Peter Kelly

University of Wollongong | UOW · School of Psychology

Introduction Cardiovascular disease and cancers are the leading cause of mortality amongst people accessing treatment for alcohol and other drug use. The current study aimed to examine risk factors for chronic disease amongst people attending residential alcohol and other drug treatment services. Methods Participants ( N = 325) were attending resi...

Background: COVID-19 prompted widespread transition of face-to-face mutual-help groups to virtual delivery. Current understanding of the experience of virtual mutual-help groups is limited to 12-step approaches or asynchronous groups (e.g., forums). This paper explores participant and facilitator perspectives regarding the benefits and challenges...

Objective: The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of a tailored quitline tobacco treatment ('Quitlink') among people receiving support for mental health conditions. Methods: We employed a prospective, cluster-randomised, open, blinded endpoint design to compare a control condition to our 'Quitlink' intervention. Both conditions rece...

Objective: Abstinence has been the primary treatment goal for alcohol and other drug (AOD) users attending withdrawal treatment. However, other outcomes including harm reduction have also been identified. This observational study aimed to describe participants' goals and reasons for seeking inpatient withdrawal treatment and compare the needs of c...

Introduction: Challenges associated with the integration of physical health within alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment services persist. The construct of recovery capital has gained currency within the sector, however, its potential in understanding the integration of physical health within AOD treatment has not been examined. This study explor...

Introduction: To help reduce relapse rates following alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment, continuing care interventions have been recommended. Previous continuing care interventions have incorporated telephone and face-to-face sessions to help promote participant engagement. The study was conducted as a randomised controlled feasibility study a...

Background SMART (Self-Management and Recovery Training) Recovery is a mutual-aid program informed by cognitive behaviour therapy and motivational interviewing that provides support for a range of addictive behaviours. SMART Recovery has not been adapted to target young people with addictive behaviours despite the potential to overcome important ba...

Aims: To determine whether the risk of psychotic symptoms during weeks of methamphetamine use was dependent on, increased by, or independent of having a family history of psychosis. Design: Secondary analysis of 13 contiguous 1-week periods of data (1370 weeks). A risk modification framework was used to test each scenario. Setting: Geelong, Wo...

Introduction: Family members affected by another's substance use disorder experience physical health problems, breakdowns in relationships and reduced psychological wellbeing. This review examines the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for improving the wellbeing of family members. Methods: A systematic review of randomised-controlled t...

Issues: Assessing drug and alcohol inpatient withdrawal treatment programs is important, as these represent a first step of treatment among people with alcohol and drug problems. However, there are many ways of measuring outcomes making it difficult for service providers to decide which domains and methods to use. This narrative review aims to cla...

Objective: Client centered care (CCC) is strongly advocated for improving the quality of health care. The aim of the current study was to explore client and staff perspectives of a new model of CCC implemented in a residential alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment service. Specifically, the study aimed to (i) describe the defining features of CCC,...

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic prompted rapid, reflexive transition from face-to-face to online healthcare. For group-based addiction services, evidence for the impact on service delivery and participant experience is limited. Methods: A 12-month (plus 2-month follow-up) pragmatic evaluation of the upscaling of online mutual-help groups by SM...

Background Recruiting young people to addiction research trials poses considerable challenges. Multiple referral pathways across a range of systems, financial incentives, and social media advertisements can improve recruitment outcomes in youth research. In this study, we aimed to assess the feasibility of recruitment to a youth-targeted addiction...

Introduction People experiencing severe mental illness (SMI) smoke at much higher rates than the general population and require additional support. Engagement with existing evidence-based interventions such as quitlines and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) may be improved by mental health peer worker involvement and tailored support. This paper r...

Health literacy comprises an individual’s ability to adequately access, understand and utilise health information, enabling effective navigation of the healthcare system. Low health literacy is a problem for people living with substance use disorders (SUDs). This study aims to examine whether health literacy changes for people discharged from speci...

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the transition of Australian Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART) Recovery mutual support groups to virtual delivery. This study examined the self-reported experience of online SMART Recovery groups for people seeking support for methamphetamine use (alone or in combination with other behaviour...

Objective: The interpersonal theory of suicide (ITS) predicts perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, and hopelessness lead to suicidal ideation and recommends burdensomeness and belongingness should be the targets of treatment. Limited research has tested if burdensomeness and belongingness temporally predict suicidal ideation during tr...

Women with substance use disorders have a greater prevalence of eating disorders which can interfere with long-term recovery. In a sample of women (N = 1099) attending treatment centres for substance use issues, this study identified three distinct classes based on substance type and eating disorder (ED) behaviours using latent class analysis. Clas...

In this chapter, we discuss two conceptualisations of loneliness: a singular construct and a multidimensional construct that can be experienced in both social and emotional forms. Based on these two views of loneliness, we discuss measurement approaches and difficulties capturing loneliness, which can be a highly subjective experience. We review tw...

Issues: Substance use disorders are associated with significant physical health comorbidities, necessitating an integrated treatment response. However, service fragmentation can preclude the management of physical health problems during addiction treatment. The aim of this systematic review was to synthesise the recommendations made by clinical pr...

Introduction One of the most challenging aspects of conducting intervention trials among people who experience severe mental illness (SMI) and who smoke tobacco, is recruitment. In our parent “QuitLink” randomized controlled trial (RCT), slower than expected peer researcher facilitated recruitment, along with the impact of COVID-19 pandemic restric...

Introduction: Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCO) have an important role in the Australian health-care sector. However, there has been a lack of research evaluating ACCOs in the treatment of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use. Using a benchmarking approach, the present study examined within treatment changes on measures of wellbeing...

Background Mutual support groups are a popular treatment for substance use and other addictive behaviours. However, little is known about the cultural utility of these programmes for Indigenous peoples. Methods A three-round Delphi study, utilising Indigenous research yarning methods was conducted to: (1) Obtain expert opinion regarding the cultur...

A plethora of studies has shown that parents experience their own range of outcomes as a result of having a child involved in organised sport. Despite this, the literature on parent-specific outcomes in youth sport has yet to be reviewed and synthesised. The aims of this study were to systematically review and synthesise, assess study quality, and...

Objective Type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk communication may help individuals better understand their risk and motivate behavioural changes. There is a wealth of research in health risk communication which suggest the effectiveness of message framing and tailored risk feedback; however, little is known about their potential utility when used concurrently...

Background: Mutual support groups are an important source of long-term help for people impacted by addictive behaviors. Routine outcome monitoring (ROM) and feedback are yet to be implemented in these settings. SMART Recovery mutual support groups focus on self-empowerment and use evidence-based techniques (eg, motivational and behavioral strategi...

Research undertaken by outsiders into issues of concern to Aboriginal communities frequently ignores community culture and the knowledge embedded within Aboriginal communities. Methodologies are adopted which perpetuate the colonialist mindset of non-indigenous Australians leading to failed solutions to Aboriginal problems. This paper describes an...

Introduction Health literacy refers to an individual’s capacity to gather, process and understand health information, make appropriate health decisions, and engage adequately with healthcare services. Inadequate health literacy has been linked to an increase in acute healthcare utilisation. Research suggests that people living with substance use di...

Introduction Substance use is increasingly prevalent among women. Little research examines subgroups of women with substance use issues to identify their characteristics and thus enable treatment recommendations. The present study used latent class analysis to identify subgroups of substance use among women in substance-use treatment based on use i...

Background: Methamphetamine dependence is a significant global health concern for which there are no approved medications. The cysteine prodrug, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), has been found to ameliorate glutamate dysregulation in addiction, and to reduce craving for methamphetamine and other drugs. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of NAC as a pharm...

Introduction Patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) are recommended for use in evaluating person-centred care. To date, a PREM has not been validated for residential alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment. Utilising items developed through a previously published qualitative study informing the development of the PREM for Addiction Treatment (...

Background Mutual support groups play an extremely important role in providing opportunities for people to engage in alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment and support. SMART Recovery groups employ cognitive, behavioural and motivational principles and strategies to offer support for a range of addictive behaviours. COVID-19 fundamentally changed t...

Background: Routine outcome monitoring (ROM) has been implemented across a range of addiction treatment services, settings and organisations. Mutual support groups are a notable exception. Innovative solutions are needed. SMART Track is a purpose built smartphone app designed to capture ROM data and provide tailored feedback to adults attending Aus...

Purpose Substance use disorder (SUD) frequently co-occurs with other psychological conditions, such as eating disorders (EDs). Psychological factors such as emotional dysregulation, rash impulsivity (RI) and reward sensitivity (RS) play a role in the etiology of each disorder, yet little is known about the combined effects of these on comorbid SUDs...

Purpose Individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) are at an elevated risk for suicide. Abstinence and drug-related treatment outcomes remain integral to SUD treatment, but recovery incorporates more than just the absence of substance use or mental illness and including positive mental health indices in assessment and treatment of suicidality i...

Introduction Mutual support groups (e.g. SMART Recovery) are an important source of support for people experiencing addictive behaviours. Little is known about the use of mutual support groups by people who use methamphetamine, or the factors that may influence group cohesion. Methods This study uses post-group data reported by SMART Recovery faci...

Introduction Little is known about the experiences of continuing care workers (CCW) in the implementation of continuing care programs. The current study sought to understand CCWs and supervisor perceptions of the successes and challenges of implementing a telephone-based continuing care intervention following residential alcohol and other drug trea...

Background The current study examined correlates of cognitive insight in people enrolled in a methamphetamine pharmacotherapy trial; whether cognitive insight at the start of the trial predicted medication adherence and reductions in methamphetamine use during the trial; and, whether insight would remain stable over the trial or improve with reduct...

Introduction SMART Recovery is a popular mutual support group program. Little is known about its suitability or perceived helpfulness for Indigenous peoples. This study explored the cultural utility of SMART Recovery in an Australian Aboriginal context. Methods An Indigenous‐lensed, multi‐methods, exploratory study design was used to develop initi...

Introduction Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) use to support client smoking quit attempts is low and inconsistent at alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment services. This study examined predictors of any NRT use and combination NRT use among AOD clients who were smokers. Methods The study was part of a cluster-RCT of an organisational change int...

Issues: Individuals with substance use problems are at greater risk of chronic diseases due to their unhealthy lifestyle behaviours (e.g. alcohol use, smoking, physical inactivity, poor nutrition). There is increasing evidence that health risk communication is crucial in improving risk perception and knowledge of chronic diseases, and both factors...

Background Unhealthy lifestyle behaviours contribute to the poor health of people attending alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment. Healthy Recovery is an 8-session group-based intervention that targets smoking, diet and physical inactivity as part of an integrated healthy lifestyle approach. The current study aimed to examine the effectiveness of...

Introduction and aims Although continuing care programs have been shown to improve alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment outcomes, uptake of continuing care has been low. The current study aimed to determine predictors of participants’ who both re-confirmed consent to engage in telephone-based continuing care and commenced continuing care once the...

Background: Mutual support groups are a popular treatment for substance use and other addictive behaviours. However, little is known about the cultural utility of these programmes for Indigenous peoples. Methods: A three-round Delphi study, utilising Indigenous research yarning methods was conducted to: (1) Obtain expert opinion regarding the cultu...

Objectives The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the relations of having a child involved in youth sport and primary (i.e., parent that knows the child best) and secondary parents' mental health. Design Parents from Wave 7 of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children reported their child's involvement in organised youth spor...

Several previous chapters showed that social factors are strong predictors of drinking behavior, and risk factors for developing an alcohol use disorder. For instance, Sandra Kuntsche described how social norms influence drinking behavior (Chapter 19) and Dan Frings and colleagues examined identity in relation to alcohol use (Chapter 21). In this c...

Insight refers to a person’s understanding of themselves and the world around them. Recent literature has explored people’s insight into their substance use disorder (SUD) and how this is linked to treatment adherence, abstinence rates, and comorbid mental health symptoms. The aim of this systematic review was to synthesise and critically examine t...

Aim Health literacy is one's ability to use cognitive and social skills to access, understand and appraise health information. Despite poor health outcomes of people living with mental illness there is limited research assessing their health literacy. This systematic review aims to synthesise research on health literacy rates, conceptualizations, a...

BACKGROUND Mutual support groups are an important source of long-term help for people impacted by addictive behaviors. Routine outcome monitoring (ROM) and feedback are yet to be implemented in these settings. SMART Recovery mutual support groups focus on self-empowerment and use evidence-based techniques (eg, motivational and behavioral strategies...

Introduction and Aims The collection of routine outcome measurement (ROM) data provides an opportunity for service providers to conduct benchmarking to inform quality assurance practices. To conduct comparative benchmarking, it is important that services have access to comparative data. This paper aims to establish effectiveness indicators for ROM...

Introduction and aims: There has been a rapid increase in smoking crystalline methamphetamine in Australia. We compare the clinical and demographic characteristics of those who smoke versus inject the drug in a cohort of people who use methamphetamine. Design and methods: Participants (N = 151) were dependent on methamphetamine, aged 18-60 years...

Introduction and aims: Clinical practice guidelines recommend physical health be addressed when treating substance use disorders. Yet, the integration of alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment and physical health care is seldom actualised. This is particularly the case in the non-government sector. Using the socio-ecological model as a framework,...

We undertook a systematic review to identify and summarise studies on hardcore smoking and hardening to: determine the degree of variability in definitions of hardcore smoking and hardening; assess the evidence for claims that smokers are becoming increasingly hardened within the context of harm reduction as a policy initiative; and identify the de...

Background The hardening hypothesis proposes that as smoking rates decline, the remaining smokers will become hardcore and resistant to quitting. This group of highly resistant quitters will potentially require more individualistic approaches to cessation and harm reduction. The harm reduction approach (specifically e-cigarettes) has been proposed...

Introduction and Aims Guided by cognitive theory of loneliness, this study sought to explore the experience of loneliness among people accessing treatment for substance use disorders. Specifically, contributors to, consequences and alleviators of loneliness were explored. Design and Methods Individual semi‐structured interviews were conducted with...

Introduction and Aims: Although loneliness is common among people with substance use disorders, few interventions to reduce loneliness have been developed for this population. This study aimed to determine the feasibility of delivering a 6-session group-based intervention, ‘Groups for Belonging’ (G4B) that builds social group connectedness. Design...

Translation and application of current complex trauma knowledge for high-risk groups such as the homeless is needed. Existing research in this area has been limited by lack of a cohesive theoretical framework that captures the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of complex trauma within the context of ecological vulnerability (e.g. homelessness). This...

Exposure therapy is consistently indicated as the first-line treatment for anxiety-related disorders. Unfortunately, therapists often deliver exposure therapy in an overly cautious, less effective manner, characterized by using their own ‘therapist safety behaviours’. Cognitive behavioural models postulate that beliefs about therapist safety behavi...

Background Client centered care is strongly advocated as key to improving the quality of health care. However, there is a notable absence of research about the acceptability and feasibility of a client centered approach in substance dependence treatment settings. The aim of this study was to explore client and staff perspectives of a new client cen...

Issues Despite the serious implications of loneliness on health and wellbeing, little is understood about this experience across people with substance use problems. This systematic review aimed to examine: (i) correlates and predictors of loneliness; (ii) theories underpinning loneliness; (iii) methods employed to measure loneliness; and (iv) lonel...

It was highlighted that in the original article [1] author Amanda Baker was erroneously omitted from the authorship during the copy editing stage.

Background: A priority area in the field of substance dependence treatment is reducing the rates of relapse. Previous research has demonstrated that telephone delivered continuing care interventions are both clinically and cost effective when delivered as a component of outpatient treatment. This protocol describes a NSW Health funded study that a...

Objectives: Physical health conditions cause significant disability and mortality among people living with alcohol and other drug problems. There has been limited research on the prevalence of health problems among clinical samples of people with substance use disorders, particularly among those in residential treatment. Yet residential settings pr...

Background: To reduce smoking and improve other health behaviours of people living with severe mental illness, healthy lifestyle interventions have been recommended. One approach to improving the availability of these types of interventions is to utilise the mental health peer workforce. The current study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of peer-...

Aim: Aims were to test the effectiveness of an organizational change intervention integrating smoking cessation treatment into usual alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment, compared with usual care, on 1) 7-day point prevalence abstinence (PPA) at 8 weeks follow-up; 2) prolonged abstinence; 3) cigarettes smoked per day; 4) number of quit attempts;...

This poster described a systematic review which was undertaken as part of my PhD project and notably, key findings and conclusion of the paper were briefly discussed. The systematic review paper has been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.

Introduction Hard-core smokers have been identified as a potential public health challenge. The trans-theoretical model lacks the specificity to identify hard-core smokers. The precaution adoption process model (PAPM) is a stage-based behaviour change model which includes ‘no intent to quit’ as a distinct stage and so may be useful in identifying h...

Background: Patient-centered care is strongly advocated as a key for improving the quality of healthcare. Research examining the impact of patient-centered care in healthcare has concluded that there are demonstrable albeit inconsistent relationships between patient experience, quality of care, and healthcare outcomes. Knowledge of the impact of pa...

Previous research has reported on the benefits of mutual support groups. However, such groups do not routinely collect data on participant outcomes. Moreover, the effect of collecting outcomes measures on these groups is unknown. The objective of this mixed methods study was to elicit participant views on using a novel, purpose built digital platfo...

Objective: SMART Recovery provides cognitive behavior therapy based mutual support groups for addictions. The aim of the present study was to explore the impact of cognitive behavior skill use and the influence of a person's social network on psychological distress. Method: Paper based surveys were mailed out to 121 SMART Recovery groups across Aus...

Objective: Comorbid eating disorders (EDs) and ED symptoms are highly prevalent among women with substance use disorders and may be a barrier to recovery. Higher rates of psychiatric illness are common when more than one disorder is present. Yet little is known about the rates and risk factors for EDs/ED symptoms in women attending treatment center...

Introduction: Smoking is a major cause of disease burden and reduced quality of life for people with severe mental illness (SMI). It places significant resource pressure on health systems and financial stress on smokers with SMI (SSMI). Telephone-based smoking cessation interventions have been shown to be cost effective in general populations. Howe...

Introduction and aims: Insight is a multi-dimensional construct that predicts treatment outcomes of people with mental illness. Research into insight in substance dependent populations is limited and measures of cognitive insight have not been validated for this population. Design and methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted with resident...

Abstract Background Addictions contribute significantly to the overall disease burden for Indigenous peoples of colonised countries. Mutual support groups are one of the most common addiction recovery resources, however their effectiveness for Indigenous peoples is unclear. Methods A PRISMA-informed search was performed to retrieve empirical studie...

Introduction and aims: A growing body of literature supports the use of patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) to monitor the provision of patient-centred care to people accessing health services. However, there is an absence of research into PREMs in the alcohol and other drugs (AOD) field. The aim of this study was to explore patient exper...

Health literacy comprises cognitive and social skills that enable people to understand health information and maintain good health. Research examining the health literacy of people living with mental illness is scarce. The aim of the present study was to identify distinct subgroups of health literacy in individuals attending mental health treatment...

Background Despite the importance and popularity of mutual support groups, there have been no systematic attempts to implement and evaluate routine outcome monitoring (ROM) in these settings. Unlike other mutual support groups for addiction, trained facilitators lead all Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART Recovery) groups, thereby providi...

BACKGROUND Despite the importance and popularity of mutual support groups, there have been no systematic attempts to implement and evaluate routine outcome monitoring (ROM) in these settings. Unlike other mutual support groups for addiction, trained facilitators lead all Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART Recovery) groups, thereby providi...

Background: There are currently no approved pharmacotherapies for managing methamphetamine dependence. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been found to reduce the craving for methamphetamine and other drugs, but its effect on methamphetamine use and other clinically related endpoints are uncertain. The N-ICE trial is evaluating the safety and efficacy of...

This poster described some of the findings from my Honours Thesis project. We presented this poster at the Creating Synergy Conference and we have submitted the paper to a peer-reviewed journal.

Objective: It is common for people attending alcohol and other substance dependence treatment to present with multiple unhealthy lifestyle behaviors such as high rates of smoking, physical inactivity, and poor diet. Healthy lifestyle interventions are increasing in importance in the general population, but have been underexamined within alcohol and...

The relationship between mental well-being and distress in young people is unclear but important for both theoretical and practical reasons. This study tests these relationships using both dimensional and categorical measures of mental well-being and distress. Two thousand and eighty-two Australians’ (16–25 years) completed an online survey. A subs...