Despite the debilitating impacts that anxiety and depression can have on young people, research shows that, in the last year, less than one in four 16 to 24 year old Australians with a mental health disorder, sought help from mental health services. Those involved with the teaching of young people are all to aware of the importance of this issue. As such, in this episode of the ERRR we speak to Dr. Yael Perry on the various manifestations of adolescent mental health, as well as programs that aim to improve it.
Our discussion focusses on two of Yael’s research papers. The first, looks at the impact of ‘HeadStrong’, a free to download (here), school-based educational intervention to help students facing mental health challenges.
The second paper, entitled Preventing Depression in Final Year Secondary Students: School Based Randomized Controlled Trial (download here), considers the effectiveness of SPARX-R, a gamified online cognitive behavior therapy intervention for the prevention of depression in students who are facing their end of school exams.
In addition to these two studies, I also ask Yael the following questions:
-What is anxiety and depression?
-Have the rates of anxiety and depression in young people increased over time?
-How do mental health challenges differentially impact different segments of the adolescent population?
-What role does technology play in exacerbating, or treating, mental health challenges in young adults?
-What does the research say on what makes a successful mental health program in schools?
-What is the role of teachers in supporting the mental health of young people, and modelling positive mental health practices themselves
And much, much more.
Dr Yael Perry is a clinical researcher, psychologist and supervisor. She completed her Masters and PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of New South Wales, and her post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, under the supervision of Dr Aaron Beck.
Yael returned to Australia in 2013 to work at the Black Dog Institute in Sydney, where she conducted clinical research on the prevention and treatment of mental illness of young people in schools, with a focus on utilising novel online and mobile technologies to address this important issue. In 2017, she relocated to Perth and joined the Youth Mental Health team at Telethon Kids Institute.
Yael is currently coordinating the Altitudes East West trial which investigates the effectiveness of an online intervention in reducing stress in carers of young people with early psychosis. Yael continues to develop and evaluate novel mental health interventions for vulnerable young people.
Links mentioned during the interview
- Black Dog Institute free school resources (including a link to HeadStrong 2.0)
- Beacon – directory of evidence-based online programs (can filter by age)
- MoodGym – online evidence-based anxiety and depression prevention/treatment program
- Report On The Second Australian Child And Adolescent Survey Of Mental Health And Wellbeing
- Article on Suicide Prevention in Practice in Teacher Magazine
- Summary of evidence based depression and anxiety prevention programs in schools (link)
- Journal article on School-based depression and anxiety prevention programs for young people (link)
- Mission Australia 5 Year Youth Mental Health Report (link)
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