Search
Alexithymia is characterised by difficulties identifying and describing feelings, as well as a lack of focus on feelings. Alexithymia is a transdiagnostic risk factor for developing a wide array of psychopathologies, such as anxiety and depression, with a key hypothesised mechanism being the impairing impact of alexithymia on emotion regulation competency. However, no study has tested whether difficulties with emotion regulation mediate the link between alexithymia and psychopathological symptoms using longitudinal designs.
Evidence suggests that the earlier supports are provided to young Autistic children, the better the overall outcomes. Supports have typically only been available after an autism diagnosis but with increased knowledge about early developmental trajectories, clinical supports can now be offered prediagnosis for infants showing early autism features and/or those with a family history of autism.
Meaningful involvement of young People with Lived Experience (PWLE) in co-designing youth mental health interventions has been much emphasized globally. However, there is a scarcity of evidence on involving PWLE of mental health problems in designing, implementing and evaluating mental health interventions, especially in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
The developing hippocampus is particularly sensitive to early environmental influences, including during pregnancy. This longitudinal neuroimaging study examined associations between prenatal maternal physical activity and depression, maternal education, and hippocampal development from early childhood to early adolescence.
First Nations women in Australia continue to experience disproportionately adverse maternal and infant outcomes. The ongoing legacy of colonisation and systemic racism shapes these outcomes. In the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), maternity services remain dominated by Western biomedical approaches that fail to deliver culturally safe and anti-racist care despite national standards that mandate such practices.
Parental support is a critical protective factor for trans and gender diverse children, yet many parents lack access to trustworthy, evidence-based information. The Transforming Families project aimed to address this gap by co-designing a digital resource to enhance parental understanding, support, and acceptance.
Repetitive Negative Thinking (RNT) during pregnancy is a key risk factor for psychopathology in the perinatal period. However, the cognitive mechanisms underlying prenatal RNT remain poorly understood. Recent research has suggested that a tendency to volitionally seek negative rather than positive information (i.e., biased information seeking) may contribute to the formation of more negative prenatal expectations, which in turn predict elevated prenatal RNT.
The autistic and autism communities have identified improving the quality of life and well-being of autistic people as a key priority. Despite this, to date, there are no evidence-based supports for autistic children which specifically focus on improvements in these areas.
Physical activity can support physical and mental health among children living with chronic health conditions; however, programmes must be tailored to their specific needs to support participation.
Masculine norms influence internalizing problems in men. The processes that explain this association are not yet comprehensively understood. However, there exists a compelling argument to highlight the role of emotional functioning in explaining how conformity to the traditional Western conceptualization of masculine norms confers risk for internalizing problems.