Cathy McMahon

Cathy McMahon is an Associate Professor and Honorary Professor at Macquarie University's School of Psychological Sciences. Her research focuses on psychological adaptation during the transition to parenthood, particularly in contexts involving reproductive risks such as infertility, assisted conception, and perinatal mood disorders. She emphasizes parent-child attachment relationships and programs supporting parenting in early childhood.

Her recent book Becoming a Parent: Contemporary Contexts and Challenges during the Transition to Parenthood (Cambridge University Press, 2023) explores modern reproductive choices and challenges. McMahon collaborates with organizations like Tresillian Family Care Centres, Karitane, and Healthy Attachment Australia & New Zealand (HAANZ) to translate research into practical interventions.

Key projects include attachment-based interventions for vulnerable families and studies on child temperament linked to anxiety. Her work spans interdisciplinary collaborations, with recent outputs addressing autism traits in children, parenting strategies for deaf children, and data harmonization in developmental psychology.