The number of young people charged with a violent offence in NSW has increased over the past deca... more The number of young people charged with a violent offence in NSW has increased over the past decade. The following article outlines the risk factors for violence, profiles violent young offenders, and then briefly reviews international and Australian programs that have succeeded n reducing recidivism.
Mental health concerns are almost always an element in youth offending. International1 and Austra... more Mental health concerns are almost always an element in youth offending. International1 and Australian studies concur that the rates of social disadvantage across a broad spectrum of social experience and its attendant psychological morbidity in this population are so pervasive as to require the fact of social disadvantage and mental health concerns in this population to inform policy and service delivery planning for vulnerable young offenders.
The following article discusses the many complex factors that influence the development of the hu... more The following article discusses the many complex factors that influence the development of the human brain, highlighting specific aspects during adolescence, how risks to brain development and function affect the behaviour and maturity of adolescents, and implications for juveniles and those who come into contact with them in the criminal justice system.
Programmes for teaching English as a second language (E.S.L.) to infant school aged migrant child... more Programmes for teaching English as a second language (E.S.L.) to infant school aged migrant children in Australia have not been systematically evaluated. With the exception of the Tate “Oral English” Course, no other programmes have been specifically designed for this very young age group, and programmes designed for use with primary aged children and even adults have been adapted and used by E.S.L. teachers in Infants’ Schools. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate an E.S.L. programme currently operating in some Infants’ Schools as well as to implement and evaluate the use of the Distar Language 1 programme in an E.S.L. Kindergarten group, and to compare outcomes from this programme with those obtained by the currently operating programme.Results indicate that the Distar Language 1 programme was more effective than the standard programme for all language structures other than vocabulary development and phonological discrimination. The superior outcome of the Distar programm...
Although music performance anxiety (MPA) is a common problem, there are only a few studies on thi... more Although music performance anxiety (MPA) is a common problem, there are only a few studies on this subject in Hungary. In this article, we investigate the underlying socio-demographic and psychological factors related to music performance anxiety. The sample consisted of musicians ( N = 100; aged between 15–35 years) who were studying or had completed their musical education. Study participants completed the Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory, Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, Social Phobia Inventory and other music-related questions. Females reported higher levels of MPA and social anxiety without a significant difference in perfectionism. Social phobia and perfectionism were significantly correlated with MPA. In multiple regression analysis four out of six subscales of perfectionism significantly predicted MPA, among which Parental Criticism and Doubts about Actions were positive, while Parental Expectations and Preference for Organization were negative predictors...
This study presents the development, administration and evaluation of two brief group interventio... more This study presents the development, administration and evaluation of two brief group interventions for music performance anxiety (MPA) aimed at reducing anxiety and improving performance quality. A cognitive behavioural therapy intervention was developed based on an existing empirically-supported treatment Chilled (Rapee et al., 2006), focusing on cognitive, physiological and behavioural symptoms. The second treatment, anxiety sensitivity reduction, targeted primarily physiological symptoms and included relaxation strategies. Interventions were administered in a workshop format over one day with four intervention sessions, preceded by a pedagogic practice skills session that functioned as a control/placebo intervention. A quasi-experimental group randomization design compared the interventions in a heterogeneous sample of community musicians. Sixty-eight participants completed measures of trait anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, depression, and MPA. Participants performed four times (pr...
The number of young people charged with a violent offence in NSW has increased over the past deca... more The number of young people charged with a violent offence in NSW has increased over the past decade. The following article outlines the risk factors for violence, profiles violent young offenders, and then briefly reviews international and Australian programs that have succeeded n reducing recidivism.
Mental health concerns are almost always an element in youth offending. International1 and Austra... more Mental health concerns are almost always an element in youth offending. International1 and Australian studies concur that the rates of social disadvantage across a broad spectrum of social experience and its attendant psychological morbidity in this population are so pervasive as to require the fact of social disadvantage and mental health concerns in this population to inform policy and service delivery planning for vulnerable young offenders.
The following article discusses the many complex factors that influence the development of the hu... more The following article discusses the many complex factors that influence the development of the human brain, highlighting specific aspects during adolescence, how risks to brain development and function affect the behaviour and maturity of adolescents, and implications for juveniles and those who come into contact with them in the criminal justice system.
Programmes for teaching English as a second language (E.S.L.) to infant school aged migrant child... more Programmes for teaching English as a second language (E.S.L.) to infant school aged migrant children in Australia have not been systematically evaluated. With the exception of the Tate “Oral English” Course, no other programmes have been specifically designed for this very young age group, and programmes designed for use with primary aged children and even adults have been adapted and used by E.S.L. teachers in Infants’ Schools. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate an E.S.L. programme currently operating in some Infants’ Schools as well as to implement and evaluate the use of the Distar Language 1 programme in an E.S.L. Kindergarten group, and to compare outcomes from this programme with those obtained by the currently operating programme.Results indicate that the Distar Language 1 programme was more effective than the standard programme for all language structures other than vocabulary development and phonological discrimination. The superior outcome of the Distar programm...
Although music performance anxiety (MPA) is a common problem, there are only a few studies on thi... more Although music performance anxiety (MPA) is a common problem, there are only a few studies on this subject in Hungary. In this article, we investigate the underlying socio-demographic and psychological factors related to music performance anxiety. The sample consisted of musicians ( N = 100; aged between 15–35 years) who were studying or had completed their musical education. Study participants completed the Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory, Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, Social Phobia Inventory and other music-related questions. Females reported higher levels of MPA and social anxiety without a significant difference in perfectionism. Social phobia and perfectionism were significantly correlated with MPA. In multiple regression analysis four out of six subscales of perfectionism significantly predicted MPA, among which Parental Criticism and Doubts about Actions were positive, while Parental Expectations and Preference for Organization were negative predictors...
This study presents the development, administration and evaluation of two brief group interventio... more This study presents the development, administration and evaluation of two brief group interventions for music performance anxiety (MPA) aimed at reducing anxiety and improving performance quality. A cognitive behavioural therapy intervention was developed based on an existing empirically-supported treatment Chilled (Rapee et al., 2006), focusing on cognitive, physiological and behavioural symptoms. The second treatment, anxiety sensitivity reduction, targeted primarily physiological symptoms and included relaxation strategies. Interventions were administered in a workshop format over one day with four intervention sessions, preceded by a pedagogic practice skills session that functioned as a control/placebo intervention. A quasi-experimental group randomization design compared the interventions in a heterogeneous sample of community musicians. Sixty-eight participants completed measures of trait anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, depression, and MPA. Participants performed four times (pr...
Uploads
Papers by Dianna T Kenny