📖 Reading time: 5 minutes

💌 Spread the word - forward this newsletter to colleagues who might be interested in joining

WELCOME

Welcome to the first Mental Health & Wellbeing SIG newsletter of 2026.

It's been a busy and exciting few months for our community. We've welcomed four new members to our leadership team, launched our inaugural membership survey, and continued to build momentum as one of ISBNPA's growing SIGs – now with over 140 members!

A consistent message from the survey was clear: you want more opportunities to network, share your work, and find collaborators across borders and disciplines. We've been listening, and we’re pleased to share some of the ways we're making that happen.

We've launched a WhatsApp group for SIG members, a space to connect with colleagues, share research and funding opportunities, find potential co-authors, and ask questions - join here. We also have a webinar coming up soon, which will include an opportunity to stay on afterwards for informal networking - register here. And for those attending ISBNPA 2026, we're excited to confirm there will be a SIG social event at the conference, so keep reading for more details.

Finally, we'd love to hear about your achievements!

If you've recently published a paper or been awarded a grant, please let us know so we can highlight the incredible work being done across our community. Links are at the end of the newsletter.

Thank you for being part of this growing community. We look forward to what we'll achieve together.

Jacinta & Masha

MH&W SIG Co-Chairs

SIG WEBINAR - Register HERE

ISBNPA2026 ANNUAL MEETING

The Annual Meeting in Cadiz, Spain is fast approaching - we look forward to connecting with those who can make it and hearing more about the exciting research of our SIG members!

Mental Health and Wellbeing SIG conference grant for HDR students.

The Mental Health & Wellbeing SIG Conference Support Fund aims to support emerging researchers who are advancing our understanding of the relationship between lifestyle behaviours and mental health outcomes, and their implementation into real-world settings. This funding opportunity supports HDR students to present their innovative work at the ISBNPA conference, fostering international collaboration and knowledge exchange. The fund recognises innovative research that shows potential for real-world impact. By supporting promising researchers, we aim to strengthen our field and nurture the next generation of leaders in behavioural science.

We are able to offer one award this year, with the successful applicant receiving funding support towards their conference attendance up to $750.00 USD.

Applications are due by 30 March 2026, and the successful applicant will be notified by 6 April 2026.

Apply here: https://forms.gle/vT7wBAopBtXoonur7

SIG Social Event

We are very excited to meet with fellow SIG members at the 2026 conference. We are organising a social event, which we have tentatively planned for the evening of 29^th May. This will be an informal event, like a social walk around the city or dinner out together where we can connect with fellow researchers in a relaxed setting.

Let us know if you are interested in joining us here: https://forms.gle/NTnQBubUzenWqZub6

Conference questions?

Nicola Gillies will be the main SIG contact at the 2026 conference – feel free to reach out to Nicola (n.gillies@auckland.ac.nz) with questions about the conference grant, social event, or anything conference-related

2025 MEMBERSHIP SURVEY

Thank you to those who completed our first Membership Survey late last year. A brief look at who we are and what you want from the SIG.

Who responded

●     Mostly early-career (39%) and HDR (22%) researchers, with strong senior representation (22%)

●     Disciplines span psychology, behavioural science, exercise science, medicine, neuroscience, and public health

●     Geographically spread across North America (39%), Europe (28%), Oceania (28%), and Asia

●     Predominantly academic (89%), female (89%), and white (78%) – highlighting opportunities to grow our diversity

What you're researching

Physical activity in mental health care, psychophysiology, digital public health, body image, school-based interventions, early childhood and parent mental health, nutrition behaviour, and health behaviour change

What you want more of

●     Networking and collaboration – the top priority, including structured opportunities to connect ahead of conference deadlines for joint symposia, funding, and publications

●     Webinars featuring recently published member research

●     Global funding information and pathways for journal publication (don’t forget to utilize your 50% fee waiver to IJBNPA!)

●     Greater SIG visibility at the annual ISBNPA conference

What we're doing about it

●     Launching a WhatsApp group to connect members ahead of ISBNPA 2026: join HERE

●     Surveying preferred communication platforms later in 2026

●     Running a webinar in April: register HERE

●     Using these findings to shape our webinar, newsletter, and engagement programming

Thank you to everyone who responded - your input is directly shaping the SIG's direction. With 140+ members and growing, we will send out our 2026 annual membership survey later this year

Highlights and Opportunities

Recent Research

●     Bowes, E., Burke, T., Faires, M., Jones, G., Machaczek, K., Quirk, H., Traviss-Turner, G., Beeken, R. & Peckham, E. (2025). Better together: Service user and delivery staff experiences of the SPACES physical activity intervention for people with severe mental illness-a qualitative study of a feasibility trial. Mental health and physical activity, 100717. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhpa.2025.100717

●     Faires, M., Jones, G., Beeken, R.J., Burke, T., Cooper, C., Copeland, R.J., Guy, Z., Hill, A., Hillison, E., Hodgson, P. & Horspool, M. (2026). The SPACES feasibility trial: a co-produced physical activity intervention for people with severe mental illness. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 100765. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhpa.2026.100765

●     Frazier, M.C., Remskar, M., Harden, S.M., Barley, K.S., David, D.E., Guillen, M.Z., Olsen, D.E., Markley, K.M., Pullin, M.J. & Brinsley, J. (2026) How yoga interventions are operationalized and reported in the context of mental health and wellbeing RCTs: a systematic review and qualitative synthesis. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies. 26, 55. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-025-05162-9

●     Harvey, J., Western, M. J., Townsend, N. P., Francombe-Webb, J., Sebire, S., Malkowski, O. S., Remskar, M., Burfitt, E. & Solomon-Moore, E. (2025). Adolescents, menstruation, and physical activity: insights from a global scoping review. BMC Women's Health, 25(1), 281. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-03825-w

●     Lederman, O., Manger, S., Barron, L., Jacka, F., & Rocks, T. (2026). Identifying priority topics for interprofessional education on lifestyle interventions in mental healthcare: a modified Delphi study. Critical Public Health, 36(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2025.2607924

●     Lister, N.B., Khalid, R., Jardine, I.R., Pryde, S., Melville, H., Seidler, A.L., Hunter, K.E., Ahern, A.L., Baur, L.A., Braet, C.. & Garnett, S.P.. (2026). Components of Adolescent Behavioural Interventions With Eating Disorder Outcomes: Systematic Review With Intervention Mapping. Pediatric Obesity, 21(1), e70074. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.70074

●     Remskar, M., Ainsworth, B., Maynard, O. M., Malkowski, O. S., Birch, A., Burd, A. K., ... & Western, M. J. (2025). Getting active through mindfulness: Randomised controlled trial of a digital mindfulness-based intervention promoting physical activity engagement and enjoyment. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 28, 100680. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhpa.2025.100680

●     Warren, A., & Frame., L.A. (2025). Restoring a Healthy Relationship with Food by Decoupling Stress and Eating: A Translational Review of Nutrition and Mental Health. Nutrients.17(15):2466. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17152466

Zheng, S., Castro, O., Mair, J.L,, Jabir, A.I., Tan, S.Y., Shenoi, A., Negi, S., Mathews, R.R., Yan, X., Chakraborty, B., & Tai, E.S. (2026). Feasibility of the “LvL UP” trial: a pilot sequential multiple assignment randomised trial of an adaptive, holistic mHealth lifestyle coaching intervention. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

GET INVOLVED

🔦 Nominate a colleague or a project that demonstrates the impact of cross-disciplinary collaboration for mental health and wellbeing

 ✅ Share your latest publication, project, or achievement for our next newsletter

🤝 Looking for collaborators? Let us put the word out

Submit to our next newsletter: HERE

Ask in the WhatsApp members chat: HERE

Contact Us

SIG Co-Chairs: Jacinta Brinsley (jacinta.brinsley@adelaide.edu.au) & Masha Remskar (remskar@asu.edu)

Join our mailing list: https://isbnpa.org/uncategorized/sigs-mailing-list-sign-up-form/

Visit us: https://isbnpa.org/portfolio/mental-health-and-wellbeing/

Our mission: To facilitate collaboration among ISBNPA members with an interest in lifestyle research for mental health and wellbeing in the context of behaviour change, systems complexity, and implementation science.