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Professor Rhonda Craven (PhD, BA (Hons), University Medal, Dip Teach) is the inaugural Director of The Institute for Positive Psychology and Education at the ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø. Her published works focus on the structure, measurement, development and enhancement of self-concept; key psycho-social drivers of educational outcomes, wellbeing and life potential; effective methods of teaching Indigenous students and Indigenous Studies in educational settings; and interventions that make a tangible difference in educational settings.

Select publications

Recent journal articles

• Magson, N., Craven, R., Yeung, A., Ryan, R., Dillon, A., Egan, A., et al., (In press). Associations between Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction at Work and the Wellbeing of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Employees. Transcultural Psychiatry.
• Maïano, C., Morin, A.J.S., Gagnon, C., Tracey, D., Dubé, C., & Craven, R.G. (In Press). Validation of a Revised version of the Physical Self-Inventory-Very Short form for youth with Intellectual Disabilities (PSI-VS-ID-R): A Bayesian structural equation modelling approach. Psychology of Sport & Exercise.
• Dillon, A., Craven, R., G, Guo, J., Yeung, A., Mooney, J., Franklin, A., & Brockman, R. (2022). Boarding Schools: A longitudinal examination of Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous borders' and non-Borders' wellbeing. British Educational Research Journal.
• Magson, N. R., Craven, R. G., Ryan, R. M., Dillon, A., Mooney, J., Blacklock, F., Yeung, A. S., Kadir, M. S., & Franklin, A. (2022). A cross-cultural investigation of basic psychological need satisfaction at work in an Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian sample across occupation types. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1-26.
• Maïano, C., Morin, A. J., Gagnon, C., Olivier, E., Tracey, D., Craven, R. G., & Bouchard, S. (2022). Validation of an Adapted Version of the Glasgow Anxiety Scale for People with Intellectual Disabilities (GAS-ID). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1-13.
• Durmush, G., Craven, R. G., Brockman, R., Yeung, A. S., Mooney, J., Turner, K., & Guenther, J. (2021). Empowering the voices and agency of Indigenous Australian youth and their wellbeing in higher education. International Journal of Educational Research, 109, 101798.
• Dubé, C., Olivier, E., Morin, A. J., Tracey, D., Craven, R. G., & Maïano, C. (2021). Toward a Comprehensive Assessment of Relationships with Teachers and Parents for Youth with Intellectual Disabilities. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1-19.
• Maïano, C., Morin, A. J., Tracey, D., Gagnon, C., Smodis McCune, V., & Craven, R. G. (2021). A psychometric validation of the motives for physical activity measure for youth with intellectual disabilities (MPAM-ID). Disability and Rehabilitation, 1-10.
• Tracey, D., Maïano, C., Gagnon, C., Craven, R., McCune, V. S., & Morin, A. J. (2021). The Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire adapted for youth with intellectual disabilities (TEOSQ-ID). Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 56, 102006.
• Olivier, E., Lacombe, C., Morin, A. J., Houle, S. A., Gagnon, C., Tracey, D., Craven, R., & Maïano, C. (2021). Validation of a Revised Version of the Center for Epidemiologic Depression Scale for Youth with Intellectual Disabilities (CESD-ID-R). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1-14.
• Olivier, E., Morin, A. J., Tracey, D., Verma, N., Dubé, C., Gagnon, C.,... & Maïano, C. (2021). Development and validation of a multi-informant measure of social behaviors for youth with intellectual disabilities. Research on child and adolescent psychopathology, 49(12), 1649-1667.
• Marsh H., Guo J., Parker P. D., Pekrun, R., Basarkod, G., Dicke, T., Parada, R. H., Reeve, J., Craven, R., Ciarrochi, J., Sahdra, B., & Devine, E. K. (2021). An Integrative Review of Cross-National Comparisons of Verbal, Relational, and Physical Peer Victimization: Gender Differences, Paradoxical Anti-Bullying Attitudes, and Well-Being. PsyArXiv.
• Sahdra, B. K., Ciarrochi, J., Parker, P. D., Craven, R., Brockman, R., Devine, E. K., Conigrave, J., & Chang, D. F. (2020, Online First). Discrimination as a Frame-of-Reference Effect in overlapping friendship communities of ethnically diverse youth. . Online First.
• Marsh, H. W., Guo, J., Dicke, T., Parker, P. D., & Craven, R. G. (2020). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) & Set-ESEM: Optimal Balance between Goodness of Fit and Parsimony. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 55(1), 102-19.
• Dillon, A., Craven, R. G., Kaur, G., & Yeung, A. S. (2020). Support for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australian students' wellbeing at school. International Journal of Educational Research, 9, 101520.
• Hanly, M., Edwards, B., Goldfeld, S., Craven, R. G., Mooney, J., & Jorm, L. (2019). School starting age and child development in a state-wide, population-level cohort of children in their first year of school in New South Wales, Australia. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 48(3rd Quarter), 325-340.
• Craven, R. G. Seaton, M., & Yeung, A. S. (2017). Attitude to Non-Violence Scale: Validity and Practical Use. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 32(13), 2018-2045.
• Bodkin-Andrews, G., Whittaker, A., Harrison, N., Craven, R. G., Parker, P., Trudgett, M., & Page, S. (2017). Exposing the patterns of statistical blindness: Centering Indigenous standpoints on student identity, motivation, and future aspirations. Australian Journal of Education, 61(3), 225-249.
• Falster, K. Jorgensen, M., Hanly, M., Banks, E., Brownell, M., Eades, S., Craven, R. G., Goldfeld, S., Randall, D., & Jorm, L. (2017). Data Resource Profile: Seeding Success: a cross-sectoral data resource for early childhood health and development research in Australian Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children. International Journal of Epidemiology, 46(5), 1365-1366j.
• Hanly, M., Falster, K., Craven, R. G., & Jorm, L. (2017). Social and geographical inequalities in school starting age in Australia: A population data linkage study. International Journal of Population Data Science, 1, 101.
• M., Falster, K., Hanly, M., Goldfeld, S., Jorm, L., & Craven, R. G. (2017). Preschool attendance and early childhood development outcomes in the first year of school for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children in New South Wales, Australia. International Journal of Population Data Science, 1(1), 104.
• Morin, A. J. S., Arens, A. K., Tracey, D., Parker, P. D., Ciarrochi, J., Craven, R. G., & Maïano, C. (2017). Self-esteem trajectories and their social determinants in adolescents with different levels of cognitive ability. AmericanJournal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 122(6), 539-560.
• Morin, A. J. S., Arens, A. K., Maïano, C., Ciarrochi, J., Tracey, D., Parker, P. D., & Craven, R. G. (2017). Reciprocal relationships between teacher ratings of internalizing and externalizing behaviors in adolescents with different levels of cognitive abilities. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(4), 801-825.
• Arens, A. K., Marsh, H. W., Craven, R. G., Yeung, A. S., Randhawa, E., & Hasselhorn, M. (2016). Math self-concept in preschool children: Structure, achievement relations, and generalizability across gender. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 36, 391-403.
• Craven, R. G., Ryan, R., Mooney, J., Vallerand, R. J., Dillon, A., Blacklock, F., & Magson, N. (2016). Toward a positive psychology of indigenous thriving and reciprocal research partnership model. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 47, 32-43.
• Leung, K.C., Marsh, H. W., Craven, R. G, & Abduljabbar, A. S. (2016). Measurement Invariance of the Self-Description Questionnaire II in a Chinese Sample. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 32(2), 128-139.
• Magson, N., Craven, R., Munns, G., & Yeung, A. (2016). It's risky business: Can social capital reduce risk-taking behaviours among disadvantaged youth? Journal of Youth Studies, 19(5), 569-592.
• Marsh, H. W., Craven, R. G., Parada, R. H., & Hamilton, R. L. (2016). Bullies, victims, and not-so-innocent bystannders: Measurement, psychosocial correlates, risk & protective factors, and intervention (Invited Symposium - 2016 International Union of Psychological Science). International Journal of Psychology, 51, 15-30.
• Marsh, H. W., Craven, R., Parker, P. D., Parada, R. H., Guo, J., Dicke, T., & Abduljabbar, A. S. (2016). Temporal ordering effects of adolescent depression, relational aggression and victimization over six waves: Fully latent reciprocal effects models. Developmental Psychology, 52(12), 1994-2009.
• Tracey, D., Craven, R., Yeung, A. S., Tregeagle, S., Burnstein, J., & Stanley, H. (2016). A place to learn: Cultivating engaging learning environments for young rural Aboriginal Australians. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 20(6), 641-658.
• Yeung, A. S., Craven, R. G., Mooney, M., Tracey, D., Barker, K., Power, A., Dobia, B., Chen, Z., Schofield, J., Whitefield, P., & Lewis, T. J. (2016). Positive Behavior Interventions: The issue of sustainability of positive effects. Educational Psychology Review, 28(1), 145-170.

Recent book chapters

• Sazali, S., Franklin, A., Dillon, A., & Yeung, A. S. (2020). Cultivating Learner Experiences: Using Information and Communication Technology to Counter Locational Disadvantage. In C. Koh (Ed.), Diversifying Learner Experience(pp. 173-187). Springer, Singapore.
• Craven, R., Marsh, H., Ryan, R. M., Dicke, T., Guo, J., Gallagher, P., Van Zanden B., Kennedy, M., & Birch, P. (2020). A critical social justice issue of our time: Enabling police wellbeing. In P. Birch, M. Kennedy, M., & E. Kruger (Eds.) Australian Policing: Critical Issues in 21st Century Police Practice (pp. 71-92). London: Routledge.
• Sazali, S., Franklin, A., Dillon, A., Craven, R. G., & Yeung, A. S. (2019). Cultivating learner experiences: Using information and communication technology to counter locational disadvantage. In C. Koh (Ed.), Diversifying learner experiences: A kaleidoscope of instructional approaches and strategies (pp. 173-187). New York: Springer.
• Marsh, H. W., Dicke, T., Seaton, M., Parker, P. D., Guo, J., Craven, R. G., & Abduljabbar, A. (2017). Dimensional Comparison Theory: Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Festschrift in honor of Jens Möller. Waxmann.
• Marsh, H. W., Martin, R., Yeung. A. S., Craven, R. G. (2017). Competence self-perceptions.

Frequently cited

• Marsh, H. W., & Craven, R. G. (2006). Reciprocal effects of self-concept and performance from a multidimensional perspective: Beyond seductive pleasure and unidimensional perspectives. Perspectives on psychological science, 1(2), 133-163.
• Marsh, H. W., & Craven, R. (1996). Academic self-concept: Beyond the dustbowl. In Handbook of classroom assessment (pp. 131-198). Academic Press.
• Marsh, H. W., Craven, R. G., & Debus, R. (1991). Self-concepts of young children 5 to 8 years of age: Measurement and multidimensional structure. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83(3), 377-392.
• O'Mara, A. J., Marsh, H. W., Craven, R. G., & Debus, R. L. (2006). Do self-concept interventions make a difference? A synergistic blend of construct validation and meta-analysis. Educational Psychologist, 41(3), 181-206.
• Marsh, H. W., Craven, R., & Debus, R. (1998). Structure, stability, and development of young children's self-concepts: A multicohort-multioccasion study. Child development, 69(4), 1030-1053.
• Marsh, H. W., Chessor, D., Craven, R., & Roche, L. (1995). The effects of gifted and talented programs on academic self-concept: The big fish strikes again. American educational research journal, 32(2), 285-319.
• Marsh, H. W., Seaton, M., Trautwein, U., Lüdtke, O., Hau, K. T., O'Mara, A. J., & Craven, R. G. (2008). The big-fish-little-pond-effect stands up to critical scrutiny: Implications for theory, methodology, and future research. Educational psychology review, 20(3), 319-350.
• Craven, R. G., Marsh, H. W., & Debus, R. L. (1991). Effects of internally focused feedback and attributional feedback on enhancement of academic self-concept. Journal of educational psychology, 83(1), 17-27.
• Marsh, H. W., Ellis, L. A., & Craven, R. G. (2002). How do preschool children feel about themselves? Unraveling measurement and multidimensional self-concept structure. Developmental psychology, 38(3), 376-393.
• Cowin, L. S., Johnson, M., Craven, R. G., & Marsh, H. W. (2008). Causal modeling of self-concept, job satisfaction, and retention of nurses. International journal of nursing studies, 45(10), 1449-1459.
• Craven, R. G. & Marsh, H. W. (2008). The centrality of the self-concept construct for psychological wellbeing and unlocking human potential: Implications for child and educational psychologists. Educational and Child Psychology, 25 (2), 104-118.
• Seaton, M., Marsh, H. W., & Craven, R. G. (2009). Earning its place as a pan-human theory: Universality of the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) across 41 culturally and economically diverse countries. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(2), 403-419.
• Marsh, H. W., Nagengast, B., Morin, A. J. S., Parada, R. H., Craven, R. G., & Hamilton, L. R. (2011). Construct validity of the multidimensional structure of bullying and victimization: An application of exploratory structural equation modeling. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(3), 701-732.
• Marsh, H. W., Craven, R. G., & Debus, R. (1999). Separation of competency and affect components of multiple dimensions of academic self-concept: A developmental perspective. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly: Journal of Developmental Psychology, 45(4), 567-601.
• Seaton, M., Marsh, H. W., & Craven, R. G. (2010). Big-fish-little-pond-effect: Generalizability and moderation-two sides of the same coin. American Educational Research Journal, 47(2) 390-433.
• Marsh, H. W., & Craven, R. G. (2002). The pivotal role of frames of reference in academic self-concept formation: The 'Big-Fish-Little-Pond' effect. In F. Pajares & T. Urdan (Eds.), Academic motivation of adolescents (Vol. 2, pp. 83-123). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing. ISBN: 1-59311-154-1.
• Arens, A. K., Yeung, A. S., Craven, R. G., & Hasselhorn, M. (2011). The twofold multidimensionality of academic self-concept: Domain specificity and separation between competence and affect components. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(4), 970-981.
• Seaton, M., Parker, P. D., Marsh, H. W., Craven, R.G., & Yeung, A. S. (2014). The reciprocal relations between self-concept, motivation, and achievement: Juxtaposing academic self-concept and achievement goal orientations for Mathematics success. Educational Psychology, 34(1), 49-72.
• Marsh, H. W., Craven, R. G., Hinkley, J. W., & Debus, R. L. (2003). Evaluation of the big-two-factor theory of academic motivation orientations: An evaluation of jingle-jangle fallacies. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 38(2), 189-224.
• Marsh, H. W., Tracey, D., & Craven, R. G. (2006). Multidimensional self-concept structure for preadolescents with mild intellectual disabilities: A hybrid multigroup-MIMIC approach to factorial invariance and latent mean differences. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66(5), 795-818.

Projects and recently awarded grants

ARC Linkage | 2025-2029
Deadly Home Reading: Enabling Indigenous Children's Literacy & Wellbeing (LP240100286)
$1,005,058

Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts Grant - National Road Safety Action Grants Program | 2025-2026
Deadly Safe Driving: The First of Its Kind - A Virtual Reality Rural Driving Hazard Perception Training Program for Young First Nations Drivers
$897,791

Department of Social Services (DSS) Strong and Resilient Communities (SARC) Grant - Inclusive Communities | 2025-2026
Deadly Cultural Connection: Wonnarua Community Connections Program and Culture Camps for At-Risk Indigenous Youth
$358,700

Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (ACSES) Large Grant | 2024-2025
Deadly Secondary Teacher Education
$149,929

ARC Linkage | 2025-2029
Game Changers: Enablers of Indigenous University Students' Success (LP230201137)
$1,239,453

ARC Linkage | 2025-2029
Deadly Teaching: Enhancing Indigenous School Attendance and Well-being (LP230200847)
$1,479,777

Philanthropic Scholarship | 2024-2025
Ursuline Sisters Indigenous Internship Program
$90,000

ARC Linkage | 2022-2026
Deadly Futures: Enabling Indigenous Children's Literacy, Numeracy, Wellbeing (LP210100304)
$777,000

ARC Discovery | 2021-2025
Deadly Start: Enabling Preschoolers' Literacy, Numeracy and Wellbeing (DP210100402)
$771,651

Research Contract: NSW DoE ESRF (Education Strategic Research Fund) | 2022-2023
Deadly Start: Online translation of a preschool literacy, numeracy, and wellbeing program
$144,428

Northern Territory Department of Education Cat 2 Contribution | 2020-2023
Teacher Wellbeing Survey (NT DoE): What Makes A Positive Difference?
$414,500

Accolades and awards

• Member, International Expert Thinktank on Cyberbullying
• Meritorious Service to Public Education Award (New South Wales Government)
• Meritorious Service to Public Education Award (New South Wales Government)
• Finalist for the Business/Higher Education Round Table (BHert) Award
• Betty Watts Award, Australian Association for Research in Education
• Expert of International Standing, Australian Research Council
• Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Research Training and Supervision, University of Western Sydney
• Vice-Chancellor's Award for Social Justice, University of Western Sydney
• Invited member of the New South Wales Ministerial Academic Advisory Group for Aboriginal Education
• Outstanding contribution to research and research leadership, University of Western Sydney
• Life Achievement Award, National Aboriginal Studies Association
• Tertiary Teaching Parliamentary Education Fellowship
• University Medal, University of Sydney

Appointments and affiliations

Appointments

• Director, Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø, 2014-present
• Director, Centre for Positive Psychology and Education, University of Western Sydney, 2011-2014
• Head, Educational Excellence and Equity Research, Centre for Educational Research, 2008-2010
• Centre Director, Self-Concept Enhancement and Learning Facilitation (SELF) Research Centre, University of Western Sydney, 2006-2008
• School Director, Research and Research Degrees, School of Education and Early Childhood Studies, University of Western Sydney, 2001-2002
• College Director, Research Management and Training, College of Arts, Education, and Social Sciences, University of Western Sydney, 2001
• College Honours Coordinator, College of Arts, Education, and Social Sciences, University of Western Sydney, 1999-2006

Professional affiliations

• Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE)
• American Education Research Association (AERA)
• International SELF Research Centre

Editorial roles

• Editor Craven, R. G. (Ed.). (2011). Teaching Aboriginal studies: A practical resource for primary and secondary teaching. (2nd ed.) Sydney, NSW: Allen
• Editor International Advances in Self Research: SELF Research Conference Proceedings
• Editor International Advances in Education: Global Initiatives for Equity and Social Justice.
• Frierson, H. T. (Series Editor) Craven, R. G. & Mooney, J. (Eds.) (2013). Seeding Success in Indigenous Australian Higher Education (Vol. 14). Diversity in Higher Education. London, Emerald Publishing. ISBN: 978-1-78190-686-6
• Craven, R. G., Dillon, A., & Parbury, N. (Eds.). (2013). In Black & White: Australians All at the Crossroads. Ballan, VIC. Connor Court Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN: 978-1-92216-851-1

International journal review panel

Reviewer for

• Journal of Educational Psychology
• Child Development
• International Journal of Disability, Development, and Education
• Journal of Teacher Education
• Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist
• Australian Association for Research in Education
• Self and Identity
• International Journal of Testing
• International Journal of Psychology and Diaspora
• Indigenous and Minority Education

Grant agency review panel

• Australian Research Council (ARC) peer reviewer
• Austrian Science Fund
• The Swiss National Science Foundation
• National Centre of Science and Technology evaluation, Ministry of Education and Science, Republic of Kazakhstan
• Qatar National Research
• Sultan Qaboos University

Public engagement

• Indigenous Game Changers Research Program ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø and Wonnarua Aboriginal Nation Corporation
• Dillon, A., Parbury, N., Craven R.G. (2013). Making Australia Better for Aboriginal People. Grad Life Magazine. University of Western Sydney