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Research

‘It’s been a lifelong thing for me’: parents’ experiences of facilitating a healthy lifestyle for their children with severe obesity

For parents and guardians, assisting children/adolescents with severe obesity to lose weight is often a key objective but a complex and difficult challenge. Our aim in this study was to explore parents' (and guardians') perspectives on the challenges they have faced in assisting their children/adolescents with severe obesity to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Research

The Influence of Grandparents on Children’s Dietary Health: A Narrative Review

To examine and synthesise recent evidence on the role of grandparents in shaping children's dietary health.

Research

Impact of vascular screening interventions on perceived threat, efficacy beliefs and behavioural intentions: a systematic narrative review

Health-related behaviours contribute to the global burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Cardiovascular imaging can be used to screen asymptomatic individuals for increased risk of CVD to enable earlier interventions to promote health-related behaviours to prevent or reduce CVD risk.

Research

Structured exercise programs for higher education students experiencing mental health challenges: background, significance, and implementation

The incidence of mental illness is greatest among young adults, and those enrolled in higher education may be particularly vulnerable compared to the general young adult population. Many higher education institutions employ student support staff tasked with implementing strategies to improve student wellbeing and mental illness.

Research

Motives and Mental Contrasting With Implementation Intentions Predict Progress and Management of Goals in Parents

Parents must rapidly adapt goals from various aspects of their lives to accommodate the demands of the early stages of parenthood. According to the self-concordance model, having autonomous goal motives (based on enjoyment or personal goal value) should foster effective self-regulation (e.g., coping strategies), better goal management, and increase the likelihood of goal attainment, compared to controlled motives (goals driven by demands/pressures).

Research

Support needs and experiences of young people living in families with mental illness

Children and adolescents living in families affected by mental illness are at elevated risk of developing mental health problems. A range of interventions have been designed to help these young people; however, the effectiveness of these programs is, in some cases, mixed. Our aim was to understand in detail the support needs and experiences of a group of Australian children and adolescents living in families with mental illness.

Research

Reliability of Fitness Assessments in Children With Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties

Examine the reliability of field-based fitness assessments in school-aged children with emotional or behavioral difficulties (EBD). Understanding the impact of fitness on physical activity participation for children with EBD is limited by our ability to reliably measure it.

Research

Assessing alexithymia across negative and positive emotions: Psychometric properties of the Polish version of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire

The Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ) is a 24-item self-report measure of alexithymia. Originally developed in English, it was designed to try to enable more comprehensive (i.e., facet-level and valence-specific) alexithymia assessments. This study aimed to introduce and validate a Polish version of the PAQ. Our sample were 1,008 people (69.44% females, 30.06% males and 0.50% non-binary) aged 18-78 (M = 29.69, SD = 14.15) from the general community.

Research

Strengthening Peer Mentoring Relationships for New Mothers: A Qualitative Analysis

The transition to motherhood can be challenging, especially for first-time mothers, and can accompany maternal distress. Social support—such as that offered by peers—can be important in assisting mothers to manage such distress.

Research

Loneliness Versus Distress: A Comparison of Emotion Regulation Profiles

Loneliness, a negative emotion stemming from the perception of unmet social needs, is a major public health concern. Current interventions often target social domains but produce small effects and are not as effective as established emotion regulation (ER)-based interventions for general psychological distress (i.e., depression/anxiety).