Institution: Orygen, Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
Supervisory team: A/Prof Simon Rice, Dr Zac Seidler, A/Prof Jacqui Macdonald
Position: PhD student.
Current research: My research interests are centred around suicidal thoughts and behaviours in boys and men. My PhD focuses on men’s risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours following intimate relationship breakdown. Specifically, I am hoping to identify factors that differentiate which men are likely to experience suicidality following relationship breakdown (e.g., problematic post-relationship coping, loss of social support, etc.) to identify avenues for intervention.
Research Interests:
- Suicide risk and protective factors in boys and men
- Relationship breakdown as a precipitant of suicidality in men
- Clinical and non-clinical interventions for suicidality in men
Key Publications:
- Wilson, M., Gwyther, K., Swann, R., Casey, K., Featherston, R., Oliffe, J., Englar-Carlson, M., & Rice, S. (2021). Operationalising positive masculinity: A theoretical synthesis and framework to engage boys and young men. Health Promotion International, 37(1) 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daab031
- Seidler, Z., Wilson, M., (joint first authorship); Oliffe, J., Kealy, D., Toogood, N., Ogrodniczuk, J., Rice, S. (2021). “Eventually, I admitted, I cannot do this alone”: Exploring experiences of suicidality and help-seeking drivers among Australian men. Frontiers in Sociology, 6(727069), 178-189. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2021.727069
- Wilson, M., Seidler, Z., Oliffe, J., Toogood, N., Kealy, D., Ogrodniczuk, J., Walther, A., & Rice, S. (2022). “Appreciate the little things”: Exploring men’s coping strategies and mental health impacts during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Journal of Men’s Health, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1177/15579883221099794
- Trail, K., Wilson, M., Rice, S., Hunt, T., Pirkis, J., & Seidler, Z. (2022) “I called when I was at my lowest”: Australian men’s experiences of crisis helplines. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(15), 9143. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159143
- Seidler, Z., Wilson, M. (joint first authorship), Oliffe, J., Fisher, K., O’Connor, R., Pirkis, J., & Rice, S. (2022). Suicidal ideation in men during COVID-19: An examination of protective factors. BMC Psychiatry, 23(46), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-04539-9
Can help with: I am most experienced with qualitative (thematic and content analyses) and relatively simple quantitative methods (e.g., cross-sectional regression, moderation, mediation). My skills lie in literature synthesis and finding and justifying gaps in our understanding of suicidality. I’m currently exploring the use of online forum data from Reddit for qualitative analysis, and learning longitudinal moderation analysis using Stata.
What’s essential to your well-being? Running, my cat Marsha, music and DJ-ing! Mainly electronic/dance music – I love 90s/early 2000s house and techno (really helps with productivity too!)
Find Michael elsewhere:
netecr.org 