Professor Jennie Hudson is the Deputy Director and Director of Research at the Black Dog Institute and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences of Australia. Jennie’s research focuses on understanding the factors that contribute to children’s mental health and working to improve the services available to children experiencing anxiety and other related disorders. Jennie has authored over 200 publications in the field of child mental health.

In the wake of COVID-19, we have witnessed a doubling of the already-increasing number of Australian primary school children with anxiety symptoms. Yet Australian children with anxiety disorders are less likely than teenagers to receive adequate treatment. As a matter of urgency, we need to ensure children with anxiety disorders receive effective care. ‘Facing fears’ is critical for the success of treatment for children with anxiety and yet few children receive this active treatment ingredient. We have developed a novel blended-care digital intervention addressing these barriers.

With support from Australian Rotary Health, we will conduct a series of clinical experiments to determine the best way for children to face their fears using our new digital intervention. Guided by families and clinicians, we will develop a report, lay summary, infographic, and digital story to communicate the findings to practitioners, the public, and policy makers.

Co-investigators: Deanna Francis, Gemma Sicouri, Aliza Werner Seidler and Dr Sophie Li.