Jacaranda
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Browsing Jacaranda by Author "Beamish, Peter"
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Item Factors Predicting the Mental Health of Adolescents Attending a Faith-based Australian School System: A Multi-group Structural Equation Analysis(2020-07-03) Price, Kevin; Rankin, Paul; Butler, Terry; Bogacs, Paul; Gane, Barry; Beamish, Peter; Kent, Lillian; Morey, Peter; Morton, Darren; Craig, BevanBackground: Adolescents attending Seventh-day Adventist schools (Adventist) in Australia tend to experience good health and exhibit better health behaviors than national norms, however few studies have investigated factors predicting their mental health.
Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the complex network of factors that predict the mental health status (MHS) of adolescents attending Adventist schools in Australia.
Methods: A survey instrument was used to collect data from 1527 secondary school students attending Adventist schools across Australia. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine concomitantly the direct and indirect effects of childhood experiences, present attitudes and selected health behaviors on MHS.
Results: Childhood family dynamics had the strongest association with MHS (βtotal = 0.33) followed by a sense of meaning and purpose (βtotal = 0.27), perceived social misfit status (βtotal = –0.19), and school academic performance (βtotal = 0.18). Multi-group analysis found significant pathway differences in the model for gender with regards to the association of meaning and purpose, physical activity and sleep quantity with MHS.
Conclusions: The outcomes of the study highlight the importance of early positive childhood family dynamics and the discovery of meaning and purpose during adolescence to promote positive mental health among adolescents.
Item Protocol for a Study Investigating the Influence of Graded Levels of Human Support on Adherence and Outcomes of an Online, Multimodal Lifestyle Intervention to Improve Mental Health(2018-09-01) Craig, Bevan; Przybylko, Geraldine; Hinze, Jason; Beamish, Peter; Kent, Lillian; Morton, Darren; Renfrew, MelanieIntroduction: Mental health is in global jeopardy and devising effective preventative and curative solutions are vital. Lifestyle interventions have been shown to be efficacious for improving mental health; however, in a progressively digital culture, face-to-face (F2F) interventions are being replaced by online and mobile options.1 While online delivery can overcome ‘hurdles’ of inaccessibility and may also be more ‘scalable’, it poses unique challenges, as decreasing levels of human support can affect adherence to lifestyle interventions and associated outcomes.2,3,4 Research is needed to better understand the importance of human support in online interventions and the type and dosage of human support required to optimise adherence and outcomes.5
Aim: To determine the influence of graded levels of human support on the adherence to and outcomes of an online, multimodal lifestyle intervention targeting mental health.
Methods: The online intervention will be administered to a total of 360 participants who will be randomised into three equal groups: standard (S) which includes automated emails and helpdesk support; standard plus personalised SMS support (S+pSMS); and, standard plus a weekly online group discussion via videoconferencing (S+OGD). Measures of mental health, including the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21), the ‘mental health’ and ‘vitality’ sub-scales from the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the ‘Flourishing’ scale, will be taken at baseline, ten weeks and twenty weeks. Outcome measures will be compared across each ‘arm’ and stratified analysis will be utilised to explore the influence of demographic variables. Adherence will be explored through mixed methods.
Outcomes: The proposed study will provide a better understanding of the influence of human support on the adherence to, and outcomes of, online lifestyle interventions, which will inform best practice for the design of online interventions
Item The Influence of Human Support on the Effectiveness of a Web and Mobile App-Based Multimodal Lifestyle Intervention Targeting Mental Health: A Randomised Comparative Study(2019-06-01) Przybylko, Geraldine; Beamish, Peter; Hinze, Jason; Morton, Jason K.; Morton, Darren; Renfrew, MelanieIntroduction: There is a need for efficacious lifestyle interventions that promote the mental health and emotional wellness of both healthy and clinical cohorts. Evidence regarding the usefulness of adding human support (i.e. guidance) to improve the outcomes of web- and mobile app-based psychological interventions for clinical populations is mixed,1-3 however little is known about healthy cohorts.
Methods: 458 self-selected participants registered to join a 10-week, web- and mobile app-based, multimodal lifestyle intervention. The participants were randomised into three groups, differentiated by support mode: standard, who received automated emails only (S); standard plus personalised SMS messages (S+pSMS); standard plus online group discussions (S+OGD). At pre- and post-intervention, the participants completed the following measures: the ‘mental health’ and ‘vitality’ sub-scales from the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36); Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21); Satisfaction With Life scale; and Flourishing scale.
Results: 320 participants (S, n=103; S+pSMS, n=114; S+OGD, n=103) completed the study. Significant within-group changes were recorded from pre- to post-intervention in all groups for every outcome measure (PP=0.77), vitality (P=0.65), depression (P=0.93), anxiety (P=0.25), stress (P=0.57), satisfaction with life (P=0.65) or flourishing (P=0.99). Attendance at the weekly online group discussions was poor, but those who attended seven or more of the ten sessions experienced significantly better outcomes than those who attended less than seven.
Conclusions: The web- and mobile app-based, lifestyle-focused, mental health intervention enhanced measures of mental and emotional wellbeing among a healthy cohort, irrespective of the mode of human support. Supplementing a psychological intervention with an online group discussion might improve outcomes, when attendance is optimised.