and pre-conception risk factors for perinatal depression

Women who experienced psychiatric disorder during adolescence reported a 5̃-fold increased risk for depressive symptoms during pregnancy and during the postnatal period. A number of other adolescent and pre-conception risk factors, such as persistent stress and hormonal volatility, were also found to be implicated in the development of perinatal depression. Four case studies of children with profound and pervasive attachment-related disturbances are presented in the portfolio in order to highlight the shortcomings of the current diagnostic criteria for reactive attachment disorder in infancy or early childhood.

Parenting styles, family structure and adolescent dietary behaviour

Objective To examine associations between parenting styles, family structure and aspects of adolescent dietary behaviour.

Design Cross-sectional study.

Setting Secondary schools in the East Midlands, UK.

Subjects Adolescents aged 12–16 years (n 328, 57 % boys) completed an FFQ assessing their consumption of fruit, vegetables, unhealthy snacks and breakfast. Adolescents provided information on parental and sibling status and completed a seventeen-item instrument measuring the general parenting style dimensions of involvement and strictness, from which four styles were derived: indulgent, neglectful, authoritarian, authoritative.

Results After controlling for adolescent gender and age, analysis of covariance revealed no significant interactions between parenting style and family structure variables for any of the dietary behaviours assessed. Significant main effects for family structure were observed only for breakfast consumption, with adolescents from dual-parent families (P < 0·01) and those with no brothers (P < 0·05) eating breakfast on more days per week than those from single-parent families and those with one or more brother, respectively. Significant main effects for parenting style were observed for all dietary behaviours apart from vegetable consumption. Adolescents who described their parents as authoritative ate more fruit per day, fewer unhealthy snacks per day, and ate breakfast on more days per week than those who described their parents as neglectful.

Conclusions The positive associations between authoritative parenting style and adolescent dietary behaviour transcend family structure. Future research should be food-specific and assess the efficacy of strategies promoting the central attributes of an authoritative parenting style on the dietary behaviours of adolescents from a variety of family structures.