RESEARCH INTERESTS OF THE TEAM
Suicide prevention, youth self-harm, quantitative research, qualitative research, co-design, experience sampling methods
PROJECT DETAILS
Mental illness, suicidal ideation and self-harm are significant problems for young people.
Despite national and international governments identifying youth mental health and suicide prevention as priority areas, rates of psychological distress appear to be rising, with the burden placed on communities, families, and under-resourced health systems.
Challenges in this area stem from: (i) failure to understand the real-time fluctuations in risk among young people and the contributing factors; (ii) overreliance on traditional methodologies, hampering innovation in our approach to understanding and addressing self-harm; (iii) lack of personalised and age-appropriate treatment approaches and (iv) inadequate involvement of young people in designing interventions for them.
This PhD project will build on an existing program of work being conducted by the Suicide Prevention Unit at the Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, with collaborators at KU Leuven in Belgium. This program seeks to understand real-time risk and protective factors for young people with mental ill-health, self-harm, and suicidal ideation, focusing on social interactions. This will inform co-design and user-testing of a smartphone-delivered Just-In-Time Adaptive Intervention (JITAI).
The candidate will lead a mixed-methods project consisting of (i) an Experience Sampling Method (ESM) study assessing daily fluctuations in mental health and social experiences (including social media use), (ii) a study with existing ESM data from a large adolescent cohort study in Flanders, (iii) qualitative interviews with young people, and (vi) a series of co-design workshops with young people to develop JITAIs for self-harm to be user-tested.
SCHOLARSHIPS AND FEES
One fully funded project on the study of, “A mixed-methods approach to develop real-time solutions for preventing youth self-harm and suicide” is available.
This joint PhD project will be primarily based at The University of Melbourne with a minimum 12-month stay at KU Leuven, Belgium.
HOW TO APPLY
Expressions of interest are open via The University of Melbourne here.
Further details:
- The successful candidate will be based at The University of Melbourne with a minimum 12-month stay at KU Leuven, Belgium.
- Applications close: 31 Aug 2024. Please note that applications will close once a suitable candidate is identified. Interested applicants are encouraged to submit their application as early as possible.
- Anticipated start date: October 2024-March 2025
- Research proposal required
- Writing sample required
CONTACT
Professor Jo Robinson
Email: [email protected]