Project Personnel
Associate Professor Paula Brough (Chief Investigator)
The evaluation and enhancement of the psychological health of workers has been the focus of Associate Professor Brough's research for over 15 years. This research has focused on two main aspects:
(1) reducing experiences of occupational stress within the high-stress industries, and
(2) enhancing individual health and organisational performance.
A/Prof Brough's expertise is recognised by invitations to review national competitive grants, membership of journal editorial boards, reviewer for national and international psychology journals and conferences, examiner of PhD theses, and research presentations to both academic and industry audiences. A/Prof Brough's main achievements include:
- Contributions to the international organisational psychology literature of over 40 academic outputs (books, book chapters, journal articles).
- Awarded 24 competitive research grants since 2001, including Chief Investigator of two Australian Research Council (ARC) grants
- Successful supervision of over 30 research students
- Extensive industry research collaborations, including: UK Police Services and Home Office; New Zealand Fire, Police, Ambulance, and Customs Services; Queensland Police, Fire, Ambulance, Corrective, and Disability Services; and other Queensland organisations (e.g., Qld Institute of Managers; Optometrists, Dental and Physiotherapists Associations; Worley Parsons).
These achievements have contributed significantly to both the theory and application of organisational psychological research. For example, A/Prof Brough's research has demonstrated the differing impact of work demands experienced by emergency service workers (i.e., organisational stress versus operational stress), resulting in the instigation of training, debriefing, and rehabilitation policies within these organisations. For example: critical incident training of police recruits, improving the recruitment and retention rates of operational police and fire officers, and reducing the numbers of psychological injury claims submitted within Queensland Corrective Services.
Ms Amanda Biggs (Project Manager)
Throughout her six years as a researcher at Griffith University, Amanda Biggs has participated in numerous research projects conducted within Australian private and public sector organisations, including law enforcement agencies, allied health organisations, and the hospitality industry. For instance, Amanda was employed as a research officer in an international collaborative project in 25 countries that focused on work-family conflict amongst managerial and professional workers; research investigating post-traumatic stress and childbirth; and a study examining the manner in which couples cope with cancer. The majority of her research has focused on occupational stress and work-related health: for example, her PhD research examined stress and burnout amongst staff working within a correctional environment. This research focused on developing strategies to promote an engaged workforce, identifying risk factors that contribute to the occurrence of psychological strain over-time, and testing an intervention to prevent/reduce the occurrence of occupational stress and burnout. Amanda's other research interests include the individual, familial, and social costs of work-family conflict; the impact of technology in the workplace (e.g. building trust in virtual teams); workplace diversity; deviant workplace behaviours (e.g. bullying, stealing); the impact of work on reproductive health; and succession planning for the ageing workforce. Amanda has presented her research at both national and international conferences, has published her research in international psychology journals, lectures in undergraduate psychology courses, and also serves as a reviewer for academic journals. Throughout 2009 Amanda managed the development of the Griffith University Undergraduate Psychology Journal and served as the journal's first inaugural editor.
Ms Jennifer Barbour (Research Support)
Jennifer Barbour is a PhD (Organisational Psychology) candidate in the School of Psychology at Griffith University. Jennifer's PhD research is concerned with the influence of the team environment on individual and organisational outcomes including well-being and turnover.
Since commencing work on the Healthy Workplaces project, Jennifer has been involved in the evaluation of QPS's HealthStart program and will play an ongoing role in the design and implementation of the Healthy Workplaces project in QPS.
Prior to returning to full-time study, Jennifer worked for several years at the Australian Bureau of Statistics in Canberra and more recently, as an analyst and consultant for an international human resources consultancy specialising in workforce planning and analytics.
