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A Monash University project will seek to reduce the long-term risk of adolescent mental health problems by improving parents’ ability to support their children during the pandemic.
A digital mental health project led by researchers from the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences and the Faculty of Information Technology, has received a 2020 COVID-19 Mental Health Research Grant from the Medical Research Future Fund to support parents of adolescents .
Drawing on evidence-based parenting practice, the project aims to address the challenges parents and adolescents face during the global pandemic and other unforeseen events.
The researchers hope this project will empower parents and improve their ability to safeguard the mental health and well-being of their children during disruptive events in the future.
Although young people are largely spared from the direct negative effects of COVID-19 on physical health, they have an increased risk of mental health problems due to disruptions to their normal social development, education and family life.
Additionally, the financial, social and mental health impacts of COVID-19 on parents can significantly impair their ability to provide adequate care, further exacerbating potential mental health problems in their children.
Project leader, Associate Professor of Psychology Marie Yap of the Turner Institute, says that providing preventative interventions to parents that are low-cost, scalable and self-reliant requires direct input from parents.
This research will gather insights from parents through online peer support interactions to help inform and apply an extension to an existing evidence-based parenting program, Parenting partner (PiP), which has already been shown to reduce the risk of common mental health problems in teens. By rapidly adapting content and providing peer support to address the specific needs of the COVID-19 context, the program adapted PiP-Plus has the potential to reduce the mental health impacts of COVID-19 on many Australian families. “
Marie Yap, project manager, associate professor of psychology, Turner Institute
This project will provide the support parents need with context-responsive, rigorously developed COVID parenting advice and integrated online peer support, delivered through the PiP-Plus platform.
Professor Patrick Olivier, of the Action Lab, Faculty of IT, says this research is in line with the federal government’s mental health reform program to empower families and caregivers who support young people living with or at risk of mental health problems.
This project offers an adaptable and rapidly responsive service to address the emerging mental health challenges currently experienced as a result of COVID-19. By establishing a mechanism for collecting data on the mental health challenges currently experienced by parents and responding rapidly to them PiP-Plus, the project is developing an approach that continuously adapts to the experiences and needs of parents and children. The digital provision of the platform also facilitates wider dissemination and assistance to particularly vulnerable groups of parents with adolescent children, such as those from lower socio-economic backgrounds and those located in rural and remote communities. “
Patrick Olivier, Professor, Action Lab
This research will also have further applications in other traumatic or catastrophic events around the world, where psychological distress can be affected.
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