Rachael Sharman

• BA, BPsych(Hons), PhD
• Lecturer in Psychology at University of the Sunshine Coast

Sexual health, including sexual pleasure, is fundamental to holistic health and well-being, and is considered an area of priority health in Australia. Despite the importance of sexual functioning, women experience significant gaps in sexual well-being compared to men and often do not seek medical care or treatment. Health practitioners are central...

A proportion of the Australian public remains sceptical about the reality of climate change, its causes, impacts and the need for mitigatory action. To date, scepticism research largely focuses on factors highly resistant to change, particularly socio-demographic and value factors. This mixed-methods study investigated whether more malleable psycho...

Objective Sexual health problems can be pertinent to psychological function/diagnosis and psychologists are key players in treatment and education regarding sexual health. Despite this, little evidence exists to determine if sexual dysfunction is explored during routine client intake interviews, when the client does not present with relationship di...

The Brief COPE is a widely used instrument to measure coping behaviours. However, the number of factors can vary across populations and the contexts in which they are utilised, raising concerns about the generalisability of the coping subscales from one study to another. The current study used participants who had experienced the Canterbury earthqu...

The focus of this qualitative study was on separated mother’s ( N = 36) lived experiences of mothering in the context of post separation family violence and the Australian family law system. Thematic analysis of interviews was guided by a theoretical framework, this being the Three Planets Model. Analysis of the data resulted in two themes relating...

Objective Sport‐related concussion (SRC) is a multi‐faceted issue that should be considered in context, with consideration for the biological, psychological, and sociocultural (i.e., biopsychosocial) factors which influence the incidence of injury in contact sports such as rugby union (rugby). Through the concurrent assessment of individual variabl...

Research evidence has shown that in childhood, a secure attachment to a reliable caregiver is important for future mental health and well‐being. The theoretical and research basis for attachment theory continues to grow. As attachment theory has become more widely adopted there are challenges and opportunities both theoretically and in terms of its...

Within a child custody context, this article systematically reviewed the available qualitative research of post separation, high conflict, co-parenting relationships. Separated parents’ experiences of high conflict were reportedly embedded in pervasive mistrust and disdain, and underpinned by concerns over differing parenting styles, or the other p...

Besides seeking social support, connecting with bereaved others, and maintaining relationships with the deceased, bereaved Facebook users may express their grief on Facebook to reduce their death anxiety. Notably, research has not yet explored the psychological outcomes of expressing grief on Facebook. This study undertook quantitative analysis of...

Following parental separation, child custody decisions continue to be made on the basis of the discretionary best interests of the child. The current study explored mothers and fathers (N = 40) in family violence, or high conflict past two years post separation, and their experiences within the Australian family law system. A thematic analysis was...

Drawing on interviews with separated parents (N = 40) this Australian qualitative study explored dissonance within intractable parental disputes. The mature defense mechanisms of altruism, suppression, anticipation, and humor emerged as potential adaptive responses to dissonance. The mature defense mechanism of sublimation did not emerge as a poten...

Drawing on interviews with separated mothers (N = 36) this Australian qualitative study explored “hate” in a child custody context within enduring parenting disputes. This preliminary study observed that hate may be present within enduring parenting disputes. A conceptualization of hate, being circular theory of hate in co-parental conflict was dev...

This study investigated two primary research aims surrounding health anxiety: a) to examine what differences exist in emotion regulations strategies of health anxious and non-health anxious populations, and b) to investigate what emotion regulation strategies predict health anxiety, before and after controlling for trait cognitive and somatic anxie...

Aim: The aim of the present study was to utilise a systems thinking approach to explore the perceived responsibilities for identifying and treating concussion held by different actors across the community rugby system (e.g., players, coaches, parents, medics, referees, and management), as well as their role-specific concussion management strategie...

Background Many women experience psychological trauma during birth. A traumatic birth can impact on postnatal mental health and family relationships. It is important to understand how interpersonal factors influence women’s experience of trauma in order to inform the development of care that promotes optimal psychosocial outcomes. Methods As part...

Broader contextual factors that influence concussion management have tended to be overlooked. To address this, the present study used a sociotechnical systems approach to identify perceived responsibilities and applied strategies for three domains of concussion management (i.e., prevention, identification and treatment). Participants were 118 membe...

Objective: the objective behind the current study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of fathers after childbirth trauma, an area of minimal research. This is part two of a two-part series conducted in 2014 researching the mental health of fathers after experiencing a perceived traumatic childbirth. Design: qualitative methodology usi...

Despite growing awareness of the issue of sport-related concussion, the extent to which different participants in rugby union (e.g., players, coaches, parents, medics, and referees) understand how to prevent concussion is unclear. The aim of this study was to examine how people with different roles in community rugby union prevent sport-related con...

Previous research shows consistent and marked executive function impairment in children with early and continuously treated phenylketonuria. This between groups analysis (phenylketonuria group vs sibling controls) found no significant differences in executive function (although adolescents with phenylketonuria performed slightly worse than their si...

We compared mothers who exercised predominantly in group settings, those that exercised predominantly in individual settings, and those that exercised equally in group and individual contexts upon: (a) satisfaction of basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness); (b) self-determined exercise motivation; and (c) psychological we...

Issues addressed: This study examined the effectiveness of a brief educational intervention in increasing parental knowledge of childhood obesity risk factors and ability to correctly identify their child’s weight status. Methods: Eighty parents were randomly allocated to an experimental group given an obesity pamphlet or a control group given a st...

This article explores the challenges, support needs and coping strategies of caregivers of people with an acquired brain injury (ABI). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with caregivers (n = 20) to explore their support services received, access barriers, utility of services, needed supports, coping strategies and factors promoting life sati...

Hyperphenylalaninemia is a variant of phenylketonuria, and debate remains as to what, if any, active management of this condition is required to preserve cognitive function and psychological well-being. This study is the first to examine longitudinally the executive function (EF) in adolescents with hyperphenylalaninemia. Two sibling pairs with mil...

Objective: Increasing concurrent phenylalanine to "off-diet" levels in adults with phenylketonuria (PKU) has been shown to lead to mood disturbances. However, the impact of controlled phenylalanine exposure across the developmental life span and mood stability remains questionable. The aim of this study was to investigate correlations between life...

Transitioning to university involves a major life change that can have implications for physical and mental health. This study had three objectives: first, assess the mental health and health-behavior participation of Australian university students; second, evaluate clustering of health behaviors; and third, examine how mental health relates to hea...

Abstract Introduction As more than just an enjoyable activity, team sport offers a range of invaluable benefits to players and has the potential to provide personal, physical and social growth. Despite the many benefits of team sport participation, these benefits do not come without some cost. Although there are strict rules and guidelines in all c...

Eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia and obesity) do not develop overnight. Instead, there is typically a history of maladaptive eating behaviours evident from childhood or adolescence. This report highlights some of the major theoretical bases (from a psychological perspective) that are thought to underpin the development of maladaptive eating beha...

Abstract Australian nurses and midwives are expected to compile a professional development portfolio during their annual registration process. This study aimed to ascertain the current understanding, practice and future continuing professional development (CPD) needs of nurses and midwives employed in a regional area of Queensland, Australia. Perce...

: Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an inborn error of metabolism that is primarily treated with a severely restricted, low-protein diet to prevent permanent neurological damage. Despite the recognition of the importance of strict dietary adherence in the prevention of intellectual impairment in individuals with PKU, apathy and attrition from diet, especial...

As more than just an enjoyable activity, team sport offers a range of invaluable benefits to players and has the potential to provide personal, physical, and social growth. Despite the many benefits of team sport participation, these benefits do not come without some cost. While there are strict rules and guidelines in all contact sports, the risk...

Abstract Australian nurses and midwives are expected to compile a professional development portfolio during their annual registration process. This study aimed to ascertain the current understanding, practice and future continuing professional development (CPD) needs of nurses and midwives employed in a regional area of Queensland, Australia. Perce...

Previous research has suggested an increased risk for individuals with phenylketonuria (PKU) of developing depression and other mood disorders. As PKU can disrupt neurotransmitter synthesis via biochemical mechanisms, depressive symptoms are hypothesised to result from neurotransmitter dysregulation. Whilst adherence (or return) to the phenylalanin...

Investigations into the biochemical markers associated with executive function (EF) impairment in children with early and continuously treated phenylketonuria (ECT-PKU) remain largely phenylalanine-only focused, despite experimental data showing that a high phenylalanine:tyrosine (phe:tyr) ratio is more strongly associated with EF deficit than phe...

Children with early and continuously treated phenylketonuria (ECT-PKU) remain at risk of developing executive function (EF) deficits. There is some evidence that a high phenylalanine to tyrosine ratio (phe:tyr) is more strongly associated with impaired EF development than high phenylalanine alone. This study examined EF in a sample of 11 adolescent...

Debate continues as to why executive function (EF) continues to show impairments in children with early and continuously treated phenylketonuria (ECT-PKU). Using a mixed model, we measured EF in 10 adolescent children with ECT-PKU and 6 sibling controls, and examined associations between EF and (1) phenylalanine (phe) and (2) the phenylalanine : ty...