Rate My Professor Kate Baltrotsky

Dr. Kate Baltrotsky is a Lecturer and Associate Lecturer in Shared Units within the Faculty of Health at Southern Cross University, based on the Gold Coast campus. She earned a BSc, a Master of Educational Practice, and a PhD from Southern Cross University in July 2025. Her doctoral thesis, "Evaluation of a Brief Attachment-Based Parenting Program with Playful Discipline," supervised by Professor Sandra Grace, Dr. Frances Doran, and Dr. Joanne Bradbury, investigated the effectiveness of attachment-based interventions incorporating playful discipline techniques as alternatives to conventional behavioral methods like time-outs and rewards. This research included pilot randomized controlled trials and qualitative analyses of parental experiences, alongside scoping reviews highlighting the underrepresentation of children's perspectives in parenting program evaluations.

Baltrotsky's academic interests center on attachment-based parenting programs, playful discipline strategies, the interplay between dietary patterns—particularly vegetarian diets—and mental health outcomes such as depressive symptoms, and the incorporation of generative artificial intelligence into health education curricula. Her key publications encompass "Evaluation of a brief attachment-based parenting program: Aware Parenting" (Journal of Child and Family Behavior Therapy, 2022, with Bradbury, Grace, Doran, Rose), "Parents’ Experiences of a Brief Online Attachment-based Parenting Intervention" (Journal of Child and Family Behavior Therapy, 2022, with Grace, Bradbury, Doran), "Playful discipline in a brief attachment-based parenting program: A dismantling study" (Family Relations, 2026, with Grace, Bradbury, Doran), and "The association between 'Vegetarian for Life' diet quality, social connection and depressive symptoms within Western and Indian regional groups" (Journal of Affective Disorders, 2026, with Lee et al.). Additional contributions include "Harnessing Generative AI in the Faculty of Health Curriculum" (SSRN, 2025, with Toohey et al.) and a submission to the 2025 RUN Learning and Teaching Awards titled "Practical Pathways to GenAI Literacy for Regional Universities." Her scholarship has garnered 54 citations on ResearchGate, contributing to advancements in parenting support and health education practices.