Publications by authors named "Sunny Collings"

Article Synopsis
  • A study examined psychological factors influencing COVID-19 vaccination attitudes across four countries: Ghana, India, New Zealand, and Germany, with 1822 participants involved.
  • Each country showed different key psychological predictors, such as positive affect in Ghana (7%), self-compassion in India (66%), dispositional optimism in New Zealand (5%), and compassion for others in Germany (2%).
  • The findings suggest that emotional well-being is crucial for improving vaccination rates, and addressing psychological distress can also positively impact attitudes toward vaccination.
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Background: Globally, increasing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination coverage remains a major public health concern in the face of high rates of COVID-19 hesitancy among the general population. We must understand the impact of the determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake when designing national vaccination programmes. We aimed to synthesise nationwide evidence regarding COVID-19 infodemics and the demographic, psychological, and social predictors of COVID-19 vaccination uptake.

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The stigma of men's mental illness has been described as having wide-reaching and profound consequences beyond the condition[s] itself. Stigma negatively impacts men's mental health help-seeking and the use of services amid impeding disclosures, diminishing social connection and amplifying economic hardship. Although men often face barriers to discussing their struggles with, and help-seeking for mental illness challenges, research focused on men's lived experiences of mental illness stigma is, at best, emergent.

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Young people born with variations in sex characteristics (VSC) or disorders of sex development (DSD) face numerous challenges in navigating issues relating to identity and to their lived and embodied experience. There is limited published research amplifying the voices of young people with a VSC, especially from Aotearoa/New Zealand. This qualitative study provides an up-to-date picture of the lived experience of 10 young people with a VSC in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

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Men's mental health has remained undertheorized, particularly in terms of the gendered nature of men's social relations. While the importance of social connections and strong supportive networks for improving mental health and well-being is well documented, we know little about men's social support networks or how men go about seeking or mobilizing social support. An in-depth understanding of the gendered nature of men's social connections and the ways in which the interplay between masculinity and men's social connections can impact men's mental health is needed.

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Objective: To explore the reasons for worse cancer survival in people with experience of mental illness, including differences by cancer type and psychiatric diagnosis.

Method: New Zealand breast and colorectal cancer registrations (2006-2010) were linked to psychiatric hospitalization records for adults (18-64 years). Cancer-specific survival was compared for recent psychiatric service users and nonusers using Cox regression.

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Background: Although mild to moderate mental health problems are common and often debilitating, treatment options in primary care settings in New Zealand are often severely limited for patients with these conditions. Previously, we developed an ultra-brief intervention (UBI) to address mild to moderate psychological concerns, designed to be delivered by primary care clinicians. Recent feasibility testing, including an adaptation for Māori individuals (the indigenous people of New Zealand), showed that the brief intervention was feasible and acceptable to both clinicians and their patients.

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Aims: People with experience of mental illness, in particular those accessing mental health services, have increased mortality compared to the general population, but no studies have examined the situation in New Zealand. This study uses a complete national dataset to estimate mortality rates from natural and external causes for adults using psychiatric services compared to the general New Zealand population.

Methods: Routinely collected data on adults aged 18-64 using secondary mental health services between January 2002 and December 2010 were linked to death registrations over the same period.

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