Section: Overview
Overview
Key publications
Research funding
Supervising & teaching
Career

Key details

Areas of expertise

  • Mindfulness
  • Mental health
  • Phsyical Activity
  • Stress
  • Female Athletes

Available to supervise research students

Available for media queries

About Michaela Pascoe

Michaela is a Senior Research Fellow in the Institute of Health and Sport, Victoria University. Her research expertise are in mental health, mindfulness, physical activity, stress and science communication.

She explores the impact of stress on mental health and the influence of mindfulness and physical activity/exercise on the brain and well-being including in populations of female athletes.

Michaela’s examination of the impact of stress and mindfulness on mental health has made a significant scholarly contribution and has led to numerous invitations for her to communicate her research to both academic and general audiences. She has presented her work live on national television, is commonly interviewed on radio across Australia and internationally and widely published in print media.

Qualifications

  • PhD, Swinburne University, Melbourne Australia, 2012
  • BBehavSc (Hons), Latrobe University, Melbourne, Australia, 2008

Key publications

Year Citation
2023 Brockett, C., Parker, A., Pankowiak, A., Woessner, M., & Pascoe, M. (230215). Towards Improving Safety and Wellbeing of Women in Sport.

Year Citation
2024 Klamert, L., Craike, M., Bedi, G., Kidd, S., Pascoe, M. C., & Parker, A. G. (241201). Underreporting of implementation strategies and barriers in physical activity interventions for young people at risk of problematic substance use: a brief report. Implementation Science Communications, 5(1),

doi: 10.1186/s43058-024-00578-9

2024 Pascoe, M. C., Patten, R. K., Tacey, A., Woessner, M. N., Bourke, M., Bennell, K., Tran, P., McKenna, M. J., Apostolopoulos, V., & Lane, R. (240718). Physical activity and depression symptoms in people with osteoarthritis-related pain: A cross-sectional study. PLOS Global Public Health, 4(7 July),

doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0003129

2024 Brockett, C. L., Stansen, C., Bourke, M., Pascoe, M., Clements, M., & Parker, A. G. (240530). Factors that influence mental health and well-being of high-performance athletes from Olympic or Paralympic sport who have transitioned out of national-level or international-level sport: A mixed methods approach. BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine, 10(2),

doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2024-001991

2024 Connolly, M. L., Pascoe, M. C., Bowden, S. C., Amorim, A. B., Goonewardena, K., & Van, Dam. (240401). The mental health-related barriers and benefits to exercise in adults with and without chronic pain. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 24(2),

doi: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2024.100471

2024 Dadswell, K., Sambol, S., Yager, Z., Van, Dyke., Pascoe, M., Dallat, C., Brown, C., & Parker, A. G. (240101). Together we grow: Evaluation of a design thinking professional development workshop for outdoor educators indicates improvements in growth mindset. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 24(3), (400-412).

doi: 10.1080/14729679.2022.2075412

2023 Klamert, L., Craike, M., Bedi, G., Kidd, S., Pascoe, M. C., & Parker, A. G. (231201). Behaviour change techniques in physical activity-focused interventions for young people at risk of problematic substance use: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 17(12), (1139-1153).

doi: 10.1111/eip.13467

2023 Patten, R. K., Asilioglu, A., Levinger, I., Tacey, A., Pascoe, M., Tran, P., McKenna, M. J., Said, C. M., Coric, N., & De, Gori. (231201). Prevalence of diagnosable depression in patients awaiting orthopaedic specialist consultation: a cross-sectional analysis. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 24(1),

doi: 10.1186/s12891-023-06688-0

2023 Connolly, M. L., Bowden, S. C., Pascoe, M. C., & Van, Dam. (231201). Development and Psychometric Validation of the Mental Health-Related Barriers and Benefits to EXercise (MEX) Scale in Healthy Adults. Sports Medicine - Open, 9(1),

doi: 10.1186/s40798-023-00555-x

2023 Klamert, L., Bedi, G., Craike, M., Kidd, S., Pascoe, M. C., & Parker, A. G. (231001). Physical activity interventions for young people with increased risk of problematic substance use: A systematic review including different intervention formats. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 25

doi: 10.1016/j.mhpa.2023.100551

Research funding for the past 5 years

Please note:

  • Funding is ordered by the year the project commenced and may continue over several years.
  • Funding amounts for contact research are not disclosed to maintain commercial confidentiality.
  • The order of investigators is not indicative of the role they played in the research project.

Improving Care for Patients on a Waiting List for Orthopaedic Specialist Public Health Services in Melbourne’s West (Waitlist Project)
From: Victorian Higher Education Strategic Investment Fund
Other investigators: Prof Itamar Levinger, Prof Michael Mckenna, Prof Vasso Apostolopoulos, Prof Rebecca Lane, Miss Mary Woessner, Prof Alexandra Parker
For period: 2021-2022
$2,025,812

eHealth for Mental Health in DCD
From: The Waterloo Foundation
Other investigators: Prof Alexandra Parker, Dr Jacqueline Williams
For period: 2020-2022
$157,069
A Parent-Targeted eHealth Intervention to Use Exercise to Reduce Symptoms of Poor Mental Health in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder
From: The Waterloo Foundation
Other investigators: Prof Alexandra Parker, Dr Peter Baldwin, Dr Jacqueline Williams
For period: 2020-2021
$118,850

Supervision of research students at VU

Available to supervise research students

Available for media queries

Currently supervised research students at VU

No. of students Study level Role
1 PhD Integrated Associate supervisor
1 PhD Associate supervisor

Currently supervised research students at VU

Students & level Role
PhD Integrated (1) Associate supervisor
PhD (1) Associate supervisor

Completed supervision of research students at VU

No. of students Study level Role
1 Master of Applied Research Principal supervisor
1 Master of Research Principal supervisor

Completed supervision of research students at VU

Students & level Role
Master of Applied Research (1) Principal supervisor
Master of Research (1) Principal supervisor

Key academic roles

Dates Role Department / Organisation
Nov 2020 - Present
Senior Research Fellow
Victoria University
Nov 2017 - Oct 2020
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Victoria University
Dates Role & Department/Organisation
Nov 2020 -
Present
Senior Research Fellow
Victoria University
Nov 2017 -
Oct 2020
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Victoria University