Prof Ron Rapee (Macquarie University)

Title: Identifying risk for the development of internalising distress across adolescence

Abstract:

Early to middle adolescence is a time of major social and emotional change. Peer relationships begin to take on increasing salience; pubertal changes result in increasingly overt alterations in appearance; self-concept becomes more fluid and negative; and emotional reactions become more volatile. This is also a time when several major mental disorders have their peak onset. A large number of potentially modifiable risk factors for the onset of these disorders have been identified but amalgamating these risks into a single score to quantify an individual’s level of risk and help identify key targets for prevention, has not been done to date. 

This talk will describe some outcomes from a longitudinal study of risks for internalising distress across the adolescent years. Participants comprised 528 young people who were assessed annually as part of the RAW (Risks for Adolescent Wellbeing) study. Initial assessment occurred when the participants were in school grade 6 (M age 11 years) and was repeated in each subsequent grade until grade 12. Primary outcomes included measures of anxiety, depression, and eating disorder. Potential risk factors included measures reflecting peer relationships; appearance comparisons; negative emotionality; and sleep. In this talk I will describe analyses looking at several of these predictors of distress. Finally, I will describe our current efforts to develop a quantitative model that combines risk scores from the beginning of high school to predict trajectories of mental health across adolescence.

Bio:

Ron Rapee is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Macquarie University and former Director of the Centre for Emotional Health. Professor Rapee specializes in mental health, especially in anxiety and related disorders across the lifespan. He has developed a number of empirically supported treatment programs that are used across the world. Professor Rapee has been honoured by awards from both scientific and consumer groups, including the Distinguished Career Award from the Australian Association for CBT and the Distinguished Contribution to Science Award from the Australian Psychological Society; and he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in 2012 for his contributions to clinical psychology, especially among young people.