Career Summary
Biography
I am a PhD candidate at the University of Newcastle. I have a keen interest in infant development, in particular I’m currently investigating how infant characteristics, such as temperament and risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder, can influence maternal infant-directed speech in the first year of life. I’m also interested in mother-infant interactions during early development, and how early differences in these interactions can influence development. As such, my research is multidisciplinary utilising collaboration from areas including Psychology, Occupational Therapy and Linguistics.
In my research I use a range of methods including psychometric tools, clinical assessment tools, eye-tracking and audio/visual recording technology to explore various aspect of development across the first year of a baby’s life. I’m currently working on a number of projects investigating infant development, however my PhD project focuses on preterm infants at risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder. My research is primarily conducted at the Hunter Medical Research Institute, in collaboration with Hunter New England Health.
Keywords
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Developmental Psychology
- Fundamental Frequency
- Infant Development
- Infant Temperament
- Infant-Directed Speech
- Pitch Contours
- Preterm Infants
Awards
Award
| Year | Award |
|---|---|
| 2016 |
Australian Postgraduate Award Faculty of Science and Information Technology, University of Newcastle |
| 2016 |
Faculty Medal Faculty of Science and Information Technology, University of Newcastle |
Prize
| Year | Award |
|---|---|
| 2019 |
Three-Minute Thesis Winner, Faculty of Science Faculty of Science and Information Technology The University of Newcastle |
| 2015 |
Most Popular Presentation Faculty of Science and Information Technology, University of Newcastle |
Teaching
| Code | Course | Role | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| PSYC3800 |
Advanced Special Topics in Psychology Faculty of Science and Information Technology The University of Newcastle |
Online Demonstrator | 18/7/2019 - 31/10/2019 |
| PSYC1020 |
Psychology Introduction 2 Faculty of Science and Information Technology, University of Newcastle |
Laboratory Demonstrator | 1/7/2017 - 1/10/2017 |
| PSYC1010 |
Psychology Introduction 1 Faculty of Science and Information Technology, University of Newcastle |
Laboratory Demonstrator | 1/3/2017 - 1/6/2017 |
| SCIM1040 |
Foundations of Science and Technology Faculty of Science and Information Technology, University of Newcastle |
Laboratory Demonstrator | 1/3/2017 - 1/6/2017 |
Publications
For publications that are currently unpublished or in-press, details are shown in italics.
Journal article (5 outputs)
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| 2022 |
Woolard A, Bullman I, Allahham A, Long T, Milroy H, Wood F, Martin L, 'Resilience and Posttraumatic Growth after Burn: A Review of Barriers, Enablers, and Interventions to Improve Psychological Recovery', European Burn Journal, 3 89-121 [C1]
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| 2022 |
Woolard A, Lane AE, Campbell LE, Whalen OM, Swaab L, Karayanidis F, et al., 'Infant and Child-Directed Speech Used with Infants and Children at Risk or Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Scoping Review', Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 9 290-306 (2022) [C1] Infants diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (autism) have difficulty engaging in social communication and interactions with others and often experience language impairment. Th... [more] Infants diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (autism) have difficulty engaging in social communication and interactions with others and often experience language impairment. The use of infant-directed speech (IDS), which is the speech register used when interacting with infants, is associated with infant language and socio-communicative development. The aim of this study was twofold; the first aim was to scope the literature to determine if evidence exists for differences between the IDS caregivers use to infants at high-risk or those later diagnosed with autism, and the IDS typically spoken to neurotypical infants. The second aim was to investigate if any IDS characteristics used by caregivers of high-risk or diagnosed infant populations predicted language development. Twenty-six studies were included and provided evidence that high-risk and later diagnosed infants are exposed to similar amounts of IDS as their neurotypical peers. There is evidence, however, that the IDS used with high-risk and later diagnosed infants may comprise shorter utterances, more action-directing content, fewer questions, more attention bids, and more follow-in commenting. There is also evidence that more attention bids and follow-in commenting used to infants at high risk or those later diagnosed with autism were associated with better language abilities longitudinally.
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| 2021 |
Woolard A, Stratton E, Demetriou EA, Boulton KA, Pellicano E, Glozier N, et al., 'Perceptions of social and work functioning are related to social anxiety and executive function in autistic adults.', Autism, 25 2124-2134 (2021) [C1]
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| 2020 |
Mallise CA, Lane AE, Woolard AJ, Whalen OM, Murphy VE, Karayanidis F, Campbell LE, 'The temperament features associated with autism spectrum disorder in childhood: A systematic review', Research in Developmental Disabilities, 104 (2020) [C1]
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| 2020 |
Whalen OM, Campbell LE, Murphy VE, Lane AE, Gibson PG, Mattes J, et al., 'Observational study of mental health in asthmatic women during the prenatal and postnatal periods', Journal of Asthma, 57 829-841 (2020) [C1] Objective: We aimed to examine the prevalence and severity of psychological distress of women with asthma in both the prenatal and postnatal periods, and to determine whether asth... [more] Objective: We aimed to examine the prevalence and severity of psychological distress of women with asthma in both the prenatal and postnatal periods, and to determine whether asthmatic women with and without mental health problems differ in self-management, medications knowledge, and asthma symptoms. Methods: We assessed spirometry performance and asthma symptoms in 120 women (mean age 29.8 years) before 23 weeks gestation, as part of the Breathing for Life Trial (Trial ID: ACTRN12613000202763). Prenatal depression data was obtained from medical records. At 6 weeks postpartum, we assessed general health, self-reported asthma control, depression symptoms (with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale) and adaptive functioning (with the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment scales). Results: Twenty percent of our sample reported having a current mental health diagnosis, 14% reported currently receiving mental health care, while 47% reported having received mental health care in the past (and may/may not have received a diagnosis). The sample scored high on the Aggressive Behavior, Avoidant Personality, and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity scales. Poorer self-reported postnatal asthma control was strongly correlated with elevated somatic complaints, externalizing problems, antisocial personality problems, and greater withdrawal. Prenatal spirometry or asthma severity and control were largely not associated with measures of psychopathology. Conclusions: These findings indicate that pregnant women with asthma frequently report issues with psychopathology during the prenatal and postnatal periods, and that the subjective perception of asthma control may be more related to psychopathology than objective asthma measures. However, due to sample bias, these findings are likely to be understated.
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Conference (14 outputs)
| Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 |
Woolard A, Benders T, Campbell L, Karayanidis F, Murphy V, Lane S, et al., 'The relationship between pitch contours in infant-directed speech and infant risk for autism.', International Society for Autism Research Annual Meeting, Montreal, Canada. (2019)
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| 2019 |
Woolard A, Armstrong T, Benders T, Lane A, Karayanidis F, Murphy V, Campbell L, 'The relationship between maternal infant-directed speech and infant attention during the first year.', International Society for Autism Research Annual Meeting, Montreal, Canada (2019)
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| 2019 |
Lane A, Woolard A, Campbell L, Karayanidis F, Barker D, Korostenski L, et al., 'Characterising maternal pitch contours used during interactions with infants and high and low risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder', The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 145 (3), California (2019)
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| 2016 |
Woolard A, Benders T, Campbell L, Karayanidis F, Mattes J, Murphy V, et al., 'Exploring the association of infant temperament on maternal fundamental frequency contours', Proceedings of the Sixteenth Australasian International Conference on Speech Science and Technology (SST2016), Parramatta, Australia (2016) [E1]
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Presentation (2 outputs)
| Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Woolard A, Benders T, Swaab L, Whalen O, Lane A, 'The relationship between pitch contours in infant-directed speech and infant risk for autism', (2019) | ||||
| 2018 |
Lane A, Campbell L, Gibson P, Woolard A, 'Early signs of autism in 12 month infants born to mothers with asthma.', (2018)
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Research Projects
Breathing for Life- Infant Development Study 2015 -
BabyMinds- Infant Development Study 2017 -
SDPrem- Characteristics and moderators of sensory modulations in preterm infants, in the first year of life 2017 -
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