Associate Professor Matthew Sunderland
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Associate Professor Matthew Sunderland

Associate Professor, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental health and Substance use
Associate Professor Matthew Sunderland

Dr Sunderland is an Associate Professor and Program Lead in Measurement and Methodology at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney. He is an External Fellow at the Black Dog Institute and a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Mental Health Research, Australian National University, Canberra. Dr Sunderland has focused his program of research on the application of sophisticated psychometric techniques to examine salient issues with the existing psychiatric classifications and measurement. This work has included some of the first studies to investigate the role of broad dimensional constructs of psychopathology and their relationship with clinically relevant factors, such as impairment, distress, suicidality, traumatic events, and treatment seeking. His research also seeks to develop instruments that efficiently assess mental and substance use disorders in a more valid and empirically grounded framework as well as tools for sophisticated data harmonisation methods. He has a strong research profile in the field of psychiatric epidemiology and has published extensively on comorbidity between mental and substance use disorders as well as examining trajectories of change in large-scale population-based samples. Dr Sunderland has authored over 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications and reports and has successfully obtained over $22 million in research funds as CI or AI.

  • Psychiatric epidemiology
  • Comorbid mental and substance use disorders
  • Classification
  • Latent variable models of psychopathology
  • Applied statistical methods
  • Assessment/measurement
  • Data harmonisation

NHMRC

  • Increasing engagement with online psychosocial programs to improve mental health in the community. A randomised controlled trial to evluate a brief acceptance-faciliation intervention to improve the uptake and adherence to an evidence-based online ehealth intervention.
  • The eCliPSE Project: Implementing evidence-based eHealth interventions for comorbid mental health and alcohol/other drug use problems into health and community settings. An implementation trial to evaluate an online portal that provide people experiencing mental health and substance use problems with access to services and treatment anywhere and anytime they need it.
  • Centre for Research Excellence in Prevention and Early Intervention in Mental Illness and Substance Use (PREMISE). Psychiatric epidemiology and biostatistics stream.

Australian Rotary Health

  • The SuperLearner project: Fast-tracking our understanding of risk and protective factors for substance use and mental health problems. Using novel data harmonisation and machine learning methods to evaluate changing trends in comorbid mental health and substance use in Australian adolescents and identifying risk and projective factors.

Suicide Prevention Australia

  • Randomised controlled trial of a targeted intervention program for depression and problematic alcohol use in older adults. Adaptation and pilot trial of an online intervention designed to reduce depression, suicidal thoughts, and alcohol use among older Australian adults.

Paul Ramsay Foundation

  • The Health4Life Initiative. A large school-based cluster-randomised controlled trial of a novel online program designed to target six key healthy lifestyle behaviours and reduce the risk of chronic diseases later in life.
  • UNSW Medicine Dean's Rising Star Award (2011)
  • Society for Mental Health Research Rising Star Award (2017)
  • NHMRC Early Career Fellowship (2013-2016)
Neurosciences and Mental Health, Lifespan
Project titleResearch student
Using hierarchical dimensional models of psychopathology to investigate the relationships between mental illness neurobiology genetics and dementia in older adulthoodNicholas HOY

Publications

Journals

  • Lee, Y., Teesson, M., Mihalopoulos, C., Slade, T., Chatterton, M., Khanh-Dao Le, L., Perez, J., Faller, J., Chapman, C., Newton, N., Sunderland, M. (2024). Age at first drink and its influence on alcohol use behaviours in young adulthood: Evidence from an Australian household-based panel study. Preventive Medicine, 181, 107898. [More Information]
  • Halladay, J., Sunderland, M., Newton, N., Lynch, S., Chapman, C., Stapinski, L., Andrews, J., Birrell, L., Teesson, M., Slade, T. (2024). Do school-based prevention programs impact co-occurring alcohol use and psychological distress during adolescence? Psychological Medicine, 54, 4725-4735. [More Information]
  • Peeters, M., Prior, K., Salemink, E., Sunderland, M., Stevens, G., Oldehinkel, T., Stapinski, L. (2024). Dynamic Associations Between Anxiety Symptoms and Drinking Behavior From Early Adolescence to Young Adulthood. Journal of Adolescent Health. [More Information]

2024

  • Lee, Y., Teesson, M., Mihalopoulos, C., Slade, T., Chatterton, M., Khanh-Dao Le, L., Perez, J., Faller, J., Chapman, C., Newton, N., Sunderland, M. (2024). Age at first drink and its influence on alcohol use behaviours in young adulthood: Evidence from an Australian household-based panel study. Preventive Medicine, 181, 107898. [More Information]
  • Halladay, J., Sunderland, M., Newton, N., Lynch, S., Chapman, C., Stapinski, L., Andrews, J., Birrell, L., Teesson, M., Slade, T. (2024). Do school-based prevention programs impact co-occurring alcohol use and psychological distress during adolescence? Psychological Medicine, 54, 4725-4735. [More Information]
  • Peeters, M., Prior, K., Salemink, E., Sunderland, M., Stevens, G., Oldehinkel, T., Stapinski, L. (2024). Dynamic Associations Between Anxiety Symptoms and Drinking Behavior From Early Adolescence to Young Adulthood. Journal of Adolescent Health. [More Information]

2023

  • Visontay, R., Mewton, L., Sunderland, M., Bell, S., Britton, A., Osman, B., North, H., Mathew, N., Slade, T. (2023). A comprehensive evaluation of the longitudinal association between alcohol consumption and a measure of inflammation: Multiverse and vibration of effects analyses. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 247. [More Information]
  • Faller, J., Khanh-Dao Le, L., Chatterton, M., Perez, J., Chiotelis, O., Tran, H., Sultana, M., Hall, N., Lee, Y., Chapman, C., Newton, N., Slade, T., Sunderland, M., Teesson, M., et al (2023). A systematic review of economic evaluations for opioid misuse, cannabis and illicit drug use prevention. BJPsych Open, 9(5). [More Information]
  • Rogers, A., Youssef, G., Teague, S., Sunderland, M., Le Bas, G., Macdonald, J., Mattick, R., Allsop, S., Elliott, E., Olsson, C., et al (2023). Association of Maternal and Paternal Perinatal Depression and Anxiety with Infant Development: A longitudinal study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 338, 278-288. [More Information]

2022

  • Morse, A., Askovic, M., Sercombe, J., Dean, K., Fisher, A., Marel, C., Chatterton, M., Kay-Lambkin, F., Barrett, E., Sunderland, M., Harvey, L., Peach, N., Teesson, M., Mills, K. (2022). A systematic review of the efficacy, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of workplace-based interventions for the prevention and treatment of problematic substance use. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 1051119. [More Information]
  • Visontay, R., Sunderland, M., Slade, T., Wilson, J., Mewton, L. (2022). Are there non-linear relationships between alcohol consumption and long-term health?: a systematic review of observational studies employing approaches to improve causal inference. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 22(1), 16. [More Information]
  • Lowrie, N., Le Bas, G., Youssef, G., Macdonald, J., Teague, S., Rogers, A., Sunderland, M., Mattick, R., Elliott, E., Allsop, S., et al (2022). Association of adolescent and young adult depression and anxiety with perinatal mental health in fathers: Findings from an Australian longitudinal study. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 156, 206-213. [More Information]

2021

  • Batterham, P., Calear, A., Sunderland, M., Kay-Lambkin, F., Farrer, L., Christensen, H., Gulliver, A. (2021). A brief intervention to increase uptake and adherence of an internet-based program for depression and anxiety (Enhancing Engagement with Psychosocial Interventions): Randomized controlled trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(7), e23029. [More Information]
  • Forbes, M., Sunderland, M., Rapee, R., Batterham, P., Calear, A., Carragher, N., Ruggero, C., Zimmerman, M., Baillie, A., Lynch, S., Slade, T., et al (2021). A Detailed Hierarchical Model of Psychopathology: From Individual Symptoms up to the General Factor of Psychopathology. Clinical Psychological Science, 9(2), 139-168. [More Information]
  • Lynch, S., Sunderland, M., Newton, N., Chapman, C. (2021). A systematic review of transdiagnostic risk and protective factors for general and specific psychopathology in young people. Clinical Psychology Review, 87, 102036-1-102036-20. [More Information]

2020

  • Rogers, A., Obst, S., Teague, S., Rossen, L., Spry, E., Macdonald, J., Sunderland, M., Olsson, C., Youssef, G., Hutchinson, D. (2020). Association between Maternal Perinatal Depression and Anxiety and Child and Adolescent Development: A Meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatrics, 174(11), 1082-1092. [More Information]
  • Visontay, R., Mewton, L., Sunderland, M., Prior, K., Slade, T. (2020). Changes over time in young adults' harmful alcohol consumption: A cross-temporal meta-analysis using the AUDIT. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 214, 108172. [More Information]
  • Gardner, L., Champion, K., Parmenter, B., Grummitt, L., Chapman, C., Sunderland, M., Thornton, L., McBride, N., Newton, N. (2020). Clustering of six key risk behaviors for chronic disease among adolescent females. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(19), 1-12. [More Information]

2019

  • Batterham, P., Calear, A., Sunderland, M., Kay-Lambkin, F., Farrer, L., Gulliver, A. (2019). A brief intervention to increase uptake and adherence of an online program for depression and anxiety: Protocol for the Enhancing Engagement with Psychosocial Interventions (EEPI) Randomized Controlled Trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 78, 107-115. [More Information]
  • Conway, C., Forbes, M., Forbush, K., Fried, E., Hallquist, M., Kotov, R., Mullins-Sweatt, S., Shackman, A., Skodol, A., South, S., Sunderland, M., et al (2019). A Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology Can Transform Mental Health Research. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(3), 419-436. [More Information]
  • McCallum, S., Batterham, P., Calear, A., Sunderland, M., Carragher, N., Kazan, D. (2019). Associations of fatigue and sleep disturbance with nine common mental disorders. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 123, 1-7. [More Information]

2018

  • Batterham, P., Sunderland, M., Slade, T., Calear, A., Carragher, N. (2018). Assessing distress in the community: Psychometric properties and crosswalk comparison of eight measures of psychological distress. Psychological Medicine, 48(8), 1316-1324. [More Information]
  • Sunderland, M., Batterham, P., Calear, A., Carragher, N., Baillie, A., Slade, T. (2018). High agreement was obtained across scores from multiple equated scales for social anxiety disorder using item response theory. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 99, 132-143. [More Information]
  • Batterham, P., Calear, A., Christensen, H., Carragher, N., Sunderland, M. (2018). Independent Effects of Mental Disorders on Suicidal Behavior in the Community. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 48(5), 512-521. [More Information]

2017

  • Afzali, M., Sunderland, M., Teesson, M., Carragher, N., Mills, K., Slade, T. (2017). A network approach to the comorbidity between posttraumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder: The role of overlapping symptoms. Journal of Affective Disorders, 208, 490-496. [More Information]
  • Sunderland, M., Slade, T., Krueger, R., Markon, K., Patrcick, C., Kramer, M. (2017). Efficiently measuring dimensions of the externalizing spectrum model: Development of the externalizing spectrum inventory-computerized adaptive test (ESI-CAT). Psychological Assessment, 29(7), 868-880. [More Information]
  • Afzali, M., Sunderland, M., Batterham, P., Carragher, N., Calear, A., Slade, T. (2017). Network approach to the symptom-level association between alcohol use disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 52(3), 329-339. [More Information]

2016

  • Batterham, P., Sunderland, M., Carragher, N., Calear, A. (2016). Development and community-based validation of eight item banks to assess mental health. Psychiatry Research, 243, 452-463. [More Information]
  • Carragher, N., Sunderland, M., Batterham, P., Calear, A., Elhai, J., Chapman, C., Mills, K. (2016). Discriminant validity and gender differences in DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Journal of Affective Disorders, 190, 56-67. [More Information]
  • Sunderland, M., Crome, E., Stapinski, L., Baillie, A., Rapee, R. (2016). From Fear to Avoidance: Factors Associated with the Onset of Avoidance in People who Fear Social Situations. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 7(4), 534-548. [More Information]

2015

  • Batterham, P., Sunderland, M., Calear, A., Davey, C., Christensen, H., Teesson, M., Kay-Lambkin, F., Andrews, G., Mitchell, P., Herman, H., Butow, P., et al (2015). Developing a roadmap for the translation of e-mental health services for depression. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 49(9), 776-784. [More Information]
  • Crome, E., Grove, R., Baillie, A., Sunderland, M., Teesson, M., Slade, T. (2015). DSM-IV and DSM-5 social anxiety disorder in the Australian community. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 49(3), 227-235. [More Information]
  • Sunderland, M., Slade, T., Krueger, R. (2015). Examining the shared and unique relationships among substance use and mental disorders. Psychological Medicine, 45(5), 1103-1113. [More Information]

2014

  • Rhebergen, D., van der Steenstraten, I., Sunderland, M., De Graaf, R., Have, M., Lamers, F., Penninx, B., Andrews, G. (2014). An examination of generalized anxiety disorder and dysthymic disorder by latent class analysis. Psychological Medicine, 44(8), 1701-1712. [More Information]
  • Sunderland, M., Carragher, N., Buchan, H., Batterham, P., Slade, T. (2014). Comparing profiles of mental disorder across birth cohorts: Results from the 2007 Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 48(5), 452-463. [More Information]
  • Mewton, L., Sachdev, P., Anderson, T., Sunderland, M., Andrews, G. (2014). Demographic, clinical, and lifestyle correlates of subjective memory complaints in the Australian population. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 22(11), 1222-1232. [More Information]

2013

  • Sunderland, M., Slade, T., Carragher, N., Batterham, P., Buchan, H. (2013). Age-related differences in internalizing psychopathology amongst the australian general population. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 122(4), 1010-1020. [More Information]
  • Matthew-Simmons, F., Sunderland, M., Ritter, A. (2013). Exploring the existence of drug policy 'ideologies' in Australia. Drugs: education, prevention & policy, 20(3), 258-267. [More Information]
  • Sunderland, M., Carragher, N., Wong, N., Andrews, G. (2013). Factor mixture analysis of DSM-IV symptoms of major depression in a treatment seeking clinical population. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 54(5), 474-483. [More Information]

2012

  • Hilvert-Bruce, Z., Rossouw, P., Wong, N., Sunderland, M., Andrews, G. (2012). Adherence as a determinant of effectiveness of internet cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety and depressive disorders. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 50(7-Aug), 463-468. [More Information]
  • Sunderland, M., Hobbs, M., Andrews, G., Craske, M. (2012). Assessing DSM-IV symptoms of panic attack in the general population: An item response analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 143(1-3), 187-195. [More Information]
  • Sunderland, M., Slade, T., Andrews, G. (2012). Developing a short-form structured diagnostic interview for common mental disorders using signal detection theory. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 21(4), 247-257. [More Information]

2008

  • Andrews, G., Anderson, T., Slade, T., Sunderland, M. (2008). Classification of anxiety and depressive disorders: Problems and solutions. Depression and Anxiety, 25(4), 274-281. [More Information]

Selected Grants

2023

  • Standing on the shoulders of giants: harmonising 40 years of data to revolutionise Australias response to increases in psychological distress, Sunderland M, Slade T, Halladay J, Keyes K, Baillie A, National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Ideas Grant
  • Rewarding Research 2024, Sunderland M, Faculty of Medicine and Health/FMH Rewarding Research Success
  • Mapping the Neurobiological Risks and Consequences of Alcohol Use in Adolescence and Across the Lifespan, Mewton L, Lees B, Sunderland M, National Institutes of Health (USA)/Research Grant
  • A cluster randomised controlled trial of a novel and scalable eHealth intervention to prevent e-cigarette use among adolescents: The OurFutures Vaping Program, Gardner L, Newton N, Stockings E, Hides L, McBride N, Champion K, Sunderland M, Mihalopoulos C, Freeman B, Teesson M, National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies

2022

  • A new scalable eHealth approach to prevent e-cigarette use among adolescents: The OurFutures Vaping program, Newton N, Gardner L, Stockings E, Freeman B, Allsop S, Leung J, Champion K, Sunderland M, Mihalopoulos C, McRobbie H, Stapinski L, McBride N, Lee N, Thornton L, Birrell L, Debenham J, Department of Health and Aged Care (Federal - administered by NHMRC)/2021 Maternal Health and Healthy Lifestyles
  • Enhancing engagement with eHealth approaches to prevent cardiovascular disease among adolescents: The Triple E Project, Thornton L, Sunderland M, Kay-Lambkin F, Zaman S, Champion K, Heinsch M, Spring B, Partridge S, Gardner L, Newton N, Rickwood D, Teesson M, Department of Health and Aged Care (Federal)/MRFF - Cardiovascular Health Mission