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The aim of this dissertation was to determine the benefit and underlying mechanisms of artistic and physical activities, when used as adjuncts to established clinical therapies. Using both categorical questions and standardised ratings, the mechanisms of behavioural activation, belonging, common factors, and flow states were measured in relation to perceived benefit and psychological distress. Six empirical studies used samples from the Australian Defence Force (ADF), a civilian art therapy program, and a population of university students. In the first three studies, participants from the ADF's Arts for Recovery, Resilience, Teamwork and Skills (ARRTS) Program reported on their experience in the program. The first study retrospectively surveyed former participants (N = 31) and found the perceived benefit and positive experience of mechanisms lasted up to 24 months. The second study (N = 92) surveyed participants during and after the program using standardised ratings. The ratings for all mechanisms plus reductions in psychological distress increased during the one-month program but thereafter largely disappeared within six months. The third study (N = 35) surveyed ADF respondents using categorical questions. Their responses confirmed the benefits and experience of the mechanisms. The fourth study (N = 20), using outpatients in an art therapy program, confirmed the benefit and experience of the mechanisms seen in the ADF studies. The fifth and sixth studies used a nonclinical sample of university students (N=394) to analyse the potential mediating role of the four mechanisms and their factor structure, respectively. In the fifth study, each mechanism individually mediated the relationship between higher levels of physical activity and lower levels of psychological distress. In an integrated model, the mechanisms of behavioural activation and belonging remained as significant mediators. In the sixth study, an exploratory factor analysis revealed that the four mechanisms were distinct. Studies one to three found reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms, with all underlying mechanisms being experienced by respondents. Study four found the mechanisms were also experienced by art therapy participants. Study five determined that in the context of sport belonging and behavioural activation were the most prominent of the mechanisms. Study six developed a shorter preliminary questionnaire to measure the mechanisms potentially reducing participant burden. The results of the studies are discussed with respect to the role of the four mechanisms in delivering benefit to participants in adjunct activities.

Background: Frequent cannabis use can pose risks to health and safety. Multiple governments have legalized the sale of cannabis for recreational use and mandated health and safety warnings for recreational cannabis packages or signs at sales locations. The purposes of this study were to identify common themes across warnings and to compare the actual warnings with those previously recommended by cannabis experts and cannabis users.Methods: We searched Google and Google Scholar for online lists of governments that allow or will soon allow the sale of cannabis for recreational use. Using the online lists we found, we searched for laws mandating the warnings, using the search terms "mandated warnings for recreational use marijuana" in addition to the name of the jurisdiction under review. We evaluated the content of the warnings and compared them with warnings recommended by cannabis experts and by users of recreational cannabis.Results: Each search led to millions of results. Within the top results of each of the searches there were website links to official legislative websites, databases and documents of the jurisdiction under review. We used these official documents. The search revealed that 11 U.S. states and two countries allow the recreational use of cannabis and that 10 U.S. states and Canada mandate warnings on legally sold recreational cannabis. The mandated warnings can be categorized as focusing on one of nine risks: (1) negative health effects on the user, (2) harm to children or fetuses, (3) risks related to driving or operating machinery, (4) risks of habit formation leading to over-use, (5) risks relating to over-use on a single occasion, especially with regard to edible cannabis, (6) developmental risks for young people, (7) harm caused by secondary smoke, (8) risks of effects lasting several hours, and (9) risks specific to using cannabis topicals. The warnings include no graphic images and no phone number to call for help quitting.Conclusions: The warnings, as a group, parallel most warnings ...

Introduction: Although cannabis use creates health risks, governments have recently been legalizing either medical use or leisure use. These governments can mandate health warnings on cannabis packages. Prior research examined recommended warnings of cannabis experts. The aim of this study was to obtain suggested cannabis health and safety warnings from cannabis users.Methods: We used a media release, Facebook postings, and announcements in university classes to seek individuals who had used cannabis at least once according to their own report. Using online data collection software that keeps participants anonymous, we asked the individuals to suggest a warning that governments could mandate on cannabis packages.Results: In total, 288 users suggested warnings. Categorizing the warnings into content categories led to six warning topics: (1) risk of harm to mental health and psychological functioning; (2) risk of operating machinery while under the influence; (3) short-term physical side effects; (4) responsible use; (5) long-term negative physical effects; and (6) dependence, addiction, or abuse. The user-suggested warnings overlapped with six expert-recommended warnings identified in prior survey research and included two content areas that did not feature in expert-recommended warnings: short-term physical side effects and the importance of responsible use.Conclusions: The results are consistent with prior findings that some youths perceive cannabis use as potentially harmful. The current findings provide possible new content for warnings on cannabis packages.

Partners of Australian combat veterans are at an increased risk of experiencing mental health problems. For a comparative analysis of mental health of partners of veterans with that of their non-military counterparts, the study sample comprised female partners of (a) Australian combat veterans (Sample 1: n = 282, age M = 60.79, SD = 5.05), (b) a random sub-sample of partners of Australian combat veterans from the previous sample (Sample 2: n = 50; M = 60.06, SD = 4.80), (c) partners of Special Air Services Regiment (SASR) personnel (Sample 3: n = 41, age M = 34.39 SD = 7.01), and (d) partners of current serving military (non-SASR) personnel (Sample 4: n = 38, age M = 32.37, SD= [i]6.20). Respondents completed measures to assess their reported levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. The two samples (Samples 1 and 2) for partners of Australian combat veterans reported significantly poorer symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress than the comparative population norms. The sample of SASR personnel partners reported significantly greater levels of depression and anxiety, while the sample with non‑SASR personnel partners reported a significantly poorer symptomatology in stress than the comparative norms. Lessons and protective factors can be learnt from groups within the current military as to what may assist partners and families to maintain a better level of psychosocial health.

Background: Mobile mental health apps have become ubiquitous tools to assist people in managing symptoms of anxiety and depression. However, due to the lack of research and expert input that has accompanied the development of most apps, concerns have been raised by clinicians, researchers, and government authorities about their efficacy.Objective: This review aimed to estimate the proportion of mental health apps offering comprehensive therapeutic treatments for anxiety and/or depression available in the app stores that have been developed using evidence-based frameworks. It also aimed to estimate the proportions of specific frameworks being used in an effort to understand which frameworks are having the most influence on app developers in this area.Methods: A systematic review of the Apple App Store and Google Play store was performed to identify apps offering comprehensive therapeutic interventions that targeted anxiety and/or depression. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) checklist was adapted to guide this approach.Results: Of the 293 apps shortlisted as offering a therapeutic treatment for anxiety and/or depression, 162 (55.3%) mentioned an evidence-based framework in their app store descriptions. Of the 293 apps, 88 (30.0%) claimed to use cognitive behavioral therapy techniques, 46 (15.7%) claimed to use mindfulness, 27 (9.2%) claimed to use positive psychology, 10 (3.4%) claimed to use dialectical behavior therapy, 5 (1.7%) claimed to use acceptance and commitment therapy, and 20 (6.8%) claimed to use other techniques. Of the 162 apps that claimed to use a theoretical framework, only 10 (6.2%) had published evidence for their efficacy.Conclusions: The current proportion of apps developed using evidence-based frameworks is unacceptably low, and those without tested frameworks may be ineffective, or worse, pose a risk of harm to users. Future research should establish what other factors work in conjunction with evidence-based frameworks to produce efficacious ...

One of the biggest growth areas in e-mental health resources has been the development and use of mobile mental health apps for smartphones and tablet devices. Such apps are being downloaded at increasing rates, but there have been questions about their efficacy and the research methodologies used to examine this. A review of the major app marketplaces, the Apple App Store and Google Play store, was conducted to locate apps claiming to offer a therapeutic treatment for depression and/or anxiety, and have research evidence for their effectiveness, according to their app store descriptions. App store descriptions were also analyzed to determine whether the app had been developed with mental health expert input; whether they had been developed in association with a government body, academic institution, or medical facility; and, whether or not they were free to download. Overall, 3.41% of apps had research to justify their claims of effectiveness, with the majority of that research undertaken by those involved in the development of the app. Other results indicated that 30.38% of shortlisted apps claimed to have expert development input; 20.48% had an affiliation with a government body, academic institution, or medical facility; and, 74.06% were free to download. Future research must consider other methodologies that may facilitate more research being completed on a greater number of apps, and future development needs to incorporate greater levels of input by mental health experts. Ways in which app stores could play a key role in encouraging more scientific research into the effectiveness of the mental health apps they sell are discussed.

Although essential to professional competence in psychology, quantitative research methods are a known area of weakness for many undergraduate psychology students. Students find selecting appropriate statistical tests and procedures for different types of research questions, hypotheses and data types particularly challenging, and these skills are not often practiced in class. Decision trees (a type of graphic organizer) are known to facilitate this decision making process, but extant trees have a number of limitations. Furthermore, emerging research suggests that mobile technologies offer many possibilities for facilitating learning. It is within this context that we have developed StatHand, a free cross-platform application designed to support students' statistical decision making. Developed with the support of the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching, StatHand guides users through a series of simple, annotated questions to help them identify a statistical test or procedure appropriate to their circumstances. It further offers the guidance necessary to run these tests and procedures, then interpret and report their results. In this Technology Report we will overview the rationale behind StatHand, before describing the feature set of the application. We will then provide guidelines for integrating StatHand into the research methods curriculum, before concluding by outlining our road map for the ongoing development and evaluation of StatHand.

Does the "ideal" organization exist? Or do different workplace attributes attract different people? And if so, what attributes attract what types of employees? This study combines person-organization fit theory and a policy capturing methodology to determine (a) which attributes are the strongest predictors of perceived organization attractiveness in a sample of Australian job seekers, and (b) whether the magnitude of these predictive effects varies as a function of job seekers' personal values. The design of this study is a randomized experiment of Australian job seekers who responded to an online survey invitation. Each of the 400 respondents received a random subset of 8 of 64 possible descriptions of organizations. Each description presented an organization that scored either high or low on six attributes based on the Employer Attractiveness Scale: economic, development, interest, social, application, and environmental value. Multi-level modelling revealed that all six attributes positively predicted job seekers' ratings of organization attractiveness, with the three strongest predictors being social, environmental, and application value. Moderation analyses revealed that participants with strong self-transcendent or weak self-enhancement values were most sensitive to the absence of social, environmental, and application value in workplaces, down-rating organizations that scored low on these attributes. Our results demonstrate how job seekers' personal values shape preferences for different types of workplaces. Organizations may be able to improve recruitment outcomes by matching working conditions to the personal values of workers they hope to employ.

"This systematic review aims to investigate the literature on the relationship between time perspective and death anxiety in the elderly population. Time perspective is a fundamental process by which the flow of personal experiences is categorized into temporal dimensions, while death anxiety refers to the fear associated with the inevitability of death. The review systematically assesses and critically discusses the literature on time perspective and death anxiety and highlights the implications for future research and practice. A comprehensive search of relevant databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct) was conducted to identify quantitative studies published up to date in this review. The initial search yielded a considerable number of studies (N=401). After applying rigorous inclusion criteria, a final selection of studies (N=5) was examined in detail. Results of our systematic review show that time perspective is related to death anxiety in some circumstances, but extensive research is needed to explore this relationship. Future research efforts should focus on refining assessment methodologies from time perspective and investigating potential interventions that can alleviate death anxiety among the elderly population. Understanding the interplay between time perspective and death anxiety may hold valuable implications for mental health interventions and geriatric care, promoting enhanced well-being and psychological resilience in later life. Keywords: time perspective, death-anxiety, elderly, old age"

Australian communities face increasing losses and disruption from natural disasters. Disaster resilience is a protective characteristic that acts to reduce the effects of, and losses from, natural hazard events. Disaster resilience arises from the capacities of social, economic and government systems to prepare for, respond to and recover from a natural hazard event, and to learn, adapt and transform in anticipation of future natural hazard events. This assessment of disaster resilience estimates the status of these capacities and shows how they are spatially distributed across Australia. Composite indices are frequently used to summarize and report complex relational measurements about a particular issue. The Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index measures disaster resilience as a set of coping and adaptive capacities. Coping capacity is the means by which available resources and abilities can be used to face adverse consequences that could lead to a disaster. Adaptive capacity is the arrangements and processes that enable adjustment through learning, adaptation and transformation. Eight themes of disaster resilience encapsulate the resources and abilities that communities have to prepare for, absorb and recover from natural hazards (social character, economic capital, emergency services, planning and the built environment, community capital, information access) or to adapt, learn and solve problems (social and community engagement, governance and leadership). Across the eight themes, 77 indicators were used to compute the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index in 2084 areas of Australia, corresponding to the Statistical Area Level 2 divisions of the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The index was then used to undertake the first nationally standardised assessment of the state of disaster resilience in Australia. Disaster resilience is reported at three levels: an overall disaster resilience index, coping and adaptive capacity sub-indexes and themes of disaster resilience that encapsulate the resources and abilities that communities have to prepare for, absorb and recover from natural hazards and to adapt, learn and solve problems (social character, economic capital, emergency services, planning and the built environment, community capital, information access, social and community engagement, governance and leadership). Volume I (this volume) assesses the state of disaster resilience in Australia, using the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index. Volume I gives a brief overview of the design and computation of the index, then assesses the state of disaster resilience in Australia at different levels: overall disaster resilience, coping and adaptive capacity, and the eight themes of disaster resilience. Volume I also presents a typology of disaster resilience that groups areas across Australia that have similar disaster resilience profiles. Readers interested in the results of the assessment of disaster resilience in Australia should focus on Volume I.

Australian communities face increasing losses and disruption from natural disasters. Disaster resilience is a protective characteristic that acts to reduce the effects of, and losses from, natural hazard events. Disaster resilience arises from the capacities of social, economic and government systems to prepare for, respond to and recover from a natural hazard event, and to learn, adapt and transform in anticipation of future natural hazard events. This assessment of disaster resilience estimates the status of these capacities and shows how they are spatially distributed across Australia. Composite indices are frequently used to summarize and report complex relational measurements about a particular issue. The Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index measures disaster resilience as a set of coping and adaptive capacities. Coping capacity is the means by which available resources and abilities can be used to face adverse consequences that could lead to a disaster. Adaptive capacity is the arrangements and processes that enable adjustment through learning, adaptation and transformation. Eight themes of disaster resilience encapsulate the resources and abilities that communities have to prepare for, absorb and recover from natural hazards (social character, economic capital, emergency services, planning and the built environment, community capital, information access) or to adapt, learn and solve problems (social and community engagement, governance and leadership). Across the eight themes, 77 indicators were used to compute the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index in 2084 areas of Australia, corresponding to the Statistical Area Level 2 divisions of the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The index was then used to undertake the first nationally standardised assessment of the state of disaster resilience in Australia. Disaster resilience is reported at three levels: an overall disaster resilience index, coping and adaptive capacity sub-indexes and themes of disaster resilience that encapsulate the resources and abilities that communities have to prepare for, absorb and recover from natural hazards and to adapt, learn and solve problems (social character, economic capital, emergency services, planning and the built environment, community capital, information access, social and community engagement, governance and leadership). Volume II (this volume) describes in detail the computation of the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index. This includes resilience concepts, literature review, index structure, data collection, indicators, statistical methods, detailed statistical outputs, sensitivity analysis and uncertainty analyses. Readers interested in the technical aspects of the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index should also consider Volume II. Volume II is comprised of six chapters: Chapter 1: Design of the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index Chapter 2: Indicators Chapter 3: Computation of the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index Chapter 4: Statistical outputs: ANDRI, coping capacity and adaptive capacity Chapter 5: Statistical outputs: disaster resilience themes Chapter 6: Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis