Brief Academic Biography

Dr Bronwynè Coetzee is a senior lecturer and a National Research Foundation (NRF) Y1-rated researcher in Psychology at Stellenbosch University (SU). In 2021, Dr Coetzee placed 3rd in the HSRC/USAF medal for Social Sciences, in the category of emerging researcher. She is responsible for teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. In the department, her teaching focuses predominately on child and adolescent development and mental health. Dr Coetzee also contributes to the MPhil teaching at the Alan J Flischer Centre for Public Mental Health. She is the recipient of teaching-related funding at SU (FINLO award) and has also presented at the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) conference. In terms of research, Dr Coetzee’s research is broadly located within the fields of health psychology and mental health. Firstly, in terms of health psychology, her research focuses on factors affecting treatment adherence amongst children, adolescents and adults living with HIV in South Africa. She has received funding from the NRF in South Africa to develop a caregiver support intervention to support optimal treatment adherence amongst young children living with HIV. Secondly, in terms of mental health, her research also focuses on developing and implementing early interventions aimed at mitigating the onset of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents in South Africa. She has received funding from the Wellcome Trust (UK), through a Seed Award in Science, to develop a universal school-based psycho-educational intervention to support psychological well-being amongst primary school aged children in the Western Cape: https://twitter.com/4STMF_RSA. Dr Coetzee is an executive member of the Psychological Society of South Africa’s (PsySSA) Division for Research and Methodology (DRM) and a member of PsySSA’s Health Psychology special interest group. Dr Coetzee is currently a guest editor for the journal Frontiers in Public Health’s special edition on COVID-19 policies and interventions to enable preventative behaviors. Dr Coetzee has supervised 13 masters and 3 PhD students to completion. Dr Coetzee is a member of Stellenbosch University’s Social Behavioural and Educational Research Ethics Committee (SBER).

Research

Research topics

  • Child and adolescent mental health
  • Psychosocial and behavioural aspects associated with chronic illness in children and adolescents

About my research

I conduct empirical research that attempts to understand and explain complex behavioural process and that focuses on the well-being of children and young people in South Africa. As such, my research interests broadly encompass, (1) understanding and investigating psychosocial and behavioural factors associated with chronic illnesses and progressive diseases, and (2) developing and implementing early interventions aimed at supporting the psychological well-being of children and young people.

Publications

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1545-418X

SCOPUS: Scopus Author ID: 37860954800

Teaching

Coordination of Programmes and Modules

Undergraduate:

  • Psychology 223 Human Development in Context: Lecturer and module coordinator (2020 – )

Postgraduate:

  • Child Psychology 716 (lecturer; module coordinator) (2019-)

Teaching Areas (current)

Undergraduate:

  • Human development in context (Psychology 223, 2019 – )

Honours:

  • Brain and behaviour (Psychology 771, 2016 – )
  • Child psychology (Psychology 716, 2019 – )

Teaching Areas (past)

Undergraduate:

  • Psychology as a science (Psychology 114, 2016-2020)
  • Psychology in context (Psychology 144, 2020)
  • Data analysis in Psychology (Psychology 253, 2016-2019)

Graduated postgraduate students

Masters

    1. 2022: Primary supervisor: Miriam Karritt (MA thesis, 100%). Title: Parenting a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the context of COVID- 19 in South Africa: A qualitative Study. https://scholar.sun.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10019.1/124750/karrit_parenting_2022.pdf?sequence=1
    2. 2022: Co-supervisor: Thania Narker (MA thesis, 100%). Title: Adolescent girls’ experiences of sexual and reproductive health services in public clinics in the Western Cape. https://scholar.sun.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10019.1/124886/narker_adolescent_2022.pdf?sequence=1
    3. 2022: Primary supervisor: Brigitta Kepkey (MA thesis, 100%) Title: Barriers to and facilitators of adherence to intravenous chemotherapy among breast cancer patients at a tertiary hospital in the Western Cape. https://scholar.sun.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10019.1/124696/kepkey_barriers_2022.pdf?sequence=1
    4. 2022: Primary supervisor: Hermine Kruger (MA thesis, 100%). Title: Caregivers’ perceptions of their involvement in children’s mental health and mental health services in a primary school in the Western Cape. https://scholar.sun.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10019.1/124742/gericke_caregivers_2022.pdf?sequence=1
    5. 2022. Primary supervisor: Nick Van Niekerk (MA thesis, 100%). Title: Exploring Fatigue amongst Individuals Living with Multiple Sclerosis: A South African Perspective. https://scholar.sun.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10019.1/124827/vanniekerk_fatigue_2022.pdf?sequence=1
    6. 2022. Co-supervisor: Gizela vd Berg. (MA in Addiction Care, SU). Problematic Use of the Internet, Family Functioning and Childhood Experiences: A quantitative and qualitative investigation.
    7. 2021: Primary supervisor: Ms Mignon Elliot (MA thesis, 100%). Title: The experiences of learning facilitators in the Western Cape who work with children on the autism spectrum in mainstream schools. http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/109948
    8. 2020: Co-supervisor: Ms Inge Ackerman (MA thesis, 100%). Title: Coping strategies and quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS): A South African online perspective. http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/109375
    9. 2020: Primary supervisor: Mrs Sylvie Mbebe (MA thesis, 100%). Title: Barriers to and facilitators of transition to adulthood care among HIV infected youth in the Western Cape. http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/107908
    10. 2019: Primary supervisor: Ms Melissa Bradshaw (MA thesis, 100%). Title: Exploring the acceptability of a visual intervention to improve paediatric adherence to antiretroviral therapy in South Africa. http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/106174
    11. 2019: Co-supervisor: Ms Salome Demetriou (MA thesis, 100%). Title: Emotion regulation in trichotillomania: the role of stress and trauma. http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/105993
    12. 2018: Co-supervisor: Ms Stefani Du Toit (MA thesis, 100%). Title: Structural Brain Differences and Motor functioning in Prenatally Methamphetamine Exposed Children in Cape Town. http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/102960
    13. 2017: Primary supervisor: Ms Kirsten Kohler (MA thesis, 100%). Title: Obsessions and compulsions- A qualitative inquiry into the lives of adults living with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in South Africa. http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/100888

Doctoral

  1. 2020: Co-supervisor: Ms Christina Laurenzi, PhD (Psychology). Title: Exploring the implementation of a community health worker programme for maternal and child health in the rural Eastern Cape, South Africa. http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/109113
  2. 2020: Primary supervisor: Mrs Anri Smit, PhD (Psychology). Title: Breast Cancer Stories: Exploring the Multimodal Narratives of Twelve South African Women with Recurrent Disease. http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/107809
  3. 2020: Co-supervisor: Mrs Hildah Oburu, PhD (Psychology). Title: Social representations of the burning of boys’ secondary schools in Kenya in 2016. http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/108318

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