Dr Ash Catton, PhD

Ko wai au?
Ko Kā Tiritiri o te Moana nga maunga
Ko Orakaia te awa
Ko Tākitimu te waka
Ko Ngāi Tahu tōku iwi
Ko Ngāi Te Ruahikihiki tōku hāpu
No Taumutu ōku tupuna
Kei Catton raua ko Nutira tōku whanau
Ko Ash tōku ingoa

Hello!
My name is Ash and I'm a recent Doctoral graduate from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.
My thesis involved developing a model explaining sexual victimisation disclosure: The Sexual Victimisation Disclosure Processes Model (svDPM).

I am currently looking to develop my research further, as part of Safe Space Solutions, the details of which can be found on our website here.

Publications

The Sexual Encounters Questionnaire: A Gender-Inclusive Survey of Sexual Victimization Across the Lifespan

Ashley K. H. Catton, Martin J. Dorahy

Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 2024

Examining the Causal Effects of Social Exclusion on Shame and Dissociative Detachment

A. K. H. Catton, K. Yogeeswaran, M. J. Dorahy

Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 2024

Disclosure of Sexual Victimization: Effects of Invalidation and Shame on Re-Disclosure

Ashley K. H. Catton, Martin J. Dorahy, Kumar Yogeeswaran

Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol. 38(13-14), 2023, pp. 8332–8356

Blame Attributions Against Heterosexual Male Victims of Sexual Coercion: Effects of Gender, Social Influence, and Perceptions of Distress

Ashley K. H. Catton, Martin J. Dorahy

Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol. 37(9-10), 2022, NP7014– NP7033

Current Projects

The Sexual Violence Disclosure Processes Model (svDPM)

A manuscript detailing this theory is currently being prepared for peer review.

The Sexual Encounters Questionnaire: A Gender-Inclusive Survey of Sexual Victimisation Across the Lifespan

This study is currently undergoing peer review.

Pathological Gaming: Assessment and Related Issues

This was a presentation given in 2020 around 'Internet Gaming Disorder', a controversial yet emerging disorder in the literature.

Blame Attributions against Male Victims of Sexual Coercion

Poster presentation of published study

The Role of Interoceptive Conditioning in Intuitive Eating Interventions

Poster presentation for systematic review

Recent Writing

Jun 23, 2026

Definitions of Woman and Man Amendment Bill

I provide this submission to critique and oppose the Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill. I dedicate this submission to my nephew, Alex. This is for you, kiddo. By analysing the content of the suggested definitions provided, I i...

Jun 16, 2026

The Problem with MSD's "Youth & Wellbeing" Report

Recently I was made aware of the publication of findings of an important survey of young people. The headline from RNZ proclaimed “One in six young people face sexual harm – report”. I found this curious for several reasons, the main reason b...

May 5, 2025

Authenticity

After writing recently on the relation between gender and biological sex, I wanted to revisit a reflection I originally wrote in 2021 on what constitutes authentic action. It blended a philosophical and psychological perspective into a singular account...

Apr 24, 2025

As recent events have thrown the concept of gender into contemporary debate, lines have been firmly drawn between those who equate it with biological sex, and those who maintain that the two are distinct, albeit related, phenomena. The debate tends to ...

Nov 22, 2024

Harmful and Unnecessary

The Treaty Principles Bill, introduced in 2024, is designed to establish a broad and deep understanding in the national consciousness about the meaning of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in legislation, thus promoting widespread understanding ...

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