Jane M Ussher

Biographic Data

ID146773
NAMEJane M Ussher
GIVEN NAMESJane M
FAMILY NAMEUssher
SIGNATUREUSSHER J M
AFFILIATIONSWestern Sydney University
ORCID0000-0002-2128-0019
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS98
TOTAL CITATIONS479
AUTHOR COUNT97
EDITOR COUNT1
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR1990
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX10

  • “It Just Adds More Fuel to the Weak Woman Fire”: Perimenopausal “Excuses”, Feminist Dilemmas, and the Politics of Menstruation Tracking Apps

    Open AccessSiobhan Healy-Cullen, Riley et al.ARTICLEFeminism & Psychology2026

    Perimenopause is often marked by unpredictable bodily changes. This unpredictability sits in tension with dominant cultural discourses that valorise self-discipline, control, and health optimisation. In this context, menstruation tracking apps are promoted as tools for self-management through bodily surveillance, reinforcing a “mythical norm” of bodily control and stability. Using cooperative inquiry, within a poststructuralist feminist framework…

  • Sexual Embodiment and Sexual Renegotiation Post-Cancer for LGBTQ People with a Cervix

    Open AccessSamantha Sperring, Jane M Ussher et al.ARTICLEArchives of Sexual Behavior2025Cited by: 1References: 100

    Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people face unique challenges in the context of cancer due to cis-heterocentric constructions of sexuality in oncological care. This paper explores the impacts of these challenges for LGBTQ people with a cervix, examining embodied sexual changes and sexual renegotiation during and after cancer, and the implications for LGBTQ people’s access to relevant, tailored cancer information and support…

  • Working together with people with intellectual disability to make a difference: A protocol for a mixed-method co-production study to address inequities in cervical screening participation

    Open AccessDeborah Bateson, Jane M Ussher et al.ARTICLEFrontiers in Public Health2024

    Introduction Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers yet remains a disease of inequity for people with intellectual disability, in part due to low screening rates. The ScreenEQUAL project will use an integrated knowledge translation (iKT) model to co-produce and evaluate accessible cervical screening resources with and for this group. Methods Stage 1 will qualitatively explore facilitators and barriers to screening participation fo…

  • LGBTQI Sexual Well-Being and Embodiment After Cancer: A Mixed-Methods Study

    Open AccessA Denes, Jane M Ussher et al.ARTICLEThe Journal of Sex Research2024Cited by: 1References: 3

    This study examined lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) cancer patients' sexual well-being post-cancer, and the associations between sexual well-being and social support, physical concerns, distress, quality of life (QOL), and coping. We used a mixed-methods approach, including 430 surveys and 103 interviews, representing a range of tumor types, sexual and gender identities, age groups, and intersex status. The findin…

  • Disrupted identities, invisibility and precarious support: A mixed methods study of LGBTQI adolescents and young adults with cancer

    Open AccessJane M Ussher, Kimberley Allison et al.ARTICLEBMC Public Health2023

    LGBTQI AYAs with cancer experience psychosocial vulnerabilities related to identity development, experiences of care, and social support networks. These factors likely contribute to their previously evidenced elevated risk of distress, relative to both non-LGBTQI AYAs and LGBTQI older adults. AYAs affected by cancer may require additional, tailored supportive care, including targeted information resources, LGBTQI AYA specific cancer support group…

  • Reinforcing or Disrupting Gender Affirmation: The Impact of Cancer on Transgender Embodiment and Identity

    Open AccessJane M Ussher, Rosalie Power et al.ARTICLEArchives of Sexual Behavior2023Cited by: 1References: 84

    There is a pressing need for greater understanding and focus on cancer survivorship and informal cancer caring of trans people (binary and non-binary), across tumor types, to inform culturally safe trans inclusive cancer information and care. This qualitative study, part of the mixed methods Out with Cancer project, examined experiences of trans embodiment and identity after cancer diagnosis and treatment. We drew on open-ended survey responses f…

  • Transgender Parents: Negotiating "Coming Out" and Gender Affirmation with Children and Co-Parents

    Rosie Charter, Jane M Ussher et al.ARTICLEJournal of Homosexuality2023Cited by: 1References: 44

    This study investigated how transgender parents negotiate "coming out" and pursuit of gender affirmation (GA) with their children and co-parents. Sixty-six open-ended survey responses and 38 one-on-one interviews conducted with Australian trans parents, aged 24-67 years, were analyzed using thematic analysis. The main themes were: (i) Anticipating their Response: "Coming Out" to co-parents and children; (ii) "Having that talk"-Negotiating disclos…

  • A feminist phenomenological approach to the analysis of body maps: Childhood trauma and anorexia nervosa

    Jennifer Malecki, Paul Rhodes et al.ARTICLEHealth Care For Women International2022

    Body mapping is an arts-based research technique that uses a life-sized outline of the participant's body and symbols that visually represent their lived experiences. In this article, we describe the methods of body mapping and analytic techniques used in a research inquiry exploring how child abuse influenced the embodied processes in anorexia. We aim to contribute to methodological research practice in anorexia using a method that can potential…

  • The embodiment of childhood abuse and anorexia nervosa: A body mapping study

    Jennifer Malecki, Paul Rhodes et al.ARTICLEHealth Care For Women International2022

    Childhood trauma has long been implicated in the development of anorexia nervosa and is known to impact more women than men. Still, less is known about the meaning women attribute to food and bodily practices and how they contribute to feminine subjectivity. In this article, we examine the subjective experiences of women with histories of childhood abuse and anorexia and women who did not develop an eating disorder. Through a visual narrative ana…

  • Mapping the abject: Women's embodied experiences of premenstrual body dissatisfaction through body-mapping

    Open AccessSamantha Ryan, Jane M Ussher et al.ARTICLEFeminism & Psychology2022Cited by: 4References: 11

    Women's body shame and body dissatisfaction increase in the premenstrual phase of the cycle, associated with premenstrual distress. However, the meaning and consequences of premenstrual body dissatisfaction remain underexplored. The aim of this study was to explore how women who report premenstrual body dissatisfaction construct and experience their bodies, using qualitative arts-based methods. Four hundred and sixty women completed online open-e…

  • Talking but not always understanding: Couple communication about infertility concerns after cancer

    Open AccessAlexandra Hawkey, Jane M Ussher et al.ARTICLEBMC Public Health2021

    Health-care professionals should include partners of cancer survivors in fertility discussions. Couple interventions developed in general psycho-oncology should be extended to the domain of fertility, in order to facilitate effective couple communication. Communication in future relationships needs to be addressed for single people and adolescents and young adults (AYAs) who have fertility concerns

  • Extreme emotions” - the impact of reproductive life events for women living with bipolar disorder

    Tania Perich, Isabel Fraser et al.ARTICLEHealth Care For Women International2021

    Little is known about how women with bipolar disorder construct and experience reproductive life events across the lifespan. We analyzed qualitative data from 29 semi-structured interviews with women aged 22-63 years (reproductive, menopause and post-menopause phases) using thematic analysis through a social constructionist framework. Themes of "Losing a sense of self-agency and self-worth" contained accounts of feeling out of control because of …

  • What do women want? Migrant and refugee women’s preferences for the delivery of sexual and reproductive healthcare and information

    Open AccessAlexandra J Hawkey, Alexandra Hawkey et al.ARTICLEEthnicity and Health2021References: 5

    Insights from this study can help facilitate the co-design and evaluation of acceptable and sustainable programs to address inequities in SRH experienced by migrant and refugee women

  • Trans Women’s Responses to Sexual Violence: Vigilance, Resilience, and Need for Support

    Open AccessAlexandra Hawkey, Jane M Ussher et al.ARTICLEArchives of Sexual Behavior2021Cited by: 3References: 100

  • Women and Stigma: A Protocol for Understanding Intersections of Experience through Body Mapping

    Open AccessKatherine M Boydell, Katherine Boydell et al.ARTICLEInternational Journal of…2020

    This paper outlines a research and dissemination protocol to be undertaken with specific groups of marginalised women in Australia. Women impacted by significant mental distress, disability, or refugee status are among society's most vulnerable and disenfranchised groups. They can experience significant social exclusion, marginalisation and stigma, associated with reduced help seeking, deprivation of dignity and human rights, and threats to healt…

  • Embodying Transgender: An Analysis of Trans Women in Online Forums

    Open AccessPranee Liamputtong, Kyja Noack-Lundberg et al.ARTICLEInternational Journal of…2020

    This paper discusses the way that trans women embody their transgender identity, focusing on identity questioning, gender dysphoria, clinical gatekeeping and medicalized narratives. Situated within the hermeneutics methodological approach, we adopted the unobtrusive research as our research method, where data was derived from online forums where trans women posted content about their perspectives and experiences of gender and gender transitioning…

  • Sexual violence and safety: The narratives of transwomen in online forums

    Kyja Noack-Lundberg, Pranee Liamputtong et al.ARTICLECulture Health & Sexuality2020

    An online forum analysis was conducted to explore experiences of sexual violence and safety among transwomen, with a particular focus on transwomen of colour. Four online forums were chosen for the analysis. Three key themes were identified: dating and violence in intimate relationships; fear of violence and safety strategies; and coping after sexual assault. Forum posters faced heightened gender policing and scrutiny, due to not conforming to no…

  • I feel fat and ugly and hate myself”: Self-objectification through negative constructions of premenstrual embodiment

    Open AccessJane M Ussher, Janette PerzARTICLEFeminism & Psychology2020References: 15

    The body is central to women’s construction of premenstrual change as premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and to experiences of premenstrual distress. Embodied change, such as bloating or breast tenderness, can act as a marker of PMS. Within biomedical models, PMS is located within the body. Women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies is also reported to be higher in the premenstrual phase of the cycle. What is absent from this analysis is the meaning and…

  • It’s Always About the Eating Disorder: Finding the Person Through Recovery-Oriented Practice for Bulimia

    Open AccessK Churruca, Jane M Ussher et al.ARTICLECulture Medicine and Psychiatry2020Cited by: 5References: 57

  • Perinatal Distress and Depression in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (Cald) Australian Women: The Role of Psychosocial and Obstetric Factors

    Open AccessFelix Akpojene Ogbo, Osita Kingsley Ezeh et al.ARTICLEInternational Journal of…2019

    Perinatal distress and depression can have significant impacts on both the mother and baby. The present study investigated psychosocial and obstetric factors associated with perinatal distress and depressive symptoms among culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) Australian women in Sydney, New South Wales. The study used retrospectively linked maternal and child health data from two Local Health Districts in Australia ( N = 25,407). Perinata…

  • Negotiating sexual agency in marriage: The experience of migrant and refugee women

    Alexandra J Hawkey, Alexandra Hawkey et al.ARTICLEHealth Care For Women International2019

    In this study, adult migrant and refugee women's negotiation of sexual agency in the context of marriage is explored. In Sydney, Australia and Vancouver, Canada, 78 semistructured individual interviews, and 15 focus groups, comprised of 82 participants, were conducted with women who had recently migrated from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Sri Lanka, and South America. Women's negotiation of sexual agency was evident with respect…

  • Age of despair’, or ‘when life starts’: Migrant and refugee women negotiate constructions of menopause

    Jane M Ussher, Alexandra J Hawkey et al.ARTICLECulture Health & Sexuality2019

    There has been a call for research on migrant and refugee women's negotiation of diverse discourses and cultural constraints associated with sexual embodiment, including menopause, in order to facilitate sexual and reproductive health and understand gendered subjectivity. This study examined the construction and experience of menopause among migrant and refugee women who had settled in Australia or Canada in the last 10 years. Eighty-four individ…

  • Normal' and 'failing' mothers: Women's constructions of maternal subjectivity while living with multiple sclerosis

    Open AccessChloe Parton, Terri Katz et al.ARTICLEHealth An Interdisciplinary…2019Cited by: 3References: 59

    Multiple sclerosis causes physical and cognitive impairment that can impact women's experiences of motherhood. This study examined how women construct their maternal subjectivities, or sense of self as a mother, drawing on a framework of biographical disruption. A total of 20 mothers with a multiple sclerosis diagnosis took part in semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were analysed using thematic decomposition to identify subject positions tha…

  • Women’s Constructions of Childhood Trauma and Anorexia Nervosa: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis

    Open AccessJennifer Malecki, Paul Rhodes et al.ARTICLEHuman Arenas2018

    A meta-synthesis was conducted to explore women’s constructions of anorexia nervosa and childhood trauma. Following a systematic review of the literature, six studies were isolated and synthesized within a material-discursive-intrapsychic framework to produce five taxonomies: “objectified and controlled bodies,” “the abject body,” “embodied emotions and self-harm,” “medicalizing the body-as-object,” and “embodied meanings and new possibilities.” …

  • Preparedness of Health Care Professionals for Delivering Sexual and Reproductive Health Care to Refugee and Migrant Women: A Mixed Methods Study

    Open AccessZelalem Mengesha, Janette Perz et al.ARTICLEInternational Journal of…2018

    Past research suggests that factors related to health care professionals' (HCPs) knowledge, training and competency can contribute to the underutilisation of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care by refugee and migrant women. The aim of this study was to examine the perceived preparedness of HCPs in relation to their knowledge, confidence and training needs when it comes to consulting refugee and migrant women seeking SRH care in Australia. A…