Dr Sarah Allen

Assistant Professor

Department: Psychology

I graduated from Northumbria University with a BSc (hons) Psychology in 2010 and a MSc Health Psychology in 2013. I completed my PhD in 2018, also at Northumbria University, under the supervision of Dr Michael Smith and Prof. Mark Wetherell.

After completing my PhD, I worked as a Senior Research Assistant on the Healthy Sleep Project for one year under the supervision of Prof. Jason Ellis. Following this, I worked as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the University of York with Prof Christina Van der Feltz-Cornelis in the Mental Health and Addictions Research Group on several projects in applied mental health and somatic symptom disorders.

I was appointed as Lecturer in Psychology at Teesside University in January 2020 and then returned to Northumbria University as an Assistant Professor in Psychology in 2022.

Email Sarah

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

My research interests broadly fit into the areas of Health Psychology, Psychobiology and Applied Mental Health research. My PhD focused on the effects of individual differences (i.e., Type D personality) on stress reactivity and associated health outcomes and my post-doc work involved the development of interventions for somatic symptom disorders.

More recently the focus of my research has involved the exploration of factors underpinning the development of mental health issues in students, particularly with regards to previous trauma and sleep health. I am also interested in the bidirectional relationship between poor sleep and mental health disorders as well as the use of creative and compassionate interventions for improving psychological well-being.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Author Correction: Internet memes related to the COVID-19 pandemic as a potential coping mechanism for anxiety, Akram, U., Irvine, K., Allen, S., Stevenson, J., Ellis, J., Drabble, J. 21 Jun 2023, In: Scientific Reports
Exercise referral scheme participant characteristics, referral mode and completion status, Portman, R., Levy, A., Allen, S., Fairclough, S. 1 Apr 2023, In: Health Education Journal
Exploring the effects of written emotional disclosures (WED) on healthcare workers' (HCWs) mental health symptoms in the UK: A feasibility study, Kilvington, A., Allen, S., Kyriakopoulos, A. 27 Nov 2023, In: Counselling and Psychotherapy Research
Personality and insomnia: A systematic review and narrative synthesis, Akram, U., Stevenson, J., Gardani, M., Allen, S., Johann, A. 1 Dec 2023, In: Journal of Sleep Research
Prevalence of anxiety, depression, mania, insomnia, stress, suicidal ideation, psychotic experiences, & loneliness in UK university students, Akram, U., Irvine, K., Gardani, M., Allen, S., Akram, A., Stevenson, J. 13 Sep 2023, In: Scientific data
The associations among childhood trauma, loneliness, mental health symptoms, and indicators of social exclusion in adulthood: A UK Biobank study, Allen, S., Gilbody, S., Atkin, K., van der Feltz-Cornelis, C. 1 Apr 2023, In: Brain and Behavior
Diurnal Preference and Correlates of Multidimensional Perfectionism, Type-D Personality, and Big Five Personality Traits, Stevenson, J., Johann, A., Akram, A., Allen, S., Akram, U. 14 Sep 2022, In: Clocks & Sleep
Interventions to promote physical distancing behaviour during infectious disease pandemics or epidemics: A systematic review, Epton, T., Ghio, D., Ballard, L., Allen, S., Kassianos, A., Hewitt, R., Swainston, K., Fynn, W., Rowland, V., Westbrook, J., Jenkinson, E., Morrow, A., McGeechan, G., Stanescu, S., Yousuf, A., Sharma, N., Begum, S., Karasouli, E., Scanlan, D., Shorter, G., Arden, M., Armitage, C., O'Connor, D., Kamal, A., McBride, E., Swanson, V., Hart, J., Byrne-Davis, L., Chater, A., Drury, J. 1 Jun 2022, In: Social Science and Medicine
Self-disgust as a potential mechanism underlying the association between body image disturbance and suicidal thoughts and behaviours, Akram, U., Allen, S., Stevenson, J., Lazarus, L., Ypsilanti, A., Ackroyd, M., Chester, J., Longden, J., Peters, C., Irvine, K. 15 Jan 2022, In: Journal of Affective Disorders
The role of the COVID-19 pandemic in altered psychological well-being, mental health and sleep: an online cross-sectional study, Allen, S., Stevenson, J., Lazuras, L., Akram, U. 7 Feb 2022, In: Psychology, Health & Medicine

Qualifications

Psychology PhD March 26 2018
Chartered Psychologist C. Psychol
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy FHEA

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