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Teachers' intrinsic motivation for their work supports a host of adaptive outcomes for teachers and students. In this study, we examined novel predictive pathways linking teachers' emotional intelligence, psychological need satisfaction within their workplace relationships (i.e., with students, colleagues, and principal), and their intrinsic motivation for their work. Australian high school physical education teachers (N = 110) reported their emotional intelligence, need satisfaction within their relationships with students, colleagues, and their principal, and their intrinsic motivation for teaching. Multiple mediation analyses revealed that emotional intelligence directly and positively predicted all relationship need satisfaction variables, and indirectly predicted greater intrinsic motivation via student-focused relationship need satisfaction. These findings contribute to our knowledge about emotional intelligence among high school teachers, and may provide practical insight into potential strategies-grounded in emotional intelligence frameworks-for supporting teachers' relationship-specific need satisfaction and motivation at work., Author(s): Barbara E. Bechter [sup.1] , Peter R. Whipp [sup.2] , James A. Dimmock [sup.3] , Ben Jackson [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.1012.2, 0000 0004 1936 7910, The University of [...]

Many young people are exposed to risk factors that increase their risk of mental illness. Physical activity provision is an increasingly popular approach to protect against mental illness in the face of these risk factors. We examined the effectiveness of physical activity interventions for the promotion of mental health outcomes in at-risk children and adolescents. We searched health databases for randomised and non-randomised intervention studies, with no date restriction, and assessed risk of bias using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tools. We present a narrative synthesis of our results accompanied with a summary of available effect sizes. Thirty-seven reports on 36 studies were included, with multi-sport or yoga interventions the most popular intervention approaches (a combined 50% of included studies). Outcomes measured included internalising, self-evaluative, wellbeing, overall symptomatology, resilience, externalising, and trauma outcomes. We found that 63% of between-groups effects favoured the intervention arm, and 83% of within-groups effects favoured an intervention effect. While recognising high risk of bias, our findings provide evidence in support of the effectiveness of physical activity interventions for promoting mental health outcomes in at-risk young people. We encourage further work designed to better understand the intervention characteristics that may lead to positive benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change presents a critical global crisis, characterized by rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and shifting climate patterns. Vulnerable populations bear a disproportionate share of these impacts, with women at heightened risk due to unequal access to resources, decision-making power, and social roles. Postpartum women specifically face further unique challenges as they strive to protect their children, amplifying the psychological toll of climate change. The current study explores climate distress in a sample of 101 postpartum women in Australia (Mage = 31.14 years), whose youngest child was (on average) 5 months of age, examining factors associated with their psychological responses to climate threats. Correlational analyses reveal that perceptions of threat severity (r = 0.621, p ≤ 0.01) and susceptibility (r = 0.695, p ≤ 0.01) are strongly linked to climate distress. These findings highlight the need to further investigate the distinct psychological pathways climate-related anxiety operates through in postpartum women. The study underscores the importance of targeted interventions to support this vulnerable population as they face increasing climate-related stressors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family-based lifestyle interventions for children/adolescents with severe levels of obesity are numerous, but evidence indicates programs fail to elicit short- or longer-term weight loss outcomes. Families with lived experience can provide valuable insight as we strive to improve outcomes from programs. Our aim was to explore elements that families desired in a program designed to treat severe levels of obesity in young people. We recruited a cross-sectional sample of 13 families (parents and young people) who had been referred but had not engaged with the state-wide Perth Children's Hospital, Healthy Weight Service (Perth, Australia), between 2016 and 2018. Utilizing semi-structured interviews and reflexive qualitative thematic analysis, we identified two broad themes, (1) bridging the gap between what to do and how to do it, and (2) peers doing it with you. The first theme reflected parents' and young people's feelings that programs ought to teach specialist-designed practical strategies utilizing non-generic information tailored to address the needs of the family, in a collaboratively supportive way, and encourage young people to learn for themselves. The second theme reflected the importance of social connection facilitated by peer support, and intervention programs should be offered in a group format to foster inclusion. Families indicated a willingness to engage in tertiary intervention programs but desired support from specialized health professionals/programs to be tailored to their needs, sensitive to their experiences and challenges and provide useful practical strategies that support the knowledge-to-action process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MAN v FAT Soccer is a sport-based weight-loss program for overweight and obese men that originated in the United Kingdom (i.e., as MAN v FAT Football) and appears to successfully engage men with weight loss. We sought to explore whether the program would work in an Australian context by (a) establishing a foundation for the implementation of the program on a larger scale and (b) determining how large-scale implementation is most feasible. We conducted a nonrandomized, single intervention group feasibility trial of MAN v FAT Soccer in Australia with 418 male participants with a body mass index greater than 27.50 kg/m2. Results indicate that the program is acceptable, with participants reporting positive perceptions of the various components of the program and a high proportion reporting intentions to recommend the program to others (95.9%). Furthermore, preliminary effectiveness results indicate positive changes in weight (4.6% reduction) and physical activity (88.5% increase) and improvements in psychological outcomes such as depression (17.6% decrease), stress (19.0% decrease), and body appreciation (19.1% increase). Our findings provide general support for the feasibility of MAN v FAT Soccer and the notion that leveraging competition and masculinity may help drive men's health behavior change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In this discussion, we build the case for why climate change is an emerging threat to perinatal mental health. Method: A search of current literature on perinatal and maternal mental health and extreme weather events was conducted in PubMed/MEDLINE and Web of Science databases. Only articles focusing on maternal mental health were included in this narrative review. Results: The perinatal period represents a potentially challenging timeframe for women for several reasons. Necessary role adjustments (reprioritization), changes in one's ability to access pre-birth levels (and types) of social support, fluctuating hormones, changes in body shape, and possible complications during pregnancy, childbirth, or postpartum are just a few of the factors that can impact perinatal mental health. Trauma is also a risk factor for negative mood symptoms and can be experienced as the result of many different types of events, including exposure to extreme weather/natural disasters. Conclusion: While the concepts of "eco-anxiety," "climate despair," and "climate anxiety" have garnered attention in the mainstream media, there is little to no discussion of how the climate crisis impacts maternal mental health. This is an important omission as the mother's mental health impacts the family unit as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online youth-focused health programs often include parent modules—that equip parents with skills to assist their child in improving their health—alongside youth-specific content. BRAVE Self-Help, an evidence-based program designed for children and teenagers with early signs of anxiety, is a popular Australian program that includes six parent modules. Despite its popularity and proven efficacy, BRAVE Self-Help shares the same challenge as many online self-help programs—that of low participant engagement. Using parents registered in BRAVE Self-Help as 'information rich' participants, we explored (a) factors that influenced parent engagement in online health programs, and (b) their recommendations for enhancing parent engagement. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 parents registered in BRAVE Self-Help. Data were analysed through reflexive thematic analysis. Social-, family- and program-related factors drove parents' program engagement and recommendations. Social sub-themes related to the benefits of professional and community support in promoting more engagement. Family sub-themes included difficulties with program engagement due to competing priorities, perceptions that condition severity influenced engagement, and feelings that previously-acquired health knowledge reduced motivation to engage. Program sub-themes included perceived usefulness and ease-of-use. Program designers could target support systems, include flexible delivery options, and use iterative design processes to enhance parent engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]