SoAR Directors
Professor Gery Karantzas
Director of the SoAR Lab
Professor and Co-Director of the Connect Research and Training Initiative at the School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC
Dr. Emma Marshall
Deputy Director of the SoAR Lab
Lecturer at the School of Psychology, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, VIC
Gery Karantzas
Gery is the lead investigator of the Couple CLASH Study. He is one of Australia’s leading relationship scientists and has authored over 90 publications. He has been awarded over $5 million for his research from the Australian Research Council, the National Medical Health and Research Council and Beyond Blue. Gery writes for the Conversation and Psychology Today, and his articles have approximately 2 million reads. He is regularly contacted by the media to discuss all matters on relationships. He is also the founder of relationshipscienceonline.com, a website that curates and delivers the science of relationships to target the needs of relationship counsellors and the general public.
Emma Marshall
Dr Emma Marshall, former Fulbright Science and Innovation Award recipient, has developed a program of research, which focuses on the relational underpinnings of physical health and mental health across the lifespan. While she considers how these processes unfold in daily life, she pays particular attention to these processes during times of stress and trauma (e.g., relationship conflict, natural disasters, COVID-19, the transition to parenthood, aged-care, infertility, pelvic pain, and other chronic health conditions).
More specifically, Marshall aims to (a) identify the ways that social connections (e.g., romantic and family relationships and friendships) can enhance or undermine physical and mental health and (b) identify the ways that poor physical health and distress can reciprocally influence social connections and close relationship functioning and quality.
This research program ultimately provides a roadmap for future interventions by identifying people on risk vs. resilience pathways and the critical mechanisms that can be targeted for change (e.g., social support, emotion, coping strategies, and coping and emotion regulation strategies). To achieve these research aims, Marshall focuses on utilizing a range of non-dyadic and dyadic methods including longitudinal surveys, daily diaries, and behavioural observations. To analyse data collected, Marshall implements various statistical analyses such as actor partner interdependence models, moderated growth curve modelling, multilevel modelling, and structural equation modelling. Marshall also ensures that she works alongside industry providers and people with lived experience as she conducts her research to ensure that her research aligns with industry and community goals and needs.