Queensland COVID-19 research

This page of Queensland’s research related to the COVID-19 pandemic is compiled from information provided by Queensland universities and research institutes.

While many of our researchers are working on potential vaccines, treatments and other medical interventions, other researchers are applying their expertise to other impacts of the pandemic upon our economy and other aspects of society. The data includes immediate research activity, recent relevant work, proposed research (subject to available funds) and other responses using the resources and expertise of our research organisations.

Listing all of 19 matching responses out of 149 total responses.

  • Extending the Co-SPACE Study - how families are coping during the COVID-19 pandemic and what parents can do to help support their children’s mental health September 2021

    The UK Co-SPACE and its partner studies in Ireland, Denmark, Iran, USA and Australia will tell us how families are coping during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what parents can do to help support their children’s mental health. It is hoped this will help us to understand the needs of families at this time. This Griffith University extension of the “Co-SPACE study: Supporting Parents, Adolescents and Children during Epidemics” examines obsessive-compulsive and related symptoms in kids and how they may be affected by COVID-19 to better support young people, their parents and family.

    #Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    School of Applied Psychology
    Griffith University

    Contact details
    Ass Prof Lara Farrell
    Lead researcher
    l.farrell@griffith.edu.au
    +61 (0)7 5678 8224
    Collaborations

  • Queensland Family Cohort Study investigates impacts of COVID-19 on Queensland babies September 2021

    A Queensland-first trial that will assess the impacts of COVID-19 on expectant parents and their unborn babies is being carried out at Mater Mothers’ Hospitals. Augmenting the current Queensland Family Cohort Study, the Mater Research research team are recruiting 300 families who have endured the stress brought on by the COVID-19 crisis, while being pregnant. Mater Research Professor Vicki Clifton said it was important to capture data from both expectant mothers and fathers during this once-in-a-lifetime pandemic to see what the impacts of the crisis were on families, the pregnancy and their babies as they developed. “We know from previous research undertaken on the impacts of the 2011 Queensland floods that you don’t need to be directly affected by a crisis to have increased stress hormones in your system and we know that this affects the placenta and there is a change in the developmental profiles of the baby.”

    “It’s important that while we have, and continue to experience a pandemic, that we are evaluating the impacts on these families and also how this will influence their babies’ development up until they are school age,” Professor Clifton said. The Queensland Family Cohort Study pilot began in 2018 with the aim to address disease at its core and determine how a baby’s health and exposure in early life influences the onset of disease in the future.

    #Diagnostics#Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    Mater Research

    Contact details
    Prof Vicki Clifton
    Professorial Fellow
    vicki.clifton@mater.uq.edu.au
    +617 422 939 723
    Collaborations
    • Research partners:
    • University of Queensland
    • Queensland University of Technology
    • Griffith University

  • Exploring the mental health impact of responses to the COVID-19 pandemic August 2021

    The aim of our project is to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic response on individuals and examine the associations with psychosocial factors, genetic vulnerability, and previous history of mental health disorders. We expect to identify risk and protective factors related to adaptation to the pandemic that can provide immediate feedback to policy makers and evidence to help design health campaigns and interventions in Australia. This project is one of several projects enabled by a $5 million funding injection, in 2020, from the Queensland Government.

    #Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

    Contact details
    A/Prof Lucia Colodro-conde
    Senior Research Officer
    lucia.colodroconde@qimrberghofer.edu.au
    +617 3845 3018
    Collaborations

  • Corona-anxiety: how to recognise warning signs in kids & adolescents April 2020

    What are the signs of anxiety in young people caused by the upheaval to their world from COVID-19. QUT researcher Dr Judith Howard, from QUT’s Faculty of Education, is a behaviour support specialist who is a national leader in trauma-aware education. She said the sudden changes to our way of life, and fears about health and money, could cause anxiety for children as well as adults. “Our children and young people need to know that the adults in their worlds remain their ‘safe havens’,” she said. “They need to know that parents, carers, teachers and others are there to listen to their fears, to respond honestly, to help them understand what is happening, and to know that none of what has been going on will last forever. It will come to an end one day. We also need to keep reminding ourselves of that!” Dr Howard said anxiety often showed itself in three different ways – ‘fight’, ‘flight’ and ‘freeze’ behavioural responses.

    #Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    Faculty of Education, School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education
    Queensland University of Technology

    Contact details
    Dr Judith Howard
    Associate Professor in Digital Communication
    ja.howard@qut.edu.au
    +61 7 3138 3934

  • Impact of COVID-19 on Physical Activity of 10,000 Steps Members and Engagement with the Program in Australia January 2021

    Physical activity is an important health behavior, due to its association with many physical and mental health conditions. During distressing events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a concern that physical activity levels may be negatively impacted. The free 10,000 Steps program has been run by a team at CQUniversity since 2001. The aim of this study supported by Health and Well Being Queensland was to investigate changes in physical activity reported through the 10,000 Steps program and changes in engagement with the program during the COVID-19 pandemic. A decrease in steps was observed after the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Australia and after the start of the lockdown. At the time that the relaxing of restrictions started, the steps had already recovered from the lockdown. During the lockdown, the use of the program increased steeply. On the peak day, there were more than 9000 step entries per day, with nearly 100 million steps logged per day. More than 450 new users and more than 15 new organizations registered per day, although the numbers decreased quickly when restrictions were relaxed. On average per day, there were about 55 new registered users, 2 new organizations, 25.6 million steps, and 2672 log entries more in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.

    #Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences
    CQUniversity

    Contact details
    Prof Corneel Vandelanotte
    Professorial Research Fellow
    c.vandelanotte@cqu.edu.au
    +617 4923 2183
    Collaborations

  • Impact of COVID19 on educators May 2021

    This research by USQ will explore the impact of COVID-19 on educators (from early childhood up through to higher education). The study will use established and validated surveys such as Kessler 10 and self-efficacy (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale). The survey will be conducted online. A snowballing method of collecting participants will be used, starting with the researchers’ personal and professional networks.

    #Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    Centre for Health Research
    University of Southern Queensland

    Contact details
    Ass Prof Petrea Redmond
    Ass Prof (Educational Technology)
    Petrea.Redmond@usq.edu.au
    +61 7 46312318
    Collaborations

  • COVID-19 UNMASKED: Supporting young children and their parents April 2021

    COVID-19 Unmasked (Young Children) is an online prospective longitudinal cohort study led by Dr. Alexandra De Young from the Queensland Centre for Perinatal and Infant Mental Health and the University of Queensland. De Young is also leading this global collaboration with COVID-19 Unmasked projects underway in 9 countries (Australia, Cyprus, Greece, Poland, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, US, UK). Collaborating researchers aim to (a) describe and compare the COVID-19 related experiences within and across countries; (b) examine mental health outcomes for young children (1 to 5 years) and caregivers over a 12-month period during the COVID-19 pandemic; (c) identify the relationships between risk and protective factors for child and caregiver emotional wellbeing; and (d) combine data from all participating countries into one large open access cross-cultural dataset to facilitate further international collaborations and joint publications.

    #Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    Queensland Centre for Perinatal and Infant Mental Health - Children’s Health Queensland
    Queensland Health

    Contact details
    Dr Alexandra De Young
    Research Fellow
    alex.deyoung@health.qld.gov.au
    +61 7 3266 0300
    Collaborations

  • COVID-19 UNMASKED: Supporting children, adolescents and their parents April 2021

    This collaborative project led by Professor Sonja March from USQ’s Centre for Health Research is a longitudinal examination of the mental health and wellbeing impacts of COVID-19 for children, adolescents (6-17 years) and parents through isolation and up to 1 year following the lifting of restrictions. It also examines child and parent use of digital and telehealth supports, along with acceptability and usefulness of these for adolescents and parents.

    #Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    Centre for Health Research

    • University of Southern Queensland
    • Griffith University
    • The University of Queensland
    Contact details
    Prof Sonja March
    Prof, School of Psychology and Counselling and Centre for Health Research
    Sonja.March@usq.edu.au
    +617 3470 4434
    Collaborations

  • Impact and implications of COVID-19 on clinical supervision in hospital settings April 2021

    This Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship project led by Dr Priya Martin at the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service’s Cunningham Centre will investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical supervision practices of health professionals and students in regional and rural Queensland Health settings. Recommendations and strategies will be developed to negate the impact of this pandemic so that effective clinical supervision practices are maintained at the point of care.

    #Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    Cunningham Centre - Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service
    Queensland Health

    Contact details
    Dr Priya Martin
    Adjunct Fellow - Rural Clinical School
    priya.martin@health.qld.gov.au
    07 4037 4743
    Collaborations

  • Preventing secondary harm: Scaffolding healthcare capacity to promote Indigenous adolescents’ mental health April 2021

    COVID-19 is predicted to exacerbate the already significant prevalence of high levels of psychological distress in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents. Partnered with three Indigenous primary healthcare services, this Cairns-based Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship project led by Prof. Janya McCalman from CQUniversity’s Centre for Indigenous Health Equity Research responds by enhancing primary healthcare capacity to assess and promote adolescents’ mental health, and provide specific COVID-19 incident/cluster mental health prevention and intervention and aims to improve recovery and preparedness for future pandemics. Requested by the CEO of one of the partner Indigenous primary healthcare services, Gurriny Yealamucka Health Service in Yarrabah, preliminary research scoped their response to the COVID-19 pandemic and implications for their organisation and community engagement and responses to the diverse issues of community members in lockdown. The resultant report examines when and what was done well, what was not, and what strategies and resources should be improved for Gurriny to respond more effectively to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and any future pandemics or critical events, including for youth health.

    #Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    Centre for Indigenous Health Equity Research
    CQUniversity

    Contact details
    Prof Janya McCalman
    Professorial Research Fellow - Indigenous Health
    j.mccalman@cqu.edu.au
    07 4037 4743
    Collaborations

  • National COVID-19 Community Survey June 2020

    A national longitudinal survey on the health and wellbeing of Australians living through COVID-19 is collecting data from Australian adults to investigate what people know and what health-related behaviours people adopt throughout the term of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CQU research examines the associations between psychological distress and changes in selected health behaviours since the onset of COVID-19 in Australia and included measures of depression, anxiety, stress, physical activity, sleep, alcohol intake and cigarette smoking.

    #Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences
    CQUniversity

    Contact details
    Dr Robert Stanton
    Senior Lecturer
    r.stanton@cqu.edu.au
    (07) 4923 2275
    Collaborations
    • Co-researchers:
    • To Quyen
    • Saman Khalesi Taharoom
    • Susan Williams
    • Stephanie Alley
    • Tanya Thwaite
    • Andrew Fenning
    • Corneel Vandelanotte
    • Collaborator - Appleton Institute

  • The Longitudinal Adolescent Brain Study (LABS) now includes the potential influence of COVID-19 June 2020

    The Longitudinal Adolescent Brain Study (LABS) now includes the potential influence of COVID-19. The world-first, five-year research project at USC’s Thompson Institute aims to better understand the adolescent brain. Using four-monthly brain imaging and neurocognitive assessments, the researcher work with young people to track changes that occur in the brain from ages 12-18. This research aims to inform the development of evidence-based youth mental health programs to support young people and their families and now includes questions related to COVID-19, to aid understanding of how youth mental health can be supported through impacts like spatial distancing and feelings of uncertainty. This long-term study is in a unique position to be able to investigate changes in adolescent brain development and mental wellbeing before, during and after the pandemic.

    #Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    Sunshine Coast Mind & Neuroscience - Thompson Institute
    University of Sunshine Coast

    Contact details
    Dr Larisa McLoughlin
    Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Youth Mental Health
    lmclough@usc.edu.au
    +61 7 5456 3887

  • Monitoring local exercise patterns during covid: a longitudinal observation study linking outdoor activity and vitamin D synthesis June 2020

    This project led by Dr Nathan Downs at USQ will investigate multiple time series of personal outdoor activity for the period 2020 to 2021. Outdoor sunlight exposure periods will be measured using personal electronic sun journals. Exposure will be expressed with respect to the vitamin D action spectra for human skin. The project aims to understand how exercise, outdoor timing and vitamin D levels from solar radiation influence mood? This data will be compared to baseline data collected in late 2021. This data will be compared to baseline data collected in late 2021.

    #Mental health and wellbeing#Exercise#Sun exposure

    Centre

    Centre for Health Research
    University of Southern Queensland

    Contact details
    Dr Nathan Downs
    Senior Lecturer (Mathematics)
    Nathan.Downs@usq.edu.au
    +61 7 4631 5521
    Collaborations

  • Physical activity behaviours and mental health indicators of Australian adults during COVID–19 restrictions June 2020

    Professor Peter Terry and colleagues at USQ are working as part of a multinational study to assess the effects of COVID-19 restrictions on physical and mental wellbeing. The team have been monitoring physical and mental health indices during lockdown, via a one-off 20-min online survey relating to (a) demographics (b) reasons for exercising, (c) physical activity behaviours, and (d) mental wellbeing, before and during the COVID–19 lockdown. Approximately 4,000 individuals have participated, including 400 Australians.

    #Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    Centre for Health Research
    University of Southern Queensland

    Contact details
    Prof Peter Terry
    Dean Graduate Research School and Prof of Psychology
    Peter.Terry@usq.edu.au
    +61 7 4631 1681
    Collaborations
    • Co-researchers:
    • Associate Prof Victoria Terry
    • Dr Renee Parsons-Smith
    • Collaborators:
    • Prof Costas Karageorghis (Brunel University, London)
    • Dr Jonathan Bird (Exeter University, UK)
    • Prof Mark Hamer (University College London)
    • Dr Jasmin Hutchinson (Springfield College, USA)
    • University of Lille (France)

  • Monitoring mood responses as an indicator of mental health during COVID-19 restrictions July 2020

    Professor Peter Terry and his colleagues at USQ are focusing their ongoing work on mood profiling to examine the effects of COVID-19 restrictions on the moods of individuals. Data collection involves a one-off 3-min online mood measure known as the Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS), gathered via the In The Mood website. Data gathered during the period of COVID-19 restrictions will be compared to pre-lockdown norms, which are based on the responses of 25,000 individuals. Just over 1,000 individuals participated in the current study.

    #Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    Centre for Health Research
    University of Southern Queensland

    Contact details
    Prof Peter Terry
    Dean Graduate Research School and Prof of Psychology
    Peter.Terry@usq.edu.au
    +61 7 4631 1681
    Collaborations

  • Supporting families with parental drug abuse and other issues during the COVID-19 crisis May 2020

    Professor Sharon Dawe and Associate Professor Paul Harnett at GU are working closely with frontline practitioners across the family support and child protection system to develop online delivery for PuP (Parents under Pressure Program) training. This is being trialled across May - July 2020, with 40 practitioners. Their feedback will inform further development of the Online training process. Dawe and Harnett have also adapted PuP program material to be made available Online for practitioners to use directly with families. This innovative strategy allows practitioners to work remotely with families, providing a tailored approach to families who may experience greater pressure as a consequence of the COVID-19 crisis.

    #Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    School of Applied Psychology
    Griffith University

    Contact details
    Prof Sharon Dawe
    Prof in Clinical Psychology
    s.dawe@griffith.edu.au
    +61 (0)7 3735 3371
    Collaborations
    Co-researcher - Associate Prof Paul Harnett - Criminology and Criminal Justice

  • Mental Health Support in Rural and Remote Communities June 2020

    Suicide rates in Australia may increase as a result of COVID-19, as individuals battle the social and economic impacts of the virus. The impacts will be greatest among those who live in rural and regional Australia. There is an urgent need to ensure that mental health services are able to meet a dramatic increase in demand. In partnership with Wesley Medical Research, the Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation will implement a pilot program for improved mental health services in the Bowen Basin. A pilot program will be developed after a comprehensive review of existing services in the region and provide a targeted response to the increased mental health issues arising due to COVID-19.

    #Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    Australian Centre For Health Services Innovation (AusHSI)

    Contact details
    Prof Steven McPhail
    Academic Director, AusHSI
    steven.mcphail@qut.edu.au
    +61 7 3406 2266
    Collaborations
    Partners: COVID-19 Rapid Response Research Centre, Wesley Medical Research

  • Social connection in older Australians in regional Western Australia June 2020

    Social connection is a fundamental need. Location and other social factors may put older people in regional areas of Australia at increased risk of experiencing loneliness and social isolation. The unexpected onset of COVID-19 has imposed social isolation. An exploratory study was undertaken by USQ with participants who have high levels of social capital as active members of organised groups, and in staying in contact with family members, friends and neighbours. The findings around the effects of unexpected social isolation on older people, may inform future research and knowledge about successful ageing.

    #Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    Centre for Health Research
    University of Southern Queensland

    Contact details
    Dr Tanya Machin
    Senior Lecturer (Psychology and Counselling)
    Tanya.Machin@usq.edu.au
    +61 7 4631 5576
    Collaborations

  • Technology and Telepressure: Transitions from face-to-face work environment to remote working conditions June 2020

    In response to COVID-19 many businesses and staff were required to very rapidly engage in remote work conditions. Technology was heavily relied upon to connect individuals and enable remote work in many different professions. Previous research indicates that reliance on technology within the workplace is linked to increased telepressure (a preoccupation or urge to respond to electronic communication) and consistent telepressure is linked to compromised productivity, work engagement and quality of work. This USQ study used Zoom interviews to explore the effects of technology within the home workplace and the associated telepressure and perceived short and long-term benefits and disadvantages. A better understanding of potential barriers facing employees working remotely and the contributing factors to experienced telepressure may allow for identification of successful strategies and approaches for minimising negative impacts on employees working remotely.

    #Mental health and wellbeing

    Centre

    Centre for Health Research
    University of Southern Queensland

    Contact details
    Dr Tanya Machin
    Senior Lecturer (Psychology and Counselling)
    Tanya.Machin@usq.edu.au
    +61 7 4631 5576
    Collaborations
    Kyra Dawbarn (Honours Student - USQ)

Other Queensland COVID-19 initiatives

Queensland Government
Coronavirus (COVID-19) business assistance finder
Life Sciences Queensland
Life Sciences Queensland joins the data-powered alliance to stop COVID-19

Key Australian COVID-19 initiatives

Australian Academy of Science
Rapid Research Information Forum (RRIF)
COVID-19 Expert Database

Key international COVID-19 initiatives

CORD-19 (COVID-19 Open Research Dataset)
Free database of 130,000 plus COVID-19 open research papers