Health, well-being and behaviour change

Dr Huseyin Cakal

Huseyin examines the impact of intergroup processes such as contact and social identity on mental health among the severely disadvantaged populations, e.g. refugees and indigenous tribes, mostly in the global south.

Dr Alexandra Kent

Alexandra studies how we seek, and provide, assistance and support in different contexts. She is focusing on new mothers’ experiences of accessing support, particularly around breastfeeding. Her work will explore public discourses around breastfeeding, one-to-one consultations for breastfeeding support, and how health professionals are trained to advise new mothers around breastfeeding.

Professor Abigail Locke

Abigail Locke is a Critical Social and Health Psychologist and a full member of the BPS Division of Health Psychology. Her research explores identities, gender, parenting, and health communication, with publications on topics such as infant sleep, feeding, weaning, and media representations of parenting. She specialises in Critical Discursive Psychology and advanced qualitative methods, and is regularly invited to contribute on critical and qualitative approaches to health psychology. Abigail is Co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Health Psychology, Associate Editor of Health Psychology and Behavioural Medicine, and co-author of Health Psychology (7th Edition, SAGE).

Dr Alexander Scott

I am a Health Psychology and Behavioural Science researcher with a particular focus on the role of sleep in mental health and health behaviours. Using mixed methods approaches, my work examines how sleep influences mental health and health-related behaviours. I am particularly interested in implementation science, adapting and testing sleep interventions for use in applied mental health settings, and developing digital approaches to improve engagement with insomnia treatments.

Dr Chris Stiff

Chris's work is in cyberpsychology, examining the psychological ramifications of technology use and the Internet. He focuses on three main areas. First, he examines social media and how it impacts our social lives and self-perception. Second, he investigates the positive use of video games to facilitate collaborative interactions. Finally, he is keen to look at any new technology (e.g., VR, AI) and how it may change our psychological functioning.

Dr Katie Wright-Bevans

Katie's work uses critical social psychological theories to understand health inequalities and identify avenues for individual and social change. She have worked with groups such as socially isolated older adults, disadvantaged young people, and sexual minorities. Katie draws on traditional and creative qualitative methods to understand social representations of health related issues.

Dr Jenny Cole

Jenny's work concerns gender, health and the body. She is currently focusing on weight stigma in health contexts, particularly during pregnancy and new parenthood and is also interested in weight stigma as a barrier to effective healthcare.

Annabel Roberts

PhD candidate focused on understanding how non-cisgender members of the LGBTQ+ community are constructed, contested and challenged in everyday life in the UK to facilitate social change, visibility and inclusion.

Dr Amrit Daffu-O’Reilly

Amrit is interested in addressing the high incidence of CVD and type 2 diabetes among South Asian people. In particular, she is interested in promoting healthy lifestyles among Sikh people and investigating how places of worship can support health. Using psychological models of behaviour change, I develop and evaluate religiously and culturally tailored interventions to improve health.

Dr Daljinder Chalmers

I am a mixed methods researcher with a particular interest in innovative approaches such as ‘think aloud’ methods and interdisciplinary collaboration across art, music, and design to better understand complex problems and develop creative solutions. My research focuses on working with historically, persistently, or systemically marginalised groups, with current projects spanning the role of sleep in health and wellbeing, transgender health, nocturia and its impact on women’s sleep, and reproductive health in pubescent girls and women. I also welcome collaborative work in military psychology and the application of psychology to sustainability and climate justice.