VicHealth researcher: John Toumbourou
“Positive social behaviours – respect, care, consideration − may have long-term benefits on young peoples’ health and wellbeing”
Associate Professor John Toumbourou is a VicHealth Senior Research Fellow who is exploring how positive social behaviours such as participating in community service, helping others and volunteering can influence the healthy development of children and young people while also reducing problems such as drug abuse and mental illness.
Contact Professor John Toumbourou
Chair in Health Psychology, School of Psychology
Deakin University
1 Gheringhap Street
Geelong VIC 3217
Phone: +61 (03) 5227 8278
Mobile: +61 (0)419 582 889
Email: john.toumbourou@deakin.edu.au
Within social environments such as schools and families children show healthier development where their peers and social networks have been encouraged toward behaviours and practices that convey care, consideration and respect. The benefits from these positive social behaviours flow across the whole social environment, but are more prominent for children disadvantaged by higher levels of health and social problems. This project will advance knowledge of how positive social behaviour develops while also exploring the longer-term benefits that can be achieved by encouraging such behaviour.
John is Chair of Health Psychology in the School of Psychology at Deakin University.He also manages a number of research teams as an Honorary Associate within the Centre for Adolescent Health at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Royal Children’s Hospital. His academic background is in health and community psychology and his research projects include the longitudinal follow-up of children and youth cohorts and the development and evaluation of parent and community health promotion interventions.
The outcomes of this research will be an improved understanding of the contribution that positive social behaviour programs can make to the prevention of drug abuse, mental illness and related health and social problems.
John commented that the VicHealth fellowship has opened opportunities for his research teams “to investigate new solutions to problems such as drug abuse and mental illness by exploring the development of positive social behaviour and its contribution to healthy social environments.”