No abstract

Depression is a serious mental health problem, affecting more young people than ever before. This research reports on the short-term effectiveness of an Optimism and Lifeskills Program for preventing depression in preadolescents. A randomised, controlled trial was conducted with students about to make their transition to high school, in a private girls school. Self-report questionnaires were used to assess the program's effect on depressive and lonely symptoms, attributional style and self-worth, in a sample of 47 grade 7 girls at posttest and 6-month follow-up. Results showed fewer depressive symptoms and more positive self-worth in the intervention group compared to the control group at 6-month follow-up. This research indicates that depression prevention programs can be effective in the short-term and can provide valuable skills to young people making their transition to high school. Implementation issues and suggestions for further research on primary prevention for mental health in schools are discussed.

Postnatal depression (PND) is a serious and debilitating condition that is recognized as being disruptive to women's lives at a time when they are already under stress adapting to the demands that a new baby creates. What has not always been fully acknowledged is that PND is linked with elevated levels of depression in male partners. In this article, the authors report on men's experiences of PND and of participation in a 6-week group treatment program specifically designed for male partners. The men experienced their partners' PND as overwhelming, isolating, stigmatizing, and frustrating. Coping with PND was assisted by participation in the men's group. Men reported lowered levels of depression and stress, and higher levels of social support, as a result of their participation. The men valued highly the opportunity to share experiences with peers, to hear strategies for engaging in their relationship, and to gain factual information.

Young infants prefer to look at faces that adults find attractive, suggesting a biological basis for some face preferences. However, the basis for infant preferences is not known. Adults find average and symmetric faces attractive. We examined whether 5–8-month-old infants discriminate between different levels of averageness and symmetry in faces, and whether they prefer to look at faces with higher levels of these traits. Each infant saw 24 pairs of female faces. Each pair consisted of two versions of the same face differing either in averageness (12 pairs) or symmetry (12 pairs). Data from the mothers confirmed that adults preferred the more average and more symmetric versions in each pair. The infants were sensitive to differences in both averageness and symmetry, but showed no looking preference for the more average or more symmetric versions. On the contrary, longest looks were significantly longer for the less average versions, and both longest looks and first looks were marginally longer for the less symmetric versions. Mean looking times were also longer for the less average and less symmetric versions, but those differences were not significant. We suggest that the infant looking behaviour may reflect a novelty preference rather than an aesthetic preference.

No abstract

Objective: Technology is changing how we behave, communicate, and process information, and this has significant implications for mental health care. Telepsychology has appeal as a solution to obstacles of distance and access in rural and regional areas; however, few services appear to provide telepsychology as a routine service component for psychotherapeutic exchanges. The primary research goal of a multi-year PhD project was to explore and explain the disconnect between research and practice in telepsychology, and to investigate, among other things, how telepsychology changes the clinician's usual practice or the client's behaviour. Methods: Eight adult participants were seen for 68 hours of direct videoconferencing telepsychology over 11 months, and 53 separate points of data for each client that included the perspectives of both the client and therapist were collected. Clients completed technical, process, and therapy-based satisfaction surveys after each session, in addition to standardised clinical symptom rating. Results: This manuscript will summarise some of the project's research findings in relation to specific practice techniques, with a particular focus on therapeutic alliance and satisfaction. Conclusions: In possible contrast to the opinions of those less familiar with telepsychology, we conclude that if telepsychology is not treated apologetically it can achieve therapeutic results, albeit via a different route, favourably comparable to those achieved in face-to-face encounters. What is already known on this topic1 Telepsychology is recognised as a potential solution to access to care barriers in rural and regional areas. 2 The results of telemental health studies indicate strong evidence for high patient satisfaction and therapeutic alliance for a range of health services, regardless of therapy orientation. 3 Despite positive satisfaction and effectiveness evidence, practitioners still appear to be reluctant to use telepsychology. What this paper adds1 The conditions of "artificiality" of transmissions, for example, from low bandwidth, poor camera resolution, and colour/picture or sound distortion, appear to not impede the client's satisfaction, or clinical outcomes. 2 Despite technical problems, there appeared little impact on participants' overall satisfaction or on the development of therapeutic alliance or clinical outcomes. 3 In some circumstances, the distancing provided by the telepsychology medium can also offer a sense of safety and sanctuary for clients who are dealing with shame-based issues.

No abstract

Despite the widespread prevalence of psychological distress that affects many higher education students, existing student-stress research remains largely atheoretical. To address this gap, this paper applies Siegrist’s (1996) effort-reward imbalance model in a theoretical investigation of student stress. We surveyed Australian university students (N = 2,451) to identify whether discrepancies between efforts expended and rewards obtained influence student-distress outcomes (e.g., withdrawal/departure intentions). More than one-third of the students (37.5%) reported detrimental effort-reward imbalances, and these imbalances positively correlated with burnout and withdrawal intentions. Ultimately, burnout fully mediated the relationship between effort-reward imbalance and withdrawal intentions for both first-year and subsequent-year students. Unexpectedly, student resilience did not moderate these relationships. In light of these results, implications pertaining to the conceptualization and management of student distress and attrition are offered.