Co-Head, Youth Mental Health
BPsych (Hons) MPsych (Clin) PhD
@yaelperry
she/her/hers
Dr Yael Perry completed her Masters and PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of New South Wales, and her post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, under the supervision of Dr Aaron Beck.
Yael returned to Australia in 2013 to work at the Black Dog Institute in Sydney, where she conducted clinical research on the prevention and treatment of mental illness in young people. In 2017, she relocated to Perth and joined the Youth Mental Health team at Telethon Kids Institute. Yael’s research continues to focus on the prevention of mental health difficulties in young people, with particular emphasis on high risk and vulnerable youth. She also has specialised expertise and interest in the use of digital technologies to improve engagement, access and uptake of mental health interventions.
Yael is available to supervise honours, masters and PhD students. She is currently involved in the following projects:
- Adapting a ‘serious game’ for the prevention of depression in gender diverse youth (SPARX-T)
- A multi-site trial of an online intervention for carers of people with psychosis (Altitudes East West)
- Examining the link between stigma and mental health in same-gender attracted adolescents
- Improving the social and emotional wellbeing of LGBTIQ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people (Walkern Katatdjin)
- Development of suicide prevention guidelines for LGBTIQA+ young people
- The facilitation of acceptance in trans and gender diverse young people
- Assessing barriers and facilitators to non-face-to-face delivery of mental health care for children and young people during COVID-19 and beyond (Mind the Distance)
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Projects
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Publications
January 2021
Group mindful self-compassion training to improve mental health outcomes for LGBTQIA+ young adults: Rationale and protocol for a randomised controlled trial
Young adults who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual and other diverse genders and sexualities (LGBTQIA+) are more likely to experience mental health difficulties and are at significantly elevated risk of substance abuse, self-harm and suicide, relative to their heterosexual, endosex and cisgender peers. There is a need for effective mental health interventions for LGBTQIA+ young adults. Mindful Self-Compassion training is a promising approach; among LGBTQIA+ individuals, self-compassion accounts for more variation in mental health outcomes than bullying, victimization, and adverse childhood experiences combined. Furthermore, LGBTQIA+ individuals with high self-compassion report more positive identity and happiness, less self-stigma, and lower suicidality than those with low self-compassion.
Published research Depression and Anxiety Gender Diversity Youth Health Youth Mental HealthFebruary 2021Intersex adolescents seeking help for their depression: the case study of SPARX in New Zealand
SPARX is a computerized cognitive behavioral therapy self-help program for adolescent depression that is freely available in New Zealand. At registration, users identify themselves as either male, female, intersex, or transgender. We aimed to describe the mental health of adolescent intersex users. A secondary analysis of SPARX usage data over 5 years.
Published research Depression and Anxiety Youth Health Youth Mental HealthSeptember 2021Evidence that infant and early childhood developmental impairments are associated with hallucinatory experiences: Results from a large, population-based cohort study
Cognitive and motor dysfunction are hallmark features of the psychosis continuum, and have been detected during late childhood and adolescence in youth who report psychotic experiences (PE). However, previous investigations have not explored infancy and early childhood development.
Published research Autism Research Youth Mental Health Subsite: Autism & Related Disorders Subsite: CliniKids Youth mental healthNovember 2021School-based depression and anxiety prevention programs: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis
Depression and anxiety are often first experienced during childhood and adolescence, and interest in the prevention of these disorders is growing. The focus of this review was to assess the effectiveness of psychological prevention programs delivered in schools, and to provide an update to our previous review from five years ago (Werner-Seidler, Perry, Calear, Newby, & Christensen, 2017).
Published research Depression and Anxiety School Attendance Youth Mental Health Youth mental healthDecember 2020Computerized cognitive behavioural therapy for gender minority adolescents: Analysis of the real-world implementation of SPARX in New Zealand
SPARX is a form of computerized cognitive behavioural therapy in serious game format funded via the Ministry of Health to be freely available in New Zealand. At registration users identify themselves as male, female, transgender or intersex. We aimed to establish whether adolescent transgender users of SPARX, compared to adolescent male and female users, were more likely to have high mental health needs at baseline and were more likely to complete SPARX. We also sought to determine changes in transgender adolescents' depressive symptoms after using SPARX.
Published research Gender Diversity Youth Mental HealthDecember 2020Effectiveness, Acceptability, and Feasibility of Digital Health Interventions for LGBTIQ+ Young People: Systematic Review
Young people (aged 12-25 years) with diverse sexuality, gender, or bodily characteristics, such as those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, or queer (LGBTIQ+), are at substantially greater risk of a range of mental, physical, and sexual health difficulties compared with their peers. Digital health interventions have been identified as a potential way to reduce these health disparities.
Published research Gender Diversity Youth Health Youth Mental HealthNovember 2020The Role of the Avatar in Gaming for Trans and Gender Diverse Young People
A significant proportion of trans and gender diverse (TGD) young people report membership of the gaming community and resultant benefits to wellbeing. To date their experiences and needs regarding a key feature of games, the avatar, are largely unexplored, despite increasing interest in the therapeutic role of avatars in the general population. The aim of this study was to better understand the role of the avatar in gaming, its impact on TGD young people's mental health, and their unique needs regarding avatar design.
Published research Gender Diversity Youth Health Youth Mental HealthOctober 2020Best practice when working with suicidal behaviour and self-harm in primary care: a qualitative exploration of young people's perspectives
General practitioners (GPs) have a key role in supporting young people who present with suicidal behaviour/self-harm. However, little is known about young people's opinions and experiences related to GPs' practices for such presentations, and their decisions to disclose suicidal behaviour/self-harm to GPs. Additionally, existing guidelines for the management of suicide risk and/or self-harm have not incorporated young people's perspectives. This study aimed to explore young people's views and experiences related to the identification, assessment and care of suicidal behaviour and self-harm in primary care settings with GPs.
Published research Depression and Anxiety Youth Health Youth Mental Health Subsite: Youth Health & WellbeingMay 2020Parents’ experience and psychoeducation needs when supporting a young person who self-harms
The study highlights the need for support for parents and carers of young people who engage in self-harm
Published research Youth Mental HealthJanuary 2020Online self-compassion training to improve the wellbeing of youth with chronic medical conditions: Protocol for a randomised control trial
The Self-Compassion Online program could provide a scalable solution for improving psychological outcomes and quality of life among youth with chronic illness
Published research Youth Health Youth Mental HealthNovember 2019Trans and gender diverse young people's attitudes towards game-based digital mental health interventions: A qualitative investigation
This paper reports on trans and gender diverse young people's attitudes towards digital games and game-based digital mental health interventions
Published research Youth Mental HealthMarch 2018Adolescents' Perspectives on a Mobile App for Relationships: Cross-Sectional Survey
Adolescents were likely to use a mobile phone app for relationship support, and use was not influenced by background characteristics
Published research Youth Mental HealthFebruary 2018Online interventions for the mental health needs of trans and gender diverse young people
Members of our research team have done an online survey (Trans Pathways) exploring the mental health and care pathways of gender diverse youth in Australia.
Published research Youth Mental Health