Lea Waters
Biographic Data
| ID | 4777406 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lea Waters |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lea |
| FAMILY NAME | Waters |
| SIGNATURE | WATERS L |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Melbourne |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3648-2358 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 15 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2001 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Psychometric Evaluation of the Strength-Based Parenting Questionnaire and Comparison of Perceived Strength-Based Parenting in Collectivistic and Individualistic Cultures
This study examined strength-based parenting scores rated by a large youth sample ( N = 2,449; M = 15.03 years ± 2.94; 55.7% female; 44.3% male) collected from 9 countries classified as collectivistic (Indonesia, Israel [Arab citizens], Kazakhstan, Macau, Peru, Turkey, and Uzbekistan) or individualistic (Australia and Germany). Psychometric evaluation of the Strength-Based Parenting Questionnaire (SBPQ) showed factorial validity, strong internal …
Social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Aboriginal controlled social housing
This trial was retrospectively registered with the ISRCTN Register on the 12/7/21 with the study ID:ISRCTN33665735
Positive psychology in a pandemic: Buffering, bolstering, and building mental health
As the COVID-19 global health disaster continues to unfold across the world, calls have been made to address the associated mental illness public crisis. The current paper seeks to broaden these calls by considering the role that positive psychology factors can play in buffering against mental illness, bolstering mental health during COVID-19 and building positive processes and capacities that may help to strengthen future mental health. The pape…
Teacher Perspectives When Learning Trauma-Informed Practice Pedagogies: Stories of Meaning Making at Work
This qualitative study focused upon ways teachers make meaning when working with students who are affected by trauma. An 11-month longitudinal design was used to explore teachers’ perspectives ( N = 18 teachers) as they reflected upon the impacts of trauma within their classrooms and as they learned about trauma-informed practice strategies. Data from group interviews and participant journals were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological an…
Strength‐based parenting and stress‐related growth in adolescents: Exploring the role of positive reappraisal, school belonging, and emotional processing during the pandemic
INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has changed the way families live, interact, and connect with others, resulting in higher levels of stress for many teenagers who struggle with the ongoing uncertainty and disrupted school and family life. The current study examined the psychosocial factors that influence the capacity of adolescents to grow through the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The sample included 404 secondary sch…
The role of strength-based parenting, posttraumatic stress, and event exposure on posttraumatic growth in flood survivors
Favorable psychological outcomes following floods are not uncommon even for those with high levels of stress or exposure. Individual- and community-level interventions should leverage facilitating factors such as SBP to promote growth outcomes such as PTG. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
It’s a family matter”: A strengths-based intervention for parents of sexual minority individuals
Introduction Parenting a sexual minority child can pose both challenges and opportunities for growth. This study explored the effects of a strength-based parenting (SBP) intervention in helping parents of sexual minority children to develop (1) psychological growth and (2) a stronger parent-child bond.Method Six parents participated in the intervention, interviews were conducted before and after the intervention from parents and children. Themati…
Strength-Based Parenting and Academic Motivation in Adolescents Returning to School After Covid-19 School Closure: Exploring the Effect of School Belonging and Strength Use
The present study aimed to examine whether the level of strength-based parenting a student receives during remote learning affects their levels of academic motivation once returning to school. Additionally, the study sought to explore whether school belonging mediated the association between strength-based parenting and academic motivation and whether student strength use moderated this mediating relationship. The sample comprised of secondary sc…
Third wave positive psychology: Broadening towards complexity
The development of academic fields is often described through the metaphor of ‘waves.’ Following the instantiation of positive psychology (the first wave), scholarship emerged looking critically at the notions of positive and negative, becoming known as its second wave. More recently, we discern an equally significant evolution, namely scholarship that in various ways goes beyond the individual and embraces greater complexity. This includes going…
Coming Out as LGBTQ: The Role Strength-Based Parenting on Posttraumatic Stress and Posttraumatic Growth
Evaluation of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander strengths based coaching program: A study protocol
This trial was retrospectively registered with the ISRCTN Register on the 12/7/21 with the study ID: ISRCTN33665735
Taking “Thanks” for Granted: A Cross-Cultural Exploration of Gratitude in the UK and Australia
Examinations of the influence of culture on how gratitude is experienced are sparse, as are studies that simultaneously explore developmental differences in understandings of gratitude. This paper presents three studies that examine whether perceptions and experiences of gratitude differ across children, adolescents and adults in two individualistic, WEIRD and Commonwealth cultures—Australia and the UK. Studies 1a ( N = 88, ages 17–39) and 1b ( N…
What Schools Need to Know About Fostering School Belonging: A Meta-analysis
School Belonging: A Review of the History, Current Trends, and Future Directions
School belonging, at both a school and university level, has been well documented as a predictor of academic and psychosocial success. The construct has been examined by scholars in a variety of different professional disciplines (e.g., education, psychology, sociology) and continues to be consistently researched. Although significant contributions have been made in the field, there are still additional areas of investigation needed, as well as i…
Fostering School Belonging in Secondary Schools Using a Socio-Ecological Framework
The benefits of belonging and feeling connected to school for adolescent mental health and wellbeing are well documented, but how belonging is fostered is less understood. The present article puts forward a new conceptual framework of school belonging based on Bronfenbrenner's (1979) sociological model of human development, using evidence from a range of previous peer-reviewed studies to better understand the factors that occur across five levels…
A multidimensional approach to measuring well-being in students: Application of the Perma framework
Seligman recently introduced the PERMA model with five core elements of psychological well-being: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. We empirically tested this multidimensional theory with 516 Australian male students (age 13-18). From an extensive well-being assessment, we selected a subset of items theoretically relevant to PERMA. Factor analyses recovered four of the five PERMA elements, and two ill-bein…
Teaching with strengths in trauma-affected students: A new approach to healing and growth in the classroom
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network in the United States reports that up to 40% of students have experienced, or been witness to, traumatic stressors in their short lifetimes. These include home destabilization, violence, neglect, sexual abuse, substance abuse, death, and other adverse childhood experiences. The effects of trauma on a child severely compound the ability to self-regulate and sustain healthy relationships. In the classroom,…
A Review of School-Based Positive Psychology Interventions
The aim of this paper is to review school-based interventions that have been designed to foster student wellbeing and academic performance by following a positive psychology approach that seeks to cultivate positive emotions, resilience and positive character strengths. Following the calls of the 21st century education movement for schools to incorporate student wellbeing as a focus of learning, the current paper outlines the positive psychology …
The Individual in the Changing Working Life
Working life has been the subject of great change in recent years with contemporary conditions generally providing increased opportunities and autonomy for individuals. But these benefits can coincide with greater demands and responsibilities, increasing the pressure to work outside of traditional working hours and so creating conflict between work and family life. This book contributes towards our understanding of contemporary working life, cons…
Employability during unemployment: Adaptability, career identity and human and social capital
Self‐esteem, appraisal and coping: A comparison of unemployed and re‐employed people
The negative effects of unemployment on psychological health are well documented, yet Kasl's ( 1982 ) reverse causation hypothesis is that positive psychological health, and in particular self‐esteem, facilitates re‐employment. The aim of this study was to investigate this proposal by assessing levels of self‐esteem, cognitive appraisals and coping efforts among unemployed persons and relating these factors to their employment status six months l…
Coping with economic deprivation during unemployment
Self‐esteem, appraisal and coping: A comparison of unemployed and re‐employed people
The negative effects of unemployment on psychological health are well documented, yet Kasl's ( 1982 ) reverse causation hypothesis is that positive psychological health, and in particular self‐esteem, facilitates re‐employment. The aim of this study was to investigate this proposal by assessing levels of self‐esteem, cognitive appraisals and coping efforts among unemployed persons and relating these factors to their employment status six months l…
Taking “Thanks” for Granted: A Cross-Cultural Exploration of Gratitude in the UK and Australia
Examinations of the influence of culture on how gratitude is experienced are sparse, as are studies that simultaneously explore developmental differences in understandings of gratitude. This paper presents three studies that examine whether perceptions and experiences of gratitude differ across children, adolescents and adults in two individualistic, WEIRD and Commonwealth cultures—Australia and the UK. Studies 1a ( N = 88, ages 17–39) and 1b ( N…
Coping with economic deprivation during unemployment
Coping with economic deprivation during unemployment
Self‐esteem, appraisal and coping: A comparison of unemployed and re‐employed people
The negative effects of unemployment on psychological health are well documented, yet Kasl's ( 1982 ) reverse causation hypothesis is that positive psychological health, and in particular self‐esteem, facilitates re‐employment. The aim of this study was to investigate this proposal by assessing levels of self‐esteem, cognitive appraisals and coping efforts among unemployed persons and relating these factors to their employment status six months l…
Employability during unemployment: Adaptability, career identity and human and social capital
The Individual in the Changing Working Life
Working life has been the subject of great change in recent years with contemporary conditions generally providing increased opportunities and autonomy for individuals. But these benefits can coincide with greater demands and responsibilities, increasing the pressure to work outside of traditional working hours and so creating conflict between work and family life. This book contributes towards our understanding of contemporary working life, cons…
A Review of School-Based Positive Psychology Interventions
The aim of this paper is to review school-based interventions that have been designed to foster student wellbeing and academic performance by following a positive psychology approach that seeks to cultivate positive emotions, resilience and positive character strengths. Following the calls of the 21st century education movement for schools to incorporate student wellbeing as a focus of learning, the current paper outlines the positive psychology …
A multidimensional approach to measuring well-being in students: Application of the Perma framework
Seligman recently introduced the PERMA model with five core elements of psychological well-being: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. We empirically tested this multidimensional theory with 516 Australian male students (age 13-18). From an extensive well-being assessment, we selected a subset of items theoretically relevant to PERMA. Factor analyses recovered four of the five PERMA elements, and two ill-bein…
Teaching with strengths in trauma-affected students: A new approach to healing and growth in the classroom
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network in the United States reports that up to 40% of students have experienced, or been witness to, traumatic stressors in their short lifetimes. These include home destabilization, violence, neglect, sexual abuse, substance abuse, death, and other adverse childhood experiences. The effects of trauma on a child severely compound the ability to self-regulate and sustain healthy relationships. In the classroom,…
School Belonging: A Review of the History, Current Trends, and Future Directions
School belonging, at both a school and university level, has been well documented as a predictor of academic and psychosocial success. The construct has been examined by scholars in a variety of different professional disciplines (e.g., education, psychology, sociology) and continues to be consistently researched. Although significant contributions have been made in the field, there are still additional areas of investigation needed, as well as i…
Fostering School Belonging in Secondary Schools Using a Socio-Ecological Framework
The benefits of belonging and feeling connected to school for adolescent mental health and wellbeing are well documented, but how belonging is fostered is less understood. The present article puts forward a new conceptual framework of school belonging based on Bronfenbrenner's (1979) sociological model of human development, using evidence from a range of previous peer-reviewed studies to better understand the factors that occur across five levels…
What Schools Need to Know About Fostering School Belonging: A Meta-analysis
Third wave positive psychology: Broadening towards complexity
The development of academic fields is often described through the metaphor of ‘waves.’ Following the instantiation of positive psychology (the first wave), scholarship emerged looking critically at the notions of positive and negative, becoming known as its second wave. More recently, we discern an equally significant evolution, namely scholarship that in various ways goes beyond the individual and embraces greater complexity. This includes going…
Coming Out as LGBTQ: The Role Strength-Based Parenting on Posttraumatic Stress and Posttraumatic Growth
Evaluation of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander strengths based coaching program: A study protocol
This trial was retrospectively registered with the ISRCTN Register on the 12/7/21 with the study ID: ISRCTN33665735
Taking “Thanks” for Granted: A Cross-Cultural Exploration of Gratitude in the UK and Australia
Examinations of the influence of culture on how gratitude is experienced are sparse, as are studies that simultaneously explore developmental differences in understandings of gratitude. This paper presents three studies that examine whether perceptions and experiences of gratitude differ across children, adolescents and adults in two individualistic, WEIRD and Commonwealth cultures—Australia and the UK. Studies 1a ( N = 88, ages 17–39) and 1b ( N…
Positive psychology in a pandemic: Buffering, bolstering, and building mental health
As the COVID-19 global health disaster continues to unfold across the world, calls have been made to address the associated mental illness public crisis. The current paper seeks to broaden these calls by considering the role that positive psychology factors can play in buffering against mental illness, bolstering mental health during COVID-19 and building positive processes and capacities that may help to strengthen future mental health. The pape…
Teacher Perspectives When Learning Trauma-Informed Practice Pedagogies: Stories of Meaning Making at Work
This qualitative study focused upon ways teachers make meaning when working with students who are affected by trauma. An 11-month longitudinal design was used to explore teachers’ perspectives ( N = 18 teachers) as they reflected upon the impacts of trauma within their classrooms and as they learned about trauma-informed practice strategies. Data from group interviews and participant journals were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological an…
Strength‐based parenting and stress‐related growth in adolescents: Exploring the role of positive reappraisal, school belonging, and emotional processing during the pandemic
INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has changed the way families live, interact, and connect with others, resulting in higher levels of stress for many teenagers who struggle with the ongoing uncertainty and disrupted school and family life. The current study examined the psychosocial factors that influence the capacity of adolescents to grow through the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The sample included 404 secondary sch…
The role of strength-based parenting, posttraumatic stress, and event exposure on posttraumatic growth in flood survivors
Favorable psychological outcomes following floods are not uncommon even for those with high levels of stress or exposure. Individual- and community-level interventions should leverage facilitating factors such as SBP to promote growth outcomes such as PTG. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
It’s a family matter”: A strengths-based intervention for parents of sexual minority individuals
Introduction Parenting a sexual minority child can pose both challenges and opportunities for growth. This study explored the effects of a strength-based parenting (SBP) intervention in helping parents of sexual minority children to develop (1) psychological growth and (2) a stronger parent-child bond.Method Six parents participated in the intervention, interviews were conducted before and after the intervention from parents and children. Themati…
Strength-Based Parenting and Academic Motivation in Adolescents Returning to School After Covid-19 School Closure: Exploring the Effect of School Belonging and Strength Use
The present study aimed to examine whether the level of strength-based parenting a student receives during remote learning affects their levels of academic motivation once returning to school. Additionally, the study sought to explore whether school belonging mediated the association between strength-based parenting and academic motivation and whether student strength use moderated this mediating relationship. The sample comprised of secondary sc…
Social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Aboriginal controlled social housing
This trial was retrospectively registered with the ISRCTN Register on the 12/7/21 with the study ID:ISRCTN33665735
Psychometric Evaluation of the Strength-Based Parenting Questionnaire and Comparison of Perceived Strength-Based Parenting in Collectivistic and Individualistic Cultures
This study examined strength-based parenting scores rated by a large youth sample ( N = 2,449; M = 15.03 years ± 2.94; 55.7% female; 44.3% male) collected from 9 countries classified as collectivistic (Indonesia, Israel [Arab citizens], Kazakhstan, Macau, Peru, Turkey, and Uzbekistan) or individualistic (Australia and Germany). Psychometric evaluation of the Strength-Based Parenting Questionnaire (SBPQ) showed factorial validity, strong internal …
Psychology (19 works) · Social Psychology (13 works) · Clinical Psychology (8 works) · Medicine (8 works) · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Developmental psychology (7 works) · Resilience and Mental Health (7 works) · Pedagogy (6 works) · Psychiatry (6 works)