About Us
Professor Donna Cross
Responsibilities
Professor Donna Cross is a Professor of Child and Adolescent Health at the Child Health Promotion Research Centre. Donna oversees the conduct and completion of numerous research grants, including involvement in phases of instrument development, intervention development, data collection and analysis and dissemination of research findings. She supervises 12 higher degree students and coordinates and determines the strategic direction of the Centre’s research activities. She also directs the CHPRCs commercialization process.
Background / Employment History
- Professor, School of Exercise, Biomedical and Health Science, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia
- Director, Child Health Promotion Research Centre, Faculty of Computing Health and Science, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia
- Adjunct Professor, School of Public Health, WA Centre for Health Promotion Research, Curtin University of Technology (2005-present)
- 2004-2006: Co-Director, Vario Health Institute, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia
- 1993-2003: Associate Professor and Director Western Australian Centre for Health Promotion Research, School of Public Health, Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia
- 1988-1992: Co-Director, Children's Health Promotion and Research, American Health Foundation
- 1987-1988: Founding Director of the Australian Health Education and Lifestyle Project.
- 1984-1987: Education Officer, Western Australian Department of Education
- 1980-1984: Secondary teacher of health and physical education and health education coordinator at Forrestfield Senior High School, Western Australia.
Staff Qualifications
- Doctor of Education, May, 1992, Columbia Teachers' College, Columbia University, New York.
- Graduate Diploma in Health Science, 1987, Curtin University of Technology, Perth.
- Teachers' Higher Certificate, 1986, WA Ministry of Education.
- Bachelor of Education (Distinction), 1983, Western Australian Institute of Technology, Perth.
- Diploma of Teaching Physical and Health Education, 1980, Nedlands College of Advanced Education, Western Australia.
Professional Memberships
- Cancer Foundation Medical and Scientific Advisory Panel: Committee member 2001 -
- National Centre Against Bullying, Executive Committee 2004-
- CORE-Net International Alliance Executive Committee 2004-
- State Health Research Advisory Council 2007 -
- Western Australian Policy Forum, Advisory Board 2008-
- International Bullying Prevention Association, Member 2008-
- Advisor to the Western Australian Minister for Education for children’s cyber safety 2009 –
- Spokesperson NSW Legislation submission on children’s bullying 2009-
- Management Committee Australia (MC Member) COST Action IS0801 Cyberbullying: Coping with the negative and enhancing positive uses of new technologies, in relationships and educational settings 2009-
Awards and Recognition
- 2004: Recipient – Rotary 2004 Building Resiliency in Children Award
- 2004: Finalist – Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation Excellence in Health Promotion Award – Best Practice in Health Promotion Research (Friendly Schools Program)
- 2005: Finalist (Highly Commended) – Insurance Commission of WA Road Safety Awards (Walk with Your Kids, Early Childhood Pedestrian Injury Prevention Project).
- 2005: Commendation in the category of Professionalism at Edith Cowan University - Vice Chancellor’s Awards for Service, Professionalism and Enterprise.
- 2006: Recipient - The Australian Council for Health Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER) National Honour Award for scholarly achievements and leadership role played in children's school-based health research.
- 2006: Recipient - Executive Dean’s Award, Faculty of Computing Health and Science for outstanding leadership in research.
- 2007: Finalist - The Bulletin magazine's Smart 100 "Education" category
- 2007: Recipient - Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research Supervision
- 2008: Recipient - Injury Control Council of WA Award for Excellence in Injury Control Research
- 2008: Recipient - ECU Certificate of Excellence – ECU’s top performers in 2007 Research Activity Index
- 2008: Finalist – Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation Excellence in Health Promotion Award – Best Practice in Health Promotion Research (Extra-curricular Project)
Research
Research Interests
- bullying; adolescent health; child health; smoking cessation; injury prevention; nutrition; mental health; school-based interventions
Current Research Areas
- bullying; adolescent health; child health; smoking cessation; injury prevention; nutrition; mental health; school-based interventions
Recent Research Grants
- Cross, D., Hasleby, J., Johnston, J., Nairn, R., Dooley, J., Hearn, L., Burns, S., & Pearce, N. (2010 – 2014). Building school capacity to reduce social aggression among students. Healthway.
- Cross, D., Roberts, C., Slee., P & Dooley, J. (2010 – 2012). An empirical trial to reduce cyber-bullying in adolescents. Healthway.
- Cross D, Epstein M, Hearn L, Waters S. (2008-2010) Development of Parent Education Resource Materials to Reduce Cyber Bullying. Telstra Foundation.
- Hall, M., Cross, D., & Shaw, T. (2009 – 2010). Evaluation of the effectiveness of the pedestrian education programs delivered by Vic Roads and the TAC. VicRoads and the Transport Accident Commission (TAC).
- Hearn L, Miller M, Cross D, Gowrea,A. (2009-2011) Preventing early childhood obesity: translating evidence into practice Healthway.
Recent Publications (within the last five years)
Book Chapters
- Hamilton G, Cross D. 2006. School smoking interventions: The basis of drug education. In Midford R, Munro G.Drug Education in Schools. IP Communications, Melbourne.
- *Cross, D., Shaw T., Pearce, N., Erceg, E., Waters, S., Pintabona, Y., Hall, M. 2008. School-based intervention research to reduce bullying in Australia 1999-2007: What works, what doesn’t, and what’s promising? InUnderstanding and Addressing Bullying: An International Perspective, PREVNet Series Volume 1. Editors: Peplar, D., Craig, W. Indiana: AuthorHouse.
- Cross, D., Shaw, T., Monks, H., Waters, S., Lester, L. 2009. Using evidence to reduce bullying among girls. In A Focus on Relationships: Understanding and Addressing Aggressive Behaviour Problems, In press.
Refereed Journal Articles
- Cross, D., Hall, M. 2005. Child pedestrian safety: the role of behavioural science. The Medical Journal of Australia, 318-319. Impact Factor: 2.00
- Hamilton, G., Cross, D., Resnicow, K., Hall, M. 2005. A school-based harm minimization smoking intervention trial: Outcome results. Addiction 100: 689-700. Impact Factor: 3.102
- English, D., Milne, E., Jacoby, P., Giles-Corti, B., Cross, D., Johnston, R. 2005. The effect of a school-based sun protection intervention on the development of melanocytic nevi in children: six-year follow-up. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 14(4), 977-980. Impact Factor: 4.500
- Beatty, S., Cross, D. 2006. Investigating parental preferences regarding the development and implementation of a parent-directed drug-related educational intervention: an exploratory study. Drug and Alcohol Review, 25(4): 333-342.
- Milne, E., Jacoby, P., Giles-Corti, B., Cross, D., Johnston, R., English, D. 2006. The impact of the Kidskin sun-protection intervention on summer suntan and reported sun exposure: was it sustained? Preventive Medicine.42:14-20. Impact Factor: 2.237
- Hearn, L., Miller, M., Cross, D. 2007. Comparative Approaches to Primary Health Care: Key lessons for Australia’s primary health care policy making. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 13(2): 66-79. Impact Factor:
- Hamilton, G. Cross, D. Resnicow, K. Shaw, T. 2007. Does harm minimization lead to greater experimentation? Results from a school smoking intervention trial. Drug and Alcohol Review, 26(6): 605-613.
- Cross, D., Hearn, L., Hamilton, G., Resnicow, K., Hall, M. 2008. Translating an Adolescent Smoking Cessation Program into Policy and Practice in an Australian Context. Evaluation and the Health Professions 31(3), 245-257. Impact Factor 2.652
- Burns, S, Maycock, B., Cross, D., Brown, G. 2008. The Power of peers: why some students bully others to conform. Qualitative Health Research. 18; 1704-1716.
- Burns, S, Maycock, B., Brown, G., Cross, D. 2008. “Woodpushers are gay”: The role of provocation in bullying.International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 10(4), 41-50.
- Burns, S, Cross, D, Alfonso, H, Maycock, B. 2008, Predictors of bullying among 11-12 year old school students in Australia, Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 1 (2), 49-60.
- Resnicow, K., Reddy, S.P., James, S., Omardien, R.G., Kambaran, N.S., Langner, H.G., Vaughan, R.D., Cross, D., Hamilton, G., & Nichols, T. 2008. Comparison of Two School-Based Smoking Prevention Programs among South African High School Students: Results of a Randomized Trial. Annals of Behavioural Medicine, 36, 231–243.
- Beatty, S., Cross, D., Shaw, T. 2008. The impact of a parent-directed intervention on parent-child communication about tobacco and alcohol. Drug and Alcohol Review 27(6), 591-601.
- *Waters, S., Cross, D., Shaw, T. 2009. Social and ecological structures supporting adolescent connectedness to school: A theoretical model. Journal of School Health 79(11):516-524.
- Roberts, C.; Kane, R., Bishop, B., Cross, D., Fenton, J., Hart, B. 2010. The prevention of anxiety and depression in children from disadvantaged schools. Behaviour Research and Therapy 48:68–73.
- Dooley, J., Pyzalski, J., Cross, D. 2009. Cyber bullying versus face-to-face bullying: A theoretical and conceptual review. Journal of Psychology, 217(4), 182-188.
- Cross, D., Hall, M, Shaw, T., Pintabona, Y., Erceg.E., Hamilton, G., Roberts, C., Waters, S., Lester, L. Three year results of the Friendly Schools whole-of-school intervention on children’s bullying behavior. In press: British Educational Research Journal.
- *Waters, S, Cross, D., Shaw, T. Does the nature of schools matter? An exploration of a school ecology and its influence on adolescent connectedness. In press: British Educational Research Journal.
- Cross, D., Shaw, T., Pintabona, Y., Hall, M., Hamilton, G., Erceg, E., Waters, S. Social attitudinal, psychological and school adjustment factors associated with bullying behaviour in Australian primary school students. In submission: Aggressive BehaviorImpact Factor: 1.096
- Cross, D., Waters, S., Pearce, T., Shaw, T., Hall, M., Erceg, E., Hamilton, G., Roberts, C., Burns, S. The Friendly Schools Friendly Families Program: Three-year bullying behavior outcomes in primary school children. In Submission: British Journal of Educational Psychology.
- Cross, D., Monks,H., Hearn, L., Epstein, M., Adair, A. Teacher perceptions of ways to reduce student covert bullying. In Submission: Zeitschrift für Psychologie / Journal of Psychology.
- Cross, D., Epstein, M., Hearn, L., Slee, P., Shaw, T., Monks, H. National Safe Schools Framework: Policy and practice to reduce bullying in Australian schools. In submission: International Journal of Behavioural Disorders.
- Coffin, J., Cross, D., Larson, A. Bullying in an Aboriginal context. In submission: Social Science and Medicine
- Waters, S., Shaw, T., Cross, D. Measuring students’ sense of connectedness to school, teachers’ and family: Validation of three composite scales. In submission, Health Education Research.
- Runions, K., Vitaro, F., Cross, D., Boivin, M, Hall, M., Tremblay, R. Trajectories of physical aggression in the early school transition years: Evidence for desisting and rising subgroups.
Research Student Supervision
Current
- Mitch Read (PhD). “The prevalence, nature and impact of cyber bullying behaviours in Western Australia.”
- Margaret Miller (PhD). “Correlates of Healthy and Unhealthy Eating in WA School Children.”
- Juli Coffin (PhD). "Contextualizing Bullying for Aboriginal children and communities in the Yamaji region."
Recent
- Marnie House (2005) – Predictors of Parent Pedestrian Safety Behaviours when Crossing Roads with Their Four-year old Children. (Supervisor)
- Helen Mitchell (2006) - The Effects of Health Promotion on Girls' and Young Women's Health Behaviours. (Co-supervisor)
- Dr Yolanda Pintabona (2006) – Frequently Bullied Students: Outcomes of a Universal School-Based Bullying Preventive Intervention on Peer Victimisation and Psychological Health (Co-supervisor)
- Dr Robyn Johnston (2007) – Process Evaluation of a School- and Home-based Sun Safety Education Intervention (Supervisor)
- Dr Sharon Burns (2007) – An analysis of upper primary school children who bully others (Co-supervisor)
- Laura Dearle (2007) – Gender differences in school-based extra-curricular activity participation, school connectedness and alcohol and other drug use (Co-supervisor)
- Laura Bond (2010) - Effectiveness of School Nurse Involvement in School-Based Tobacco Control and Smoking Cessation Programs and Services (Supervisor)
- Laura Thomas (2010) - “Extra-curricular activity participation, school connectedness and drug use: how the relationships work?”
- Stacey Waters (2010) - “Influence of school- and individual-level social ecological variables on school connectedness and their relationship to mental health outcomes.”
- Natasha Pearce (2010) - "Critical success factors for building school capacity to engage parents in effective school-based bullying reduction interventions."
- Patricia Cardoso (2010) - “Strengthening the capacity of school-based health services to support secondary students to reduce their harm associated with tobacco and other harmful drug use.”
- Sarah Falconer (2010) - “Reality Bytes: characteristics of bullying in the cyber and non-cyber environments.”
- Helen Monks (2010) - “Investigating the individual, interpersonal and contextual variables associated with secondary school students’ behaviour as bystanders in bullying interactions, and how these differ according to gender.”
- Dionne Paki (2010) - “What Do Primary School Principals from the Yamaji Region or Mid West Education District Say About their School’s Bullying Prevention and Management Strategies?”
- Sarah Baxendale (2010) - “An examination of gender differences in violence-related behaviours of Western Australian secondary school students.”
