A Systematic Review: Non‐Suicidal Self‐injury in Australia and New Zealand's Indigenous Populations

Objective

To undertake a systematic review of non‐suicidal self‐injury (NSSI) prevalence, patterns, functions, and behavioural correlates for the Indigenous populations of Australia (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders) and New Zealand (NZ; Maori).

Method

We searched the following electronic databases: PubMed, MedLine, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, PsycInfo, and PsycArticles, CINAHL, and the Informit Health and Indigenous Peoples collections. Studies were included for review if they were published within the last 25 years and reported on NSSI in Australia and NZ's Indigenous populations.

Results

Seven studies were included, six of which came from Australia. The prevalence of NSSI in Australia ranged from 0.9% up to 22.50%; statistics varied by the different samples, types of prevalence, and relationship to alcohol. Several studies found that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had higher rates of NSSI than other Australians, but that this was not significantly higher. Two studies indicated that NSSI was linked to alcohol use, incarceration, and a younger age. The one NZ study was of injury and not specifically NSSI.

Conclusions

Findings are limited due to a small pool of literature. Cultural variations in NSSI presentation should be considered when working with Indigenous populations. Further research is required to help determine what cultural variations may exist.     

Young Indigenous Australians' Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention Practices: A Community‐based Participatory Research Project

National surveillance data indicate marked differences between Indigenous and other Australians in the prevalence of many sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Young Indigenous people bear a particularly high burden of these infections. A collaboration of university researchers, Indigenous health workers and young Indigenous people conducted 45 field interviews to examine how young Indigenous Australians keep themselves healthy and protected against STIs. Our findings emphasise the complexity of health behaviours, where individuals are rarely always ‘risky’ or always ‘safe’, as well as subtle gender differences in health practices. Preventive strategies employed by the young people were contingent on beliefs and knowledge about sexual partners, the type of relationship, the context of the sexual encounter and access to condoms. Tangible strengths such as young Indigenous people's commitments to condoms and STI screening should be celebrated and bolstered to enhance their ability to protect themselves against adverse health outcomes and enhance their resilience against STIs. Focusing on strengths helps to counter the deficit model of health commonly deployed in Indigenous health research and draws attention to health issues facing young Indigenous people and their communities, without reinforcing negative stereotypes or focusing solely on individual risk behaviour. We provide concrete recommendations for health promotion and education. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Contagion in the Representational Field of Water Recycling: Informing New Environment Practice Through Social Representation Theory

Water shortages in Australia have highlighted an urgent need for alternative water sources, and technologically, water recycling is argued to offer the most cost‐effective, environmentally sustainable solution to these shortages. Yet public support for its implementation is low even in the drought‐stricken areas of Australia. Drawing from the theory of social representations, this study addressed community perceptions of water recycling. Three interrelated methodologies were employed in a self‐report questionnaire. Individual difference scaling/multidimensional scaling analyses of three word association tasks revealed that the emergent social representation of water recycling was contradictory in affect. Normative responses indicated an awareness of the need to use recycled water whereas the functional responses were associated with a fear of contamination. An analysis of differential use scales further revealed that the perception of contagion was specific to when recycled water had contact with the body. The discursive analysis of respondents' comments expanded on both these findings. The study identified the themata of purity/impurity as underpinning the social understanding of water recycling. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

‘Hope givers’? A scoping review of new media and mental health in 27 Australian Christian organisations

This article explains a range of conceptual and methodological innovations in the use of new media for the clinical practice and public communication of mental health. Building on two current contexts – the emerging research area of new media and mental health, and major reform of the mental health system in Australia – this article presents a scoping review of the online communication of Christian organisations that offer mental health care in Australia. This article compares the websites of 27 Australian Christian mental health organisations, analysing these organisations’ configurations of mainstream and religious modalities of mental health care, their discursive and visual communication strategies, as well as their use of social media platforms.     

Validity of the German Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI‐G) in an Australian sample

Test anxiety (TA) is a prevalent issue among students that can result in deleterious consequences, such as underachievement. However, a contemporary measure that has been validated for use with Australian students seems to be lacking. This study, therefore, investigated the suitability of the German Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI‐G) for use with Australian university students. While the original TAI‐G contains 30 items and was designed to measure four factors (worry, emotionality, interference, and lack of confidence), differing factorial models have been supported in the literature using either the original or a shortened 17‐item version of the measure. These differing TAI‐G models were tested and compared in the current study via confirmatory factor analysis using 224 Australian university students. As expected, results supported the superior fit of the 17‐item four‐factor model. Additionally, the convergent validity of the measure was supported since measures of self‐esteem, self‐efficacy, and general anxiety were all found to correlate significantly with the TAI‐G in the hypothesised directions. Finally, the finding that all of the TAI‐G subscales had acceptably high reliabilities led to the conclusion that the 17‐item TAI‐G is a valid and reliable measure of TA in an Australian university population.     

Contagious trauma: Reframing the spatial mobility of trauma within advocacy work

Scholars have theorized that advocates who listen to the experiences of traumatized individuals suffer from ‘vicarious trauma,’ where they become affected by the process of working with trauma sufferers. Yet I argue that trauma is contagious, rather than vicarious: contagious trauma spreads, compounding and binding together sometimes unrelated life traumas. This paper focuses on the spread of contagious trauma within advocates who work together with people affected by two sets of policies that compound trauma in Australia's Northern Territory, Aboriginal Australians affected by the 2007 Northern Territory Emergency Response Legislation and asylum seekers affected by Australia's policies of mandatory detention. Using ethnographic data from participant observation and interviews with advocates as well as autoethnographic excerpts from field notes, I argue that advocates experience contagious trauma as the effects of witnessing trauma combine toxically with their own life traumas. Contagious trauma expands the destructive effects of traumatic public policy, and simultaneously shrinks the capacity of advocacy that contests these policies. Capacity shrinks as advocates construct barriers to keep trauma at bay.