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The purpose of the current research was to extend knowledge of attribution processes in sport. Specifically, the attribution processes of coach-athlete dyads were investigated over several weeks of competition, focusing on the application of theoretical frameworks (i.e., Heider, 1958; Kelley, 1967; Rees, Ingeldew, & Hardy, 2005a; Weiner, 1985) to attribution processes. Attribution change and the influence of coach feedback and post-game review procedures on attribution processes were also investigated. Three elite junior Australian Football (AF) players (18-19 years) and their head coach (45 years) were interviewed on multiple occasions through an attribution lens. Each athlete was interviewed on three occasions (pre-game, post-game, post-feedback) and the athletes’ coach was also interviewed two days post performances for the same three games. Player-participants’ stories are presented as case studies, with attention given to how their stories related to the literature. Participants’ stories reflected several aspects of theoretical frameworks (i.e., Heider, 1958; Kelley, 1967; Weiner, 1985). There was evidence of actor and observer divergence with the coach-participant providing more dispositional causal ascription than player-participants. Player-participants demonstrated attribution change after their post-game feedback possibly revealing the influence of review processes for mediating attributions. For example, after coach feedback, athletes used the coach’s attributions to explain their performance outcome. In addition, their attributions tended towards using more dispositional causes in their post-coach feedback interviews than were used in their post-game interviews. The findings may demonstrate the strong influence that coaches have on athletes’ perceptions of their performance outcomes. The research findings extend knowledge of attribution processes in sport and could inform researchers and sport psychologists in determining interventions of choice to assist athletes and coaches.

Baitul Maal Tamwil (BMT) is a community-based and cooperative microfinance approach, and combines economic and socio-religious objectives in providing financial services to poor people and helping the needy participate in a dynamic Muslim society. The study objective is to examine the development of the BMT sector in Yogyakarta and in particular to assess the role and performance of and assesses the extent to which the BMT's philosophy and modus operandi is sustainable in achieving the dual missions of poverty alleviation following Islamic principles. This study addresses research questions of how and what role of the BMT institutions, as the Islamic microfinance model in the Javanese Muslim community, and to what extent the BMT sector is sustainable.

This thesis explores the multidimensionality of contemporary Timoroan as reflection of the narratives of politics and history that engulfed Timor-Leste since the 1500s and that in many respects continues to this day to inform who the Timoroan are and what Timor-Leste is. Timor-Leste is a proud nation and the Timoroan have every right to be proud, there is much to be proud of, but unfortunately this confidence and pride has been chipped away by almost 500 years of occupation, pillage, manipulation, oppression and death. That contemporary literature continues to perpetuate the Timoroan as conflict prone, or poor, or fragile, and underdeveloped shows how history serves the strong and the dominant rather than the less strong and more accepting. Timor-Leste is shaped by its history that has taken over the lives of the Timoroan for half a millennium and distracted the Timoroan from its destiny and purpose still being defined today and into the future. One cannot look at the Timoroan and Timor-Leste today without deconstructing what close to 500 years of forced occupation does to a people and the spiritual, ideological, physical and environmental ecology of an island. This thesis approaches the narratives of the Timoroan and Timor-Leste from a purely Timoroan academic perspective and in this regard this thesis looks at the history of colonialism and invasion and its impacts on the Timoroan from the other side of the fence, that is from the side of the Timoroan, from inside-out. This thesis also (de)constructs the Timoroan from the lived experiences and worldviews expressed by the respondents of this research study about what is like to live in cultural context and in contemporary Timor-Leste society and as part of the Timor-Leste Nation-State into the future.

Relatively little is known about the impact psychotropic drugs, particularly sedatives, have on human behaviour in a residential fire emergency. Two separate but related avenues of investigation were conducted to explore human behaviour in fire when under the influence of psychotropic drugs. In Study One the efficacy of current and alternative smoke alarm signals was tested after the consumption of hypnotics. A supplementary objective was to examine the relationship between sleep quality and arousal thresholds. Study Two retrospectively analysed an Australian database of fire fatalities using advanced algorithmic modelling techniques to determine: (a) if users of psychotropics and hypnotics were overrepresented in the Australian fire fatality statistics; and (b) the relationship between psychotropic drug consumption and a number of behavioural, environmental, and demographic risk factors. The research provided new, important evidence revealing an uncomfortably high level of risk to users of psychotropic drugs, particularly hypnotics, in a residential fire context. This was the first time psychoactive drug usage had been considered in such detail in the international literature.

Sleep dysfunction is a prominent feature in the subjective experience of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). Although studies using polysomonography have identified at least one abnormal sleep characteristic in individuals with ME/CFS, no standard abnormalities in sleep have been identified. At the time of writing, only one published study had compared actigraphic measures of sleep between ME/CFS and controls, with no differences found. The aim of this study was to compare sleep parameters in people with and without ME/CFS using self-report and actigraphy.

Firelighting behaviour amongst children and adolescents poses a significant concern for the well-being of the young person and their wider communities. Often difficult to detect, young firelighters account for a fifth of the fires lit in Australia. The focus of this study was to explore the characteristics and profiles of young firelighters in an Australian sample and to determine the rate of recidivism and identify variables that may predict firelighting recidivism risk.

Mining industries are widely perceived as damaging the environment and local communities. The Indonesian government requires mining industries to undertake Corporate Social Responsibility including community development activities. This study investigated the implementation of community development by a mining company on Sumbawa Island, West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. It focussed on the participation of the local community in decision making processes for the implementation of the mining company’s community development programs. The study also examined how the mining company has involved other parties, including NGOs and local government in its community development program implementation.

In Malaysia, the government has invested in public libraries with the intention of promoting development, particularly in rural areas. Despite the increasing number of rural public libraries being built throughout Malaysia, providing users with many services, activities and programs, previous research indicates that they are underutilised. The research reported in this thesis aimed to explore relationships between rural public libraries and their communities in both Malaysia and Australia, with particular attention to empowerment and community development processes.

East Kalimantan is a province of paradox. It has considerable economic potential, measured in terms of abundant endowments of natural resources. And yet it lacks infrastructure and has poor human resources, factors which condemn much of the population to live in poverty. Regional autonomy, implemented since 2001, has provided more political power and fiscal capacity to the region, and therefore it has been expected to give more opportunity for regional governments to accelerate regional development and bring their people to greater prosperity. However, East Kalimantan still harbors high levels of poverty. This study examines the extent to which regional governments use their authority, greatly expanded under regional autonomy laws, to address poverty issues in the province.

A number of studies have found that both dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep and sleep hygiene behaviours contribute to sleeping problems, particularly for those with insomnia. However, limited research has investigated beliefs and attitudes about sleep and sleep hygiene from a developmental perspective, within the community. This study was divided into two Phases. In Phase One, the aim was to develop a questionnaire assessing ‘community’ beliefs and attitudes about sleep, named the Views on Sleep Scale (VOSS). Another aim was to re-test the psychometric properties of a published scale assessing people’s beliefs about sleep hygiene (Sleep Beliefs Scale, SBS, by Adan, Fabbri, Natale & Prat, 2006). Phase One of the study comprised of 209 adults from the general community, ranging in age from 18 to 86 (M = 41, SD = 15). The results found that both the VOSS and SBS had good internal reliability when examining the total score and individual items of the scales. In Phase Two, the aim was to test two age groups (18-25 years and 60+ years) about their beliefs and attitudes about sleep using the VOSS, SBS and the Sleep Plot (developed by Lack, 2007). Participants in Phase Two were younger adults (n=113; aged 18 to 25, M = 21.41 years) and older adults (n= 110; aged 60+ years, M = 72.13 years). Consistent with the hypothesis, the older adults held more dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep than the younger adults. In comparison, younger adults and males were found to hold more incorrect beliefs/less sleep hygiene knowledge than the older adults (respectively). An explanation was put forth, suggesting that older adults tend to be more concerned about their sleep and the consequences of poor sleep on daytime functioning. Therefore, it is suggested that the older adults are more concerned about practicing the correct sleep hygiene behaviours in comparison to younger adults. In addition, results found that both age groups realistically portrayed the sleep of a healthy 65 year old to have less deep sleep than a healthy 18 year old. Yet, both age group’s perceived sleep to be unrealistically deep and uninterrupted throughout the night. This study suggests that dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep are more widespread across the community than just in those defined as poor sleepers. This study highlights important areas for education in the general community, such as sleep expectations, sleep beliefs, sleep hygiene behaviours, and the usual sleep-wake cycles across the night. It is proposed that changing widespread faulty perspectives may be helpful in the prevention and/or treatment of insomnia.

This thesis examines work stress in the Community Services Sector (CSS) in Victoria. Psychological injuries are extremely high in the CSS (WorkSafe Victoria), and yet there has been no research specifically addressing this issue in the sector. Further, there has been little research that examines workers’ perspectives of work stress. The thesis thus focuses on the ‘missing voices’ of workers by outlining what workers have to say about work stress, its causes and its effects. In order to place this research into both its historical and socio-political contexts, the genealogical roots of work in the CSS are examined and the impact of neo-liberalism on the sector critically assessed.

This thesis examines a seminal but largely ignored episode in Australian labour history. Jn 1979, the Altona Petrochemical Complex was the scene of a historic materialisation of class struggle, when 52 workers occupied the Union Carbide plant for a period of 51 days. It was, and remains, the longest factory occupation in Australian history. Occupations, generally, represent not only a challenge to the immediate party involved but a fundamental critique of the existing social, political and economic order, and in that sense must be understood within a broader milieu of resistance to the imperatives of power. Furthermore, the act of occupation is an occurrence that can be designated as a "weapon of the weak." Factory occupations are the highest and most audacious form of occupation as they, like all occupations, challenge the supposed inviolability of property, but transcend the potentialities of other occupations by challenging the property and privileges of the ruling class. The Union Carbide Sit-in Strike constituted one such challenge. This thesis, which is situated within the broader narrative of "history from below", has been enabled by the recent acquisition of the private papers of one of the leading participants. Until now, these archival sources have not been the subject of any previous scholarly study.

A suicide attempt is a very significant and usually disturbing event for the person who makes the attempt, for his or her family, and for clinicians who respond. Moreover, epidemiological studies have established that a suicide attempt is associated with an increased risk of subsequent attempt or suicide, suggesting that understanding more about experiences following a suicide attempt may have implications for prevention. Yet, despite calls for more qualitative research in the field, there have been few studies investigating these experiences. This thesis reports on a qualitative research study in which adults who had made a suicide attempt were interviewed about their experiences following the attempt. Lethality of suicide attempts varied but was within the moderate to severe range of medical seriousness. Ten participants (eight women and two men, aged 28 to 52) were asked about the nature of the suicide attempt, their personal experiences in the period that followed, their interactions with family and friends, and their experiences of clinical services. Findings support theorising a suicide attempt as trauma, with core experiences of loss of control, helplessness, disconnection from others, shame, guilt and humiliation. Movement from helplessness and disempowerment toward a sense of agency and control, and from disconnection and aloneness to repaired relationships were crucial aspects of the recovery process,. Analysis of interactions with family and friends noted the significance of sustained relationships and support, while also identifying a pattern of reciprocal recoil from the horror of the suicidal crisis and mutual silences aimed at protection of self and other, followed by efforts to repair ruptures in relationships. Experience of significant losses characterised the period following the suicide attempt. Respect and being taken seriously vs humiliation, blame or indifference was the overarching theme in relation to experiences with clinical services. Collaborative decision-making in the clinical setting was experienced as central to overcoming helplessness and regaining a sense of agency. Psychotherapy was valued for containing distress and/or working through underlying issues. Recommendations for practice are presented, while acknowledging the limitations of the study.

Childhood sexual assault (CSA) is a prevalent societal issue that can have long-term negative effects on the survivor. Adult survivors of CSA frequently seek therapy from mental health professionals. However, mental health professionals are not necessarily aware of, or trained, in working with CSA. This lack of knowledge can result in considerable negative consequences for the survivor. This study aimed to explore the experiences and needs of CSA survivors who engage in therapy, and identify helpful and unhelpful mental health professional practice. This was achieved qualitatively, with data gathered by a semi-structured interviewing style and evaluated via thematic analysis, guided by a social constructionist epistemology. Three survivors of CSA, who had previously engaged in therapy with a mental health professional, as well as 13 mental health professionals, participated in the current study. This study found that despite mental health professionals’ lack of education and training about CSA, they did not need to be particularly knowledgeable to be considered effective. Specifically, the ability to listen was crucial, as this indicated the professional was comfortable with the disclosure. However, an inability to listen was commonly cited and demonstrated to the survivor in a variety of ways. The issue of referral upon disclosure of CSA was identified as problematic, as well as considered a professional ethical dilemma. Whilst mental health professionals are bound by a professional responsibility of working within their realm of expertise, it could also be perceived as negative in terms of the messages it sent to the survivor. An ideal solution was suggested to circumvent this problem. The implications of mental health professional practice on CSA survivor wellbeing is discussed.

The refugee community from the South Sudan is among the most disadvantaged and vulnerable community groups in Australia. Their settlement situation is problematic due to the many issues confronting them, including a lack of sufficient support services and language and employment barriers. Since resettling in Australia, the South Sudanese refugee community has faced settlement difficulties like making adjustments to the Australian way of life. The reality is that refugee community groups from non-English countries that resettle in developed countries come with high expectations of wanting to rebuild their lives quickly without consideration of unforseen challenges of their new environment. Therefore, some groups end up being stricken by difficult settlement challenges. The South Sudanese refugee community in Australia come from a difficult background of a long civil war that affected their community in many ways; many families and young people from this community are going through a recovery process from past traumas. During settlement in Australia, this community tends to have a higher risk of experiencing problems like homelessness, family breakdown, social isolation, financial hardship, poor health, drug and alcohol abuse, gambling problem, unemployment and young people involving themselves in criminal activities due financial hardship and chronic lack of employment. There are a wide range of issues that need to be fully understood when working with refugee groups, including psychological condition and the social, economic, cultural and political impact of forced displacement. This thesis is arguing that there should be an alternative approach and empathy in nurturing refugee communities in proactive ways rather reacting over their demanding needs while settling. This study has identified significant areas and made recommendations for the improvement of settlement services beyond five years. Furthermore, this study has identified effective intervention strategies that help refugee community groups address areas of unemployment, racism and discrimination, social isolation and alternative engagement strategies. These strategies can be achieved by boosting/creating cultural appropriate services to help the community in address past trauma issues and settlement issues in a way that is appropriate to their culture and experiences. This study is significant in providing a platform for further research and debate by highlighting settlement issues facing the South Sudanese refugee community while settling in Melbourne.

Assessment tools that accurately assess executive functions in early adulthood are important for clinical practice, particularly given factors that can affect the executive functions, such as brain injury and mental illness, are relatively common during this developmental period. The aim of the current study was to investigate a more recently refined measure of executive function, the Controlled Animal Fluency Test (CAFT) in a non-clinical sample of young adults. Relationships between performance on the CAFT and other executive measures and cognitive measures were examined along with the relationship of CAFT measures to demographic factors. Further normative data for the CAFT for young adults were also obtained. Sixty individuals (27 male & 33 female) aged 19 to 40 years (M = 31.2 years, SD = 6.03) participated. They were screened for brain injury, serious illness, neurodevelopmental disorder, and psychotropic medication according to a structured interview protocol. Participants were tested with the CAFT, the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT), the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI), the Trail Making Test (TMT), and the Digit Span subtest from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV). Results showed significant correlations between the three conditions of the CAFT and FSIQ; CAFT Size and part B of the Trail Making Test; CAFT Alphabet and the COWAT; and all three conditions of the CAFT and the demographic variables of SES and number of years of education. The current findings highlight the interconnectedness of executive functions and other cognitive constructs such as FSIQ and reinforce the importance of accounting for demographic variables when developing normative data sets. Most importantly, however, the results of the current study provide evidence that the CAFT is a clinically useful measure of executive function with the early adulthood population.

There is a paucity of research on the mental health of asylum-seekers, particularly in comparison with refugee and migrant populations. Yet asylum-seekers occupy a vulnerable place in our community. After applying for a protection visa upon arrival in the host country, asylum-seekers frequently endure uncertainty for a protracted period as they traverse the Refugee Determination Process (RDP). The RDP in Australia and other Western countries can take years. Furthermore, asylum-seekers face psychosocial difficulties including numerous barriers to employment and access to health services, which can precipitate or perpetuate mental health problems. Despite this, little research has been undertaken with asylum-seekers negotiating the RDP, particularly studies employing a prospective design.

Despite the theoretical link between jealousy and self-esteem, research has yielded inconsistent results with regard to this relationship (review: White & Mullen, 1989). Although defenses such as projection, denial and repression have been linked with jealousy (Freud, 1922), there has been no research to date exploring this relationship. This quantitative study used self-report questionnaires, and aimed to contribute to previous research on jealousy and self-esteem, and defenses and selfesteem, and to explore the relationship between jealousy and defenses. Participants consisted of a convenience sample of 188 individuals aged from 20 to 81 years (M = 38.3, SD = 15.47), and included 73 men and 112 women. Measures included a brief demographic questionnaire, an 8-item dispositional jealousy measure (Melamed, 1991), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965), and the Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ-40; Andrews, Singh & Bond, 1993). The hypothesis that jealousy and self-esteem would be negatively correlated was supported for the overall sample (r = -.31, p = .005), however when split by gender there was a correlation for women (r = -.37, p = .0005), but not for men. The findings supported the hypothesis that jealousy would be positively correlated with immature defenses (r = .34, p = .0005) and negatively correlated with mature defenses (r = -.32, p = .0005). Jealousy was also positively correlated with the individual defenses of undoing, projection, passive aggression, acting out, devaluation, autistic fantasy, displacement, splitting, and somatization. Jealousy was negatively correlated with the individual defenses of sublimation, humor and suppression. The relationship between jealousy and defenses was often considerably stronger for men than for women. It was concluded that a relationship between jealousy and self-esteem did indeed exist, however this was only the case for women. For men, jealousy was found to be particularly associated with use of defenses.

Depression is among the most common mental disorders in young Australians. Through evolving theory two depression subtypes, sociotropic (anaclitic) and autonomy (introjective), have emerged. Attachment and intimacy have also been implicated as important to mental health in young adults, and vulnerability to depression has been linked to intimacy, sociotropy, autonomy and attachment. Therefore the aim of the current study was to examine depression in relation to attachment, intimacy, autonomy and sociotropy in young adulthood, in a clinical and community sample. In this context the study also aimed to explore ‘experience of intimacy’ in young adults (given Erikson’s psychosocial model implicating its importance), and its relation to attachment and depression. Further, based on theory of Holmes about the way autonomy and intimacy relate, the study aimed to examine this relationship. There has been limited research exploring all these variables together in the context of depression.

Most women use family planning services during their reproductive lifetime, but many lack ready access to such services, particularly in a rural area. The aim of this study was to document and thus develop an understanding of the facilitators and barriers to accessing three types of family planning services (emergency contraception, termination of pregnancy, and options counselling) within a particular rural area of Victoria, Australia, and how these might affect women’s psychosocial health and their ability to make timely decisions about continuation of a pregnancy.

Infants differ in their ability to achieve organised sleep-wake behaviour. Difficulties in this developmental process are associated with problems falling asleep at bedtime and repeated night awakenings where parental assistance is needed to return to sleep. Studies have shown that a number of maternal psychosocial factors have been linked to differences in infant sleep outcome. The primary aim of this study was to examine the relative contribution of maternal psychosocial factors including depression and anxiety symptoms, perceived past maternal parenting, maternal cognitions about infant sleep, maternal sleep history and the maternal settling strategy of active physical comforting to infant sleep outcome. A further aim was to explore the extent to which these variables affect infant sleep outcome through their link to maternal cognitions about infant sleep.

This thesis investigates the predictors of Malaysian employee wellbeing, specifically, whether the psychosocial work environment (job demands, job control, social support), organisational justice (procedural, interactional, distributive) and work family conflict (work to family and family to work conflict) can reliably predict employee wellbeing (job satisfaction, job affective wellbeing, life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect and psychological wellbeing). Drawing upon the Job Demand-Control (JDC) and Job Demand-Control-Support (JDCS) models, it also examines the moderating effects of job control and social support on the relationship between job demands, organisational justice and work family conflict, and wellbeing.

This thesis examined the extent and the manner of the gender mainstreaming policy implementation in three Islamic primary schools in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. It investigated the commitment, gender ideology and practices of policy makers, school principals, teachers, and the school committees. Furthermore, the thesis analyzed gender roles depiction in the primary school textbooks as well as investigated the students‘ perception of gender roles.

A number of studies have found maladaptive eating behaviours and attitudes in individuals with narcolepsy, however, few studies have comprehensively investigated possible reasons (other than hypocretin deficiency) for these findings. The aim was to investigate the eating behaviours and attitudes of individuals with narcolepsy. The sample consisted of 73 individuals with narcolepsy and 74 controls. Measures used were the Bulimia Test, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale and Epworth Sleepiness Scale, a one day Food and Drink Intake Diary, a newly developed Meal and Snack Timing Questionnaire and an adapted Meal Choice Questionnaire and Snack and Drink Choice Questionnaire. Results showed that individuals with narcolepsy consumed significantly more snacks and drinks than controls. Controls were more concerned about the impact of snack and drink choice on their weight. Individuals with narcolepsy were more likely to binge eat than controls. Individuals with narcolepsy rated the importance of timing food intake with convenience of sleepiness more highly than controls. Individuals with narcolepsy had significantly higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress than controls. Individuals with narcolepsy with moderate to severe levels of anxiety and stress scored significantly higher on the binge factor than those with normal to mild levels of anxiety and stress. A hypothesis is developed suggesting that two opposing frameworks may be operating in narcolepsy, one of a purposeful eating behaviour and another of uncontrolled eating behaviour. The pattern of timing meals and snacks according to the convenience of sleepiness implies that individuals with narcolepsy are engaging in a purposeful behaviour to control their symptom of daytime sleepiness. Binge eating may be an uncontrolled compensatory factor as a consequence of this purposeful timing of food and sleepiness. Further, this study suggests that this extent to which binge eating is engaged by individuals with narcolepsy may be driven by anxiety and stress.

Accurate assessment of memory functioning is integral in the framework of comprehensive neuropsychological examination. Knowledge of the integrity of memory functioning contributes to decisions regarding diagnoses, competency, rehabilitation and surgery. The Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised is a frequent memory assessment tool in everyday neuropsychological practice. The present study reports the modification and validation of an alternate scoring system for the Visual Reproduction subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised and generation of Australian normative data. This test is frequently used in clinical practice and therefore an improved scoring method and collation of locally appropriate normative data forms a significant contribution to knowledge and extension of the evidence base for the practice of clinical neuropsychology. An alternate scoring system for the Visual Reproduction subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised was previously developed and preliminarily validated in a clinical population by Dowling and Clark (2000). The current research project modified the Alternate Scoring System to improve reliability. Subsequent to its modification, normative data was required to enhance clinical utility in an Australian population. The scoring system was applied to subject responses from a large-scale normative study conducted between 1996 and 1998. The Macquarie University Neuropsychological Normative Study involved 399 Australian adults aged between 18 and 34 years of age and included administration of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised. As hypothesised, the alternate scoring system generated a similar grading of memory to the original scoring system. Major outcomes of the present study include a substantial literature review to support the development of the alternate scoring system, modification of the alternate scoring system in collaboration with original authors, further validation of the alternate scoring system through comparison with the original scoring system, and production of Australian normative data. Implications of the modified alternate scoring system, together with the normative data produced through the present study, have broadened the clinical applications of the WMS-R Visual Reproduction subtest and provided another tool to guide result interpretation in the assessment of visual memory functioning in an Australian population.

The purpose of the present study was to validate the Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale (PALMS). This included examining the internal consistency and criterion validity of the PALMS, as well as testing the proposed model of PALMS subscales in a confirmatory factor analysis. This study also looked at the various reasons people nominate for engaging in physical activities. A community sample of 202 volunteer participants, 120 males and 82 females, aged 18 to 71 years, was recruited from various organizations, clubs, and leisure centres. The participants represented different forms of physical activity namely, Australian Football League (AFL), gym-based exercise, tae kwon do, tennis, and yoga. Results indicate that the PALMS has a robust factor structure (CMIN/DF = 2.22; NFI = 0.95; CFI = 0.97; RMSEA = 0.078). The PALMS also demonstrated good internal consistency with a Cronbach’s alpha (α) of 0.79. The α values for the PALMS subscales ranged from .80 to .99. In terms of criterion validity, Spearman’s rho (rs) indicated a strong positive correlation between the REMM and the PALMS (rs = .9). The correlations between each PALMS sub-scale and the corresponding sub-scale on the validated REMM were also high and varied from .76 to .95.

Cultural competence is a relatively recent term describing appropriate ways of working with increasingly diverse cultures in society. By interviewing diabetes practitioners, this study sought to investigate the interaction between scientific knowledge and the practice of diabetes healthcare with patients from non-Western cultural groups.

Methods of psychological and emotional abuse have typically been studied either independently or interchangeably. This research implemented a critical community psychology framework to address them together under the notion of psychoemotional abuse and develop a conceptual model that was grounded in 20 participants’ experiences of perpetrating and receiving various forms of psychoemotional abuse. The model depicted a psychoemotionally abusive relationship as one that was characterised across four dimensions by an insecure social environment, an unequal balance of power, disrespectful attitudes and self-serving behaviour. The participants’ experiences were also employed to categorise five distinct patterns of psychoemotional abuse: withdrawal, oppression, restriction, disintegration and abuse through a secondary source. The motives that propelled each pattern are examined in detail. While the participants disclosed that two of every three psychoemotionally abusive incidents occurred in their homes, they also received and perpetrated psychoemotional abuse in various roles across a range of public places. A strengths-based approach was used to investigate methods the participants adopted to withstand, resist and protect themselves from psychoemotional abuse and stop themselves from abusing others. The research developed a series of pragmatic models for practitioners and concluded that a multi-layered mix of interventions is required to prevent psychoemotional abuse and minimise its harm. While individual and small group strategies remain essential, a range of broader social, cultural and political factors that inadvertently excuse many incidents of psychoemotional abuse also need to be remedied.

Employing an auto-ethnographic approach this thesis combines a number of different research traditions in the social sciences to consider what is gay sex and homosexuality in the Vietnamese context. Using auto-ethnographic narrative I tackle the sensitive and culturally imbedded subject matter via a personal journey presented as a memoir. The memoir is not about describing sex and labelling the other through the lenses of Western understandings of this phenomena; rather it is an attempt to address how these aspects of life play out in non-Western settings while considering the ramifications for HIV/AIDS public education programs. In Vietnam gay men, homosexual men, MSM or same sex attracted men are not included in any national surveillance testing. The state links research on MSM to, and constructs homosexuality as, transvestism. There is a paucity of research on Same-Sex attracted men in Vietnam. This research may well be the only ethnographic research undertaken on same-sex attracted men in contemporary Vietnam and the ways and by what means they negotiate new found opportunities to explore and experience sex and sexuality. These opportunities and experiences question Western understandings and Western research on Vietnamese homosexuality and HIV/AIDS risk. This ethnographic study highlights a contradiction between desk-bound literature reviews and real life events. Therefore this research has the capacity to both expand and contest the current literature on sex between men in Vietnam.

Previous research has highlighted general practitioners (GPs) maladaptive coping efforts, but little is known about GPs who appear to adapt positively to their inherently demanding work. This study aimed to address this knowledge gap by identifying factors that optimise GPs adaptation to working in general practice. A qualitative methodology underpinned by a constructionist epistemological stance was used. Twenty-six semistructured individual interviews with suburban and rural GPs in the State of Victoria aged between 24 and 77 years were conducted. GPs identified work demands consistent with previous research: time pressure, long hours of work, heavy workload, and pace of work; work interfering with non-work/family, threat of malpractice litigation, and bureaucratic interference. However, the degree of concern and coping responses was varied; some GPs appraised the work demands as a threat while others considered them an opportunity. GPs adopted a range of adaptive behaviours to manage and resolve work demands that were influenced by six key elements. These were: (1) the degree of work centrality to GPs, (2) the inclination of GPs towards integration or segmentation of work and non-work/family domains, (3) situational factors in the general practice and non-work/family domains, (4) ability to psychologically detach from GP role (5) choice of respite activity, and (6) adequate recovery from work demands. An heuristic schema that brings together these six elements and their implications for GP adaptation was presented. Understanding and self-knowledge about work orientation, and preference for integrating and segmenting life domains, point to the need for tailored respite strategies that facilitate psychological detachment, recovery of resources, and successful adaptation to working in general practice and life as a GP. This knowledge may also assist medical students to prepare for meeting the challenges of their future medical careers.

Perhaps due to the perception of midwifery being an inherently pleasurable pursuit, there has been limited research of the stress and burnout midwives may experience. However, with evident difficulties in recruiting and retaining midwives, this is an area that requires research. Therefore the stress and burnout experienced by midwives who work in birthing suite was explored in terms of their coping style and levels of social support and assessed in terms of the levels of stress, burnout and compassion fatigue experienced.

The majority of research over the past several decades in the area of body image, evaluations of physical appearances, and implications of eating disorders, has largely focused on women. In the late 80s, some researchers challenged the conceptualisation of body image dissatisfaction as a uni-gender problem and pioneered a series of studies, which found that men have succumbed to societal pressures of the idealised body and experience greater prevalence of body concerns and resultant negative implications than previously reported. While the focus of body image studies have included male participants since then, many of them were flawed by using measures that were originally intended to measure body concerns among women. The current study aimed to examine the relationships between men's self-reported physical attributes of men including; weight, body image, penis size and satisfaction, general psychological health, and Internet dating behaviours using measures that have been specifically developed to measure male concerns.

Humans are capable of remembering information in an active, easily accessible form. However, this is a limited capacity system, which temporarily maintains and stores information, and supports human thought processes by providing an interface between perception, long-term memory, and action. Using the task-span procedure developed by Logan (2004), the current thesis aimed to examine some of the most salient features of working memory. Specifically how processing and storage interact with working memory, the influence of organisational factors on working memory and the relationship between task-switching and working memory.

Nightmares have been described as the most common form of disturbed dreaming. The definition most widely accepted considers two criteria as definitive elements of nightmares, acute anxiety or fear, and awakening from sleep with full alertness. Contemporary studies suggest that nightmares are relatively common and can either be benign or malignant to the point of being compared to psychosis. Thus when nightmares become frequent and/or recurrent, they tend to become problematic and warrant treatment. The current study aimed to investigate the frequency of nightmares in a large community based sample and trial a brief story line alteration technique. More specifically, the current research was designed to conduct two related studies in order to elucidate nightmare frequency and intensity in an Australian sample and examine the efficacy of self-help nightmare treatments. The main hypotheses in the first study predicted that more than 10% of the sample would report weekly nightmares and significant gender differences in reporting nightmares would be observed. Participants in the first study were 440 university students (115 men and 325 women) aged between 18 and 34 (M = 20.41 years). Participants completed the retrospective metric/s Nightmare Frequency Questionnaire (NFQ) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Addendum. The results showed that yearly, monthly and weekly nightmares were common, in particular weekly nightmares. However no significant differences between genders were found. Participants in the second study were 20 students who reported weekly nightmares aged between 18-31 (M = 21.6 years) and completed a battery of retrospective metrics including the Nightmare Effects Survey (NES), Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS) and the Profile of Mood States (POMS-37 items). The main hypotheses in the second study predicted that the Storyline Alteration Technique (SLAT) would ameliorate nightmare frequency and waking distress overtime and achieve significantly better therapeutic outcomes in contrast to the Systematic Desensitization (SysD) technique. Results showed that the SLAT was efficacious in significantly ameliorating nightmare frequency overtime and in contrast to the SysD technique. It was concluded that weekly nightmares were more prevalent than previous retrospective findings had indicated and self-help nightmare treatments were efficacious in ameliorating nightmare frequency, associated waking distress and poor sleep.

This thesis examines a case for the inclusion of narrative therapy by mainstream alcohol and other drug (AOD) services in counselling Australian indigenous people. Narrative therapy and narrative practices emerged from work developed in partnership with indigenous practitioners in the 1980s in Australia, and although little research has been done on these methods, they are generally regarded as being culturally acceptable to indigenous people. Currently, the interventions most commonly used in mainstream AOD counselling are generally short term and focus on changing behaviour. The argument of this thesis is not that mainstream AOD interventions are without value, but rather that some reductionist methods of counselling may not constitute the most culturally appropriate approach for working with indigenous clients, many of whom continue to be affected by trauma related to colonisation and its practices and experiences of ongoing racism and social disadvantage. This thesis also concerns itself with issues of language and power and proposes that these are of great significance in counselling indigenous AOD clients.

Intimacy is a central component of romantic relationships with the development of a capacity for intimacy regarded as being one of the milestones of adulthood. Fear of intimacy has been defined as “the inhibited capacity of an individual, because of anxiety to exchange thoughts and feelings of personal significance with another individual who is highly valued” (Descutner & Thelen, 1991, p. 219). Although a number of studies have focused on fear of intimacy, there has been limited research on th The primary aim of this study was to investigate the influence of past parenting (perceived maternal care and overprotection), and separation-individuation on young adults’ fear of intimacy regarding heterosexual partner relationships. A further aim was to examine whether there were differences in separation-individuation according to living situation and partnership status.e factors that might influence fear of intimacy. Past experience in the parent-child relationship has been found to influence both the capacity to form romantic relationships and separation-individuation. Establishing a romantic relationship and leaving the parental home have both been identified as important markers of adulthood, however current Australian statistics indicate that, compared to previous decades, in the period of emerging adulthood (18-25 years) fewer individuals are involved in a romantic relationship and a higher percentage of young people are living at home with their parents. The relationship between these social trends and past parenting, separationindividuation and fear of intimacy has not been explored.

Regardless of aetiology, constant sleep disruption results in wide-ranging negative consequences in sleepiness, psychomotor and driving performance, and mood. Individuals with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and those engaged in the tumultuous routine of shift-work experience reduced sleep and poorer sleep quality which is likely to render these consequences more pronounced. This study aimed to compare subjective and objective sleepiness, psychomotor performance, simulated driving performance and mood disturbances in OSA patients, shift-workers and control participants. This study also aimed to determine what relationships exist between subjective and objective sleepiness, performance and mood for the three groups and to obtain the correlates of accident risk based on a history of reported accidents in the preceding three years.

The present study sought to understand the social and clinical characteristics of a group of pathological gamblers in Macau known as Paichai (扒仔). This study recruited participants from the casinos in Macau. Fifteen participants, all active gamblers and ranging in age from 24 to 53 years, were recruited and were repeatedly observed and interviewed. After initial screening, there were four non-Paichais, which were taken as a comparative sample. Further, the participants were assessed by the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) of the Canada Problem Gambling Index (CPGI) (Ferris & Wynne, 2001). There were a number of significant findings in this investigation. Firstly, the Paichais could be classified as antisocial-impulsive gamblers according to Blaszczynski and Nower’s (2002) pathways model of problem and pathological gambling. The development of pathological gambling among the participants was found to follow a linear model with a strong stage-based trajectory. In the first stage, the participants often recalled an early involvement of gambling during childhood. The majority of them reported coming from a family environment which encouraged gambling. They had a history of conduct disorder prior to the acquisition of their gambling habits. With increased involvement in gambling, these gamblers entered stage two where the participants often reported more frequent involvement of casino gambling. With the increase of time in the casino, the Paichais entered stage three of their development process. In this stage, the gamblers demonstrated significant detachment from the outside world as they spent most of their waking hours in the casinos. The current study attempted to understand the development of pathological gambling amongst these individuals from the particular social and cultural perspectives of Macau.

This thesis inquires into our ‘human nature’ through an interdisciplinary approach that considers some of the radical changes in intellectual thought at those key points in Western culture in which this concept has been centrally deployed. The broad historical sweep that this study covers finds the preoccupation with defining who we are and what we are capable of inextricably linked with the focus, at most of the pivotal moments examined, on a dominant impulse to conceive human beings as moral creatures.

Contemporary western psychiatry is disengaging too readily with the notion that severe mental disorder characterised by psychotic experiences such as hallucinations and delusions can be a primary reaction to overwhelming stress or distress (Ungvari & Mullen, 2000). Reactive psychosis, a term coined over a century ago to differentiate these disorders from other psychotic processes more closely resembling schizophrenia, was investigated in 217 first episode psychosis patients being treated at the Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre, in Melbourne, Australia. Reactive psychosis criteria were first operationalised using the Reactive Psychosis Rating Form (RPRF). These patients’ course and outcome were then compared with their non-reactive psychosis counterparts over a 15-month follow up period. Twenty nine percent of first-episode psychosis patients met criteria for reactive psychosis. The reactive psychosis group had a more rapid initial recovery from their psychosis and social and occupational impairments, compared with their non-reactive psychosis counterparts. Clinical practice at the centre dictated that these patients had discontinued their anti-psychotic medication faster than the non-reactive psychosis group, suggesting the need to reconsider early psychosis treatment guidelines.

When assessing chronic pain patients (CPP) a series of measures are routinely used to evaluate the severity of symptoms including: pain, psychological distress, disability, illness perception, positive affect and current treatments to manage chronic pain (CP). Clinicians also routinely administer measures of daily activity to determine what activities are being performed and determine how CP inhibits daily functioning, however the meaningfulness of daily activities is not evaluated. The aim of this research was to determine whether CPP who engaged in meaningful daily activity (MDA) reported less severe pain, disability and psychological distress. To test this observation a model of MDA was proposed and tested. One hundred and eight CPP (31 men, 77 women) completed measures of pain, disability, psychological distress, illness perception and dispositional optimism. MDA scales were developed for this study, the Daily Activities Questionnaire (DAQ-R) and the Meaningful Daily Activities Questionnaire (MDAQ-R). The research hypothesis that CPP who participate in more MDA experienced less severe Psychological Distress was confirmed. However, the hypothesis that CPP who participate in more MDA reported less severe Pain and Disability was not supported.

Academic performance is an important aspect of functioning for all children, particularly during late childhood with the pending transition to high school and subsequent increase in academic demands. Research suggests that it is important for children in late childhood to achieve academically not only to aid their learning as schooling progresses, but also to reduce the likelihood of a range of short and long-term negative outcomes. Factors which affect academic performance have been explored in previous research, however there has been limited research attention given to how children’s relationships in late childhood may influence academic outcomes. While it is recognised that parents and teachers play important roles in children’s lives, and that teachers play a leading role in relation to children’s acquisition of academic skills and knowledge, the level of influence these key relationships have on academic performance scores in late childhood is largely unknown. The current study investigated the effect of Child-Parent and Child-Teacher Attachment relationships on academic performance.

This thesis examines the political activity of the Communist party of Australia (CPA) in the trade union movement between 1945 and 1960. It represents the first systematic scholarly analysis of this activity. The historiography of the CPA has generally focused on the industrial activity of CPA trade union members and has neglected this dimension. The thesis draws on CPA newspapers and journals, Congress resolutions, the publications of Communist-led unions and numerous secondary sources to argue that explicit political activity in the unions was often central to CPA activity in this period. The approach was consistent with orthodox Marxism, which regarded trade unions as a preparatory school for increasing the political consciousness of workers as a prelude to an anti-capitalist revolution. This political trade unionism distinguished the CPA from other political currents in the labour movement which may have accepted its militant unionism, but not its advocacy of political trade unionism. This thesis examines three areas of this political unionism: the attempt to build trade union support for the peace movement, the attitudes towards the post-war mass immigration programme and the emerging Aboriginal civil rights movement.

Understanding and treating individuals who have a combination of borderline personality disorders, self-injurious behaviours and sometimes suicidality, presents one of the most confusing and problematic challenges to mental health professionals. While the use of mental health legislation for this group is considered unusual, guardianship legislation in Australia is sometimes additionally utilised. To date, there has been no examination of the effectiveness of guardianship for people with borderline personality disorder in the Victorian context. This study aims to examine the role of guardianship for this population by assessing the contributing factors that led to the appointment of a guardian including the mental health responses prior to a guardianship application being made, subsequent service responses provided and finally to enhance current knowledge by determining whether guardianship is an effective intervention. This research has two phases. Phase one assessed guardianship as an intervention by the examination of case materials held by the Office of the Public Advocate. In phase two some participants from phase one were interviewed to elicit their experience of such an intervention. Findings indicated that the combination of high level self-injurious behaviours and refusal of treatment led to the appointment of a guardian. Service and system responses were quite diverse for this cohort, particularly regarding the ongoing provision of case management. Empathic responses were often not forthcoming from health professionals. Combined results indicated that advocacy rather than guardianship was more beneficial. Recommendations to improve the legal and healthcare framework are suggested.

A multiple sector collaboration (MSC) approach to public health and social policy development and implementation is becoming the norm in postmodern cities and communities. The development of a theoretical framework in relation to MSC practice is still in its infancy. As an approach to policy development and implementation, MSC has been subjected to criticism for (a) its often value driven, complex, and time-consuming methods, and (b) the lack of measurable or tangible outcomes. The gaps found in the literature reveal a significant need for further evidence-based research that focuses on gaining greater insight into the operations of MSC and how the approach might contribute to improved social, health, and community outcomes. The aim of the present research is to close the identified gaps. Utilising a single-case approach, an existing and well-reputed MSC was selected for in-depth study over a 3-year period. Findings from this case study show that values, common purpose, group processes and dynamics, relationships, interactions, and synergy are vital components in the development and operation of a fully-functioning MSC.

Previous research investigating affect and behaviour following mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) in children has produced variable results. It has been suggested that following a mTBI children may experience transitory "post-concussion" symptoms but subsequently will make a full recovery. In contrast, other studies have reported changes in children's behaviour and affect lasting even years post injury. The current study aimed to further document the impact of mTBI on behaviour and affect in children. This prospective study reports on a sample of 26 children aged between 6 and 12 years. The children were assessed at baseline, one week, three months and a subgroup at 12 months post injury. No changes were found over time on the standardised measures of behaviour and affect with the Behavioural Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC2). However, on the BASC2 the children with pre-existing problems displayed higher incidence of scores in the 'At Risk' or 'Clinically Significant' range on the Externalising Problems composite scale in comparison to the children with no preexisting problems. A qualitative question was also administered to parents. Approximately half of the whole sample reported some change in their child's mood or behaviour at one week post-injury and approximately one quarter continued to report changes at three months post injury. It was also investigated whether the children who had problems or changes reported at three months post-injury differed from the other children on any pre-morbid factors, however, no significant results were found. The overall conclusions drawn from the study were that the group of children referred to the study had a higher proportion of children with pre-existing problems than that expected in the general population. Further, these children differed pre-morbidly from those without pre-existing problems on standardised behavioural measures. While no changes were found over time on standardised measures of behaviour and affect, subjective parental report suggested that in fact there may have been more subtle changes in some children's behaviour up to 3 months post-injury. These findings are worthy of further systematic investigation.

According to the literature, borderline personality disorder (BPD) is often viewed negatively by mental health clinicians. The primary aim of this research was to assess the attitudes of clinicians working in mental health continuing care teams (CCTs) in Melbourne . A purpose-designed questionnaire, Attitudes to Borderline Personality Disorder Scale (BPD-APS), was used to gather demographic information from a sample of 91 participants and to assess clinicians' attitudes. Participants were from four main disciplines: 22 nurses (24%), 16 psychologists (18%), 17 social workers (19%), 12 consultant psychiatrists (13%), 11 psychiatric registrars (12%). Clinicians' discipline, years of practice, consultation and training with a specialised service (Spectrum) and level of burnout, measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBl-HSS), were all factors expected to influence clinicians' attitude towards BPD patients. Fifty-eight per cent of the participants had positive attitudes to BPD patients but a substantial proportion ( 42%) had negative attitudes. Years of experience in mental health impacted on clinicians' levels of interest in working with BPD patients but were not associated with their attitudes towards such patients. Significant statistical differences were found between the four main disciplines: psychiatrists/registrars and psychiatric nurses had more negative attitudes to patients with BPD. Social workers and clinical psychologists were more positive. Analyses indicated that clinicians (58%) experienced moderate to high levels of emotional exhaustion. Thirty eight per cent of the clinicians reported moderate to high levels of depersonalisation, while 61 per cent rated low to moderate levels of personal accomplishment on the MBl-HSS. The attitudes of the clinicians were correlated with depersonalisation but not with emotional exhaustion. Consistent with recent literature, clinicians with access to consultation and training had more positive attitudes. The findings of this study clearly indicate the need for clinicians working in mental health services to receive specific training, supervision and support for working with BPD patients.

This study used Lavie's (1995, 2010) perceptual load theory to investigate selective attention deficits after mild to moderate Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). This theory predicts that when the load involved in a task does not exceed perceptual resources (low load), there is spare capacity for irrelevant distractors to be processed. This leads to distractor interference, with incompatible distractors causing maximal interference compared to neutral and compatible distractors. When perceptual resources are exceeded (high load) differential distractor interference effects are reduced or eliminated. Twelve mild to moderate TBI patients and 12 neurologically intact controls completed two computer-based tasks which manipulated perceptual load, as well as neuropsychological tests of attention. In computer task A target letters flanked by coloured shapes were presented with distractors that were incompatible, neutral or compatible with the target. Computer task B was similar but involved more ecologically relevant targets in the form of line drawings of cups and glasses. Participants were instructed to respond to targets when they appeared with coloured shapes (single feature; low load) or specific shapes of specific colours (conjunction of features; high load) thus manipulating perceptual load by verbal instruction alone. Patterns of responses were consistent with hypotheses; however, no statistically significant differences were found between distractor types under low load in either computer task. Whereas there were no significant differences between groups on RT measures, TBI patients made significantly more errors on the computer tasks and showed poorer performances on neuropsychological tests of selective attention than did controls. Small sample sizes and possible confounding effects of cognitive load may have contributed to the lack of statistically significant results. Future research with mild/moderate TBI patients may benefit from varying display set size to manipulate load instead of the verbal instructions used in the current study.

This thesis examines the Menzies Government's response to the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. This is the first historical investigation of the Crisis in the context of Australian-American relations. Its primary objective, therefore, is to fill a historiographical gap in Australia's Cold War history.

Obesity has been described by the World Health Organisation as a global epidemic, and is perceived as a major health concern due to the associated medical, psychosocial, and economic problems. One approach of understanding obesity is directed towards exploring the psychological and social determinants underlying non-hungry eating (NHE) (eating without physical sensations associated with hunger) and overeating (eating past the physiological sensations of fullness). The immediate psychosocial cues that trigger NHE and overeating, along with the psychosocial antecedents that influence NHE and overeating have been found to be important contributors to obesity.