Damian Scarf
Biographic Data
| ID | 1634781 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Damian Scarf |
| GIVEN NAMES | Damian |
| FAMILY NAME | Scarf |
| SIGNATURE | SCARF D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Otago |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9486-8059 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 32 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 17 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 32 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Problematic Reasoning Under the Guise of Anti-Māori Talk
Drawing from a subset of Twitter/X quotes (or tweets) on the politically controversial Three Waters Reform, this study identified forms of anti-Māori discourse through a deductive analysis. A complementary analysis was conducted to unpack how problematic reasoning fueled racism against Māori. Our results revealed distinct and interconnected themes—“resources,” “culture,” “stirrer,” “privilege,” and “one people”—that portrayed Māori as undeserving…
Stigma in Aotearoa New Zealand
A qualitative study of former participants’ experiences of the Green Prescription program in Aotearoa New Zealand
Physical activity promotion through primary care represents a key public health strategy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s Green Prescription (GRx) program, a nationwide primary care-based physical activity intervention, has operated for over 25 years but lacks comprehensive evaluation of participant experiences and long-term impacts. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with 15 former GRx Otago participants. Interviews explored experienc…
Information Regarding Shared Genes Between Humans Improves Attitudes Towards World Members
Laypeople reason that different races share 68% of their genes. In fact, the Human Genome Project indicates that humans, regardless of race, share 99.9% of our genetic material and that only 1/200th of 1% has been used to group people into the five classically conceived races. We reasoned that information about shared genetics might compel participants to extend their ingroup to include those formerly in the outgroup. In three studies, we showed …
How is substance use portrayed in digital media and what impacts can it have
In 2021, Facebook Inc. changed its name to Meta. At first glance, the updated name simply reflected that the company had grown to own not just the Facebook platform, but also Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp and a desire to branch out and include virtual reality [1]. The term “meta,” however, has a deeper meaning. Meta is short for metaverse, a word coined by Neal Stephenson in his dystopian novel Snow Crash. The metaverse is a hypothetical future st…
Psychological predictors of vaping uptake among non‐smokers
The integration of queer-related curriculum in psychology training in Aotearoa/New Zealand
As a key profession within the mental health workforce, psychologists can offer affirmative services that lead to positive therapeutic outcomes for queer clients. This study examined how training programmes to become a registered psychologist in Aotearoa New Zealand currently provide content on working with queer clients. In 2022, all (N = 17) programme directors of psychology training were invited to participate in a survey that assessed the cul…
Social Identity Mapping With Justice‐Involved Young People
Social groups and the environments they create play a prominent role in the desistance versus persistence of young peoples' criminal offending. Social Identity Mapping (SIM) provides a quantitative method for understanding the social network of young offenders. This exploratory study was guided by two broad research questions: (1) using the SIM task, we wanted to investigate the experiences of young people moving through the Youth Justice System …
Big data Barbie
How was Barbie discussed on social media after the film's release in July 2023? While a great deal of media and academic commentary offers presumptive answers, to our knowledge no study has sought to address such a question empirically. We examine all posts on Meta's Facebook and Instagram platforms that mentioned Barbie during the month of the movie's premiere. Using soft clustering of large language model embeddings, we offer an informed answer…
Effects of vaping on uptake and cessation of smoking
The Covid Psychosocial Impacts Scale
This paper reports on the development and validation of the COVID Psychosocial Impacts Scale (CPIS), a self-report measure that comprehensively examines both positive and negative psychosocial impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first part of the program of work in which the CPIS was administered and compared with a measure of psychological distress (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, K-10) and wellbeing (World Health Organization …
We'll be okay together’
Queer university students face multiple stressors which can contribute to mental health difficulties, including minority stressors unique to their queer identities. However, there is little literature exploring stressors faced by queer individuals in university settings. The aim of this study was to qualitatively explore the current challenges and strengths faced by queer university students in Aotearoa New Zealand, in order to contextualise thei…
Bodypositive surpasses 1 billion engagements
The body-positive movement (#bodypositive) champions body acceptance by celebrating a diverse - visual - array of body types and shapes online. Sparked out of collective resistance to unrealistic bodies on social media, the #bodypositive community has assembled a considerable following: having now surpassed one billion engagements on Instagram. To mark this milestone, we highlight the problem, the promise, and the peril of image-focused movements…
A Survey of Screen Media Access and Use in Primary School Children’s Households
Our primary aim was to gain a better understanding of current technology availability and use in the homes of primary school children. The online-accessible questionnaire was made available for families with a child enrolled at primary school, with over 300 families participating. The results suggest that it is common for children to be introduced to screen media early in life and that they watch a wide range of content. While many families have …
Longitudinal Change in Authoritarian Factors as Explained by Political Beliefs and a Distrust of Science
During the COVID-19 pandemic there have been marked changes in individuals' belief systems (e.g., support for lockdowns) as a result of the threat of COVID-19. In the current study, we investigated whether these belief systems change as a function of changes in the threat of COVID-19. Specifically, we conducted a longitudinal study, with authoritarianism measured at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand and when the threat of COVID-1…
Comparing Fear of Covid-19 and Preventive Covid-19 Infection Behaviors Between Iranian and Taiwanese Older People
This study assessed fear of the novel coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19), preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors, and the association between fear of COVID-19 and preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors among older people in Iran and Taiwan. Older people aged over 60 years ( n = 144 for Iranians and 139 for Taiwanese) completed the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and two items on preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors (i.e., hand washing and mouth co…
Taking a Break from Social Media Improves Wellbeing Through Sleep Quality
As social media use has increased in prevalence, so have concerns that social media may be detrimental to mental health and wellbeing. The primary aim of the current study was to investigate whether limiting social media use leads to increases in wellbeing. A secondary aim was to assess whether sleep quality contributed to the hypothesized relationship between social media use and wellbeing. One hundred and thirty-two individuals participated in …
A Content Analysis of Reddit Users' Perspectives on Reasons for Not Following Through with a Suicide Attempt
Despite a growing understanding of the triggers for suicidal thoughts and behavior, little is known about the mechanisms that prevent people from killing themselves. The goal of the present study was to use publicly available Reddit data to better understand the reasons that people give for not following through with a potentially lethal suicide attempt. Threads containing key terms (e.g., "kill yourself") within the subreddit /r/AskReddit were c…
How intoxicated are you? Investigating self and observer intoxication ratings in relation to blood alcohol concentration
Monitoring the sentiment of cannabis‐related tweets in the lead up to New Zealand's cannabis referendum
Hey Google! will New Zealand vote to legalise cannabis? Using Google Trends data to predict the outcome of the 2020 New Zealand cannabis referendum
Does the Fear of Missing Out Moderate the Relationship Between Social Networking Use and Affect? A Daily Diary Study
Social networking site (SNS) use is common and speculation about the negative impact of SNS use on mental health and psychological well-being is a recurring theme in scientific debates. The evidence for this link, however, is inconclusive. The Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) may assist in understanding the mixed evidence, as individuals who experience FoMO are more driven to keep up with what is happening to avoid missing out. We used a 2-week daily d…
Use of a head camera to examine maternal input and its relation to 10- to 26-month-olds’ acquisition of mental and non-mental state vocabulary
We examined the relation between maternal responsiveness and children's acquisition of mental and non-mental state vocabulary in 59 pairs of mothers and children aged 10 to 26 months as they engaged in a free-play episode. Children wore a head camera and responsiveness was defined as maternal talk that commented on the child's actions (e.g., when the child reached for or manipulated an object visible in the head camera). As hypothesized, maternal…
Evaluation of the English Version of the Fear of Covid-19 Scale and Its Relationship with Behavior Change and Political Beliefs
The COVID-19 pandemic has many individuals around the world fearing for their lives. The constant news coverage, rapid transmission, and relatively high mortality rate, make fearfulness a natural response. To assess the fear of COVID-19, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) was developed. The primary aim of the present study was to conduct the first psychometric assessment and validation of the English version of the FCV-19S. Two samples were col…
Express yourself? Ease to express one's identity mediates the relationship between national belonging and mental health
A number of studies have reported a positive relationship between levels of national identification and well‐being. Although this link is clear, the relationship is likely influenced by a number of other variables. In the current study, we examine two such variables: age and the ease with which people feel they can express their identity in the national context. Participants were drawn from three waves (2008–12) of the biannual New Zealand Genera…
Subjective belonging and in-group favoritism
Big data Barbie
How was Barbie discussed on social media after the film's release in July 2023? While a great deal of media and academic commentary offers presumptive answers, to our knowledge no study has sought to address such a question empirically. We examine all posts on Meta's Facebook and Instagram platforms that mentioned Barbie during the month of the movie's premiere. Using soft clustering of large language model embeddings, we offer an informed answer…
Association between experience of racial discrimination and hazardous alcohol use among Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand
The association between Māori ethnicity and hazardous drinking in New Zealand may be partially mediated by experience of discrimination
Express yourself? Ease to express one's identity mediates the relationship between national belonging and mental health
A number of studies have reported a positive relationship between levels of national identification and well‐being. Although this link is clear, the relationship is likely influenced by a number of other variables. In the current study, we examine two such variables: age and the ease with which people feel they can express their identity in the national context. Participants were drawn from three waves (2008–12) of the biannual New Zealand Genera…
We'll be okay together’
Queer university students face multiple stressors which can contribute to mental health difficulties, including minority stressors unique to their queer identities. However, there is little literature exploring stressors faced by queer individuals in university settings. The aim of this study was to qualitatively explore the current challenges and strengths faced by queer university students in Aotearoa New Zealand, in order to contextualise thei…
The effect of verbal reminders on memory reactivation in 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old children
For adults, verbal reminders provide a powerful key to unlock our memories. For example, a simple question, such as "Do you remember your wedding day?" can reactivate rich memories of the past, allowing us to recall experiences that may have occurred days, weeks, and even decades earlier. The ability to use another person's language to access our memory of a prior experience is considered to be one of the hallmarks in human memory development, bu…
Childhood Memories
Memory Development During Infancy and Early Childhood across Cultures
Subjective belonging and in-group favoritism
Positive youth development in Māori and New Zealand European adolescents through an adventure education programme
Within Aotearoa New Zealand there is growing interest in positive youth development (PYD). A PYD approach provides balance to narratives surrounding outcomes for youth and broadens our views of what we consider beneficial developmental outcomes. In the current study we used sail training as a method to promote PYD in Māori and New Zealand European adolescents. Specifically, 54 Māori and 37 New Zealand European adolescents completed the 7‐day yout…
Children’s learning and memory of an interactive science lesson
Children often learn information in a context that is vastly different to the one in which they are asked to recall or use that information. Despite this, little is known about the effect of context change on children's recall of educational information. Here, 197 5- and 6-year-olds were taught the same interactive lesson in their classroom or on a field trip and were tested after a 1- to 2-day and 6-month delay. The effect of learning context wa…
Express yourself? Ease to express one's identity mediates the relationship between national belonging and mental health
A number of studies have reported a positive relationship between levels of national identification and well‐being. Although this link is clear, the relationship is likely influenced by a number of other variables. In the current study, we examine two such variables: age and the ease with which people feel they can express their identity in the national context. Participants were drawn from three waves (2008–12) of the biannual New Zealand Genera…
Association between experience of racial discrimination and hazardous alcohol use among Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand
The association between Māori ethnicity and hazardous drinking in New Zealand may be partially mediated by experience of discrimination
Use of a head camera to examine maternal input and its relation to 10- to 26-month-olds’ acquisition of mental and non-mental state vocabulary
We examined the relation between maternal responsiveness and children's acquisition of mental and non-mental state vocabulary in 59 pairs of mothers and children aged 10 to 26 months as they engaged in a free-play episode. Children wore a head camera and responsiveness was defined as maternal talk that commented on the child's actions (e.g., when the child reached for or manipulated an object visible in the head camera). As hypothesized, maternal…
Evaluation of the English Version of the Fear of Covid-19 Scale and Its Relationship with Behavior Change and Political Beliefs
The COVID-19 pandemic has many individuals around the world fearing for their lives. The constant news coverage, rapid transmission, and relatively high mortality rate, make fearfulness a natural response. To assess the fear of COVID-19, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) was developed. The primary aim of the present study was to conduct the first psychometric assessment and validation of the English version of the FCV-19S. Two samples were col…
Comparing Fear of Covid-19 and Preventive Covid-19 Infection Behaviors Between Iranian and Taiwanese Older People
This study assessed fear of the novel coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19), preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors, and the association between fear of COVID-19 and preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors among older people in Iran and Taiwan. Older people aged over 60 years ( n = 144 for Iranians and 139 for Taiwanese) completed the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and two items on preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors (i.e., hand washing and mouth co…
Taking a Break from Social Media Improves Wellbeing Through Sleep Quality
As social media use has increased in prevalence, so have concerns that social media may be detrimental to mental health and wellbeing. The primary aim of the current study was to investigate whether limiting social media use leads to increases in wellbeing. A secondary aim was to assess whether sleep quality contributed to the hypothesized relationship between social media use and wellbeing. One hundred and thirty-two individuals participated in …
A Content Analysis of Reddit Users' Perspectives on Reasons for Not Following Through with a Suicide Attempt
Despite a growing understanding of the triggers for suicidal thoughts and behavior, little is known about the mechanisms that prevent people from killing themselves. The goal of the present study was to use publicly available Reddit data to better understand the reasons that people give for not following through with a potentially lethal suicide attempt. Threads containing key terms (e.g., "kill yourself") within the subreddit /r/AskReddit were c…
How intoxicated are you? Investigating self and observer intoxication ratings in relation to blood alcohol concentration
Monitoring the sentiment of cannabis‐related tweets in the lead up to New Zealand's cannabis referendum
Hey Google! will New Zealand vote to legalise cannabis? Using Google Trends data to predict the outcome of the 2020 New Zealand cannabis referendum
Does the Fear of Missing Out Moderate the Relationship Between Social Networking Use and Affect? A Daily Diary Study
Social networking site (SNS) use is common and speculation about the negative impact of SNS use on mental health and psychological well-being is a recurring theme in scientific debates. The evidence for this link, however, is inconclusive. The Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) may assist in understanding the mixed evidence, as individuals who experience FoMO are more driven to keep up with what is happening to avoid missing out. We used a 2-week daily d…
A Survey of Screen Media Access and Use in Primary School Children’s Households
Our primary aim was to gain a better understanding of current technology availability and use in the homes of primary school children. The online-accessible questionnaire was made available for families with a child enrolled at primary school, with over 300 families participating. The results suggest that it is common for children to be introduced to screen media early in life and that they watch a wide range of content. While many families have …
Longitudinal Change in Authoritarian Factors as Explained by Political Beliefs and a Distrust of Science
During the COVID-19 pandemic there have been marked changes in individuals' belief systems (e.g., support for lockdowns) as a result of the threat of COVID-19. In the current study, we investigated whether these belief systems change as a function of changes in the threat of COVID-19. Specifically, we conducted a longitudinal study, with authoritarianism measured at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand and when the threat of COVID-1…
Effects of vaping on uptake and cessation of smoking
The Covid Psychosocial Impacts Scale
This paper reports on the development and validation of the COVID Psychosocial Impacts Scale (CPIS), a self-report measure that comprehensively examines both positive and negative psychosocial impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first part of the program of work in which the CPIS was administered and compared with a measure of psychological distress (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, K-10) and wellbeing (World Health Organization …
We'll be okay together’
Queer university students face multiple stressors which can contribute to mental health difficulties, including minority stressors unique to their queer identities. However, there is little literature exploring stressors faced by queer individuals in university settings. The aim of this study was to qualitatively explore the current challenges and strengths faced by queer university students in Aotearoa New Zealand, in order to contextualise thei…
Bodypositive surpasses 1 billion engagements
The body-positive movement (#bodypositive) champions body acceptance by celebrating a diverse - visual - array of body types and shapes online. Sparked out of collective resistance to unrealistic bodies on social media, the #bodypositive community has assembled a considerable following: having now surpassed one billion engagements on Instagram. To mark this milestone, we highlight the problem, the promise, and the peril of image-focused movements…
How is substance use portrayed in digital media and what impacts can it have
In 2021, Facebook Inc. changed its name to Meta. At first glance, the updated name simply reflected that the company had grown to own not just the Facebook platform, but also Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp and a desire to branch out and include virtual reality [1]. The term “meta,” however, has a deeper meaning. Meta is short for metaverse, a word coined by Neal Stephenson in his dystopian novel Snow Crash. The metaverse is a hypothetical future st…
Psychological predictors of vaping uptake among non‐smokers
Psychology (28 works) · Social Psychology (14 works) · Medicine (11 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Developmental psychology (8 works) · Social Psychology (8 works) · Aotearoa (7 works) · Psychiatry (7 works) · Clinical Psychology (6 works) · Computer Science (6 works)