Shane Costello

• BSc, PGDip Psych, MPsych (Ed & Dev)/PhD
• Senior Lecturer at Monash University (Australia)

Despite efforts to the contrary, the enrolment patterns of Australian students continue to demonstrate gender imbalances across different courses. Efforts to encourage more young women into non-traditional courses such as STEM do not seem to have any significant impact on these trends. In previous research, conformity to social gender norms and wor...

Background: The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21) is a mental health screening tool with conflicting studies regarding its factor structure. No studies have yet attempted to develop a computer adaptive test (CAT) version of it. Objective: This study calibrated items for, and simulated, a DASS-21 CAT using a nonclinical sample. Method...

For many people, the opportunity to access and engage in education is an expectation that is widely accepted. For people with disabilities and additional educational needs, such expectations have developed as a result of systemic change in the field of education over the current and past centuries. Inclusive practices, attitudes and approaches are...

Objective: The current review sought to synthesise and evaluate ADHD guidelines to identify recommended procedures for co-occurring and differential diagnosis for ADHD assessments of school aged children. Method: A systematic literature review was conducted by searching PsycInfo, Medline, CINAHL and Web of Science. A grey literature search was also...

This study investigated the dual contribution of personality traits and cultural dimensions to Extreme Response Style, while controlling for the effects of age, gender, and GDP per capita. Participant data was extracted from the myPersonality Project (n = 173,075). Multilevel modelling compared 10 models to determine which variables best predicted...

Providing an effective and high-quality education for all children and young people remains a significant challenge throughout the world. Disputes and contradictions contribute to the prevailing debate as to the justification and merits of inclusive education. One of the reoccurring themes within the literature on inclusive education is the relatio...

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) has a strong evidence base for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD), however, there is minimal research investigating the treatment of depression within the postpartum period. This systematic review aims to systematically examine the efficacy and safety of TMS when treating postpartum depression (...

Objective: The Behaviour Assessment System for Children, Third Edition (BASC-3) is a rating scale for screening emotional and behavioural disorders in children and adolescents commonly utilised in Australia but relies on a US normative sample. This study assessed the cross-cultural validity of the BASC-3 by evaluating the original factor structures...

The relationship between general practice (GP) registrars and their supervisors underpins the training experience for the next generation of medical practitioners. Building on recent research into the development and validation of a measure of the relationship between registrars and supervisors from the perspective of the supervisor, the current st...

The expectancy-value theory of achievement performance and related decisions identifies the various factors that affect achievement levels. The Actiotope Model of Giftedness describes learning and educational resources necessary for high achievement. This study investigates the relationship between these categories of resources and achievement. As...

Issue Brief [Boletín informativo] L a promoción de la alfabetización en salud mental es una estrategia eficaz para proteger el bienestar de los padres con enfermedades mentales y de sus hijos. La alfabetización en salud mental es parte de la alfabetización en salud; se define como "el nivel de comprensión de una persona en relación con las actitude...

p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; line-height: 200%;"> Background The trauma experienced as a paramedic can have a devastating psychological impact on both professionals and students in training, and increases the risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Paramedics are often placed in high-risk situations involving multiple or sustain...

A program evaluation examined mental health literacy levels and coping outcomes for youth (ages 10–16), before and at the end of their participation in a manualized, school-based mental health literacy program called Youth Education and Support (YES). Most of the youth reportedly had a parent or other family member with a mental health disorder suc...

Despite the growing interest in differences in thinking, much less is known about differences in how children think and how they come to think. The aim of this scoping review is to map out the key concepts underpinning the conceptual boundaries of children’s (5–12 years of age) individual differences in thinking. The scoping review identified eight...

Background The relationship between general practice (GP) supervisors and registrars is a critical component in effective training for the next generation of medical practitioners. Despite the importance of the relational aspect of clinical education, most evaluation has traditionally occurred from the perspective of the registrar only. As such, no...

Schools are increasingly being identified as ideal settings for early intervention for anxiety and other mental health challenges; however, questions remain about whether individuals who require the most assistance will receive it in more universally applied intervention programs. This study compared targeted and universal delivery approaches of a...

The twenty-first century has delivered technological advances that allow researchers to utilise social media to predict personal traits and psychological constructs. This article aims to further our understanding of the relationship between subjective wellbeing (SWB) and the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality by attempting to replicate the rela...

Mental Health Literacy (MHL) refers to recognition, knowledge, and attitudes that benefit the mental health of a person to promote recognition, management or prevention of mental health problems. Currently, there are a limited number of psychometrically robust measures of evaluating children's MHL. The development and delivery of MHL interventions...

Psychologists have a vital role to play in schools. From identifying and treating complex psychopathology, through to using psychology as a tool to enrich lives by improving learning, facilitating positive developmental trajectories, and supporting social justice and advocacy, a school psychologist works in a complex and diverse space. In this way,...

Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities (NVLD) have a relatively rare incidence, estimated to be approximately 1.7% of all learning disabilities. Symptoms of the disorder are perceptual, social and emotional. These symptoms differ according to the developmental age, with 85% of cases being diagnosed in secondary school when education becomes more complex....

Promoting mental health literacy is an effective strategy to protect the wellbeing of parents with mental illness and their children. Mental health literacy is part of health literacy; it is defined as “one’s level of understanding about mental health attitudes and conditions, as well as one’s ability to prevent, recognize, and cope with these cond...

Adaptive behaviour has been viewed broadly as an individual’s ability to meet the standards of social responsibilities and independence; however, this definition has been a source of debate amongst researchers and clinicians. Based on the rich history and the importance of the construct of adaptive behaviour, the current study aimed to provide a co...

School-based mindfulness interventions have been shown to be effective in reducing mental health symptoms. However, comparatively little research has investigated the acceptability of these programs from the perspective of the children. Program acceptability underpins engagement, and more engaging programs are also more efficacious (Cowan & Sherida...

When I think of educational and developmental psychology, two words come to mind — learning, and transitions. Learning is of course the priority in formalised education, but also through our experiences across the lifespan. And as we grow and develop, transitions and change are inevitable. This edition of The Educational and Developmental Psycholog...

Millions of children have a parent with a mental illness (COPMI). These children are at higher risk of acquiring behavioural, developmental and emotional difficulties. Most children, including COPMI, have low levels of mental health literacy (MHL), meaning they do not have accurate, non-stigmatized information. There is limited knowledge about what...

Despite the increasing utilisation of mindfulness-based interventions in children, research investigating the impact of these interventions in children is still in its infancy. One significant gap in the literature is the general omission of the child’s voice in how they experience and benefit from mindfulness-based intervention. Therefore, the pre...

Objective: This study examines the efficacy of a six week child mindfulness program (TRIPLE R) in teaching mindfulness skills and reducing negative emotional symptoms in a school setting. Method: Using a correlational within-subjects repeated measures design, the relationships between child self-reported mindfulness skills and negative emotional sy...

Objective The purpose of this present study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy – student version (JSPE-S). Subjects and methods This study recruited 193 Malaysian medical students enrolled in year one and year two studies. A principal-component analysis with Varimax rotation was conducted. Pr...

Amelioration of cross-cultural and cross-language impacts on scale validity should be of concern to the researcher. The Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children, (HiPIC), a 144-item Five-Factor Model Flemish personality scale, is both a cross-cultural and language scale in Australia. The present study is a mixed method validation study of th...

This custom SPSS dialog is used to conduct Parallel Analysis through menu shortcuts rather than in syntax.

Introduction Investigation into the psychological effects of violence toward health care workers and its associated trauma is increasing. The Impact of Event Scale (IES) provides a measure of current, subjective, emotional distress symptomatic of a specific traumatic event. However, its validity among paramedics is largely unknown. Problem The pur...

Background: It is important that scales exhibit strong measurement properties including those related to the investigation of issues that impact evidence-based practice. The validity of the Barriers to Research Utilization Scale (BARRIERS Scale) has recently been questioned in a systematic review. This study investigated the dimensional structure...

Acquiescence response bias is the tendency to agree to questionnaires irrespective of item content or direction, and is problematic for both researchers and clinicians. Further research is warranted to clarify factors relating to the confounding influence of acquiescence. Building on previous research that investigated the interaction between acqui...

The Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities has helped advance understanding regarding the relations between specific cognitive abilities and academic achievement in definite domains. However, questions over the generalisability of this research, as well the moderating effect age has on the strength of cognitive-achievement relatio...

The attitudes held by pre-service teachers have been shown to affect their willingness and ability to implement an inclusive approach to education. A sample consisting of 193 pre-service secondary teachers enrolled in secondary education courses at an Australian university were surveyed to determine their attitudes towards inclusive education, with...