Knowledge and Myths about Eating Disorders in a German Adolescent Sample: A Preliminary Investigation.

Eating disorder mental health literacy (ED-MHL) refers to knowledge about the symptoms, causes, and treatment of eating disorders (EDs) and is an important factor in people's attitudes towards individuals with EDs and help-seeking for EDs. Associations between ED-MHL, stigma, ED symptomatology, and gender were investigated in a sample of N = 194 German high school students. Knowledge and myths about EDs were assessed with 18 factual statements about EDs and agreement/disagreement with common myths about ED.

Recruitment, adherence and attrition challenges in internet-based indicated prevention programs for eating disorders: lessons learned from a randomised controlled trial of ProYouth OZ.

Background: Growing evidence supports the effectiveness of Internet-based prevention programs for eating disorders, but the adjunctive benefit of synchronous peer support has yet to be investigated. In the current study, a randomised controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of an indicated Internet-based prevention program (ProYouth OZ) with and without peer-to-peer support in reducing disordered eating behaviours and attitudes.

Method: Fifty young adults (18-25 years) with eating disorder symptoms were randomised to one of three study conditions: (1) ProYouth OZ (without peer-to-peer support), (2) ProYouth OZ Peers (with peer-to-peer support), and (3) a waitlist control group.

Randomized controlled trial of online interventions for co-occurring depression and hazardous alcohol consumption: Primary outcome results.

Background And Aims: The current trial tested the benefits of offering a brief online intervention for hazardous alcohol consumption along with one for depression among people experiencing both conditions.

Methods: Online advertisements were used to recruit people with persistent low mood. Those who also had current hazardous alcohol consumption were identified and invited to take part in the trial (those not eligible were offered access to the online depression intervention).

An Ecological Momentary Intervention for people with social anxiety: A descriptive case study.

This study describes the development and pilot evaluation of a smartphone- delivered Ecological Momentary Intervention (EMI) for people with social anxiety symptoms. Using a software engineering framework (agile modeling, model-driven development, bottom-up development), mental health experts and software developers collaborated to develop a 4-module EMI app designed to reduce social anxiety in real-time. Fifty-five participants with social anxiety were randomly allocated to the EMI or a wait-list control arm.

Muscle dysmorphia: A systematic and meta-analytic review of the literature to assess diagnostic validity.

Objective: Although muscle dysmorphia (MD) is a new addition to DSM-5 as a specifier of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), previous studies have treated MD as a stand-alone diagnosis. We aimed to assess the validity of MD as a stand-alone diagnosis via systematic and meta-analytic review of MD literature using both Robins and Guze criteria and additional criteria from Kendler.

Method: We performed a systematic search of ProQuest, PsycInfo, and PubMed databases for the period of January 1993 to October 2019 resulting in 40 papers to examine Robins and Guze's criteria (clinical picture) as well as those added by Kendler (antecedent validators; concurrent validators; predictive validators).

What prevents young adults from seeking help? Barriers toward help-seeking for eating disorder symptomatology.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate help-seeking attitudes, intentions, and behaviors, and to systematically explore perceived barriers to help-seeking for eating, weight, or shape concerns among young adults. Differences in perceived barriers as a function of type of eating disorder symptomatology were also examined.

Method: Data were collected using an online survey among individuals (aged 18-25 years) in Australia.

Getting shredded: Development and validation of a measure of muscularity-oriented disordered eating.

This study describes the development and initial psychometric evaluation of the Eating for Muscularity Scale (EMS), a measure of muscularity-oriented disordered eating (MDE) attitudes and behaviors. We conducted a literature review to define the construct of MDE and relevant subdomains. This review informed a large pool of items addressing these subdomains, which were then reduced based on feedback from subject-matter experts.

Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of a Self-Guided Internet Intervention for Social Anxiety Symptoms in a General Population Sample: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Many people are accessing digital self-help for mental health problems, often with little evidence of effectiveness. Social anxiety is one of the most common sources of mental distress in the population, and many people with symptoms do not seek help for what represents a significant public health problem.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a self-guided cognitive behavioral internet intervention for people with social anxiety symptoms in the general population.

Mental health research priorities in Australia: a consumer and carer agenda.

Background: The perspectives of mental health consumers and carers are increasingly recognised as important to the development and conduct of research. However, research directions are still most commonly developed without consumer and carer input. This project aimed to establish priorities for mental health research driven by the views of consumers and carers in Australia.

The Prejudice towards People with Mental Illness (PPMI) scale: structure and validity.

Background: Although there is a substantial body of research on the stigma associated with mental illness, much of the extant research has not explicitly focused on the concept of prejudice, which drives discriminatory behaviour. Further, research that has investigated prejudice towards people with mental illness has conceptual, theoretical and psychometric limitations. To address these shortcomings, we sought to develop a new measure, the Prejudice towards People with Mental Illness (PPMI) scale, based on an improved conceptualisation and integration of the stigma and prejudice areas of research.

Adjunctive Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia in men with depression: A randomised controlled trial.

Objective: Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia is efficacious for insomnia, and post hoc analyses suggest mood improvements. We undertook the first clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia on depressive symptoms as an adjunct to guideline-based treatment of depressive disorders.

Methods: Older men undergoing psychiatrist-coordinated treatment for major depressive disorder or dysthymia and who had significant insomnia symptoms were randomised to either adjunctive Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (Sleep Healthy Using The Internet) or online sleep psychoeducation.

Does providing a brief internet intervention for hazardous alcohol use to people seeking online help for depression reduce both alcohol use and depression symptoms among participants with these co-occurring disorders? Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Hazardous alcohol consumption is common among people experiencing depression, often acting to exacerbate depressive symptoms. While many people with these co-occurring disorders do not seek face-to-face treatment, they do seek help online. There are effective internet interventions that target hazardous alcohol consumption or depression separately but none that combine these online interventions without the involvement of a therapist.

The effect of programme testimonials on registrations for an online cognitive behaviour therapy intervention: a randomised trial.

Objective: Suboptimal visit-to-registration rates limit the reach and potential impact of online health interventions. In this study, we examined whether testimonials presented during a new-user registration process could increase the uptake rates of , an open-access automated intervention designed to reduce the symptoms of depression.

Methods: We conducted a three-armed parallel randomised controlled trial on the website involving variations of the first page of the registration process.

Help seeking for social anxiety: A pilot randomised controlled trial.

Objective: Although social anxiety disorder is a persistent and debilitating condition, only a minority of people with social anxiety disorder seek help and little is known about methods for promoting help seeking for social anxiety disorder. This pilot trial explored the potential effectiveness of an online program designed to increase help-seeking intentions for social anxiety disorder.

Methods: Australian adults with symptoms of untreated social anxiety disorder were recruited online and randomised to either the Shyness Information Online intervention ( = 41) or an online attention control condition ( = 41).

Can a brief biologically-based psychoeducational intervention reduce stigma and increase help-seeking intentions for depression in young people? A randomised controlled trial.

There is disagreement in the literature as to whether biological attribution increases or decreases stigma. This study investigated the effect of an online biological intervention on stigma and help-seeking intentions for depression among adolescents. A three-arm, pre-post test, double-blind randomised controlled trial (RCT) was used to compare the effects of a biological and a psychosocial intervention delivered online.

University staff experiences of students with mental health problems and their perceptions of staff training needs.

Background: University students experience high levels of mental health problems; however, very few seek professional help. Teaching staff within the university are well placed to assist students to seek support.

Aims: To investigate university teaching staff experiences of, and training needs around, assisting students with mental health problems.

Online insomnia treatment and the reduction of anxiety symptoms as a secondary outcome in a randomised controlled trial: The role of cognitive-behavioural factors.

Objective: Insomnia and anxiety commonly co-occur, yet the mechanisms underlying this remain unclear. The current paper describes the impact of an Internet-based intervention for insomnia on anxiety, and explores the influence of two cognitive-behavioural constructs - dysfunctional beliefs about sleep and sleep-threat monitoring.

Methods: A large-scale, 9-week, two-arm randomised controlled trial ( N = 1149) of community-dwelling Australian adults with insomnia and elevated yet subclinical depression symptoms was conducted, comparing a cognitive behavioural therapy-based online intervention for insomnia (Sleep Healthy Using The Internet) with an attention-matched online control intervention (HealthWatch).

Associations of objective and subjective sleep disturbance with cognitive function in older men with comorbid depression and insomnia.

Objectives: To examine whether poor objective and subjective sleep quality are differentially associated with cognitive function.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Participants were recruited from primary and secondary care, and directly from the community, in Sydney, Australia.

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a fully self-guided internet-based intervention for sub-clinical social anxiety symptoms: Protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Design And Objective: This paper describes the protocol for a large-scale pragmatic, randomised controlled trial and economic evaluation to investigate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the self-directed E-Couch social anxiety module versus a waiting list control condition, for reducing sub-clinical social anxiety symptoms in the general population.

Study Population: Community-based adults (aged 18+) with social anxiety symptoms that do not meet the criteria for social anxiety disorder recruited via a direct-to-consumer advertisement on national websites.

Intervention And Control: Intervention is the self-guided E-Couch social anxiety module.

User characteristics and usage of an open access moderated internet support group for depression and other mental disorders: A prospective study.

Background: Internet support groups (ISGs) for mental ill-health are common but little is known about the characteristics of users, the usage and predictors of ISG usage and if and how these change over time.

Aim: This study evaluated the attributes of a publically accessible ISG for depression and other mental disorders including: (1) the demographic and other characteristics of its users; (2) their patterns of usage; and (3) the factors which predict posts to and retention on the ISG.

Method: User characteristics (gender, age, user type, country and location of residence) were collected at the time of registration on the ISG BlueBoard (blueboard.

What's all the talk about? Topic modelling in a mental health Internet support group.

Background: The majority of content in an Internet Support Group (ISG) is contributed by 1 % of the users ('super users'). Computational methods, such as topic modelling, can provide a large-scale quantitative objective description of this content. Such methods may provide a new perspective on the nature of engagement on ISGs including the role of super users and their possible effect on other users.

Effectiveness of MH-Guru, a brief online mental health program for the workplace: A randomised controlled trial.

Background: Depression and anxiety interfere with an individual's quality of life and result in substantial economic costs to the workplace through lost productivity. The internet offers an unparalleled opportunity for the large scale, cost-effective delivery of mental health awareness and destigmatisation programs in the workplace. However, to date high quality assessments of the effectiveness of such workplace programs have been confined to health professional settings.

A pilot randomized controlled trial of the e-couch anxiety and worry program in schools.

The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of delivering an online anxiety prevention program in schools, and to assess the effectiveness of the intervention in reducing symptoms of anxiety. Three schools located in South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory were recruited to participate in the trial, with classes randomly allocated to the intervention or wait-list control condition. All participants ( = 225) were invited to complete a pre-intervention, post-intervention and 3-month follow-up questionnaire.