Clinical Research Projects Available for 2015
You can discuss potential Masters and PhD projects with any staff in the School of Psychology. Their
research interests can be found at: http://www.flinders.edu.au/sabs/psychology/our-people/home.cfm
There are also a variety of specific project areas that have been outlined below, some by external
supervisors, others by staff in the School of Psychology.
Projects Supervised by School of Psychology Staff
Michelle Arnold (Lecturer, School of Psychology)
I am happy to discuss projects related to memory processes and autobiographical memory, and I have a
particular interest in metacognitive issues (i.e., how well we monitor our own memory and knowledge).
Some of my research projects have included:
• exploring underlying processes in recovered memories
• monitoring and performance in test-taking situations
• exploring and separating out objective performance (e.g., how many memories you recalled)
• from subjective performance (e.g., how it felt to recall those memories).
Lisa Beatty (Research Fellow, School of Psychology)
Who's engaged? Examining predictors of engagement with an online self program for people with early
stage cancer.
Over the past decade, there has been a surge of research examining the efficacy of online therapeutic
interventions for a range of psychological and physical health conditions. More recently, research has
started to focus on determining: (i) which people use these resources (eg who drops out of the research vs
who stays in), and (ii) what predicts whether users login only once versus using the resource extensively
(level of engagement). It also remains unknown whether these differences in therapeutic 'dose' leads to
significantly different outcomes. This masters project will prospectively examine predictors of engagement
(comparing high versus low iCBT users), and attrition (drop outs versus treatment completers) with an
online self-help program for people with cancer. This project is a sub-study of a larger NHMRC funded study
examining the efficacy of this intervention in reducing distress over time. While the intervention content
has previously been developed and tested, the student may be able to assist with revisions to the content
as we meet with website developers (if interested).
Mariëtte Berndsen (Lecturer, School of Psychology)
My primary research interest lies in the social psychology of emotions, which in general involves three
approaches: First, how do other people and our relationships with them influence our emotions over and
above the emotional stimulus itself.
For example, if you fear that food could be contaminated and you see other people eating this food, does
this influence your fear (decrease, increase, or not)? And who are these other people (friends, strangers,
colleagues) and how important are they in influencing your fear?
Second: when, why, and how do people experience group-based (or collective) emotions, even when they
were not causally involved in the harm or injustice. For example, why can non-indigenous Australians living
nowadays experience guilt, and/or shame towards the Stolen Generation (Indigenous Australians) and how
does this impact on their willingness to social change towards these victims?
Third, a relatively new approach reducing stereotypes about a specific group of people is to ask individuals to
take the perspective of this specific group. For example, describing a day of an older person “by seeing the
world through their eyes”, inhibited the use of stereotypes. It would be interesting to see whether this
perspective-taking attitude can also reduce stigma about hospitalised persons.
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Neil Brewer (Professor, School of Psychology)
Engaged in a collaborative research project with Robyn Young (Assoc Prof, School of Psychology) which
provides many possible avenues for clinical projects. Broadly speaking the project is concerned with the
interactions that adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have with the criminal justice system. We have
recently completed a book manuscript titled The Crimes of People with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Myths
and Mechanisms. In this we identify numerous interesting but largely unresearched issues. These primarily
relate to those social-cognitive characteristics of individuals with ASD that might contribute to their
becoming involved in crime (as a culprit or a victim) or to prejudicial (i.e., negative) interactions with the
police and the courts. We can accommodate a couple of students working on projects in this area,
particularly projects that might tackle closely related investigations of the same basic issue. Many of these
projects are amenable to laboratory experimentation – so, just to illustrate (note: these are but a couple of
examples from numerous possibilities), one might examine how some particular characteristics of the verbal
or nonverbal presentation of individuals with ASD affect the way in which others perceive or respond to
them, or how an inability to detect the intentions of others through reading their nonverbal behaviour may
contribute to a problematic interaction with that person.
Junwen Chen (Lecturer, School of Psychology)
My research primarily focuses on anxiety disorders, specifically social anxiety(disorder)and excessive worry,
as well as the cross-cultural study of these problems in different populations. For 2015, I am keen on
supervising projects related to these areas. Examples of projects are:
 Examining the effectiveness of Behavioural Activation treatment for excessive worry in young
people. This funded study will investigate the effects of behavioural activation for young worriers
by comparing it with a waitlist control by using a randomised controlled trial.
 Investigating the maintaining mechanisms of, and factors pertaining to social anxiety, excessive
worry(e.g., cognitive processes such as interpretation bias or post-event rumination; intolerance of
uncertainty);
 Undertaking a cross-cultural comparison of underlying factors and symptoms of these
disorders/problems.
Michael Gradisar (Associate Professor, School of Psychology): There is currently 1 project on offer that I
would have an interest in supervising that would be associated with research being conducted in the Child &
Adolescent Sleep Clinic:
 Many adolescents experience a sleep disorder known as Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder, whereby they tend
to fall asleep late, yet obtain limited sleep during the school week due to rising 'early'. As a consequence,
many report performing poorly at school (e.g., poor grades). This is likely due to them needing to learn in
class when their circadian rhythm is at their lowest point. We are currently running a project where we are
attempting to find the causes for this poor school performance. The current project aims to compare
information processing speed between adolescents with Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder and matched goodsleeping adolescents. As this project is partly run from the Child & Adolescent Sleep Clinic, there is an
opportunity to do a placement here too.
Eva Kemps (Professor, School of Psychology): I am interested in supervising projects that apply experimental
cognitive psychology to the study of health behaviours, in particular eating behaviour and physical activity.
Examples of possible projects include:
 Investigating the role of mental imagery in the experience and reduction of food cravings
 Evaluating the effectiveness of cognitive bias modification for reducing unhealthy as well as dysfunctional
eating behaviour (including emotional eating and over-eating, as well as the consumption of beverages
such as energy drinks and soft drinks) and/or increasing physical activity
 Examining effects of nutrition and/or physical activity on cognition and psychological well-being
Leon Lack (Professor, School of Psychology)
Two funded projects for 2015 that could accommodate a master's project include:
 We have evidence that insomniacs experience poor days following poor sleeps. We want to explore
whether successful treatment of insomnia with CBTi results in a decrease of this relationship as is true for
good sleepers and underlies the decreased beliefs about the impact of poor sleep on their subsequent
daytime functioning.
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We are further exploring aspects of Intensive Sleep Re-training, a novel and very promising treatment of
insomnia. In particular we aim to translate a presently laboratory administered therapy to the home
environment.
Nicole Lovato (Research Associate)
My research spans several areas within the field of sleep research and is primarily focused on the basic and
clinical aspects of sleep, circadian rhythms, sleep disorders and treatment, as well as the relationship
between sleep and daytime functioning.
One of my upcoming projects will be focused on using a novel approach to prevent the onset of depression in
adolescents with good sleep. Based on our recent research (Lovato & Gradisar, 2014), it is proposed that
establishing and maintaining good sleep during adolescence could prevent future depressed mood. Using a
meta-analytic approach, we have reported time spent awake in bed significantly contributed to the
development of depression in adolescents.
This project will evaluate whether our school-based sleep education program can improve both sleep and
depressed mood relative to a control-group. This experimental data will also further inform our current
understanding of the development of depression from sleep disturbance.
If you have an interest in this project please email me to make an appointment:
Nicole.lovato@flinders.edu.au
Reference: Lovato, N., & Gradisar, M. (2014). A meta-analysis and model of the relationship between sleep
and depression in adolescents: Recommendations for future research and clinical practice. Sleep Medicine
Reviews, 18(6), 521-529.
Mary Luszcz (Professor, School of Psychology)
My research focuses on the psychology of ageing. My interests span healthy (or productive, active, successful,
normal) ageing in the cognitive and affective domains, as well as early signs of ageing less than optimally.
More details are available at: http://www.flinders.edu.au/people/mary.luszcz.
Specific projects might encompass:
 relationships between mastery and ageing well
 mild cognitive impairment
 end of life issues
 social support and chronic illness
These and a host of other topics can be researched using data available from the Australian Longitudinal
Study of Ageing or by devising original studies. Clinical Geropsychology is an area that is in dire need of welltrained psychologists and the scope for research is very large. Clinically relevant topics I have supervised in
the past include indicators of sub- clinical cognitive decline, strategy use in memory interventions, coping by
cognitively intact residents in age-care facilities with confused co-residents, how housing and living
arrangements are linked to psychological well-being, and psychosocial and neuropsychological outcomes
after cardiac surgery. Each of these topics has substantial scope for further study.
Robert Lynd-Stevenson (Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology)
I’m trained and registered as a clinical psychologist and worked in the community as a clinical psychologist
for a number of years. My primary interest when conducting research is to use modelling methods (i.e.,
nonexperimental methods) to investigate various theories about the role of cognitions in the aetiology and
treatment of anxiety and depression. Perhaps a bit of background may help to explain my research interests.
Seligman (1966) argued that the causal conclusions reported in modelling research are just as valid as the
causal conclusions reported in experimental research. A major implication of Seligman’s argument is that
there’s nothing about experimental research to guarantee that clinical interventions (or any other
interventions) actually work in the community. Seligman’s article was criticised by a number of people and I
published a methodological article in defense of Seligman’s argument (Lynd-Stevenson, 2007). A few
examples of research topics that I’d be interested in supervising that would involve the use of modelling
methods (if you’re curious, I can cite examples from the research literature to stimulate your thinking):
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investigating the contribution of threat cognitions to the aetiology and treatment of anxiety;
the role of cognitions (e.g., automatic thoughts, schema) in the aetiology and treatment of depression;
developing a causal model to account for the factors that moderate the influence of clinical treatments in
real-world settings.
the contribution of social, political and community factors involved in the increasing levels of depression
and anxiety reported in Western societies.
Another field of interest concerns the scientist-practitioner model (again, if you’re curious, I can cite
examples from the research literature to stimulate your thinking):
the scientist-practitioner model doesn’t appear to be working as originally envisaged. In what way (if at
all) does the model actually work?
what are the procedures presently followed around Australia for allocating students to clinical
placements in the community?
why don’t many clinical psychologists offer placements?
what are the factors that students consider make a good supervisor?
what are the factors involved in generating student satisfaction with placements?
what amount of psychopharmacology should be taught to clinical students?
Julie Mattiske (Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology): For Masters projects, I am broadly interested in
anxiety, anxiety disorders, and health-related issues. I have supervised Masters projects in a range of other
areas including perfectionism, schizophrenia, and alcohol dependence. I would be very happy to serve as the
internal co-supervisor for most of the nominated health projects, e.g., diabetes, oncology.
Mike Nicholls (Professor, School of Psychology), Dr Nicole Thomas, Dr Toby Loetscher
(Postdoctoral researchers):
The influence of pictorial cues on bisection judgments.
Patients with right parietal cortex damage show a bias toward the right, neglecting part of the left side of
either objects or space. These biases can occur in both near and far space, or alternatively can be isolated to
either near or far space. Similar biases are observed among neurologically normal people in that they show
an attentional bias to the left side. When examining space-based differences, it has been shown that the left
bias shifts to a right side bias in far space. It is believed that the attentional biases seen in clinical neglect and
those seen in the genereal population are the result of similar neural mechanisms and therefore the left bias
is referred to as pseudoneglect. This project will investigate whether attentional biases can be altered by
using images and descriptions to induce near and far distance contexts. Prior work suggests that images
which induce a
representation of either near or far space might alter attentional biases as they would in actual near or far
space. It is also believed that written descriptions can be used to create a context in which participants are
imaging an object as being in either near or far space. The project will involve administering 2 experiments,
which will each involve about 20 participants drawn from the first year pool. Both tasks would be conducted
on a computer.
Potential students should have an interest in the brain and cognition. Some basic computing skills will be
an advantage – though the programming will be done by us.
How the presence of others affects our perception
Traditionally cognitive scientists investigate the mechanisms of perception and action in individual subjects.
There is some evidence, however, that the mere presence of other individuals can change how we perceive
and attend to stimuli. This project will investigate how the presence of a second person affects one’s spatial
judgments. Among the questions the project aims to address are: Does a person sitting to the left bias one’s
spatial judgments to that side? How does competing (or collaborating) with a second person affect an
individual’s spatial judgment? Addressing these questions will make an important contribution in our
understanding of how the mind interacts with the world. Ultimately, investigating the impact of social context
upon perception and action might help to better understand disorders of social functions such as autism.
The project will involve administering 2 or 3 experiments, which will each involve about 12 pairs of
participants drawn from the first year pool. The task will be run on a computer.
Potential students should have an interest in the brain and cognition. Some basic computing skills will be an
advantage – though the programming will be done by us.
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Reading
Knoblich, G. and N. Sebanz (2006). "The social nature of perception and action." Current Directions in
Psychological Science 15(3): 99-104.
Sight n’ sound: How different senses are represented in space by the brain
Following damage to the right parietal cortex, patients can experience symptoms of spatial neglect where
they fail to attend to stimuli located in the left hemispace. This neglect is multi-modal and can affect stimuli in
visual and auditory space. The general population also shows an attentional asymmetry – but in this case the
too much attention is paid to the left. This attentional bias is thought to involve similar cognitive and neural
mechanisms to clinical neglect – and for this reason, it is often referred to as pseudoneglect. This project will
examine the links between visual and auditory attention and their effect on pseudoneglect. Recent research
by Sosa et al. (2010) suggests that there is a leftward bias for vision and a rightward bias for audition.
However, they failed to control for a number of differences between the tasks such as: (a) the distance at
which the stimuli were presented, (b) the length of the stimuli, (c) eye movements, (d) the type of response –
to name a few. The project will involve administering 2 or 3 experiments, which will each involve about 20
participants drawn from the first year pool. The task will be run on a computer.
Potential students should have an interest in the brain and cognition. Some basic computing skills will be
an advantage – though the programming will be done by us.
Reading:
Sosa, Y., Teder-Sälejärvi, W.A., & McCourt, M.E. (2010). Biases of spatial attention in vision and
audition. Brain & Cognition, 73(3), 229-235.
Reg Nixon (Associate Professor, School of Psychology)
My primary interest is child and adult response to traumatic stressors that can include (among others)
physical and sexual assault, motor vehicle accidents, losing relatives to homicide and combat/war-related
trauma. I am specifically interested in how psychological difficulties such as acute stress disorder (ASD) and
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develop following trauma, and in the treatment of these disorders. I
am currently researching memory in traumatised children, treatment of posttraumatic stress in adults and
children, intrusive memory in traumatised adults etc.
Melanie Takarangi (Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology): My research focuses on using cognitive
processes—particularly memory distortion—to help understand real world issues arising in
(mainly) forensic settings. More specifically, my research interests include offender, witness and
victim memory for crime-related experiences (particularly aggression and violence); distortions
in traumatic memory; the impact of alcohol on memory; attitudes towards wrongful conviction;
and other legal implications of false memory. I am also interested in expectancy (e.g., placebo)
effects on memory, behaviour, and psychological well-being. I am happy to discuss supervision of
projects that fall within the above research areas.
Marika Tiggemann (Professor, School of Psychology)
I am interested in supervising projects in the broad area of body image. Specific interests include media
effects, sexualisation of children, adult women, and applications of Objectification Theory. There is also the
possibility that there will be a PhD Scholarship or top-up available (not yet advised) through OPAL (Obesity
Prevention and Lifestyle) to look at the effects of weighing and measuring children (to be co-supervised with
Dr Nicola Spurrier).
Michael Tlauka (Lecturer, School of Psychology). My research focuses on human spatial memory. I am
interested in supervising projects examining people's ability to learn spatial information in a variety of
contexts. Recent investigations include forgetting, virtual learning and sex differences in spatial ability.
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Tracey Wade (Professor, School of Psychology)
I am happy to discuss projects related to the epidemiology, prevention and treatment of eating disorders,
as well as risk factors and the relation of perfectionism to disordered eating.
Onset of eating disorders before puberty: This project would require assessment of children and adolescents
admitted to inpatient treatment for an eating disorder. The primary aim of the research is to examine if there
are systematic individual and family differences between admissions where the onset of the eating disorder is
pre- versus post-puberty, as well as differences in outcome. There may also be an opportunity to link this data
with a parallel project in Melbourne.
Reading:
Madden. S., Morris, A., Zurynski, Y.A., Kohn, M., & Elliot, E.J. (2009). Burden of eating disorder in 5 to 13 year
old children in Australia. MJA, 190, 410-414.
Pooni, J., Ninteman, A., Bryant-Waugh, R., Nicholls, D., & Mandy, W. (2012). Investigating autism spectrum
disorder and autistic traits in early onset eating disorder. International Journal of Eating Disorders,
45, 583-591.
Preventing development of unhelpful perfectionism in children: This project extends pilot work completed
over 2014, trialling 2 classroom lessons with grades 5 to 7. We have a number of schools keen to be involved
in this work, and the aim is to develop a 3 lesson program with a longer evaluation period. The outcomes of
interest, in addition to perfectionism, are indicators of well-being, depression, anxiety and body
dissatisfaction.
Reading:
Wilksch, S., Durbridge, M., & Wade, T.D. (2008). A preliminary controlled comparison of programs designed to
reduce risk of eating disorders targeting perfectionism and media literacy. Journal of the American
Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 47, 939-947.
Michael Wenzel (Associate Professor, School of Psychology)
My research currently focuses on responses to victimizations and transgressions in interpersonal or
intergroup contexts. Specifically, I am interested in forgiveness (and self-forgiveness) and the functions it has
for the restoration of justice perceptions, human needs, relationships and identities.
Tim Windsor (Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology):
I am interested in projects concerned with changes in social behaviour and emotion regulation that occur during
adulthood and ageing. Possible projects might involve analysis of secondary data sources (for example the
Australian Longitudinal study of Ageing) or new projects looking at age differences in attention to emotionally
valenced stimuli.
Robyn Young (Assoc Prof, School of Psychology)
My research is in the area of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). I am interested in outcomes of persons with ASD (
children and adults) as well as comorbidity issues. I am also interested in early detection of autism, and female
profiles. I am also interested in people’s fitness to stand trial and other matters related to ASD and criminality;
either perpetrators or victims.
I am engaged in a collaborative research project with Neil Brewer (Professor, School of Psychology) which
provides many possible avenues for clinical projects. Broadly speaking the project is concerned with the
interactions that adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have with the criminal justice system. We
have recently completed a book manuscript titled The Crimes of People with Autism Spectrum Disorder:
Myths and Mechanisms. In this we identify numerous interesting but largely unresearched issues. These
primarily relate to those social-cognitive characteristics of individuals with ASD that might contribute to
their becoming involved in crime (as a culprit or a victim) or to prejudicial (i.e., negative) interactions with
the police and the courts. We can accommodate a couple of students working on projects in this area,
particularly projects that might tackle closely related investigations of the same basic issue. Many of these
projects are amenable to laboratory experimentation – so, just to illustrate (note: these are but a couple of
examples from numerous possibilities), one might examine how some particular characteristics of the
verbal or nonverbal presentation of individuals with ASD affect the way in which others perceive or
respond to them, or how an inability to detect the intentions of others through reading their nonverbal
behaviour may contribute to a problematic interaction with that person.
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Projects Supervised by Adjunct Staff
Please note that any research offered by external organizations will require an internal university
supervisor, where relative supervisory input will need to be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
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Where a appears as a superscript by the name of the supervisor, this indicates that the supervisor is
external and an internal university supervisor will be required.
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Richard Clark (Professor, E: Richard.Clark@brainhealth.com.au or 08-8410 6500). We have a number of
projects in the area of clinical cognitive neuroscience examining the relationship between brain and cognitive
function in health and disease, using data from a well established integrative neuroscience database. See also
the final page of this document for a specific description of a project investigating emotional wellbeing in
twins.
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Dr Nadia Corsini , Senior Research Officer, Behavioural Research Unit, Cancer Council SA
P: 8291 4382, E: ncorsini@cancersa.org.au W: www.cancersa.org.au/research/behavioural-research
Cancer Council SA is a not-for-profit organisation that conducts and funds cancer research, provides
support services to people affected by cancer, delivers prevention programs, and leads advocacy
activities for improving cancer outcomes. Within the Behavioural Research and Evaluation Unit we are
interested in the areas of cancer survivorship (what are the unmet needs and how can we support
people post treatment?), disparities in cancer risk factors (amongst people in rural areas and from
culturally and linguistically diverse communities), and understanding drivers of cancer risk behaviours
(in particular sun protection practices). I would be interested in discussing projects in these areas and
in particular in the area of cancer survivorship where there will be opportunities to undertake both
qualitative and quantitative investigations of post-treatment needs amongst cancer survivors. We work
closely with Professor Carlene Wilson, Cancer Council SA Chair in Cancer Prevention (Behavioural
Science) and would be happy to discuss joint supervision of projects.
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Hayley Dohnt (Clinical Coordinator, Child Protection Services *CPS+, Women’s and Children’s Hospital,
ph: 8161 7346, hayley.dohnt@health.sa.gov.au ): I currently work at the CPS and would be interested in
speaking with anyone who is interested in a study of child abuse and trauma. I also have a strong research
interest in child and adolescent sleep, and would be willing to discuss research options with interested
individuals.
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Rita Princi (Registered Psychologist, Princi Consulting, 441 Fullarton Road, HIGHGATE SA 5063, Telephone:
(08) 8377 7755; Facsimile: (08) 8377 7855; email: rita@princiconsulting.com.au). Interested in supervising
projects related to:
• The effects of early sexualisation of children in the media on their cognitive, emotional and social
development
• Children with chronic illness: the difficulties faced by children in remission with regard to return to
school i.e., academically, socially, emotionally.
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Simon Wilksch (Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Psychology, Flinders University;
simon.wilksch@flinders.edu.au, 8201 7996). My main interest area is the prevention and treatment of
eating disorders. My current work involves developing and evaluating school-based prevention programs for
both eating disorders and obesity.
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Projects Offered by External Supervisors / Organisations
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Rob Baker (Director, Cardiac Surgery Research Unit, Flinders Private Hospital email:
Rob.Baker@flinders.edu.au, ph: 84042015): The Cardiac Surgery Unit at Flinders has been exploring the role
of mood, and specifically depression, on cardiac patient outcomes for a number of years. Opportunity exist
over the next few years to develop our ongoing interests examining those factors which impact on our
patients after discharge from hospital. We also have project areas available looking at the development of
interventions to help our post Cardiac surgical patients. Our unit has a large database of surgical patients
who have undergone assessments with several measures of quality of life and mood symptoms, at a number
of different timepoints. The Unit has an advanced database available with detailed demographic and clinical
information in addition to psychological variables. The surgical unit has a strong track record of published
research in this area.
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Dianna Bartsch , Psychologist, Southern Mental Health Services, Email : dianna.bartsch@health.sa.gov.au. I
am seeking expressions of interest from a Psychology Masters/Doctorate student as we are looking for
someone to evaluate our Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Skills Training Group for Borderline Personality
Disorder. We also have data from the past 4 groups which has yet to be evaluated. If a student is interested
in the project could they contact me on 8222 8924 or via email on to discuss potential projects.
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Carlene Wilson , Professor, Foundation Chair of Cancer Prevention, Tel: 8204 6721; Email
Carlene.Wilson@flinders.edu.au. The research topics I am interested in supervising students in are: (1)
Increasing primary and secondary prevention of cancer through targeted behavioural interventions; (2)
Examining the variables that impact upon dietary and lifestyle decision-making and how these might be
influenced, and (3) Evaluating the impact of various dietary, nutritional and lifestyle choices on aspects of
cognition and affect in various demographic groups.
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Simon McMahon , Business and Systems Coordinator Adelaide Northern headspace, Adelaide
Northern Division of General Practice). Phone: 08 8252 9444; Fax: 08 8252 9433; Email:
smcmahon@andgp.org.au
I am looking to evaluate a universal mental health promotion program to prevent depression and anxiety
related mental health problems. The program uses he framework for Prevention, Promotion and early
Intervention (Department of Health and Ageing) and evidenced based research from journal reviews (and
more). The program is delivered as a facilitation based workshop to adults in the labour force. The evaluation
would focus on impact and outcomes using quantitative and qualitative measures.
Katya Schiavone - Lead Clinician (Psychology), Child & Youth Service, Disability Services, ph:
83486500; email: katya.schiavone@dfc.sa.gov.au
Specialist Services for Children and Youth provide assessment and therapeutic services to children who are at
risk of school or community exclusion or family breakdown, due to the child's challenging behaviour. We have
two possible Masters or Phd project ideas:
• The relationship between client need, client responsivity and service delivery outcomes and the possible
predictors of service delivery outcomes.
•
Evaluating service delivery outcomes for our clients, and specifically understanding which age groups
and sub populations the positive behaviour support model is most effective with.
Kerri Vowles - Psychologist, Department of Paediatrics, kerri.vowles@health.sa.gov.au
Neonatal Follow Up Unit: An existing database provides opportunities for a research project to
examine the relationship between specific medical risk factors (e.g. dilation of cerebral ventricles) on
long term developmental outcomes of children born pre-term or at very low birth weight. Information
regarding long term outcomes of preterm infants is of great practical importance to families and
clinicians. Currently, published data in this area only exists for children at two years of age, so this
project would extend to include developmental outcomes of children aged 5 and 8 years.
Reading:
Heinrich, S. (2012). The predictive value of medical morbidity on developmental outcomes at school
age for very preterm and very low birth weight children (Unpublished master’s thesis).
Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia.
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Flinders Medical Centre – Potential Research Collaborations
Please note: FMC researchers are classified as external supervisors so internal supervisors from the Flinders
University School of Psychology must be involved in this research.
Kathy Moar, Senior Clinical Psychologist, Department of Paediatrics, Kathy.Moar@health.sa.gov.au ; Carolyn
Cole, Clinical Psychologist, Department of Paediatrics, Carolyn.Cole @health.sa.gov.au.
There are opportunities for research on the following topics involving children and families at
Flinders Medical Centre:
NeoNatal Follow Up Unit: An existing database provides opportunities for research on a range of topics
associated with the developmental outcomes of children born pre-term or at a very low birth- weight. These
projects include:
• Behavioural outcomes at age 5 years and at 8 years.
• Academic achievement, are children born pre-term or at very low birth weight at risk of under
achieving academically?
• Within groups analysis of cognitive development at 5 years and 8 years of age.
Children’s Assessment Team: The CAT assesses children regarding concerns about developmental difficulties
and learning disorders. Diagnoses made by the Team include autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit
disorders, learning disorders, intellectual disability and global developmental delay, speech and language
impairment and a range of motor difficulties. There are opportunities for both prospective studies with
children assessed during the year, their families and referring professionals, as well as retrospective studies of
outcomes of children assessed in previous years.
Projects could include:
• Retrospective and prospective analyses of diagnostic outcomes, co morbid diagnoses, levels of
functional impairment shown by children
• Analysis of referral trends
• Expectations, understanding and satisfaction of referring agencies –qualitative and quantitative
analyses
• Factors influencing parental adjustment to diagnoses
Paediatrics Department: Childhood diabetes
• Adherence to treatment regimes
• Response to individual and/ or group interventions
• Psychological risk factors in short term and long term adjustment
Obesity
• Factors to be assessed prior to surgical intervention
• Adherence to treatment regimes
• What factors predict successful outcomes after gastric banding surgery
Dr Tony Kneebone, Chief Clinical Neuropsychologist, Flinders Medical Centre
Impact of cognitive impairment and mood state on medication compliance in elderly cancer patients
This project will aim to identify the psychological and neurocognitive predictors of medication taking
compliance in cancer patients aged >65 years attending the FMC Oncology Clinic.
Fifty patients will undertake tests of short-term memory, prospective memory and executive function prior to
the commencement of treatment and at the completion of treatment 10 weeks later. Questionnaires on
mood state and subjective memory function will also be completed at these times.
Administrative support and office space for patient consultation with be provided by the FMC Oncology
Clinic. Clinical staff will be available to consult with on medical matters pertinent to the project.
For further information please contact Dr Tony Kneebone (ph. 8204 4576 or tony.kneebone@health.sa.gov.au
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Ideas for psychological research at novita children’s services
Please note: Novita researchers are classified as external supervisors so internal supervisors from the
Flinders University School of Psychology must be involved in this research.
Dr. Angela Crettenden; (Research Fellow- Knowledge & Innovation )
Angela.Crettenden@novita.org.au; P: 8243 8292.
Novita is the leading NGO provider of services to children with disabilities in SA. I would be happy to offer
supervision if students are interested in research projects relevant to Novita’s client group and strategic
directions. Our organisation is currently involved in a major NHMRC funded knowledge translation study,
supporting evidence based practice for children with cerebral palsy. There are opportunities for side projects
under this research umbrella. Other opportunities relate to our research streams involving work participation
and well-being of parents/carers; carer well-being more generally; and the intersection between disability
and child protection.
Research Project involving MindMatters.
MindMatters is the national mental health initiative for secondary schools funded by the Australian
Government Department of Health and Ageing and implemented by Principals Australia. MindMatters is
interested in exploring a number of issues summarised below.
• The impact of the MM youth empowerment process (YEP) on student mental health and/or learning
outcomes - eg we have anecdotal evidence to show that students involved in YEP have had life changing
experiences as a result of participation eg a letter from a mum who said the workshop ‘saved my
daughter’s life’, students reporting they have finally sought help for MH issues, students re-thinking their
future and choosing health related career choices, increased engagement in school etc – let alone the
impact of the wider action they decide to take within their own school and community (eg supporting
students transitioning to the school).
• The impact of teaching MM curriculum on student wellbeing and/or learning outcomes (a small follow
up to the Understanding Mental Illness classroom evaluation?)
• The impact of MM SEL (social and emotional learning) curriculum on enhancing protective factors of
students
• Whether Aboriginal learning outcomes can be improved by using MindMatters (curriculum, whole
school approaches etc) - we have successful projects operating in APY Lands in SA, Tamworth and
surrounds in NSW, Central Australia remote communities to name a few.
• Whether diverse student populations’ outcomes can be improved through their school engaging in MM
(by diverse we mean same sex attraction, NESB, students with disabilities, rural and remote, other
cultural groups eg refugees)
• Does the MM implementation framework provide a tool for change in high school settings?
• How does the MM implementation framework reflect latest positive psychology research?
• How effective are MM data tools in improving outcomes for students?
• Any other ideas that help build the evidence base for MM
Contact:
Professor Tracey Wade, School of Psychology, Flinders University, (tracey.wade@flinders.edu.au) Ph:
82013736
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