Kerry Mcbain

James Cook University | JCU · Department of Psychology

This review aims to provide information on the prevalence and frequency of adult males’ pornography use. It appears, the majority (> 80%) of adult men have accessed pornography at some point, and in the past year (40–70%). Around half of younger men (25 or under) are weekly consumers. Pornography use tapers-off with age. Relatively few (<10%) young...

The idea that pornography promotes sexism is a commonly purported one. This study employed an online sample of heterosexual men (N = 323) to investigate the relationship between pornography use (in terms of both overall level of pornography use and use of violent and/or humiliating pornography) and old-fashioned and modern sexism. The moderating ef...

There is a distinct lack of knowledge to explain why some people, having successfully initiated a relationship, embark upon a path to certain dissolution of that engagement. Research looking at self-sabotage provides some answers. However, no measure exists to test self-sabotage in romantic relationships. This study investigated key self-sabotaging...

Pornography use, preference for “porn‐like” sex, masturbation, and sexual and relationship satisfaction were assessed among two samples of men (NStudy 1 = 326, NStudy 2 = 335). Frequent pornography use was associated with sexual dissatisfaction, greater preference for porn‐like sex, and more frequent masturbation in both studies. Pornography use wa...

The term ‘self-sabotage’ is not well defined in the current literature. Self-sabotage is generally explained as a synonym of self-handicapping, which does not fully encompass intrinsic behaviours found in romantic relationships. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore the theme of self-sabotage as viewed by practising psychologists....

Clients in therapy are typically diagnosed with mental health difficulties such as anxiety and depression. However, recent statistics show that romantic relationship difficulties are one of the most common reasons for people to seek counselling in the first place. A series of 15 semi-structured interviews with psychologists around Australia reveale...

The term self-sabotage is not well explained in current relationship literature. Self-sabotage is thus far explained mainly as a physical barrier (i.e., derived from the effects of alcohol consumption or high level of stress; Jones & Berglas, 1978; Rhodewalt, 2008) which does not fully encompass intrinsic behaviours. In romantic relationships, the...

This experimental study investigates whether exposure to pornography affects men’s perceptions of the likelihood of women engaging in, and enjoying, “porn-like” sex. Participants ( N = 418) were either exposed to nonpornographic control videos or pornographic videos in which a male taxi driver has sex with a female passenger. Participants’ percepti...

The issue a client brings through the door is often not the issue counsellors and psychologists end up working on. Relationship break-ups are at the core of why most people seek counselling. The same is possibly true in the context of higher education. Students and staff members who seek counselling for common mental health difficulties such as anx...

Self-Sabotage in Romantic Relationships

Bullying has cost individuals and their workplace a great deal. Considerable research has been conducted to explore the incidence and prevalence of bullying in the workplace and the negative consequences to individuals and organizations (Rammsayer, Stahl, & Schmiga, 2006). Few studies, however, have considered the individual characteristics of adul...

Few studies have considered how suicide is perceived and impacted by stigma across cultures. A sample of 478 participants from Australia and Brazil was used to investigate cross-cultural perceptions of suicide and the impact of stigma on the recognition of suicide risk in others. The Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide framed a mixed meth...

The current study, with a sample of 478 participants from Australia and Brazil, investigated cross-cultural perceptions of suicide and the impact of suicide stigma and religiosity on the recognition of suicide risk in others. The Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide was used to frame a mixed method between and within groups questionna...

The aim of this controlled, community-based study based on data from parents of youth (aged 7-16 years) with Tourette's syndrome (TS; n = 86) and parents of age and gender matched peers (n = 108) was to test several hypotheses involving a range of variables salient to the TS population, including peer attachment, quality of life, severity of tics,...

Objective This study aimed to evaluate the complex clinical phenomenology of Tourette's syndrome within a community‐based Australian sample. It also aimed to determine the service needs of this population. Method Participants included parents of individuals with Tourette's syndrome (n = 86; mean age = 11.4, standard deviation [SD] = 2.8) and contr...

Problem: Tourette's syndrome (TS) is a neuropsychiatric disorder associated with adverse outcomes. High rates of comorbidity (80-90%) complicate presentation, yet the relationship among TS, common comorbid diagnoses, and adversity is not well understood. This research investigated the impact of comorbidity, and the discrete effects of common comor...

To enhance understandings of the impact of Tourette Syndrome (TS) on the parents of diagnosed youth. Specifically, the current study aimed to explore and identify the multidimensional stressors associated with parenting a child or adolescent with TS in the Australian context. As part of a larger qualitative and quantitative community-based study, s...

Tourette’s syndrome (TS) is a poorly understood neurodevelopmental disorder consistently associated with impaired peer relationships. This research aimed to investigate the relationship between TS and the ability of diagnosed youth to form secure attachment relationships with peers. A quantitative study examined differences between youth with TS an...