Dr Tanya Covic

• Biography
• Teaching Expertise
• Grants / Current Projects
• Publications
• Contact Details

Biography

Dr Tanya Covic is an experienced researcher who was awarded a PhD in 2001 from the University of Sydney in the area of psychosocial aspects of rheumatoid arthritis.

Her research interests are in the area of clinical health psychology, and specifically, complex physical and mental health co-morbidities (pain and depression in rheumatoid arthritis; pregnancy and ageing experiences), various aspects of deliberate self-harm behaviours in youth population and assessment and measurement (early detection and psychometrically sound instruments).

She is currently working on three ARC funded projects and has published almost 30 peer-reviewed articles since 2000. She regularly presents at international conferences and is a reviewer for a number of journals.

Dr Covic is a registered psychologist, a member of the Australian Psychological Society and is the Chair of the College of Health Psychologists, NSW Branch. She also holds an honorary Research Fellow position with the Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney.

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Teaching Expertise

Clinical Health Psychology

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Grants / Current Projects

Beyondblue (2012-2014). Sharpe, L, Nicholas, M, Arean, P, Covic, T. A randomised, controlled trial of two psychological interventions for patients with late-life depression who have comorbid physical problems.

ARC Linkage Project (2010-2012). Craven, R,  Nelson, G,  Anderson, A, Munns, G, Covic, T. Bridging the gap on locational disadvantage: Impact of community-identified interventions on social capital, psychosocial and socioeconomic outcomes.

UWS Grant (2010). Perinatal mental health: psychosocial risk, patterns of service use and outcomes in a cohort of 100 mothers and infants. Schmied V, Johnson, M, Covic, T, Matthey S, Austin MP, Ollerton R.

Research Contract (2009): Bankstown GP Division. Covic, T, Hills A, Crino R, Correia, H. Depression Intervention Program in Residential Aged Care Facilities.

ARC Linkage Project (2009-2012). Schmied, VA; Kemp, LA; Covic, T; Barnett, BE; Mills, RJ; Nemeth, DA; Hughes, MM.  The perinatal journey: the process and impact of psychosocial assessment.

ARC Linkage (2009-2010). Covic T, Sharpe L, Pallant J, Manolios N, Aspinall D. Motherhood choices: a decision aid for women with rheumatoid arthritis.

UWS Partnership Grant (2008) (with the Benevolent Society). Craven R, Yeung A, Covic T. Bridging the Gap: Developing Valid and Reliable Measures of Social Capital in Socially Disadvantaged Communities.

Arthritis NSW Branch Scholarship Research Grant (2007). Covic, T, Manolios N & Cumming S. Psychological Wellbeing in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Development of a Depression Screening Tool for a Clinical Setting Application.

Nepean Division of GP (2007). Covic T & Ussher J. Inside Out Project: Needs Analysis.

University of Western Sydney International Research Initiative Scheme (2006). Covic T. Development of a musculoskeletal psychosocial outcomes program. Academic Unit of Musculoskeletal Disease, University of Leeds, UK.

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Publications

Book Chapter

Adamson, B., Covic, T., Kench, P. & Lincoln, M. (2007). Research-led curriculum development in time and organisational management skills at the Faculty of Health Sciences. In A. Brew & J.Sachs (Eds), The Transformed University: Scholarship of teaching and learning in action, 197-207.

Journal Publications

Covic T., Cumming S.R., Pallant J.F., Manolios N., Emery P., Conaghan P.G. and Tennant A. (2012). Depression and anxiety in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: prevalence rates based on a comparison of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) and the hospital, Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), (opens in a new window) BMC Psychiatry, 12:6. 

Hallab, L & Covic, T. (2010), Deliberate self-harm: The interplay between attachment and stress. Behaviour Change.27: 93-103.

Covic, T., Hallab, L., Sharpe, L., Manolios, N., Aspinall, D. & Pallant, J. (2010). Motherhood Choices: Development of a decision aid for women with rheumatoid arthritis (abstract). Internal Medicine Journal, 40 (s3), 9-10.

Latimer, S., Covic, T., Cumming, S.R., Tennant, A. (2009). Psychometric analysis of the Self-Harm Inventory using Rasch modelling. BMC Psychiatry, 9:53

Covic, T., Pallant, J., Tennant, A., Cox, S., Emery, P. & Conaghan, P.G. (2009). Variability in depression prevalence in early rheumatoid arthritis: a comparison of the CES-D and HAD-D Scales. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 10:18.

Covic, T. & Jones, M. (2008). Is the essay resubmission option a formative or a summative assessment and does it matter as long as the grades improve? Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 33: 1-14.

Covic, T., Pallant, J.F., Conaghan, P.G. & Tennant, A. (2007). A longitudinal evaluation of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D) in a Rheumatoid Arthritis Population using Rasch Analysis. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 5: 41.

Covic, T., Roufeil, L. & Dziurawiec, S. (2007) Community beliefs about childhood obesity: its causes, consequences and potential solutions. Journal of Public Health, 29: 123-131.

Dunstan, D. & Covic T. (2007). Can a rural community-based work-related community program make a difference for chronic pain disabled injured workers? Australian Journal of Rural Health 15: 166-171.

Cumming, S., Covic, T. & Murrell E. (2006). Deliberate self-harm: have we scratched the surface? Behaviour Change, 23: 186-199.

Strelan, P. & Covic, T. (2006). A review of forgiveness process models and a coping framework to guide future research. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 25, 1059-1085.

Dunstan, D.A. & Covic, T. (2006). Compensable work disability management: literature review of biopsychosocial perspectives. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 53, 67-77.

Covic, T., Tyson, G., Spencer, D. & Howe, G. (2006) Depression in rheumatoid arthritis patients: demographic, clinical and psychological predictors. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 60: 469-476.

Dunstan, D., Covic, T., Tyson, G. & Lennie, I. (2005). Does the MPQ predict outcomes following a work-related compensable injury? International Journal of Rehabilitation Research 28: 369-370.

Adamson, B., Covic, T. & Lincoln, M. (2004). Teaching time and organisational management skills to first year health science students: Does training make a difference? Journal of Further and Higher Education, 28: 261-276.

Lincoln, M., Adamson, B., & Covic, T. (2004). Perceptions of stress, time management and coping strategies of speech pathology students on clinical placement. Advances in Speech Language Pathology, 6: 91-99.

Covic, T., Adamson, B., Spencer, D. & Howe, G. (2003). The role of passive coping and helplessness in rheumatoid arthritis: 12 months longitudinal study. Rheumatology, 42: 1287-1294.

Adamson, B., Covic, T., Kench, P. & Lincoln, M. (2003). Determinants of undergraduate program choice in two health science fields: does personality influence career choice? Focus on Health Professional Education, 5: 34-47.

Covic, T., Adamson, B., Lincoln, M. & Kench, P. (2003). Health science students time organization and management skills: a cross-disciplinary investigation. Medical Teacher, 25: 47-53.

Covic, T., Adamson, B., Howe, G. & Spencer, D. (2002).The role of passive coping & helplessness in rheumatoid arthritis depression and pain. Journal of Applied Health Behaviour, 4: 31-35.

Covic, T., Adamson, B. & Hough, M. (2000). The impact of passive coping on RA pain. Rheumatology, 39: 1027-1030.

Refereed Conference Publications

Ritter, L. & Covic, T. (January, 2009). Understanding and accommodating students with apparently mixed levels of engagement (Peer-reviewed paper). (opens in a new window) In Teaching and learning for global graduates.   Proceedings of the 18th Annual Teaching Learning Forum, Curtin   University of Technology, Perth, WA.

Bodkin-Andrews, G.H., Covic, T., Yeung A.S., Craven R.G., & O'Rourke, V. (December, 2008).  Opening the blind eye: Causal modelling of perceived discrimination and academic disengagement for Indigenous students (Peer-reviewed paper). Proceedings of the Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, Brisbane, QLD.

Cumming, S., Covic T., Manolios, N., Spencer, D. & Howe, G. (July 2006). Pain, anxiety and cognitive function in rheumatoid arthritis patients (Peer-reviewed paper). Proceedings of the 27th International Conference   of the Stress and Anxiety Research Society (STAR), Crete, Greece.

Ritter, L. & Covic, T. (July, 2006). What makes for a good tutorial: listening to the students (Peer-reviewed paper). Proceedings of the HERDSA International Conference, Perth, WA.

Covic, T. (November, 2005). Posters: creative reflections on the subject content (Peer-reviewed paper). Proceedings of the Evaluation Forum 2005, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW.

Ritter, L. & Covic, T. (September 2005). Investigating students’ preferred learning styles with the aim of developing context specific application. (Peer-reviewed paper). Proceedings of the Teaching and Learning Conference, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW.

Covic, T. (October, 2004). Rheumatoid arthritis and depression: the role of coping (Peer-reviewed paper). Proceedings of the 39th APS Annual Conference – Psychological Science in Action. Sydney, NSW.

Lincoln M., Adamson, B. & Covic, T. (May, 2002). Learning time management skills: Why? When? Where and How? (Peer-reviewed paper). C. Williams & S. Leitao (Eds). Journal from   the centre: Proceedings of the national conference of the Speech   Pathology Association of Australia, Alice Springs.  Melbourne, VIC.

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