Emily HielscherQueensland Institute of Medical Research | QIMR · Mental Health
Emily Hielscher
PhD in Psychiatric Epidemiology
About
43
Publications
3,566
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364
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
Postdoctoral Research Scientist at QIMR Berghofer Medical Institute, and Honorary Lecturer at the University of Queensland. I manage a portfolio of work focused on youth self-harm and suicide prevention research. This body of research is focused on the public health framework for suicide prevention and is inclusive of epidemiological, psychometric, and lived experience approaches.
Additional affiliations
September 2020 - present
February 2019 - present
Position
- Lecturer
Description
- Tutoring 1st year Med students in epidemiology and public health subjects.
April 2018 - December 2018
BeyondBlue
Position
- Project Manager
Publications
Publications (43)
Psychotic experiences (PEs), including hallucination- and delusion-like experiences, are robustly associated with self-injurious thoughts and behaviours (SITB) in the general population. However, it remains unclear as to why there is an association. The purpose of this systematic review was to elucidate the role of other factors that influence the...
Objective: Psychotic experiences, including auditory hallucinatory
experiences (HEs), are strongly associated with both suicidal thoughts
and behaviour. This study examined their role in the ideation-to-attempt transition in adolescents, including their direct and indirect
effect via potential mediators.
Method: Participants were from an Australia...
Objective:
Despite growing literature on psychotic experiences, no nationally representative study has reported on the prevalence of both hallucinatory experiences and delusional experiences in Australian adolescents. Also, while many studies have examined the association between psychotic experiences and certain demographic and clinical correlate...
Background
Typically, we try to protect our own bodies and this is supported by internal representations that specify one’s body identity, spatial parameters, and bodily sensations, but in self-harm the body becomes the target. First acts of self-harm are typically reported in adolescence. At this age, the body also becomes more salient to one’s se...
Objectives: To investigate the efficacy, feasibility, and acceptability of sense of purpose (SOP) interventions in preventing or reducing anxiety or depression in young people aged 14-24 years.Methods: A systematic search was conducted of the academic (PubMed/MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE) and grey literature from the past 10 years. We also consulted t...
Objective:
Longitudinal studies examining the association between adolescent cannabis use and self-harm are rare, heterogenous and mixed in their conclusions. We study this association utilizing a large general population-based sample with prospective data.
Methods:
The Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (n= 6582) with linkage to nationwide regi...
Introduction and objectives:
To conduct a systematic literature review of intervention programs designed to promote healthy romantic relationships in youth (aged 12-25 years). The focus was on universal interventions that have the potential to be effective and widely implemented.
Methods:
We systematically searched PubMed, PsycINFO, Social Scien...
Psychotic experiences (PEs) are robustly associated with subsequent non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide attempts, but questions remain as to the temporal relation and underlying cause of this association. Most investigations have incorporated only two waves of data, and no study has comprehensively investigated mediating pathways. This stud...
Background
Cannabis use has been associated with increased risk of psychiatric disorders. However, associations between adolescent cannabis use, depression and anxiety disorders are inconsistently reported in longitudinal samples.
Aims
To study associations of adolescent cannabis use with depression and anxiety disorders.
Method
We used data from...
Objectives:
People with mental illness may be vulnerable to psychological distress and reduced well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess psychosocial and lifestyle predictors of distress and well-being in people with mental illness during the pandemic.
Method:
People with mental illness who participated in an e...
PurposeTo quantify and value the total informal support provided by family and friends to Australian adults with mental illness in 2018.Methods
The number of mental health carers was drawn from the 2015 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC), adjusted to the 2018 population. Annual caring hours by type of assistance were estimated using the...
Dysfunction of interoception (i.e. difficulties sensing the physiological state of one's own body) is increasingly linked to different mental health disorders and suicidal outcomes. The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature on the association between suicidality and interoception, as well as identify potential confounders an...
Objectives
People with mental illness may be vulnerable to decline in mental health and reduced physical activity because of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions. The aim of this study was to inform the design of physical activity interventions for implementation under these conditions to improve/maintain well-being and physical activi...
Background
Interventions that promote exercise and a healthy diet can improve quality of life and may promote recovery for people with mental health issues. The aim of this study was to evaluate a community-based lifestyle program for adults with mental health issues to inform the design of such interventions, and assess its impact on quality of li...
Background
Persistent psychotic experiences (PEs) may increase risk for mental disorders, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and suicide attempts, relative to PEs that are more transient and remitting in nature. Most investigations of PE persistence have incorporated only two waves of data, and have not investigated the persistence of different PE su...
Purpose: Dysfunction of interoception is increasingly linked to different mental health disorders and suicidal outcomes. The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature on the association between suicidality and various measures of interoception, as well as to identify potential confounders and mediators of the association. Method...
Purpose
Research has produced inconsistent results with respect to whether the association between psychotic experiences and suicidal behavior is independent of co-occurring clinical and socioenvironmental factors, despite substantial evidence linking the two phenomena. This study tests whether a comprehensive set of demographic, socioenvironmental...
Results from Partners in Recovery (North Brisbane) funded lifestyle programs (2015-2016)
Intensive unpaid caring is associated with greater likelihood of not being employed, but impacts for mental health carers specifically remain unknown. This study aimed to: (a) examine the association between caring intensity and not being employed for primary mental health carers, (b) ascertain whether this relationship differs from that for other...
Background
Providing unpaid support to family and friends with disabling health conditions can limit a carer’s capacity to participate in employment. The emotional support needs and unpredictability of caring for people with mental illness may be particularly demanding. While previous research suggests variable employment rates across carers for di...
Purpose
The association between psychotic experiences (PEs) and non-accidental self-injury (NASI; including self-harm and suicide attempts) is well established, although variables influencing this relationship have not been comprehensively examined. This study aimed to investigate (1) the cross-sectional PE–NASI association before and after adjustm...
The aim of this study was to provide a detailed profile of the hours of care Australian mental health carers provide for different types of caring tasks. The UQ Carer Survey 2016 was administered online to 105 adults caring for someone aged 16 years or older whose main condition is mental illness. Mental health carers reported providing on average...
Informal carers play a vital role in supporting Australians living with a mental illness, including during the acute phases of illness; however, little is known about their impact on length of hospital stay. We aimed to investigate the impact of having a carer and of carer burden on length of hospital stay for mental health. Two Australian datasets...
Aims
Planning mental health carer services requires information about the number of carers, their characteristics, service use and unmet support needs. Available Australian estimates vary widely due to different definitions of mental illness and the types of carers included. This study aimed to provide a detailed profile of Australian mental health...
Background
Although suicidal ideation is a well-documented risk factor for suicidal behaviour, the majority of those with suicidal thoughts do not go on to make an attempt. Therefore, it is important to improve prediction of which individuals are more likely to act on their suicidal thoughts, as highlighted in Klonsky and May’s (2015) ideation-to-a...
Objective: The aims of this study were to quantify Australian federal and state government expenditure on mental health carer services for 2014-15, map the types of services being provided and explore how funded service types compare with the evidence base for the outcomes of these carer services. Methods: Web searches were conducted to identify in...
Background: Previous studies have identified a strong independent association between psychotic experiences (PEs) and non-accidental self-injury (NASI; including self-harm and suicide attempts), but to our knowledge, no study to date has reported on the PE-NASI relationship in a nationally representative sample of Australian adolescents. Methods: A...
Introduction:
Although mental illness stigma has been extensively investigated, it is not known whether stigma experiences increase general fears of employment and impact on employment goals and on attaining employment. The aims of this study were to develop and trial brief measures of employment values and employment fears that could be used to fu...
The purpose of this study was to report the outcomes from a controlled trial of evidence-based supported employment for people with psychiatric disabilities, five to seven years after participation commenced. Eligible participants from the original multi-site trial of supported employment conducted during 2008-2010 in the South East Queensland regi...
C-tactile (CT) afferent fibers are optimally stimulated by slow gentle stroking, and an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between stroking velocity and pleasantness ratings of this type of touch. This study investigated whether an additional and potentially important variable, touch avoidance, interacts with this relationship. While a typical U...
Objective:
The aim of this secondary analysis was to explore global functioning, course of illness (the number of episodes since onset and the degree of recovery between episodes), duration of illness, and cognitive ability as potential indicators of the extent of employment assistance needs.
Method:
A secondary analysis of Australia's second na...
Introduction
It is unclear from prior research whether or not substance abuse co-morbid with psychosis is an added barrier to success in vocational rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships among three types of co-morbid substance abuse or dependence, by type of employment assistance received (disability employment serv...
Post-employment support is an essential part of supported employment for people with psychiatric disabilities. However, little information is available about how best to provide this support. The aim of this study was to collect the views of experienced practitioners on how to conceptualise and plan post-employment support in the workplace. Seventy...
Objective:
To first provide an overview of studies that explore mental health disclosure in the workplace; including factors that influence the decision to disclose, and differing approaches to disclosure (binary, multidimensional, and evolving and ongoing). Second, to provide a critical overview of existing tools designed to help clients manage t...
C-tactile (CT) afferent fibres are optimally stimulated by slow gentle stroking, which has led researchers to denote it the interpersonal touch pathway. Loken et al. (2009) recently found an inverted U-shaped relationship between stroking velocity and pleasantness ratings of CT-targeted touch. This has been framed by the social touch hypothesis: CT...
Evidence-based practices in supported employment and vocational rehabilitation for people with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) are not yet widely available
in Australia. SPMI includes schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, and other psychotic disorders, along with severe forms of other psychiatric conditions. Much is known about the...
When we observe someone in pain, it activates neural structures that are involved in the direct experience of pain. Recent ERP studies (Sheng & Han, 2012) have investigated the racial bias of empathy in response to perceived pain amongst a Chinese population. Findings have demonstrated an automatic, empathetic neural response to observed pain exper...
Projects
Project (1)
This project is funded by Suicide Prevention Australia and will be the first study on the regional variability of non-suicidal self-harm and suicide attempts, and their related risk and protective factors, in Australian adolescents. We will be combining insights from spatial analyses of national data, and the voice of lived experience. We will be going out to different local communities to hear from young people themselves. In doing so, this project is expected to provide critical evidence that will inform targeted, local youth suicide prevention efforts. https://www.suicidepreventionaust.org/emily-hielscher/
