Darryl Maybery

Associate Professor of Mental Health

1.   Theoretical and applied research in relation to families where a parent has a mental illness.
2.   Rural mental health and resilience.
3.   Stress and wellbeing (positive psychology).
4.   Program evaluation.

Darryl was born and raised on a wheat and sheep farm in Victoria’s West Wimmera.  For 15 years he was a mental health clinician in the areas of drug and alcohol counselling, prison psychology and employee assistance. He commenced his academic career in 1999 at La Trobe University in Wodonga after completing his PhD in the stress and wellbeing field from James Cook University.  After a further five years teaching statistics and research methods, mostly to distance education students at Charles Sturt University (Wagga Wagga), he commenced as the Mental Health Academic at MUDRIH in Gippsland in 2009.

He has over 40 publications and multiple research projects involving rural, urban and international collaborations.  A focal research area, in collaboration with Dr. Andrea Reupert, is in relation to vulnerable families and in particular those affected by parental mental illness.

Maybery, D., Reupert, A., Goodyear, M., Ritchie, R & Brann, P. (2009). 'Investigating the strengths and difficulties of children from families with a parental mental illness.' Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health (AeJAMH), Volume 8, Issue 2.

Maybery D.J., Pope R.P., Hodgins G.A., Hitchenor Y. & Shepherd, A. (2009). 'Resilience and wellbeing of small inland communities: community assets as key determinants.' Rural Society, 19(4).

Maybery, D.J. & Reupert, A.E. (2009). 'Parental mental illness: A review of barriers and issues for working with families and children.' Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Care Nursing 16(9):784-91

Maybery D.J., Neale, J., Arentz, A. & Jones-Ellis J. (2007).'The Negative Event Scale: measuring frequency and intensity of adult hassles.' Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 20(2) 163-176.

Maybery, D.J. & Reupert, A.E. (2006). 'Workforce capacity to respond to children whose parents have a mental illness.' Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 40(8) 657-664.

‘Families with Complex Needs – Developing an evidence based model of care.’ 
This collaborative research is developing a best practice model to support families with a parent who has a mental illness and families with a parent who has a dual diagnosis (co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse issues).  The program is based upon a strong theoretical rationale of family centred and strength based theory. The project is supported with funding from FaCSIA and the Mental Health Coordinating Council of NSW.  This research will develop an understanding about family functioning and childhood resilience in vulnerable families and has the potential to break the family cycle of mental illness and/or substance abuse.

Janelle Levesque. 'The experience of parental cancer.'