Mental health and well being
Our research on this topic is conducted in collaboration with a number of colleagues working both within academia and in National Health Service (NHS) (see page on our research Collaborations).
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Research on young adults focuses on people with dysphoria and depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and psychosis. Both experimental and diary methods have been used to study the role of various involuntary phenomena such as involuntary autobiographical memories, intrusive memories, task unrelated thoughts and hearing voices in these clinical conditions and people’s mood and well being. Some of the results from these studies have important implications for therapy and clinical practice.
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Research on older adults has focused on investigating the so called positivity effect in old age, which refers to a somewhat counterintuitive finding that older adults often demonstrate increased psychological well being in comparison to younger adults.
We have demonstrated this positivity in several studies where older adults have lower scores than younger adults on a variety of psychopathology measures such as depression, anxiety, and neuroticism (in collaboration with James Erskine and George Georgiou). Older adults also demonstrate interesting cognitive biases which help them maintain positive affect (e.g., rating their autobiographical memories as less negative than younger adults). Research also examines potential mechanisms underlying the positivity effect in old age.
We have demonstrated this positivity in several studies where older adults have lower scores than younger adults on a variety of psychopathology measures such as depression, anxiety, and neuroticism (in collaboration with James Erskine and George Georgiou). Older adults also demonstrate interesting cognitive biases which help them maintain positive affect (e.g., rating their autobiographical memories as less negative than younger adults). Research also examines potential mechanisms underlying the positivity effect in old age.