Hannah Thomas
Dr | Research Scientist
hannah.thomas@qimrberghofer.edu.au
CAREER HISTORY
Dr Thomas is a Psychologist and Research Fellow at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research and has academic affiliations with both The University of Queensland and QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. She has a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and completed a PhD on adolescent bullying and cyberbullying. She has significant experience working in school settings as both a clinician and a researcher. Dr Thomas developed and validated the Bullying and Cyberbullying Scale for Adolescents (BCS-A) – see research highlights below for more information. Her continuing interests are in the prevention of adverse childhood experiences to reduce mental and physical illness in the population.
More information on Dr Thomas and her publications, grants, and supervision can be found here.
CURRENT APPOINTMENT
- Research Fellow, Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research
- Research Officer, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
- Honorary Research Fellow, School of Public Health, The University of Queensland
PREVIOUS APPOINTMENTS
- 2019-2020: Visiting Scientist, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
- 2013-2017: PhD Candidate, UQ Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland
- 2012-2013: Research Assistant, Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research, The University of Queensland
- 2012-2013: Research Assistant, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Queensland
- 2012-2015: Undergraduate Tutor, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland
ORCID NUMBER
RESEARCHER ID
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
- Bullying and Cyberbullying Scale for Adolescents (BCS-A) is an empirically validated self-report survey tool that measures bullying behaviour in young people aged 12-17 years. The BCS-A measures both victimisation (being bullied) and perpetration (bullying others) The survey also measures different forms of bullying behaviour – those which occur face-to-face as well as those that occur online. The BCS-A became commercially available through UniQuest in 2018. It has since been translated into numerous languages (French, German, Spanish, Indonesian, Persian, Romanian, Serbian).
- Co-led the work to have bullying victimisation included as a risk factor for mental disorders in the Global Burden of Disease Study.
- Chief Investigator on the Australian Child Maltreatment Prevalence Study, which is the most comprehensive study of prevalence, health and economic burden of child maltreatment in Australia.
- Invited author for the Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Bullying (2021) – a comprehension two-volume book with contributions from leading scholars. The book summarises the latest theories, findings, developmental aspects, and interventions relevant to bullying in a variety of settings.
- Co-supervised Amarzaya Jadambaa’s PhD project (QUT) which estimated the prevalence, health outcomes, cost outcomes, and conducted an economic evaluation of a bullying intervention program.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
- General Registration as a Psychologist with AHPRA
- Member, Australian Psychological Society
- Member, Australian Association for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
AWARDS RECOGNITION
- 2018: Award for Excellent PhD Thesis, Australian Psychological Society
- 2015: Outstanding Scholar Award, UQ Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland
- 2014: Runner-Up, Three-Minute Thesis Competition, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland
- 2013-2017: Bryan Foundation Youth Mental Health PhD Scholarship
- 2013: Dr Helen Row Zonta International Memorial Prize in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
- 2020: Master of Clinical Psychology, The University of Queensland
- 2017: PhD, The University of Queensland
- Thesis titled “Bullying among children and adolescents: Definition, prevalence, clinical correlates, and dimensional measurement”
- 2011: Bachelor of Arts (Psychology, Hons 1), The University of Queensland
- Thesis titled “The Austin Maze: A marker of right temporal lobe function in epilepsy patients?”
- 2010: Bachelor of Arts (Psychology)/Bachelor of Business Management, The University of Queensland