MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
Associate Professor Maria Hennessy leads the research programs in this area. The Mental Health and Well-being stream has a focus on the evidence-based assessment of well-being and its practical integration with multidisciplinary health and mental health research and practice.
CURRENT PROJECT
Understanding the well-being of children and young people in Singapore
This is a major research project occurring in 2025/2026 in collaboration with our community partner, Suncare SG located in Punggol, Singapore.
We know that mental health is not solely about mental illness, but also includes wellbeing. However our understanding of what well-being means to young people and the best ways to measure it are unclear.
Key areas of focus:
- Exploring what well-being means for young people through interviews and surveys
- Identifying reliable and valid measures of wellbeing for children and youth aged 8-18 years
- Developing recommendations for the best practice measurement of wellbeing for young people in Singapore
Exploring meaning in life
This research explores how the understanding of meaning in life can be more effectively integrated within mental health research and practice.
Key areas of focus:
- Examining the reliable and valid measurement of meaning
- Exploring multi-cultural influences on meaning in life
- Mapping differences between lay-person and researcher perspectives of meaning and the search for meaning in life
- Evaluating the relationship between coping styles, the search for meaning and good mental health
How does character strengths use relate to mental health?
This research examines how character strengths use can enhance and support individual mental health and wellbeing.
Key areas of focus:
- Evaluating new measures of character strengths use
- Exploring the dynamics between character strengths use and levels of depression, anxiety and stress.
- Identifying the influence of context in character strengths use
Using Positive Health to innovate clinical practice
The research investigates the application of positive health models to support patient-informed healthcare pathways.
Key areas of focus:
- Identifying patient-reported outcomes following chronic subdural haematoma in adults
- Mapping the evidence for positive health outcomes after acquired brain injury in adults
- Exploring systemic approaches to positive health