Social health and wellbeing

Wellbeing research across a range of social themes

The Macquarie University Lifespan Health and Wellbeing Centre is conducting a range of projects supporting social and cultural connections across the lifespan.

Learn about these projects and the research teams behind each one.

Reducing cyberbullying

Funded by: Australian Research Council (ARC)

Bystanders to cyberbullying can play an important role in preventing cyberbullying and providing support to victims. Cyber Bystanders Intervention Training (CyBIT) aims to develop high-school students’ constructive defending through online interactive training.

The CyBIT study is currently recruiting schools with students in Years 7 and 9 to participate in the study. Participation includes:

• a pre-intervention survey
• a six-week intervention training
• a post-intervention survey conducted at school.

Contact us if you would like your school to be involved.

Facilitating decision making for hearing health

Funded by: National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

Many people do not access hearing healthcare even though help exists and hearing aids, the most common intervention for hearing loss, are clinically effective.

This research will conduct a needs analysis, and then co-develop and evaluate a tailored decision support intervention (HearChoice) to help increase informed decisions, accessibility and uptake of hearing healthcare for adults with hearing loss.

The aim is to empower adults with hearing loss by offering them choice and control over their own hearing healthcare, leading to improved individual, societal and economic outcomes.

Language inclusion: supporting people with intellectual disability

Full title: Language inclusion: supporting people with intellectual disability and their carers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds

Funded by: Council for Intellectual Disability

This project assesses the language inclusiveness of the information provided on the Council for Intellectual Disability website and staff capacity to support clients and carers from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and provide fit-for-purpose workshop, guidelines and checklists to enhance organisational Language Inclusion capacity.

The power of teacher-student relationships to optimise student outcomes

Funded by: ARC DECRA Scheme

Teacher-student relationships are central to students’ academic and personal success. This is particularly the case in secondary school, where students tend to experience significant declines in motivation and engagement.

This study will collect longitudinal survey data from Years 7-10 students across NSW to better understand what constitutes positive teacher-student relationships and how these relationships strengthen motivation, engagement, achievement, and wellbeing.

Key outcomes of this project will be the development of a suite of professional resources, as well as an intervention for building positive relationships in secondary school.

STEM motivation and engagement among secondary school girls

Full title: STEM-ing the gap: understanding STEM motivation and engagement among secondary school girls

Funded by: Macquarie University Research Acceleration Scheme

The persistent under representation of girls in STEM has high individual and national economic costs.

For individual students, disengagement from science and mathematics results in self-selection out of high paying career opportunities. For Australia as a whole, diverse perspectives in STEM supports increased innovation.

This project explores socio-motivational factors and processes that positively impact girls’ aspirations and participation in science and mathematics at the student and classroom level. Longitudinal survey data will be collected from Year 9 and Year 10 students.

Key outcomes include practical strategies and professional resources for engaging girls in STEM.