Project

Psychological adjustment after breast cancer diagnosis or treatment: evaluating an interactive self-help workbook/journal.

Research indicates that women continue to experience substantial adjustment difficulties in the 5 years following diagnosis of breast cancer, and that active engagement with these issues is the most helpful way of coping. The primary aim of this research is to investigate the efficacy of an interactive workbook/journal on the psychological adjustment of women to breast cancer.

The aim of the first study is to examine new waves of prospective longitudinal data from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women’s Health in order to develop a more complete picture of the issues facing women in the 5 years after diagnosis of breast cancer. The aim of the second study is to conduct focus groups with women who are near the end of treatment, in order to gain a complementary understanding of the short-term adjustment and reproductive issues that arise. An interactive workbook will be developed based upon the first and second study. The main treatment study will compare recently-diagnosed women who receive the workbook versus an information-control, and these results will be compared with the "Women Moving On" trial results of a similar workbook intervention for women who have completed treatment.

Additional Research Interests

I am currently employed by Dr. Reg Nixon as a research therapist treating individuals with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and comorbid depression. This involves the use of various semi-structured clinical interviews in assessing individuals following a traumatic event.

I am also currently employed to provide a workshop for clinical post-graduate students entitled “Working with Indigenous Australians” as part of the ‘PSYC 9047 Current Trends in Clinical Psychology’ topic.

Previously I have been employed as a research assistant by Prof. Tracey Wade to administer the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) to adolescent girls as part of the project entitled "Adolescent girls' eating: How do genes and the environment influence it?", and to women from the Australian Twin Registry as part of Dr Wade's NHMRC funded project "Variations in Eating Behaviour and Attitudes Among Women".

I have previously researched neuropsychological changes following cardiac surgery, and have examined male body image in bodybuilders and weightlifters.

Supervisor

Selected Publications

Baker, R.A., Hallsworth, L.J., & Knight, J.L. (2005). Stroke after coronary artery bypass grafting. Annals of Thoracic Surgery, 80, 1746-50.

Conference Presentations

Contact Details

School of Psychology
Flinders University of South Australia
GPO Box 2100
Adelaide, South Australia 5001

Office: 347 Social Sciences North
Phone: (+61 8) 8201 2565
Fax: (+61 8) 8201 3877
Email: lisa.hallsworth@flinders.edu.au