Stress associated with commencing university : A comparison of metropolitan and rural and regional students
- Authors: March, Evita , Van Doorn, George , Howell, Jacqui , Moore, Kathleen
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 7th Australian Rural and Remote Mental Health Symposium p. 27-38
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- Description: Most people find times of transition stressful, such as commencing a new job or moving house. In this study, our aim was to investigate stress reported by students as they commenced university. Specifically, we aimed to investigate whether stress levels and perceived social support levels differed among students (i.e., metropolitan and rural and regional) who moved house to commence university and those who did not. Results from 551 students (144 males) indicated that 88% of all students rated the level of stress associated with commencing university as being above the mid-point on a 5-pt Likert scale. The stress of commencing university was higher among rural and regional students who left home to study than it was among metropolitan students who shifted house. In addition, the stress associated with moving house significantly predicted both metropolitan and rural and regional students’ ratings on the stress of commencing university. There were no group differences in perceptions of available social support when commencing university. Results of this study, especially for rural and regional students, are discussed in terms of student welfare, and ways to ameliorate the potential stress and depression associated with commencing university and shifting house.
A review of prevalence studies of Autism Spectrum Disorder by latitude and solar irradiance impact
- Authors: Syed, Somayya , Moore, Kathleen , March, Evita
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Medical Hypotheses Vol. 109, no. (2017), p. 19-24
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- Description: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong disability with no known cause or cure. Among the suggested etiologies, is Cannell's hypothesis of a deficiency in Vitamin D the main natural source of which is Solar Ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation. The aim in this paper is to build on this hypothesis and explore the relationship of solar irradiance of which UVB is a component, by latitude with the prevalence rates of ASD. Twenty-five reports published between 2011 and 2016 using comparable diagnostic criteria were reviewed. The results suggest a tendency for the prevalence rates of ASD to be lowest in countries near the equator and for this rate to increase as the latitude increases. These findings provide some support not just for the Vitamin D hypothesis, but also for a new proposition that along with UVB radiation, the entire solar radiation spectrum which reaches the earth, may play a role in ASD. While these results are both novel and encouraging in terms of the potential efficacy of exposure to natural sunlight, further research is warranted before results can be considered definitive, and before the implications of the findings can be implemented clinically. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd