Publications

Journal article | Peer reviewed

Determining the longitudinal associations between suicidal ideation and biopsychosocial factors in early to mid-adolescence: a prospective cohort study ↗

by Michelle Kennedy, Maddison Crethar, Amanda Boyes, Paul Schwenn, Christina Driver, Daniel F Hermens, Lia Mills, Taliah Prince and Kassie Bromley

2025
BMJ Open

Objectives: To determine whether a biopsychosocial model of suicidality, specifically sleep, nutrition, physical exercise, mindfulness, social connectedness, lower socioeconomic status (SES) and sex are uniquely associated with increased suicidal ideation, longitudinally over adolescence. Design: Longitudinal, prospective cohort study. Setting: A structured self-report questionnaire was collected as part of the Longitudinal Adolescent Brain Study at the University of the Sunshine Coast’s Thompson Institute (Queensland, Australia) from July 2018 to January 2024.Participants159 Australian adolescents (n=91 female; 68 male) aged 12 to 17 years. Outcome measures: Self-reported suicidal ideation was measured longitudinally. Data were also collected on self-reported lifestyle factors (sleep, nutrition, physical exercise, mindfulness and social connectedness), psychological distress, SES and sex. All measures were collected at 4-monthly intervals for each participant for up to 5 years (maximum of 15 time points). Results: Significant relationships were identified between increased suicidal ideation and poor sleep (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.4 to 4.6, p=0.002), socioeconomic disadvantage (SES quintile 1: OR 6.3, 95% CI, 1.8 to 21.8, p=0.004; SES quintile 2: OR 8.7, 95% CI 1.4 to 56.2, p=0.022), psychological distress (OR 5.7, 95% CI 2.1 to 15.6, p≤0.001) and eating habits (β −0.08, 95% CI −0.2 to −0.0). Conclusions: Poor sleep, socioeconomic disadvantage, psychological distress and eating habits were all found to be significantly associated with increased adolescent suicidal ideation over time. These biopsychosocial factors should be considered in targeted interventions and policies for reducing adolescent suicidality. Further research should employ multilevel modelling to examine factor interactions and rigorously evaluate interventions targeting lifestyle factors and socioeconomic inequalities through randomised controlled trials and quasi-experimental designs.

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Journal article | Peer reviewed

Longitudinal Insights into the Neurophysiology of Cyberbullying Involvement in Adolescence: A Bayesian Approach Using EEG Spectral Power ↗

by Amanda Boyes, Daniel F Hermens, Taliah Prince, Dashiell D Sacks, Lia Mills, Christina Driver, Paul Schwenn, Jules Mitchell and Toomas Erik Anijärv

2025
Biological Psychology

The impact of cyberbullying on mental health is a significant concern among adolescents, yet there is limited research on the neurophysiological markers of cyberbullying. This study aims to address this by exploring whether resting state electroencephalography (EEG) power, among traditional frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta), predicts cyberbullying experiences over time. Participants (N=167 with n=904 datapoints; aged 12.0-17.9 years) completed EEG and other assessments at 4 monthly-intervals for five years. Results revealed several associations between EEG power across brain regions and various cyberbullying roles. Key findings include a decrease in EEG power across all frequency bands over time across the entire sample, aligning with typical developmental patterns. However, in early adolescence, cyberbully-victims exhibited lower delta power compared to other groups, which may suggest heightened emotional reactivity. Conversely, later in adolescence there were decreases in delta power among cyberbullies, potentially reflective an adaptive stress response. Longitudinally, cyberbully-victims retained more alpha power over time (i.e. into later adolescence) in frontal and central regions, suggesting greater cognitive effort in processing emotional experiences. Conversely, cyberbullies showed a relative steeper decline in alpha power (into later adolescence) in frontal regions, possibly linked to impulsivity and higher levels of general aggression. Longitudinal analyses highlight the importance of early interventions to target cognitive and emotional processes that may be implicated in cyberbullying in order to reduce the impact of cyberbullying and protect the mental health of adolescents. Future research should involve larger, more diverse samples to improve our knowledge of complex relationships in this research area.

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Journal article | Peer reviewed

Differential neural responses to body image-related cyberbullying in adolescent females ↗

by Taliah Prince, Jacob M Levenstein, Christina Driver, Kate Mulgrew, Larisa McLoughlin, Daniel Hermens, Zack Shan, Amanda Boyes and Lia Mills

2025
NeuroImage

Body image-related cyberbullying (BRC), which targets an individual’s body shape, weight, and/or size, is associated with body dissatisfaction and maladaptive eating behaviours among adolescent females. However, its neurobiological mechanisms remain unclear. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined neural responses to BRC stimuli in 26 females (14–18 years; Mage = 15.54) from the Longitudinal Adolescent Brain Study. BRC stimuli elicited greater BOLD responses in regions implicated in emotional regulation (insula, anterior cingulate cortex), visual processing (lateral occipital cortex, fusiform gyrus), and social cognition (temporal pole, angular gyrus). Adolescents with recent cyberbullying experiences exhibited greater BOLD responses in the parahippocampal gyrus and lateral occipital cortex, whereas those without body dissatisfaction showed greater responses in the caudate and amygdala. Longitudinally, increased cyberbullying perpetration was associated with greater BOLD responses in the angular and middle temporal gyri. These findings provide insights into neurobiological pathways through which BRC may influence adolescent brain function and mental health.

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Journal article | Peer reviewed

Longitudinal Dynamics and Pluripotentiality of Polysymptomatic Clustering in Adolescent Mental Health ↗

by Michelle F. Kennedy, Paul E. Schwenn, Amanda Boyes, Lia Mills, Taliah Prince, Marcella J. Parker and Daniel F. Hermens

2025
Mental Illness

Background: Adolescence represents a sensitive developmental period characterised by an increased incidence of emerging mental health symptoms and formal diagnostic onset. These conditions can remain a significant burden throughout life. The Longitudinal Adolescent Brain Study (LABS) commenced in 2018 to track the onset and trajectory of mental health symptoms among participants aged 12–17 years. This research is aimed at identifying the clusters of emerging symptoms transdiagnostically in adolescents and examining how these clusters vary by age and change over time, providing insights into the pluripotentiality of disorder development. Methods: LABS participants (12–17 years, n = 166) completed the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI Kid) approximately every 4 months, up to 15 timepoints. The high dimensional dataset underwent a dimensionality reduction step (uniform manifold approximation and projection [UMAP]), followed by Bayesian model averaging of k-means, Gaussian mixture model and hierarchical clustering to identify distinct symptom clusters. Symptom clusters were described in terms of the original neuropsychiatric interview responses using separate XGBoost classifier models. Symptom cluster dynamics were analysed using Markov chain transition probability matrices and longitudinal analysis. To explore the relationship between symptom clusters and psychological distress and well-being, correlational analyses were conducted using scores from the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) and the COMPAS-W Wellbeing Scale. Results: Six symptom-based clusters (states) were identified: attention, anxiety, depression, manic episode—heritability, anhedonia, and well. Depression and anxiety clusters had the greatest pluripotentiality. Analysis of psychological distress and well-being scores demonstrated an inverse relationship between the states: those with greater psychological distress had more symptoms; conversely, those with greater well-being had fewer symptoms. Conclusions: Mapping clusters of mental health symptoms and their pluripotential and transitory trajectories in adolescents enables more effective targeting of preventive interventions. This approach moves beyond categorical classifications, addressing comorbidity of emerging symptoms to mitigate the progression of early symptoms into enduring psychiatric disorders.

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Journal article | Peer reviewed

The body image related cyberbullying picture series (BRC-PicS): developed for use in research relating to cyberbullying, body image and eating disorders among female adolescents ↗

by Larisa T. McLoughlin, Taliah Prince, Kate E. Mulgrew, Christina Driver, Daniel F. Hermens, Lia Mills and Amanda Boyes

2025
Current Psychology

Body image-related cyberbullying (BRC), which targets an individual’s body weight, shape, and size, poses a serious threat to adolescent mental health, particularly among females. Evidence suggests that adolescent females who act as cyberbystanders of BRC - those witnessing without being directly targeted - may experience heightened body dissatisfaction and maladaptive eating behaviours. However, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying BRC remain largely unexplored. This study developed a series of BRC scenarios to examine neural responses among adolescent female cyberbystanders to viewing BRC stimuli. A total of 24 scenarios (12 BRC, 12 neutral) were created to replicate social media posts. A sample of 413 females aged 14–19 rated the severity and realism of the BRC stimuli and completed measures of cyberbullying, body image, and eating disorder psychopathology. Results indicated a positive correlation between severity and realism ratings, with younger participants perceiving scenarios as more realistic. ARC-victimisation was associated with greater engagement in ARC-bullying behaviours and heightened body image disturbances. A final subset of six scenarios, reflecting varied severity, realism, and thematic content, was selected to form the Body Image-Related Cyberbullying Picture Series (BRC-PicS). This validated tool enables real-time investigation into BRC’s impact on adolescent female mental health, supporting future neurobiological research and informing interventions for body dissatisfaction and eating disorders among adolescent females.

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Explore all Lia Mills's publications in UniSC Research Bank

Awards and memberships

2025

Dean, Graduate Research Award for Outstanding Thesis

University of the Sunshine Coast (Australia, Sunshine Coast) - UniSC

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2023

UniSC 3MT - Runner up & People's choice

University of the Sunshine Coast (Australia, Sunshine Coast) - UniSC