Our people

Associate Professor Rachel Dryer

Head of Discipline-Psychology, Indigenous Perspective Coordinator for School of BHS
School BHS

Areas of expertise: psychological testing and assessment; health psychology; mental health and wellbeing of pregnant and postpartum women; body image concerns

Phone: 02 9701 4773

Email: Rachel.dryer@acu.edu.au

Location: ACU Strathfield Campus

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6607-1712

Associate Professor Rachel Dryer is the Head of Discipline for Psychology and the Indigenous Perspective Coordinator in the School of Behavioural and Health Sciences (Strathfield, NSW). She is a registered psychologist whose research and teaching expertise are in psychological assessment, health psychology, women's perinatal and postnatal wellbeing, and wellbeing of students with disability in higher education.

Associate Professor Dryer employs both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies in her work and has published numerous scientific manuscripts in leading international journals such as Journal of Affective Disorders, Psychological Assessment, Assessment, and Child Abuse & Neglect. She has also authored and co-authored several book chapters, including most recently Psychosocial functioning, body image, and pregnancy-related anxiety, and Equity Issues for students with disability in higher education: Implications for both students and academic staff. Associate Professor Dryer's book Pregnancy-related anxiety: Theory, research, and practice was recently published as part of the Routledge Series in Women's Mental Health. This book provides collective examination of theoretical, empirical and methodological perspective regarding pregnancy-related anxiety. She and her research colleagues have also developed the Pregnancy-related Anxiety Scale (PrAS), a psychometrically sound psychological test to screen for the presence of this distinct form of anxiety experienced by pregnant women. This scale has now been translated and adapted for use in Germany, Indonesia, Turkey and Ghana.

Prior to her employment at ACU, Dr Dryer was the Campus Academic Manager (Sydney, NSW) at the Australian College of Applied Profession, and the Faculty Quality Teaching Lead in the Faculty of Business, Justice & Behavioural Science at Charles Sturt University (Bathurst, NSW).

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Books

• Dryer, R., & Brunton, R. (Eds.) (2021). Pregnancy-related anxiety: Theory, research and practice. Routledge. ISBN: 978-0-367-85630-4
• Henning, M.A., Krägeloh, C.U., Dryer, R., Moir, F., Billington, R., & Hill, A.G. (Ed.) (2018). Wellbeing in higher education setting: Cultivating a healthy lifestyle among faculty and students. Routledge

Book in preparation

• Brunton, R., & Dryer, R. (Eds.). Pregnancy for survivors of child abuse: Risk, resilience, and the importance of sensitive care. Palgrave Macmillan.

Chapters in books

• Dryer, R. (2021). Psychosocial functioning, body image, and pregnancy-related anxiety. In R. Dryer & R. Brunton (Eds.), Pregnancy-related anxiety: Theory, research and practice, pp 189-202. Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781003014003-17.
• Dryer, R. (2018). Equity Issues for students with disability in higher education: Implications for both students and academic staff. In M. Henning, C. Krägeloh, R. Dryer, F. Moir, R. Billington & A. G. Hill (Eds.), Wellbeing in higher education setting: Cultivating a healthy lifestyle among faculty and students, pp 174-186. Routledge.
• Henning, M., Krägeloh, C., Dryer, R., Moir, F., Bellington, R., & Hill, A.G. (2018). Introduction: Developing meaning and purpose. In M. Henning, C. Krägeloh, R. Dryer, F. Moir, R. Billington & A. G. Hill (Eds.), Wellbeing in higher education setting: Cultivating a healthy lifestyle among faculty and students, pp 1-4. Routledge.
• Henning, M., Krägeloh, C., Dryer, R., Moir, F., Bellington, R., & Hill, A.G. (2018). Conclusion: Synthesising wellbeing issues and higher education. In M. Henning, C. Krägeloh, R. Dryer, F. Moir, R. Billington & A. G. Hill (Eds.), Wellbeing in higher education setting: Cultivating a healthy lifestyle among faculty and students, pp 204-213. Routledge.
• Dryer, R. (2017). Ethical considerations in psychological testing and assessment within the Australian context. In Psychological Testing for Charles Sturt University (2nd ed). South Melbourne: Cengage Learning.
• Dryer, R., Tyson, G., & Shaw, R. (2015). Motivation to learn and quality of life issues in higher education students with disability. In M. Henning, C. Krageloh, & G. Wong-Toi (Eds.) Student motivation and quality of life in higher education. Routledge.
• Dryer, R., Kiernan, M.J., & Tyson, G. A. (2013). Do professions differ in their beliefs about ADHD? In R. Thompson & N. J. Miller (Eds.). ADHD: Cognitive symptoms, genetics and treatment outcomes, (pp. 61-80). Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Journal publications:

• Dryer, R., Chee, P., & Brunton, R. (2022). The role of body dissatisfaction and self-compassion in pregnancy-related anxiety. Journal of Affective Disorders, 313, 84-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.06.068
• Dryer, R., Brunton, R., Krageloh, C., & Medvedev, O. (2022). Screening for pregnancy-related anxiety: Evaluation of the Pregnancy-related Anxiety Scale-Screener using Rasch methodology. Assessment, Published online: https://doi.org/10.1177/10731911221103309
• Dryer, R., Brunton, R., He, D., & Lee, E. (2022). Psychometric properties of the Pregnancy-related Anxiety Scale-Screener. Psychological Assessment, 34(5), 443-458. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0001110
• Brunton, R., & Dryer, R. (2022). Sexual violence and Australian women: A longitudinal analysis of psychosocial and behavioral outcomes. Social Science & Medicine, 292, 114334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114334
• Brunton, R., & Dryer, R. (2021). Child sexual abuse and pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature. Child Abuse & Neglect, 111, 104802. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104802
• Brunton, R., Gosper, K., & Dryer, R. (2021). Psychometric evaluation of the Pregnancy-related Anxiety Scale: Acceptance of pregnancy, avoidance and worry about self subscales. Journal of Affective Disorders, 278, 341-349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.09.064
• Brunton, R., Simpson, N., & Dryer, R. (2020). Pregnancy-related anxiety, perceived parental self-efficacy and the influence of parity and age. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(18), 6709. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17186709
• Dryer, R., Graefin von der Schulenburg, I., & Brunton, R. (2020). Body dissatisfaction and fat talk during pregnancy: Predictors of distress. Journal of Affective Disorders, 267, 289-296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.02.031
• Brunton, R., Wood, T., & Dryer, R. (2020). Childhood abuse, pregnancy-related anxiety and the mediating role of resilience and social support. Journal of Health Psychology, 27(4), 868-878. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105320968140
• Brunton, R., Dryer, R., Saliba, A., & Kohlhoff, J. (2019). The initial development and validation of the Pregnancy-related Anxiety Scale. Women Birth, 32(1), e118-e130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2018.05.004
• Brunton, R., Dryer, R., Saliba, A., & Kohlhoff, J. (2019). Re-examining Pregnancy-related Anxiety: a replication study. Women and Birth, 32(1), e131-e137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2018.04.013
• Manalo, E., Tsuda, A., & Dryer, R. (2019). The effect of cultivating diagram use on the quality of EFL students' written explanations. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 33, 100588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2019.100588
• Anderson, C., Brunton, R., & Dryer, R. (2019). Pregnancy-related anxiety: Re-examining its distinctiveness. Australian Psychologist, 54(2), 132-142. https://doi.org/10.1111/ap.12365
• Mouti, A., Dryer, R., & Kohn, M. (2018). Differentiating Autism Spectrum Disorder from Attention Deficit /Hyperactivity Disorder using the Social Communication Questionnaire. Journal of Attention Disorders. Impact Factor: 3.384. Published online: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1087054718781945
• Brunton, R., Dryer, R., Krageloh, C., Saliba, A., Kohlhoff, J., & Medvedev, O. (2018). The Pregnancy-related Anxiety Scale: A validity examination using Rasch analysis. . Journal of Affective Disorders, 236, 127-135. Impact Factor: 3.71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.04.116. Number of citations: 1
• Lambert, D. & Dryer, R. (2017). Quality of life of higher education students with learning disabilities studying online. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 27 December 2017, 1 - 15. Impact Factor: 0.576. https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912X.2017.1410876
• McManus, D., Dryer, R., & Henning, M. A. (2017). Barriers to learning online experienced by students with mental health disability. Distance Education, 38(3), 336-352. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2017.1369348.
• Dryer, R., Manalo, E., Uesaka, Y., & Tyson. (2016). Cross-cultural comparison of beliefs about the treatment of Bulimia Nervosa held by Australian and Japanese female university students. International Journal of Psychology, 51 (Issue Supplement S1), 466. DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12298.
• Dryer, R., Tanaka, E., Manalo, E., & Buckingham, R. (2016). The relationship between interest in science and personality dimensions of engagement. International Journal of Psychology, 51 (Issue Supplement S1), 466. DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12313.
• Tanaka, E., Manalo, E., & Dryer, R. (2016). Structure and comparison of Australian and Japanese junior high school students' interest in science. International Journal of Psychology, 51 (Issue Supplement S1), 517. DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12313.
• Dryer, R., Henning, M., Tyson, G., & Shaw, R. (2016). Academic achievement performance of university students with disability: Exploring the influence of non-academic factors. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 63(4), 419-430. https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912X.2015.1130217
• Dryer, R., Farr, M., Hiramatsu, I., & Quinton, S. (2016). The role of sociocultural influences on symptoms of muscle dysmorphia and eating disorders in men, and the mediating effects of perfectionism. Behavioral Medicine, 42(3), 174-182. https://doi.org/10.1080/08964289.2015.1122570
• Dryer, R., Uesaka, Y., Manalo, E., & Tyson, G. (2015). Cross-cultural examination of beliefs about the causes of Bulimia Nervosa among Australian and Japanese females. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 48 (2), 176-186. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22269
• Brunton, R., Dryer, R., Saliba, A., & Kohlhoff, J. (2015a). Pregnancy anxiety: A systematic review of current scales. Journal of Affective Disorders, 176, 24-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.01.039
• Dryer, R., & Ware, N. (2014). Beliefs about causes of weight gain, effective weight gain prevention strategies, and barriers to weight management in the Australian population. Health Psychology and Behavioural Medicine, 2; 66-81. https://doi.org/10.1080/21642850.2013.872036
• Dryer, R., Tyson, G. A., & Kiernan, M.J. (2013). Bulimia nervosa: Professional and lay people's belief about the causes. Australian Psychologist, 48; 338-344. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1742-9544.2012.00077.x
• Firth, I., & Dryer, R. (2013). The predictors of distress in parents of children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 38; 163-171. https://doi.org/10.3109/13668250.2013.773964
• Dryer, R., Kiernan, M. J., & Tyson, G. A. (2012). Parental and professional beliefs on the treatment and management of ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 16 (5), 398 - 405. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054710392540
• Dryer, R., Kiernan, M. J., & Tyson, G. A. (2006). The effects of diagnostic labelling on the implicit theories of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder held by health professionals. Behaviour Change, 23 (3), 177-185. https://doi.org/10.1375/bech.23.3.177
• Dryer, R., Kiernan, M.J., & Tyson, G.A. (2006). Implicit theories of the characteristics and causal factors of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Explanatory models used by parents and professionals in the educational, medical, mental health and allied health fields. Australian Journal of Psychology, 58 (2), 79 -92.
• Kiernan, M., Betts, G., Dryer, R., Williamson, B., & Teng, A. (2005). Sensitivity of the sleep disturbance scale for children to the presence and treatment of sleep-disordered breathing in Australian children. Internal Medicine Journal, 35 (3): A28, ISSN: 1444-0903.

Projects

• Development of the Pregnancy-related Anxiety Scale (PrAS) and the Pregnancy-related Anxiety Screener Scale (PrAS-S): Unfunded.
• Dryer, R. (2015). Charles Sturt University uImagine Digital Learning Innovation Laboratory AU$18,310: Piloted web accessibility standards (i.e., the World Wide Web Consortium's [W3C] Web Content Accessibility Guidelines [WCAG] version 2.0 Level AA) in a second-year level, online subject. The result of this study was used to guide how web accessibility standards are implemented within the Online Learning environment at CSU.
• Dryer, R. (2013). AU$5000 from the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. This grant allowed R. Dryer to do the initial work in setting up an electronic database of psychological test results for Central East Autism Program clients in the Kinark Child and Family Services (Toronto, Canada). This database has assisted CEAP to conduct research evaluating their intervention programs and other aspects of their client service delivery.

Accolades and Awards

• Charles Sturt University Vice Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence (2014)
• Charles Sturt University Faculty of Arts Research Award (2014).

Appointments and Affiliations

• Registered Psychologist Psychology Board of Australia): 2000 - current
• Australian Psychology Accreditation Council Assessor: 2022 - current
• Associate Professor in Psychology, Australian Catholic University: 2019 -current
• Campus Academic Manager (Sydney), Australian College of Applied Professions: 2018-2019.
• Faculty Quality Teaching Lead, Faculty of Business, Justice & Behavioural Science, Charles Sturt University: 2016 - 2018