Associate Professor
Trish Obst
Faculty of Health,
School of Psychology & Counselling
Biography
Associate Professor Patricia Obst has been an active researcher for almost 20 years and has over 70 publications in a variety of areas including:- volunteering
- aging
- wellbeing
- sense of community
- contectedness and social support
- alcohol use in specific populations
- community engagement
- neighbourhoods
- religious groups
- university students
- internet-based interest and support groups
- carers
- women’s drinking behaviour
- road safety issues pertinent to 'grey nomads': those older Australians spending extensive periods of time touring the country.
- sense of community
- social support
- social identity theory
- applied social psychology
- behaviour change models
- women and alcohol
- volunteerism.
- 'Responding to the rural skills crisis: Modelling volunteer motivations and incentives to attract retired/semi-retired professionals to volunteer in rural areas' Dr Patricia Obst, Dr Katy White, Aspro Jenifer Warburton (la Trobe) and Dr Nancy Spencer.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Personal details
Positions
- Associate Professor
Faculty of Health,
School of Psychology & Counselling
Keywords
Psychological Sense of Community, Applied Psychology, Belonging and Connectivity, Social Support, Volunteering, Social Identity, Well-Being, Behaviour Change, Older Drivers, Alcohol Use
Research field
Psychology
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- Phd (Queensland University of Technology)
- Bachelor (Honours) (Queensland University of Technology)
- Bachelor of Social Science (Queensland University of Technology)
Professional memberships and associations
- Senior Fellow UK Higher Education Academy
- Associate Fellow Higher Education Academy (Indigenous)
- HERDSA (Higher Education Research & Development Society of Australia)
- MAPS (Member Australian Psychological Society)
- General Registration AHPRA - Psychology Board of Australia (Non practicing)
- Member - Society for Australasian Social Psychologists
Teaching
Teaching interests
- statistics
- research methodology
- social psychology
- general psychology
- cross-cultural and community psychology
- Work Integrated Learning
Patricia is a Senior Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy and the Course Coordinator of the School of Psychology and Counselling Honours Program.
Experience
Patricia has worked closely with a number of state government departments and community agencies as a part of both her research and teaching. These include the Department of Communities, Qld Health, The Public Service Commission, Volunteering Qld, and Carers Qld. Patricia has partnered with Volunteering Qld to present forums to bring researchers and practitioners together to discuss volunteering issues. Patricia has close contacts with a number of community organisations, through her research and work integrated learning activities.
Publications
- Obst, T., Murray, K., Walbank, S., Kelly, R. & Brazel, D. (2022). Experiences of abuse in Australian family carers and predictors of mental health and well-being. Health and Social Care in the Community, 30(2), 476–487. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/203297
- Young, S., Shakespeare-Finch, J. & Obst, T. (2020). Raising a child with a disability: a one-year qualitative investigation of parent distress and personal growth. Disability and Society, 35(4), 629–653. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/132157
- Khawaja, N., Obst, T. & Maulana, H. (2019). Development and validation of the Indonesian Well-being Scale. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 22(3), 268–280. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/130940
- Obst, T., Shakespeare-Finch, J., Krosch, D. & Rogers, E. (2019). Reliability and validity of the Brief 2-Way Social Support Scale: an investigation of social support in promoting older adult well-being. Sage Open Medicine, 7, 1–10. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/127282
- Wright, E., White, K. & Obst, P. (2018). Facebook false self-presentation behaviors and negative mental health. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 21(1), 40–49. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/223380
- Obst, T., Zhao, X., White, K., O'Connor, E. & Longman, H. (2018). Game identity-based motivations of playing World of Warcraft and their psychological outcomes. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 21(10), 655–660. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/121207
- Cockshaw, W., Shochet, I. & Obst, P. (2014). Depression and belongingness in general and workplace contexts : a cross-lagged longitudinal investigation. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 33(5), 448–462. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/72061
- Brayley, M., Obst, P., White, K., Lewis, I., Warburton, J. & Spencer, N. (2014). Exploring the validity and predictive power of an extended volunteer functions inventory within the context of episodic skilled volunteering by retirees. Journal of Community Psychology, 42(1), 1–18. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/59229
- Shakespeare-Finch, J. & Obst, P. (2011). The development of the 2-way social support scale: A measure of giving and receiving emotional and instrumental support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 93(5), 483–490. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/52181
- Obst, P., Smith, S. & Zinkiewicz, L. (2002). An Exploration of Sense of Community, Part 3: Dimensions and Predictors of Psychological Sense of Community in Geographical Communities. Journal of Community Psychology, 30(1), 119–133. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/603
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Trish, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Awards
- Type
- Advisor/Consultant for Industry
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- Consultant for Evaluation of Mentoring Beginner Teacher Program. Data Analysis and interpretation included in Qld Department of Education Briefing Document and Report
- Type
- Editorial Role for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Associate Editor Role for SCImago Rated Q2 Australian Psychologist, the official applied practice and public policy journal of the Australian Psychological Society (APS). The journal aims to keep Australian psychologists informed about current issues in psychology, the science and practice of psychology, and psychology¿s contribution to public policy, with particular emphasis on the Australian context.
Selected research projects
- Title
- Developing Female Specific Intervention Strategies to Reduce the Alarming Levels of Risky Alcohol Consumption by Young Women
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- G1661/D2170
- Start year
- 2010
- Keywords
- Alcohol; Culture; Women
- Title
- Responding to the Rural Skills Crisis: Modelling Volunteer Motivations and Incentives to Attract Retired/semi-retired Professionals to Volunteer in Rural Areas
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- LP0990304
- Start year
- 2009
- Keywords
- Volunteer Motivations; Older Volunteers; Rural Sustainability; Productive Ageing; Rural Skills Shortages
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Current supervisions
- Young Urban Saudi Women’s Attitudes Towards Healthy Eating and Physical Activity: Applying a Health Belief Model Framework
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Margo Sendall - Biopsychosocial factors associated with stress among first-year Psychology & Counselling university students
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Divya Mehta, Professor Ian Shochet
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- An Exploration of Psycho-Social and Cultural Factors of Well-Being in the Indonesian Context (2020)
- The Relationship Between Striving for Muscularity, Masculine Identitiy, and Steroid Use Among Young Men in Australia (2020)
- Learning from the Positive for Preventable Injury in the Workplace: Can Non-Deterrence Based Approaches Encourage Compliance? (2019)
- The Rewards and Challenges of Raising a Child with a Disability: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Parent Well-Being and Growth (2018)
- Exploring Cultural, Social and Psychosocial Influences on Women's Drinking across Age Cohorts (2015)
- Developing a Model of Links between General and Workplace Belongingness and Depressive Symptoms (2014)
- Pathways to Peace: A phenomenological exploration of the processes of healing and posttraumatic growth following childhood sexual assault (2014)
- Modelling the Salient Factors Influencing Retired Business Professionals' Participation in Episodic Skilled Volunteering in Rural Settings (2013)