Professor Kristin Laurens
Faculty of Health,
School of Psychology & Counselling
Biography
My primary research interests are in child and youth mental health. I conduct multi-disciplinary longitudinal research projects that use cognitive neuroscience and life-course epidemiology methods to characterise developmental pathways from childhood to diverse health, social, and educational outcomes in adolescence and young adulthood. I am motivated to identify new prevention and early intervention opportunities in childhood that promote successful development for all individuals, and I work with clinical colleagues and educational professionals to develop new prevention and intervention programs for young people. I am currently supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship.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
- Professor
Faculty of Health,
School of Psychology & Counselling
Keywords
developmental psychopathology, epidemiology, cognitive neuroscience, psychosis / schizophrenia, child development, educational psychology, psychometric assessment
Research field
Applied and developmental psychology, Public health, Specialist studies in education
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- PhD (Neuroscience) (University of British Columbia)
- BSc (Hons I) - Psychology (University of Queensland)
- BSc (University of Queensland)
Professional memberships and associations
Kristin Laurens is Program Co-Leader of the Health and Wellbeing Program in The Centre for Inclusive Education (C4IE) at QUT.
Kristin is also a Member of the QUT Centre for Child Health and Wellbeing (CCHW).
Publications
Research outputs by year
- Laurens, K., Graham, L., Dix, K., Harris, F., Tzoumakis, S., Williams, K., Schofield, J., Prendergast, T., Waddy, N., Taiwo, M., Carr, V. & Green, M. (2022). School-Based Mental Health Promotion and Early Intervention Programs in New South Wales, Australia: Mapping Practice to Policy and Evidence. School Mental Health, 14(3), 582–597. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/226937
- Laurens, K., Dean, K., Whitten, T., Tzoumakis, S., Harris, F., Waddy, N., Prendergast, T., Taiwo, M., Carr, V. & Green, M. (2021). Early childhood predictors of elementary school suspension: An Australian record linkage study. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 77. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/226404
- Laurens, K., Tzoumakis, S., Dean, K., Harris, F., Carr, V. & Green, M. (2020). Population profiles of child-reported psychotic-like experiences and their differential association with other psychopathologies. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 59(1), 22–38. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/132002
- Laurens, K., Islam, F., Kariuki, M., Harris, F., Chilvers, M., Butler, M., Schofield, J., Essery, C., Brinkman, S., Carr, V. & Green, M. (2020). Reading and numeracy attainment of children reported to child protection services: A population record linkage study controlling for other adversities. Child Abuse and Neglect, 101, 1–15.
- Laurens, K., Murphy, J., Dickson, H., Roberts, R. & Gutteridge, T. (2020). Trajectories of mismatch negativity and P3a amplitude development from ages 9 to 16 years in children with risk factors for schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 5(12), 1085–1094. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/205198
- Green, M., Harris, F., Laurens, K., Kariuki, M., Tzoumakis, S., Dean, K., Islam, F., Rossen, L., Whitten, T., Smith, M., Holbrook, A., Bore, M., Brinkman, S., Chilvers, M., Sprague, T., Stevens, R. & Carr, V. (2018). Cohort Profile: The New South Wales Child Development Study (NSW-CDS)-Wave 2 (child age 13 years). International Journal of Epidemiology, 47(5), 1396–1397k. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/121997
- Jolley, S., Kuipers, E., Stewart, C., Browning, S., Bracegirdle, K., Basit, N., Gin, K., Hirsch, C., Corrigall, R., Banerjea, P., Turley, G., Stahl, D. & Laurens, K. (2018). The Coping with Unusual Experiences for Children Study (CUES): A pilot randomized controlled evaluation of the acceptability and potential clinical utility of a cognitive behavioural intervention package for young people aged 8-14 years with unusual. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57(3), 328–350. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/122008
- Laurens, K., Tzoumakis, S., Dean, K., Brinkman, S., Bore, M., Lenroot, R., Smith, M., Holbrook, A., Robinson, K., Stevens, R., Harris, F., Carr, V. & Green, M. (2017). The 2015 Middle Childhood Survey (MCS) of mental health and well-being at age 11 years in an Australian population cohort. BMJ Open, 7(6), 1–16. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/122043
- Laurens, K. & Cullen, A. (2016). Toward earlier identification and preventative intervention in schizophrenia: evidence from the London Child Health and Development Study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 51(4), 475–491. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/122025
- Harris, F., Green, M., Laurens, K., Luo, L., Matheson, S., Carr, V. & Raudino, A. (2015). Common or distinct pathways to psychosis? A systematic review of evidence from prospective studies for developmental risk factors and antecedents of the schizophrenia spectrum disorders and affective psychoses. BMC Psychiatry, 15, 1–20. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/122039
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Kristin, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Selected research projects
- Title
- Achieving Better Mental Health for Maltreated Children: Translating Population Data into Policy
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 1133833
- Start year
- 2018
- Keywords
- child maltreatment; child development; child health; record linkage; resilience
- Title
- Developmental Schizotypy in the General Population: Early Risk Factors and Predictive Utility
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 1148055
- Start year
- 2018
- Keywords
- Title
- The Role of Social-Emotional Learning in Attaining Literacy and Numeracy
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- FT170100294
- Start year
- 2018
- Keywords
- Title
- Determinants of Risk and Resilience in Maltreated Children Using Multi-Agency Administrative Records: A population Record-Linkage Study
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 162302
- Start year
- 2017
- Keywords
- Title
- Identifying New Targets for Primary School Mental Health Interventions Using Population Data
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 1058652
- Start year
- 2014
- Keywords
- mental health promotion; child health; child development; school-based intervention; developmental outcomes; risk factors; protective factors; school health promotion; psychiatric epidemiology; record linkage
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Looking for a postgraduate research supervisor?
I am currently accepting research students for Honours, Masters and PhD study.
You can browse existing student topics offered by QUT or propose your own topic.
Current supervisions
- PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Linda Graham
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- Examining how attention and prediction modulate visual perception: A predictive coding view (2022)
- Environmental risk factors and antecedents for schizophrenia: A focus on social stressors (2016)
- The early impact of stigma and discrimination on pathways to care for young people at early risk states of psychotic disorders (2016)
- Cognitive and facial emotion processing abnormalities among children at-risk for schizophrenia : candidate targets for early identification? (2014)
- Identifying neuroanatomical subtypes of psychosis (2014)
- Increased stress susceptibility and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction : early markers of psychosis vulnerability? (2014)
- Psychotic-like experiences and psychometric schizotypy : their relationships with depressive symptoms and theory of mind in adolescents from the general population (2013)
The supervisions listed above are only a selection.