Mental healh harm Prevention
Faculty of Health
MhhPresearch@canberra.edu.au
Research Project Officer - Alex McKenzie
alex.mckenzie@canberra.edu.au
Our research is driven by a collective passion to improve the mental health and wellbeing of people in the ACT region and wider Australian communities. We strive to understand how to prevent harm to mental health and wellbeing by investigating risk and protective factors for mental health and effective early interventions.
All our projects have a strong applied focus to inform real-world actions.
| Project | Contact | Description |
|---|---|---|
| YOCOM 鈥� Youth outcome online measures | Prof Debra Rickwood / Dr Kelly Mazzer | This NHMRC partnership project aims to develop and implement real-time, unobtrusive measures of change in client outcomes and clinician actions during online chat youth mental health services. Funding: NHMRC Partnership Grant (2024-2029: #2032120), $AUD1.27M HDR student: Deepika Ratnaike |
| Eco-anxiety | Dr L茅an O'Brien / Dr Teaghan Hogg | Several projects examining profiles of eco-anxiety, coping strategies, nature connectedness and climate anxiety, and climate anxiety as a future thinking process. HDR students: Gus Faul, Ebony Blyton |
| Risky driving/road safety | Assoc Prof Amanda George | Psychological predictors of risky e-scooter behaviours (not wearing a helmet and riding when possibly affected by alcohol). |
| Alcohol use/consequences among young adults | Assoc Prof Amanda George | Several projects including risky drinking among university students, acculturation and drinking patterns, social anxiety and alcohol use, and positive emotional dysregulation and drug use. HDR students: Anton Fichtenmaier, Kayla Herbert |
| Dangerous Driving | Dr Caroline Ng | Evaluation of the P180 program serviced by 91直播 PCYC. Funding: ACT Government 鈥� Justice and Community Safety Directorate (JACS), $100,000 Project Team: Dr Sally Kelty, Dr Caroline Ng, and Phoebe Joshua |
| Early Intervention in BPD / Parent Involvement in Early Intervention Treatment for Young People with Borderline Personality Disorder Features | Dr Clare Watsford / Dr Dean Buckmaster / Prof Debra Rickwood | This mixed-methods project investigates the impact of parental involvement in psychological interventions for young people presenting with BPD on therapy engagement and outcomes. HDR student: Chloe Bosworth |
| Body image, eating disorders and disordered eating | Dr Vivienne Lewis | Projects include body image perceptions in pre/during/post partum women, and the influence of early maladaptive schemas and temperament in eating disorders. HDR student: Phoebe Joshua |
| Caring for our workforce: an examination of barriers to self-care and seeking help amongst allied health professionals | Dr Dimity Crisp | This project investigates willingness of Australian health professionals to self-disclose mental impairment and barriers to self-care in mental health settings. Funding: Faculty of Health Seed Grant, $14,939.00 Project Team: Dr Dimity Crisp, Dr Clare Watsford, Dr Claire Pearce, Prof. Michael Roche, Mx Mik Bartels |
| Psychoeducation of teachers in training | Dr Dimity Crisp | This project examines mental health literacy and training needs of pre-service teachers. Project Team: Dr Dimity Crisp, Dr Karen Oakley, Dr Stacey Griffiths, A/Prof Phil Kavanagh, A/Prof Amanda George, Prof Debra Rickwood, Dr Rany Tayara, Dr Natasha Jojo, Dr Clare Watsford |
| Evaluation of wellbeing program (CHS) | Dr Dimity Crisp | Examines local wellbeing initiatives at CHS 鈥� implementation, barriers and enablers. Project Team: Dr Dimity Crisp, Dr Mel Mylek HDR student: Megan Thorn |
| Exploring the experience of counsellors with ADHD in therapeutic practice | Dr Rana Tayara | Examines how ADHD shapes counselling work including service delivery, professional identity, and workplace demands. Project Team: Dr Rana Tayara, Dr Emna Mala |
| Navigating Counselling Supports: Help-Seeking Behaviours Among Muslim Australian Adolescents | Dr Rana Tayara / Dr Caroline Ng | Examines help-seeking behaviour for mental health among Muslim Australian adolescents, focusing on discrimination, cultural identity, and structural barriers. HDR student: Melissa O'Brien |
| Project | Contact | Description | Year Completed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safe and unsafe behaviours when riding e-scooters | Assoc Prof Amanda George | Investigated safe and unsafe e-scooter behaviours in the 91直播 region via observational study and focus groups. Funding: ACT Road Safety Fund grant, $48,000 Project Team: Assoc Prof Amanda George, Assoc Prof Tricia Brown, Anton Fichtenmaier |
2025 |
| Current status of young people's mental health, wellbeing and resilience in headspace survey 2022 | Dr Dimity Crisp | Examines the national profile of mental health and wellbeing of young Australians captured in 2018, 2020, and 2022. Project Team: Dr Dimity Crisp, Prof Debra Rickwood |
2025 |
| Investigating community engagement workers at headspace to create a competency framework | Dr Dimity Crisp | Commissioned by headspace National; examined Community Awareness and Engagement function and activities across the headspace service network. | 2026 |
| Social media impact on new mothers / Mothers' coping during COVID | Dr Dimity Crisp / Dr Clare Watsford | Investigated the impact of social media on motherhood experiences including social support, perceived social pressures, and maternal mental health. | 2025 |
| Preventing suicide through crisis support | Prof Debra Rickwood | NHMRC partnership project with Lifeline Australia to enhance the evidence base for crisis support services. Funding: NHMRC Partnership Grant, $400,000 (2023鈥�24) Project Team: Prof Debra Rickwood, Dr Kelly Mazzer, Sonia Curll HDR student: Danielle Hopkins |
2025 |
| Navigating Complexity in a Constrained System: Occupational Therapists' Experiences Under Better Access to Mental Health | Dr Claire Pearce | Examined experiences of occupational therapists working under the Better Access initiative. Project Team: Dr Claire Pearce, Arabella Hely, BOT Honours |
2025 |
| Alcohol use and psychological wellbeing among migrants to Western Australia | Dr Caroline Ng | Investigated acculturation and drinking among youth from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Funding: WA Healthway grant Project Team: Dr Caroline Ng, Assoc Prof Amanda George, Assoc Prof Dandy (ECU), Prof Zamboanga (University of Arkansas) |
2024 |
| Migrant youth's drinking attitudes and acculturation: Drinking to fit in? | Dr Caroline Ng | Quantitative survey research on alcohol use, attitudes, motives, acculturation preferences, and wellbeing among Australian CaLD youth. Funding: Faculty of Health Seed Grant, $14,948.14 Project Team: Dr Caroline Ng, Assoc Prof Amanda George, Mr Beau Mostyn Sullivan, Assoc Prof Justine Dandy (ECU) |
2025 |
| Evaluation of Behind the Wheel Program | Caroline Ng | Evaluated the Behind the Wheel (BtW) Program in ACT schools and P180 via pre/post surveys. Funding: PCYC 91直播, $35,000 Project Team: Dr Sally Kelty, Dr Caroline Ng |
2025 |
| Community as Experts: Investigating context, needs and help-seeking pathways for child sexual abuse survivors in the NSW Bega Valley | Professor Lynne Keevers | Investigated needs and help-seeking pathways of diverse adults affected by CSA and ways to improve culturally safe, place-based interventions. Funding: National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse, $178,743.33 Project Team: Prof Lynne Keevers (CI), Ms Kristina Brenner, Ms Suzanne Milligan, Dr Chris Pardy, Ms Michelle Bonner |
2026 |
| Student | Supervisor(s) | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Anton Fichtenmaier | Assoc Prof Amanda George, Assoc Prof Phil Kavanagh, Assoc Prof Tricia Brown | Understanding the complex association of social anxiety with different alcohol-related outcomes: The clarifying role of a socially anxious impulsive subtype |
| Kayla Herbert | Assoc Prof Amanda George | |
| Gus Faul | Dr L茅an O'Brien, Dr Teaghan Hogg, Prof Debra Rickwood, Assoc Prof Tricia Brown | How can Nature Connectedness be Harnessed for Well-Being and Management of Climate Anxiety without Exacerbating it? |
| Ebony Blyton | Dr L茅an O'Brien | Collective 91直播 Thinking as an Intervention for Pro-Environmental Motivation and Climate Anxiety Management |
| Chloe Bosworth | Dr Clare Watsford, Prof Debra Rickwood, Dr Dean Buckmaster | Caregiver Involvement in Psychotherapy and Treatment for Young People with Borderline Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder Features |
| Danielle Hopkins | Prof Debra Rickwood | |
| Deepika Ratnaike | Prof Debra Rickwood, Dr Kelly Mazzer | The role of the digital therapeutic alliance within online counselling in youth mental health |
| Megan Thorn | Dr Dimity Crisp, Dr Mel Mylek | Evaluating Local Workplace Needs Initiative: A Mixed Methods Study of Wellbeing Implementation and the Impact at 91直播 Health Services |
| Phoebe Joshua | Dr Vivienne Lewis | Looking to early life experiences to improve treatment options for eating disorders: The applications of temperament-focused schema therapy |
| Student | Supervisor | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Teaghan Hogg (2025) | Dr L茅an O'Brien | |
| Beau Mostyn Sullivan (2025) | Assoc Prof Amanda George |
