Masters Research Projects

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https://hdl.handle.net/10292/9823
The Masters Research Projects collection contains digital copies of AUT masters research projects deposited with the Library since 2016 and made available on open access.

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Browsing Masters Research Projects by Supervisor "Feather, Jackie"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Eco-Anxiety: A Scoping Review Towards a Clinical Conceptualisation and Therapeutic Approach
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2021) Dailianis, Anastasia
    As the ecological and climate crisis has intensified, impact on mental health has become more evident. ‘Eco-anxiety’ is a term commonly used to describe these effects. Despite the increased recognition of eco-anxiety as a valid mental state, there is little empirical evidence detailing it as a clinical presentation, or describing the interventions considered most effective in addressing it. Utilising a scoping review methodology, this study collated recent knowledge of eco-anxiety and the therapeutic approaches suggested to mitigate its negative impact. Literature published between 2017-2020 addressing the conceptualisation of eco-anxiety, its symptoms and interventions were reviewed. 25 academic articles and 5 book chapters met inclusion criteria for the review. Descriptive content analysis was used to map current understanding of this emerging presentation. The findings from the scoping review suggest that maladaptive eco-anxiety presents even in people with no direct experiences of ecological crisis, it causes a crisis of hope regarding the future, a reduction in quality of life, and can lead to an inability to take positive action. It can be described as an existential crisis and could also be conceptualised within a trauma, stress or grief framework. Symptoms present as both cognitive-emotional and functional impairment and could be associated with diagnostic categories of anxiety, depression, trauma and stress. Therapeutic interventions consist of individual level skills training primarily for resilience and coping; group approaches; therapeutic approaches derived from the main schools of psychotherapy; diagnostic-specific approaches; and changes required at the mental health system level.
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    The Usefulness of Harmonised for Whānau in Supporting Taitamariki to Have Healthy Relationships: A User Experience Co-Inquiry Study
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2018) Howson, Moira
    This research study explored the usefulness of the Harmonised mHealth application (app) for whānau in supporting taitamariki to have healthy relationships. Harmonised is a Māori centred yet inclusive intervention co-developed with taitamariki to promote healthy relationships for taitamariki and reduce whānau violence. Whānau can be invited by taitamariki to join the app to access resources and provide advice if asked. The usefulness of the app for whānau was explored using a new approach, user experience co-inquiry, within a qualitative descriptive methodology. User experience co-inquiry is a clinician facilitated and user led usability inquiry that takes the form of a semi-structured interview. Six whānau, all mothers, were interviewed, three of whom identified as Māori. The results showed that Harmonised was viewed positively by whānau as a useful resource to support taitamariki to have healthy relationships. The circumstances, concerns and needs the mothers had for taitamariki framed the way in which they experienced the app. Thus, the usefulness was viewed in terms of facilitating communication and ensuring the safety of young people. Suggestions were made by the mothers for additional content and enhanced functionality of Harmonised to be considered in future releases. Latent analysis of the data addressed a gap in the literature, by eliciting a potential model for evaluating the usefulness of eHealth and mHealth interventions. This model posits that the needs and concerns of the user determine the way in which the usefulness and usability of the app would be experienced. Thus, a user centred approach to eHealth and mHealth usability is beneficial to support clinicians make recommendations to clients and to inform future on-line interventions.
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    Values, Pro-Environmental Behaviour and Stress Appraisals of Anthropogenic Environmental Degradation
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2020) Ashwell, Dana
    Anthropogenic environmental degradation is a major global threat to both natural and human systems. There is an emerging literature that suggests related psychological distress may lead to significant mental health outcomes. Using the cognitive theory of stress, pro-environmental behaviour can be proposed as a coping response to stress appraisals around anthropogenic environmental degradation. Pro-environmental behaviour may be motivated by many personal and social factors. In particular, value orientations (egoistic, altruistic and biospheric) may be a key factor in influencing pro-environmental behaviour. To date, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the relationships between these variables. This current study aimed to determine how values orientations, pro-environmental behaviour and stress appraisals of anthropogenic environmental degradation are related, in a sample of adults in New Zealand. Using a quantitative, survey study design, data was gathered from 205 participants. Analyses found that demographic factors such as age and gender influenced pro-environmental behaviour and certain components of stress appraisal. Biospheric value orientation, egoistic value orientation and centrality appraisals of anthropogenic environmental degradation emerged as significant predictors of pro-environmental behaviour, highlighting the importance of value orientation and aspects of primary appraisal in influencing pro-environmental behaviour. It was also found that values in general, have little influence over stress appraisal processes around anthropogenic environmental degradation, though they still may have a small influence on certain aspects of primary appraisal. The findings suggest that though values may have an important influence on pro-environmental behaviours, they may not necessarily have an important impact on the perceptions of stress around anthropogenic environmental degradation. Limitations and suggested future directions for research are discussed.
Research projects are protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). The research projects may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use:
  • Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person.
  • Authors control the copyright of their research projects. You will recognise the author’s right to be identified as the author of the research project, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate.
  • You will obtain the author’s permission before publishing any material from the research project.