Calear works on youth mental health and suicide prevention.[3][4] Suicide is one of the leading causes of death for young people in Australia, and Calear has looked to understand the origins of this phenomenon. She evaluated a peer-leadership program, Sources of Strength,[5] which promotes help-seeking behaviour amongst young people. It has been delivered to peer-leaders across twenty high schools in the United States. She evaluated the program in Australia, as well as another specialist program Silence is Deadly,[6] which encourages young men and boys to discuss their feelings.
In 2011, Calear was awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council fellowship.[7] She was awarded the Australian Institute of Policy and Science Tall Poppy Award in 2012, which honoured her research efforts in youth mental health.[8] She studied the role of online interventions in preventing anxiety.[8] During the COVID-19 pandemic, she investigated the impact of COVID-19 on community mental health.[9] She found that parents and caregivers who were responsible for their children's home schooling experienced high levels of psychological distress.[10][11]
