Research
Background and Services
With a robust academic background, my work is anchored in the development of scientifically validated models, such as the Sexual Victimization Disclosure Process Model (svDPM) and the pioneering Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ).
These tools reshape our understanding of disclosure and set new standards for gender- and age-inclusive approaches to studying sexual victimisation.
I have also designed and conducted research related to other aspects of disclosure such as understanding victim blame, as well conceiving and pioneering a new, successful experimental paradigm to understand the relationship between shame and dissociation.
I aim to help professionals and organisations conduct meaningful, ethically responsible research that respects participants’ diverse experiences. Let's work together to create spaces where disclosure is safe, respectful, and scientifically grounded.
Through Safe Space Solutions, I offer consultancy services for both public and private allied health and research institutions/organisations in:
- Survey design
- Experimental research
- Qualitative and Quantitative research methods
- Statistical procedures (see below for elaboration)
- Inclusive methodologies tailored to sensitive topics, particularly those surrounding sexual victimisation and disclosure
Regarding specific statistical procedures and analyses, I have experience with:
- Coding qualitative data and manually coding quantitative data (including inter-rater reliability)
- Conventional null hypothesis testing (ANOVA, ANCOVA, Chi-Square, t-tests etc)
- Data transformation
- Exploratory factor analysis (including categorical PCA)
- Non-parametric testing (Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney tests)
- Post-hoc comparisons (including Tukey's HSD)
- PROCESS for SPSS (moderation, mediation, and moderated-mediation analyses)
- Regression analyses (both linear and logistic)
- Scale development
Future Research
These projects are in the process of procuring funding
I welcome any funding opportunities to develop these further:
Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ)
- Validation Across Diverse Populations: Further psychometric validation in diverse age, gender, and cultural groups can solidify the SEQ’s inclusivity and generalisability. This work could include refining items to enhance cultural sensitivity and ensuring relevance across diverse communities.
- Expanding Scope and Sensitivity: Exploring how the SEQ captures varied forms of victimisation, including subtle or indirect experiences, could enrich its application in capturing complex victimisation experiences, such as those that involve psychological manipulation.
- Longitudinal Reliability and Sensitivity to Change: Establishing the SEQ’s utility in longitudinal studies could show how experiences and disclosures evolve over time, capturing nuanced changes in individuals’ perspectives or their willingness to disclose.
- Neurodiversity and Inclusivity: Investigating how neurodivergent populations (e.g., autistic individuals) perceive and respond to the SEQ could provide essential insights and adaptations to support more inclusive and accessible research tools.
- Application in Clinical and Non-Clinical Settings: Testing the SEQ in various applied settings, such as healthcare, law enforcement, and social services, to understand its utility and impact when implemented in these real-world environments.
Sexual Victimization Disclosure Process Model (svDPM)
- Validation of Model Components Across Cultures: Funding could support cross-cultural validation of the svDPM to determine how cultural factors influence disclosure processes, reactions, and subsequent psychological outcomes.
- Testing Predictive Utility: Further investigation into the svDPM’s predictive power regarding psychological outcomes following disclosure, including the influence of different feedback types and interpersonal factors on re-disclosure decisions, would enhance its utility.
- Integration of Digital Disclosure: With digital platforms increasingly serving as spaces for disclosure, examining how the svDPM applies to online disclosures could provide valuable updates to the model, making it relevant for modern forms of communication.
- Shame Management and Invalidation Dynamics: Deepening the model’s understanding of how shame management strategies (Restore vs. Protect Motivation) interact with perceived invalidation or validation could clarify how these dynamics impact survivors' well-being and willingness to re-disclose.
- Developing Interventions Based on svDPM: Funding could facilitate the creation of intervention programs for professionals, such as therapists or support workers, using insights from svDPM to enhance their responses to disclosures and minimize unintentional invalidation.
Recent Research Publications
The Sexual Encounters Questionnaire: A Gender-Inclusive Survey of Sexual Victimization Across the Lifespan
The present studies developed, piloted, and finalized a novel survey of victimization, the sexual encounters questionnaire (SEQ), a robust and extensive tool that screens for a range of sexual violation scenarios that can be perpetrated against a victim of any gender and age.
Disclosure of Sexual Victimization: Effects of Invalidation and Shame on Re-Disclosure
The current study investigated whether invalidating feedback in response to self-disclosure of a personally distressing event produced feelings of shame, and whether shame influenced subsequent decisions around re-disclosure
Blame Attributions Against Heterosexual Male Victims of Sexual Coercion: Effects of Gender, Social Influence, and Perceptions of Distress
If heterosexual male victims had been more active in the #MeToo movement, how might they have been judged?