Self-control and unhealthy body weight: The role of impulsivity and restraint.

We examine the relationship between trait self-control and body weight. Data from a population representative household survey reveal that limited self-control is strongly associated with both unhealthy body weight and poorer subjective weight-related well-being. Those with limited self-control are characterized by reduced exercising, repeated dieting, unhealthier eating habits, and poorer nutrition.

Psychological, social and cognitive resources and the mental wellbeing of the poor.

Our study takes advantage of unique data to quantify deficits in the psychosocial and cognitive resources of an extremely vulnerable subpopulation-those experiencing housing vulnerability-in an advanced, high-income country (Australia). Groups such as these are often impossible to study using nationally representative data sources because they make up a small share of the overall population. We show that those experiencing housing vulnerability sleep less well, have more limited cognitive functioning, and less social capital than do those in the general population.

The differential impact of major life events on cognitive and affective wellbeing.

Major life events affect our wellbeing. However the comparative impact of different events, which often co-occur, has not been systematically evaluated, or studies assumed that the impacts are , that different wellbeing domains are equally affected, and that individuals exhibit . We evaluated the individual and conditional impact of eighteen major life-events, and compared their effects on in a large population-based cohort using fixed-effect regression models assessing within person change.

The reciprocal relationship between depressive symptoms and employment status.

This paper analyzes the reciprocal lagged relationship between depressive symptoms and employment status. We find that severe depressive symptoms contribute to a 25.6% increase in subsequent non-employment rates, a 20.

The Great Recession and Children's Mental Health in Australia.

This paper analyzes the effects of "shocks" to community-level unemployment expectations, induced by the onset of the Great Recession, on children's mental well-being. The Australian experience of the Great Recession represents a unique case study as despite little change in actual unemployment rates, levels of economic uncertainty grew. This affords us the ability to examine the effects of shocks to economic expectations independent of any actual changes to economic conditions.

Sickness absence and mental health: evidence from a nationally representative longitudinal survey.

Objectives: Previous studies have consistently reported evidence of large significant associations between measures of psychological health and sickness absence. Some of this association, however, may be confounded by relevant covariates that have not been controlled. By using data with repeated observations from the same individuals, this study aimed to quantify the bias due to unobserved characteristics that are time invariant.

Immigration and Status Exchange in Australia and the United States.

This paper evaluates the status exchange hypothesis for Australia and the United States, two Anglophone nations with long immigration traditions whose admission regimes place different emphases on skills. Using log-linear methods, we demonstrate that foreign-born spouses trade educational credentials via marriage with natives in both Australian and U.S.