Red X iconGreen tick iconYellow tick icon
Skip to main content Skip to side navigation

KTustin_smallEmail karen.tustin@otago.ac.nz
Phone: +64 3 479 5089

Karen completed her PhD in Psychology at the University of Otago under the supervision of Professor Harlene Hayne. The focus of Karen's PhD research was on childhood amnesia and memory development.

Since 2011, Karen had been working as a Research Fellow in the National Centre of Lifecourse Research (NCLR). She is the Project Manager for the Graduate Longitudinal Study New Zealand, a longitudinal study designed to understand the value of a New Zealand tertiary education by following a cohort of students for 10 years post-graduation.

Research Interests

Childhood amnesia and episodic memory

The focus of Karen's PhD research was on the specific mechanisms responsible for childhood amnesia (the inability of adults to recall their infancy and early childhood). In particular, Karen is interested in how the development of episodic memory contributes to our understanding of childhood amnesia. During the course of her PhD, Karen developed a new technique to interview children about their personal memories and she devised a new coding scheme to tap the episodic nature of the information that individuals report about their memories. One of the studies in her thesis represents the first systematic attempt to examine age-related changes in childhood amnesia across the lifespan.

Longitudinal outcomes of tertiary education

Karen's current work on the Graduate Longitudinal Study New Zealand (GLSNZ) aims to understand the value of a New Zealand tertiary education by exploring how graduates fare in the years following university, in terms of their lifestyles, employment and career development, and their health and well-being. It will provide critical information to both universities and government policy makers, who are seeking robust information on the cost-effectiveness of their significant financial investment in university education and how this is contributing to the social and economic goals of individual graduates and New Zealand society as a whole. The first wave of data collection for this study was completed in 2011, the second wave was completed in 2014 (2 years post-graduation), and subsequent waves will take place at 5 and 10 years post-graduation.

Visit the Graduate Longitudinal Study (GLSNZ) website for more information.

Publications

Tustin, K. (2024, November). The burden of bronchiolitis by age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic deprivation in Aotearoa NZ. Verbal presentation at the Paediatric Society of New Zealand Te Kāhui Mātai Arotamariki o Aotearoa (PSNZ) 75th Annual Meeting, Dunedin, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Duncanson, M., Adams, J., Tustin, K., van Asten, H., Roy, M., Oben, G., McAnally, H., & Wicken, A. (2023). Children and young people with chronic health conditions in Aotearoa 2022. Commissioned by Ministry of Health, Paediatric Society of New Zealand, and district health boards. Dunedin, New Zealand: New Zealand Child and Youth Epidemiology Service, University of Otago. 149p. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10523/16288 Commissioned Report for External Body

Duncanson, M., Adams, J., Tustin, K., van Asten, H., Roy, M., Oben, G., McAnally, H., & Wicken, A. (2023). Children and young people with chronic health conditions in the Northern region 2022. Commissioned by Ministry of Health, Paediatric Society of New Zealand, and district health boards. Dunedin, New Zealand: New Zealand Child and Youth Epidemiology Service, University of Otago. 155p. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10523/16271 Commissioned Report for External Body

Duncanson, M., Adams, J., Tustin, K., van Asten, H., Roy, M., Oben, G., McAnally, H., & Wicken, A. (2023). Children and young people with chronic health conditions in the Midland region 2022. Commissioned by Ministry of Health, Paediatric Society of New Zealand, and district health boards. Dunedin, New Zealand: New Zealand Child and Youth Epidemiology Service, University of Otago. 155p. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10523/16273 Commissioned Report for External Body

Duncanson, M., Adams, J., Tustin, K., van Asten, H., Roy, M., Oben, G., McAnally, H., & Wicken, A. (2023). Children and young people with chronic health conditions in MidCentral and Whanganui 2022. Commissioned by Ministry of Health, Paediatric Society of New Zealand, and district health boards. Dunedin, New Zealand: New Zealand Child and Youth Epidemiology Service, University of Otago. 149p. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10523/16272 Commissioned Report for External Body

Back to top