Dr Penelope Hasking - Researcher Profile

Penelope Hasking

Address

School of Psychology and Psychiatry
Building 17, Clayton

Contact Details

Tel: +61 3 990 24024

Email: Penelope.Hasking@monash.edu


Biography

Identifying self-harm risk factors for students

Self-injury is often a mechanism for coping with emotional stress and those who self-injure are more vulnerable to suicide, says Dr Penelope Hasking. She is leading a four-year study of self-injury among secondary school students to identify prevention and early intervention strategies and to improve the wellbeing of students. She says addressing self-injury may ultimately reduce suicide rates.

“We know that predicting suicide and preventing suicide is very difficult,” Penelope says. “But we also know that self-injury is a major risk factor for suicide.”

People who self-injure are 40 times more vulnerable to attempting suicide and five per cent will go on to succeed. She believes self-injury may be on the rise among young people in Australia. Her study of Australian school students explores links between self-injury, suicide and psychological distress.

The four-year longitudinal study is a collaboration with Professor Graham Martin from the University of Queensland. It has been funded by the Australian Research Council and will conclude in 2012.

About 2600 adolescents from around Australia have been involved in the study. Teachers and school staff will participate this year. Penelope hopes to expand the study in the future to gauge parents’ understanding of self-injury among teenagers.

One of the preliminary findings to emerge from Penelope’s research is that people with an optimistic view of the future were less likely to self-injure than those with a pessimistic outlook.

“The first episode of self-injury often occurs around age 14. The highest prevalence age bracket is 18-24, but it continues even into the mid-30s,” Penelope says. “These are young people who are feeling distressed, upset, they may have just had a fight with somebody at school or not doing well at school and they don’t have the adaptive coping skills so it’s a method of coping.

“If you talk to teachers and clinicians they will report an increase in this behaviour, but there is very little research to say whether there has been an actual increase or whether it is increased awareness.”

She says incidents of students at her own secondary school who self-injured contributed to her pursuit of this research.

“It was something that intrigued me because it is counter-intuitive,” she says. “I wanted to find a bit more about it in terms of what factors might maintain self-injury, what purpose does it serve and how can we better assist young people.”

She believes the financial and emotional pressures associated with the transition to university and the workforce play a part in the rates of self-injury among young adults. It is an area she hopes to study once her project finishes.

“We hope to extend our study and follow our adolescents out of school and capture that 18-to-24 age group and see if any school-based factors might predict later self-injury,” she says.

Related Links:

Keywords

self-injury in youth, substance abuse

Qualifications

GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Institution: Monash University
Year awarded: 2010
DOCOTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Institution: University of Queensland
Year awarded: 2003
BACHELOR OF ARTS (HONS)
Institution: University of Queensland
Year awarded: 1998
BACHELOR OF ARTS
Institution: University of Queensland
Year awarded: 1997

Publications

Book Chapters

Hasking, P.A., 2008, Reinforcement sensitivity, self-efficacy, coping and addictive behaviours, in Health Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices, eds Patricia I Eddington and Umberto V Mastolli, Nova Science Publishers, USA, pp. 21-70.

Journal Articles

Lyvers, M., Hasking, P.A., Albrecht, B., Thorberg, F.A., 2012, Alexithymia and alcohol: The roles of punishment sensitivity and drinking motives, Addiction Research & Theory [P], vol 20, issue 4, Informa, UK, pp. 348-357.

Gagnon, J., Hasking, P.A., 2012, Australian psychologists' attitudes towards suicide and self-harm, Australian Journal of Psychology [P], vol 64, issue 2, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, UK, pp. 75-82.

Swannell, S., Martin, G., Page, A., Hasking, P.A., Hazell, P., Taylor, A., Protani, M., 2012, Child maltreatment, subsequent non-suicidal self-injury and the mediating roles of dissociation, alexithymia and self-blame, Child Abuse and Neglect [P], vol 36, issue 7-8, Pergamon, United Kingdom, pp. 572-584.

Andrews, T., Martin, G., Hasking, P.A., 2012, Differential and common correlates of non-suicidal self-injury and alcohol use among community-based adolescents, Advances in Mental Health [P], vol 11, issue 1, eContent Management Pty Ltd, Australia, pp. 55-66.

Halim, A., Hasking, P.A., Allen, F.C.L., 2012, The role of social drinking motives in the relationship between social norms and alcohol consumption, Addictive Behaviors [P], vol 37, issue 12, Pergamon, United Kingdom, pp. 1335-1341.

Hawes, D., Dadds, M., Frost, A., Hasking, P., 2011, Do childhood callous-unemotional traits drive change in parenting practices?, Journal Of Clinical Child And Adolescent Psychology [P], vol 40, issue 4, Routledge, USA, pp. 507-518.

Lyvers, M., Duff, H., Hasking, P., 2011, Risky alcohol use and age at onset of regular alcohol consumption in relation to frontal lobe indices, reward sensitivity, and rash impulsiveness, Addiction Research & Theory [P], vol 19, issue 3, Informa healthcare, UK, pp. 251-259.

Hasking, P., Lyvers, M., Carlopio, C., 2011, The relationship between coping strategies, alcohol expectancies, drinking motives and drinking behaviour, Addictive Behaviors [P], vol 36, issue 5, Pergamon, UK, pp. 479-487.

Hasking, P., Scheier, L., Abdallah, A., 2011, The three latent classes of adolescent delinquency and the risk factors for membership in each class, Aggressive Behavior [P], vol 37, issue 1, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., USA, pp. 19-35.

McAllister, M., Hasking, P., Estefan, A., Lowe, J., McClenaghan, K., 2010, A strengths-based group program on self-harm: A feasibility study, The Journal of School Nursing [P], vol 26, issue 4, Sage Publications, Inc., USA, pp. 289-300.

Hasking, P., Coric, S., Swannell, S., Martin, G., Thompson, H., Frost, A., 2010, Brief report: Emotion regulation and coping as moderators in the relationship between personality and self-injury, Journal Of Adolescence [P], vol 33, issue 5, Academic Press, UK, pp. 767-773.

Lyvers, M., Hasking, P., Hani, R., Rhodes, M., Trew, E., 2010, Drinking motives, drinking restraint and drinking behaviour among young adults, Addictive Behaviors [P], vol 35, issue 2, Pergamon, UK, pp. 116-122.

Williams, F., Hasking, P., 2010, Emotion regulation, coping and alcohol use as moderators in the relationship between non-suicidal self-injury and psychological distress, Prevention Science [P], vol 11, issue 1, Springer New York LLC, USA, pp. 33-41.

Haque, S., Hasking, P., 2010, Life scripts for emotionally charged autobiographical memories: A cultural explanation of the reminiscence bump, Memory [P], vol 18, issue 7, Psychology Press, United Kingdom, pp. 712-729.

Trewavas, C., Hasking, P., McAllister, M., 2010, Representations of non-suicidal self-injury in motion pictures, Archives of Suicide Research [P], vol 14, issue 1, Routledge, UK, pp. 89-103.

Thompson, H., Hasking, P., 2009, Reviewing self-injury: implications for the study of self-injury and suicidal behaviour in Malaysia, Jurnal Sains Kesihatan Malaysia (Malaysian Journal of Health Sciences) [P], vol 7, issue 2, Perbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia, pp. 1-27.

Booth, C., Hasking, P.A., 2009, Social anxiety and alcohol consumption: the role of alcohol expectancies and reward sensitivity, Addictive Behaviors [P], vol 34, issue 9, Pergamon, UK, pp. 730-736.

Hasking, P.A., Oei, T.P.S., 2008, Incorporating coping into an expectancy framework for explaining drinking behaviour., Current Drug Abuse Reviews, vol 1, issue 1, Bentham Science Publishers Ltd., Netherlands, pp. 20-35.

Hasking, P.A., Momeni, R., Swannell, S., Chia, S., 2008, The nature and extent of non-suicidal self-injury in a non-clinical sample of young adults, Archives of Suicide Research, vol 12, issue 3, Routledge, USA, pp. 208-218.

Feil, J., Hasking, P.A., 2008, The relationship between personality, coping strategies and alcohol use, Addiction Research and Theory, vol 16, issue 5, Informa Healthcare, UK, pp. 526-537.

Oei, T.P.S., Hasking, P.A., Phillips, L., 2007, A comparison of general self-efficacy and drinking refusal self-efficacy in predicting drinking behavior, The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, vol 33, issue 6, Informa Healthcare, USA, pp. 833-841.

Hasking, P.A., Oei, T.T., 2007, Alcohol expectancies, self-efficacy and coping in an alcohol-dependent sample, Addictive Behaviors, vol 32, issue 1, Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, UK, pp. 99-113.

Hasking, P.A., 2007, Reinforcement sensitivity, coping, and delinquent behaviour in adolescents, Journal of Adolescence, vol 30, issue 5, Academic Press Elsevier Science, UK, pp. 739-749.

Young, R., Hasking, P.A., Oei, T.T., Loveday, W., 2007, Validation of the Drinking Refusal Self-Efficacy Questionnaire-Revised in an Adolescent Sample (DRSEQ-RA), Addictive Behaviors, vol 32, issue 4, Pergamon, UK, pp. 862-868.

Hasking, P.A., 2006, Reinforcement sensitivity, coping, disordered eating and drinking behaviour in adolescents, Personality and Individual Differences, vol 40, issue 4, Pergamon, UK, pp. 677-688.

Oei, T.P.S., Hasking, P.A., Young, R.M., 2005, Drinking refusal self-efficacy questionnaire-revised (DRSEQ-R): a new factor structure with confirmatory factor analysis, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, vol 78, issue 3, Elsevier, Clare Ireland, pp. 297-307.

Hasking, P.A., Shortell, C., Machalek, M., 2005, University students' knowledge of alcoholic drinks and their perception of alcohol-related harm, Journal of Drug Education, vol 35, issue 2, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc., Amityville USA, pp. 95-109.

Andrews, M., Hasking, P.A., 2004, Effect of two educational interventions on knowledge and attitudes towards electroconvulsive therapy, The Journal of Electroconvulsive Therapy, vol 20, issue 4, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia USA, pp. 230-236.

Lyvers, M., Hasking, P.A., 2004, Have Halpern et al. (2004) detected 'residual neuropsychological effects' of MDMA? Not likely, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, vol 75, issue 2, Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd, Clare Ireland, pp. 149-152.

Hasking, P.A., Oei, T.T., 2004, The complexity of drinking: interactions between the cognitive and behavioural determinants of alcohol consumption, Addiction Research & Theory, vol 12, issue 5, Taylor & Francis Ltd, Abingdon England, pp. 469-488.

Oei, T.P.S., Hasking, P.A., 2003, Confirmatory factor analysis of the Quitting Time for Alcohol Questionnaire, Addictive Behaviors, vol 28, issue 8, Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford UK, pp. 1487-1495.

Hasking, P.A., Oei, T.P.S., 2002, Confirmatory factor analysis of the COPE questionnaire on community drinkers and an alcohol-dependent sample, Journal of Studies on Alcohol, vol 28, issue 5, Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc., Piscataway USA, pp. 631-640.

Hasking, P.A., Oei, T.T., 2002, The differential role of alcohol expectancies, drinking refusal self-efficacy and coping resources in predicting alcohol consumption in community and clinical samples, Addiction Research and Theory, vol 10, issue 5, Taylor & Francis Ltd, England, pp. 465-494.

Grants

Title:
A prospective investigation of self-injury, suicidal ideation and psychological distress in Australian secondary school students.
Investigators:
Hasking, P, Martin, G
Funding:
(2009 - 2013). Australian Research Council (ARC).
(2009 - 2013). Monash University.
(2009 - 2013). University of Queensland.
Title:
An evaluation of a juvenile justice health promotion program.
Investigators:
Hasking, P, Coloca, L
Funding:
(2007 - 2011). Windermere Foundation Ltd.
Title:
Provision of Mental Health Professional Learning Program: Intervention, Research and Evaluation.
Investigators:
Reupert, A, Deppeler, J, Riley, P, Maybery, D, Sharma, U, Snow, P, Hasking, P
Funding:
(2012 - 2016). Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Current Supervision

Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
A cognitive mechanisms of non-suicidal self-injury.
Supervisors:
Hasking, P (Main), Stout, J (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Bibliotherapy, it's current and potential usage by Australians with Mental Health Problem.
Supervisors:
Hasking, P (Main), Clarke, D (Associate), Meadows, G (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Clinical Psychology.
Supervisors:
Hasking, P (Main).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Knowledge and experiences of school staff towards self-injury.
Supervisors:
Hasking, P (Joint-co), Reupert, A (Joint).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Pathways to non-suicidal self-injury in adolescence: The role of rumination and optimism in response to negative life events and psychological distress.
Supervisors:
Hasking, P (Main).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Psychological distress, alcohol use and coping among adolescents.
Supervisors:
Hasking, P (Joint-co), Verdejo-Garcia, A (Joint).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Self harm online: Can the Internet be scarring?.
Supervisors:
Hasking, P (Main), Melvin, G (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Self-Harm Prevalence and Intervention in Australian Youth Residential Settings.
Supervisors:
Hasking, P (Main), Melvin, G (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
TBA.
Supervisors:
Hasking, P (Joint-co), Newman, L (Joint).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
The psychological health of australian university students: prevalence of psychological issues, and the characteristics that predict wellbeing or distress in the thertiary student population.
Supervisors:
Allen, J (Joint), Hasking, P (Joint-co).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Underlying processes in non-suicidal self-injury: Life events, psychological distress and the effects of emotion regulation and rumination.
Supervisors:
Hasking, P (Main).

Completed Supervision

Student:
Gideoni Cohen, S.
Program of Study:
Attachment theory as a conceptual framework for risk pathways in non-suicidal self-injury. (PHD) 2011.
Supervisors:
Allen, J (Joint), Hasking, P (Joint-Co).
Student:
Thompson, H.
Program of Study:
Self-injurious behaviours in youth. (PHD) 2010.
Supervisors:
Hasking, P (Main), Allen, J (Associate).