American researcher Dr Amanda Rebar has arrived in Australia to help people with depression or anxiety regain their mental health through a novel online intervention program.

And the not-so-secret ingredient is just extra doses of physical activity, which can be just as effective as medicine in bolstering mental health.

Dr Amanda Rebar

Drawing on her psychology background, Dr Rebar specialises in physical activity habits and motivations and is researching how people make automatic evaluations of everyday situations which could have a bearing on their activity levels.

"For example, what influences one person to take the stairs and another the elevator? What drives people to circle a carpark seeking the perfect park rather than walking further from an easier-to-find park?" she asks.

It's early days for the project as Dr Rebar has just arrived to take up her role as a CQUniversity Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Physical Activity Studies within the Institute for Health and Social Science Research.

"Within one week at the end of April and early May, I successfully defended my PhD thesis, got married and moved with my husband to live in Kinka Beach near Yeppoon," she said.

Originally from Utah, Dr Rebar studied at Indiana University and Penn State before moving to take up her new role in Australia.

Over the next three years, she will be working with colleagues to create, implement and evaluate new online intervention tools available to people suffering from anxiety or depression who may seek help introducing physical activity as part of their recovery.

Dr Rebar's position is funded through a Research Advancement Award Scheme (RAAS) grant provided by CQUniversity's Office of Research following a successful application by Dr Corneel Vandelanotte, Dr Mitch Duncan and Professor Brenda Happell.