Research Findings

Childhood anxiety refers to feelings of worry or fear in children, which can lead to significant challenges at home, school, and in social settings. This disorder is unfortunately common and can severely impact a child's development, potentially increasing the risk of lifelong difficulties. Regrettably, 30% [...]

It is a common misconception that panic attacks are exclusive to teens and adults— in fact, around 3-5% of young children experience them too. ARH Mental Health Postdoctoral Fellowship recipient, Dr Gemma Sicouri’s research highlights how anxiety and panic attacks affect children and how caregivers [...]

A/Professor Tim Slade - Mental Health Research Grant Recipient With the increase in mental health illnesses among Australian adolescents aged 13-15 years, ARH Mental Health Grant recipient Tim Slade examines the risk and protective factors associated with mental health and substance use problems. Data from [...]

Dr Katrina Prior - Post Doctoral Fellowship Recipient Up to 60% of young people who receive treatment for alcohol use disorders relapse to heavy drinking. This is particularly true for people who drink to cope with anxiety. Research has shown that Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM) [...]

Australian Rotary Health/Rotary District 9685 Funding Partner PhD Scholarship recipient, Ivana Kihas, uses four stages of study to significantly advance the understanding of the prevalence and patterns of comorbidity between Substance Use Disorder (SUD), Eating Disorders (ED), and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and lay the [...]

Young people with a chronic condition experience higher rates of mental illness and lower well-being than their peers. Dr Amy Finlay-Jones developed an online program called Uplift to increase self-compassion in young people living with chronic medical conditions. The group of young people that took [...]

Prostate cancer is the most diagnosed cancer and the second-leading cause of cancer death in Australian men. The Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test is the most frequently used test to indicate possible prostate cancer in ‘average-risk’ men without symptoms. However, there remain many unanswered questions [...]

Results from a study funded by Australian Rotary Health (ARH) was aimed to identify novel treatment strategies for prostate cancer patients, which remains a leading cause of death for men in Australia. Nancy Santiappillai from the University of Sydney received the Rotary Club of Blacktown [...]

With the increase of mental illness in LGBTQIA+ youth, ARH Mental Health Grant recipient, Professor Ashleigh Lin, studied the effects on the Mindful Self-Compassion program. The Mindful Self-Compassion program is designed to provide a way to improve how people feel about themselves. The course is [...]

Australian Rotary Health PhD scholar, Kayla Corney found maintaining a healthy lifestyle with social behaviours and managing both our physical and mental wellbeing, had a direct impact on cognitive health. “Exposure to adverse childhood experiences (before the age of 18 years) was found to increase [...]

Australian Rotary Health PhD scholar, Jane Phillips hopes to help in the treatment of primary lymphoedema based on a recent study on compression treatment. Primary lymphoedema is a genetic condition causing chronic swelling in the arms and legs that requires daily compression to control fluid [...]

ARH Scholar Dr Rita McMorrow has recently completed a PhD looking into the assessment of diabetes distress in general practice. Up to 36% of people with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) experience diabetes distress, negative emotions such as frustration about living with diabetes, which is different [...]