Associate Professor Christina Samios

Christina’s research focuses on how people find meaning in stressful life events, including how they do this within their close interpersonal relationships and meaning frameworks, such as culture. Christina has studied a range of stressful life events and situations, including chronic illness, natural disaster, work-related stress, and pandemic-related stress. Within this work, she has more recently focused on the roles of savouring positive emotional experience and self-compassion. Christina is broadly interested in topics in positive psychology and health psychology.

Journal Articles

• Samios, C., Townsend, M., Newton, T. (2020). Self-compassion predicts less fear of childbirth in childless women: The mediating role of birth beliefs. Psychology & Health, Advance Online Publication. doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2020.1846737
• Samios, C., Raatjes, B., Ash, J., Lade, S.L., & Langdon, T. (2020). Meaning in life following intimate partner psychological aggression: The roles of self-kindness, positive reframing, and growth. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 35 (7-8), 1567-1586. doi: 10.1177/0886260519898437
• Samios, C., Catania, J., Newton, K., Fulton, T., & Breadman, A. (2019). Stress, savouring, and coping: The role of savouring in psychological adjustment following a stressful life event. Stress & Health, 36 (2), 119-130. doi: 10.1002/smi.2914
• Samios, C. & Khatri, V. (2019). When times get tough: Savoring and relationship satisfaction in couples coping with a stressful life event. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 32, 125-140. doi: 10/1080/10615806.2019.1570804
• Samios, C. & Baran, S. (2018). Couple adjustment to a stressful life event: A dyadic investigation of the roles of positive reframing and perceived benefits. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 31, 188-205. doi: 10.1080/10615806.2017.1420173
• Samios, C. (2017). Burnout and psychological adjustment in mental health workers in rural Australia: The roles of mindfulness and compassion satisfaction. Mindfulness, 9, 1088-1097. doi: 10.1007/s12671-017-0844-5
• Samios, C., Pakenham, K. I., & O’Brien, J. (2015). A dyadic and longitudinal investigation of adjustment in couples coping with multiple sclerosis. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 48, 74-83. doi: 10.1007/s12160-014-9633-8
• Samios, C., Henson, D., & Simpson, H. (2014). Benefit finding and psychological adjustment following a non-marital relationship breakup. Journal of Relationships Research, 5, e6. doi:10.1017/jrr.2014.6
• Abel, L. M., Winkler, C., Samios, C., & Morozow, L. (2014). Vicarious posttraumatic growth: Predictors of growth and relationships with adjustment. Traumatology, 20, 9-18. doi: 10.1037/h0099375
• Lyvers, M., Makin, C., Toms, E., Thorberg, F. A., & Samios, C. (2014). Trait
• mindfulness in relation to mood, emotion regulation, everyday executive functioning and alexithymia. Mindfulness, 5, 619-625. doi: 10.1007/s12671-013-0213-y
• Samios, C., Abel, L.M., & Rodzik, A. (2013). The protective role of compassion
• satisfaction for therapists who work with sexual violence survivors: An application of the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 26, 610-623. doi: 10.1080/10615806.2013.784278
• Pakenham, K. I., & Samios, C. (2012). Couples coping with multiple sclerosis: A dyadic perspective on the roles of mindfulness and acceptance. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 36, 389-400. doi: 10.1007/s10865-012-9434-0
• Samios, C., & Hollows, K. (2012). Finding benefits in the aftermath of Australia’s Black Saturday Bushfires: Can distant witnesses find benefits and do benefits found relate to better adjustment? Traumatology, 18, 27-36. doi: 10.1177/1534765612437379
• Lyvers, M., Onuoha, R., Thorberg, F. A., & Samios, C. (2012). Alexithymia in relation to parental alchoholism, everyday frontal lobe functioning and alcohol consumption in a non-clinical sample. Addictive Behaviors, 37, 205-210. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2011.10.012
• Samios, C., Pakenham, K. I., & Sofronoff, K. (2012). Sense making and benefit finding in couples who have a child with Asperger syndrome: An application of the actor-partner interdependence model. Autism, 16, 275-292. doi: 10.1177/1362361311418691
• Samios, C., Rodzik, A. K., & Abel, L. M. (2012). Secondary traumatic stress and adjustment in therapists who work with sexual violence survivors: The moderating role of posttraumatic growth. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 40, 341-356. doi: 10.1080/03069885.2012.691463
• Samios, C., Pakenham, K.I., & Sofronoff, K. (2009). The nature of benefit finding in parents of children with Asperger syndrome. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 3, 358-374. doi: 10.1016/j.rasd.2008.08.003
• Samios, C., Pakenham, K. I., & Sofronoff, K. (2008). The nature of sense making in parenting a child with Asperger syndrome. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2, 516-532. doi: 10.1016/j.rasd.2007.10.003
• Pakenham, K. I., Samios, C., & Sofronoff, K. (2005). Adjustment in mothers of children with Asperger syndrome: An application of the Double ABCX model of family adjustment. Autism, 9, 191-212. doi: 10.1177/1362361305049033
• Pakenham, K. I., Sofronoff, K., & Samios, C. (2004). Finding meaning in parenting a child with Asperger syndrome: Correlates of sense making and benefit finding. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 25, 245-264. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2003.06.003

Report

• Pakenham, K. I., Stebbins, P., Cannon, T., & Samios, C. (2005). Carers in contemporary Australia: Relations among carer illness/disability groups, biographics, caring context, coping and distress. Brisbane, Australia: PsyHealth Media.

Conference Presentations

• Samios, C. (2018, June). When times get tough: How savoring might be good for your and your partner’s relationship satisfaction (especially if you’re a woman). The European Positive Psychology Conference, Budapest, Hungary. (Oral presentation)
• Samios, C. (2017, August). A social perspective on perceived benefits in familial caring for an older adult. The European Health Psychology Society Conference, Padua, Italy. (Poster)
• Samios, C. (2016, June). The role of mindfulness in professional quality of life and psychological adjustment in rural mental health workers. Presented at the European Conference on Positive Psychology, Angers, France. (Oral presentation)
• Samios, C., & Boyd, D. (2015, June). Savouring beliefs and wellbeing: A couples approach. Presented at the New Zealand Association of Positive Psychology Conference, Auckland, New Zealand. (Oral presentation)
• Samios, C., & Baran, S. (2014, July). Couples searching for and finding meaning in a highly stressful life event: An application of the actor-partner interdependence mediation model. The European Positive Psychology Conference, Amsterdam. (Oral presentation)
• Samios, C., & Boyd, D. (2014, May). Savouring beliefs and wellbeing: A couples approach. The Association of Psychology and Psychiatry for Adults and Children, Athens, Greece. (Oral presentation)
• Samios, C., & Baran, S. (2013, April). Meaning making processes and relationship satisfaction in couples following a shared stressful life event. The International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends, Madrid, Spain. (Oral presentation)
• Samios, C., Abel, L. M., & Rodzik, A. K. (2012, July). Perceived benefits and adjustment in therapists who work with sexual violence survivors. The International Congress of Psychology, Cape Town, South Africa. (Poster)

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4661-8343

Current

Maria Kostyanaya, Ph.D., SCU – co-supervisor

Completed

Christina has supervised an excess of 50 psychology honours projects to completion and 15 Master of Clinical Psychology projects to completion.

General registration with the Psychology Board of Australia