Dr Robert Dempsey
Dr Robert Dempsey
Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Faculty Head of Research Ethics & Governance
My profile
Biography
I am a Senior Lecturer in Psychology in the School of Psychology, an Associate Fellow and a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society. I consider myself to be an Applied Social Psychologist with interests in understanding how social influence factors and individual differences constructs influence health and wellbeing.
I joined MMU in November 2019 after holding previous lecturing and research positions at Staffordshire University and the University of Bradford. I completed my undergraduate BSc (Hons) in Psychology and PhD in Psychology at the University of Manchester, and was an Honorary PhD Student at the Spectrum Centre for Mental Health Research at Lancaster University.
At MMU, I am Head of Research Ethics and Governance for the Faculty of Health and Education. I am research-focused academic and I place particular focus on research-informed teaching in my practice.
My research attempts to address three key questions:
1. How do social norms influence health behaviours and outcomes?
2. How do social norms influence suicidality related experiences and outcomes?
3. How can social norms feedback be used to improve health outcomes?
My research aims to generally understand the role of social norms (typically perceived norms of unwritten rules or expectations which guide or restrict behaviour) in health-related behaviours and outcomes, including risky and protective health behaviours, help-seeking, and suicidality. I have particular expertise in using the Social Norms Approach as a means of positive health behaviour change and in understanding health-related behaviours.
I also have broader research interests in terms of understanding the lived experience and role of psychological factors in suicidality, dispositional/trait authenticity and its applications to specific groups (e.g. neurodiversity, autism), suicide prevention, university student mental health, and health psychology more broadly. More details about my research can be found via the Projects and Research Output tabs above.
Academic and Professional Qualifications
- Postgraduate Certificate in Higher and Professional Education (Staffordshire University)
- PhD in Psychology (The University of Manchester)
- BSc (Hons) Psychology (The University of Manchester)
I am also a member of the following organisations and professional bodies
- Associate Fellow, British Psychological Society
- Chartered Psychologist, British Psychological Society
- General Member, Division of Health Psychology, British Psychological Society.
- Senior Fellow, Advance HE
External Examiner roles
External Examiner, Undergraduate Psychology Programme, Department of Psychology, University of Bath (2019-2022).
Expert Reviewer
I am a peer reviewer for a number of international journals across various disciplines, including Mental Health, Health Psychology, Behavioural Medicine, Substance Use/Abuse, Public Health, Clinical Psychology, and Psychiatry. In terms of grant reviewing, I am a member of the college of reviewers for various NIHR funding schemes.
Prizes and awards
- I’m A Scientist… Get Me Out of Here – Mental Health Zone (winner). Prize based on nominations from primary and high school students as part of the IAS two week public engagement event (£500 public engagement), June 2019.
- Innovative and Applied Learning Prize (winner), Staffordshire University Celebrating Staff Success Awards Ceremony, 4th October 2017.
- ‘Best Clinical Poster’ Prize. Healthcare Research in Staffordshire – Strengthening Partnerships Research Conference, Wade Hall, North Staffordshire Medical Institute, 12th October 2016
Projects
Social Norms & Health Behaviours
My main area of research activity is focused on understanding the role of social norms in health-related behaviours and outcomes. I am interested in understanding the types of social norms associated with protective and risky behaviours, how social norms influence health outcomes, and whether/how changing social norms can promote health and healthier behaviours.
I have particular interest and expertise in the Social Norms Approach (SNA) as a means of health promotion and positive behaviour change. Based on this approach, I am particularly interested in understanding how, why, and when, individuals over/under-estimate the social behaviours and attitudes of their peers and how these ‘misperceptions’ influence behaviour. I am especially interested in understanding the nature of these perceptions, why some people accurately perceive what others do/think, and in developing a clearer testable theory underpinning the SNA.
Current projects include:
- Understanding the role of perceived social norms in suicidal thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
- Understanding the influence of perceived peer social norms in students’ health behaviours and sustainability-related behaviours.
- Understanding the role of perceived social norms relating to mental health help-seeking amongst professional sports teams.
Previously completed projects in this area have included: the EC-funded SNIPE study focusing on university students’ perceived social norms of peer substance use and testing the feasibility of social normative feedback; developing and testing a co-produced SNA intervention to reduce unhealthy snacking behaviours in high school students; understanding the role of social norms in cancer-screening behaviours; understanding the role of perceived social norms in anti-vaccination conspiracy beliefs and developing an SNA feedback intervention to challenge such beliefs.
Suicidality
I have a broad interest in understanding people’s lived experience of suicidality (thoughts, feelings, behaviours), understanding the influence of psychological factors in suicide-related outcomes (including perceived social norms), and in suicide prevention amongst high-risk groups (especially university students).
Current projects include:
- Testing the ‘eusociality’ hypothesis of suicidality.
- Understanding the role of prosociality (prosocial orientations, behaviours, norms, self- and other-kindness) in suicidality.
- Understanding the lived experience of suicide risk assessments in primary care (PhD Student Project led by Sophia Fedorowicz)
- Editing a special issue on “Bipolar Disorder and Suicide” (IJERPH) and a systematic review of the psychosocial factors implicated in the experiences of suicidality amongst people with a bipolar spectrum diagnosis.
Authenticity
I am working with several external colleagues on various projects on dispositional or trait authenticity, including understanding the factor structure of authenticity and the role of (in)authenticity in relation to mental health/wellbeing and neurodiversity.
Other work
I am generally interested in mental health, especially university student mental health and wellbeing, the influence of psychological factors in the lived experience of Bipolar Spectrum conditions (i.e. “Bipolar Disorder”) and the vulnerability to these experiences, and in health psychology more generally (e.g., chronic health conditions, using photo-elicitation approaches to understand experiences of chronic health conditions).
Teaching
Undergraduate courses
I contribute to a range of Undergraduate Psychology units including:
- Clinical Issues in Psychology (Unit Lead)
- Critical and Social Psychology
- Contemporary Issues in Psychology
- Difference and Diversity in Psychology
- Dissertation
- Preparing For Your Dissertation
Postgraduate courses
I contribute teaching on the following unit on the MSc in Health Psychology:
- Understanding and Changing Health Behaviour
Supervision
I supervise a number of Final Year Undergraduate Dissertation Projects each year as well as a number of PhD students.
Doctoral Supervision
In Progress:
- Sophie Lea (PhD Student, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2024-present). Co-supervisor with Dr Neil Dagnall and Dr Ken Drinkwater (MMU).
- Jude Amos (PhD Student, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2022-present). Principal Supervisor with co-supervisors Dr Jennifer McGahan, Dr Jez Oldfield (MMU) & Dr Jenny Cole (Keele University).
- Sophia Fedorowicz (PhD Student, Staffordshire University, 2019-present). Co-supervisor with Prof. Chris Gidlow and Dr Naomi Ellis (Centre for Health and Development, Staffordshire University). Project titled: Suicide risk assessment in primary and secondary health care settings: Guidelines for improvement co-produced with service-users and service-providers.
Completed:
- Dr Darel Cookson (PhD in Psychology, Staffordshire University, Completed 2022). Co-supervisor with Dr Daniel Jolley (University of Nottingham) and Dr Rachel Povey (Staffordshire University). Thesis titled: The role of social norms in reducing belief in conspiracy theories.
- Dr Sian Calvert (PhD in Psychology, Staffordshire University, Completed 2022). Principal Supervisor with Dr Rachel Povey (Staffordshire University). Thesis titled: “Applying the Social Norms Approach to Improve Dietary Behaviours amongst High School Students”.
- Dr Tina Hamilton (PhD in Health Studies, Staffordshire University, Completed 2021). Principal Supervisor with Professor Eleanor Bradley (University of Worcester). Thesis titled: “A critical analysis of adult safeguarding practices in NHS mental health trusts”.
- Dr Craig Burman (DClinPsy, Staffordshire University, Completed 2020). Principal Supervisor with Dr Helena Priest (Staffordshire University). Thesis titled: “Exploring the nature of self and identity amongst men living with bipolar disorder”.
- Dr Rebecca Owen (PhD in Clinical Psychology, University of Manchester, Completed 2017). Co-supervisor with Dr Patricia Gooding (University of Manchester) and Prof Steven Jones (Lancaster University). Thesis titled “The role of appraisals of factors related to social communication in the suicidal thoughts and acts of people who experience bipolar disorder“.
Research outputs
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Chapters in books
Bewick, B.M., Dempsey, R.C., McAlaney, J., Crosby, H.F. (2021) 'Electronic brief personalised feedback interventions for alcohol use.' In Cooke, R., Conroy, D., Davies, E.L., Hagger, M.S., de Visser, R.O. (ed.) The Palgrave Handbook of Psychological Perspectives on Alcohol Consumption. Switzerland: Springer, pp. 447-498.
Dempsey, R.C. (2021) 'Psychosocial motivators of “smart drug” use amongst university students.' In Hall, M., Forshaw, M., Montgomery, C. (ed.) Chemically Modified Minds: Substance Use for Cognitive Enhancement. Palgrave Macmillan,
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Media
Povey, R., Dempsey, R., Calvert, S. (2022) Healthy eating: children think their peers eat more unhealthy snacks than they actually do – changing this perception can lead to better diets.
Cookson, D., Jolley, D., Povey, R., Dempsey, R. (2021) How to dissuade parents from believing in anti-vaxxer conspiracy theories (The Conversation).
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Journal articles
Calvert, S., Dempsey, R.C., Povey, R. (2024) 'A qualitative evaluation of an in-school Social Norms Approach intervention for reducing unhealthy snacking behaviours amongst secondary school students.' British Food Journal,
Lyons, D., Clarke, P., Dempsey, R.C. (2024) 'Tackle your feelings: experience of help-seeking for mental wellbeing concerns in professional rugby union players.' Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 18(2) pp. 234-250.
Dempsey, R.C., Dodd, A.L., Gooding, P.A., Jones, S.H. (2024) 'The types of psychosocial factors associated with suicidality outcomes for people living with Bipolar Disorder: a scoping review.' International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(5)
Fedorowicz, S.E., Dempsey, R.C., Ellis, N., Mulvey, O., Gidlow, C. (2023) 'A quantitative content analysis of Freedom of Information requests examining the extent and variations of tools and training for conducting suicide risk assessments in NHS Trusts across England.' BMJ Open, 13(10)
Dempsey, R.C., Fedorowicz, S.E., Wood, A.M. (2023) 'The role of perceived social norms in non-suicidal self-injury and suicidality: a systematic scoping review.' PLoS One, 18(6) pp. e0286118-e0286118.
Fedorowicz, S., Dempsey, R.C., Ellis, N., Phillips, E., Gidlow, C. (2023) 'How is suicide risk assessed in healthcare settings in the UK? A systematic scoping review.' PLoS One, 18(2) pp. e0280789-e0280789.
Owen, R., Jones, S.H., Dempsey, R.C., Gooding, P.A. (2022) 'Directly or indirectly? The role of social support in the psychological pathways underlying suicidal ideation in people with bipolar disorder.' International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(9) pp. 5286-5286.
Burman, C.J., Dempsey, R.C., Priest, H.M. (2022) 'Exploring men’s experiences and sense-making of Bipolar Disorder diagnoses and mood management: A photo-elicitation investigation.' Clinical Psychologist, 26(2) pp. 198-210.
Calvert, S., Dempsey, R.C., Povey, R., Clark-Carter, D. (2022) 'An in-school Social Norms Approach intervention for reducing unhealthy snacking behaviours amongst 11- to 12-year-olds.' British Journal of Health Psychology, 27(3) pp. 891-914.
Cookson, D., Jolley, D., Dempsey, R.C., Povey, R. (2021) 'A Social Norms Approach intervention to address misperceptions of anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs amongst UK parents.' PLOS ONE, 16(11) pp. e0258985-e0258985.
Cookson, D., Jolley, D., Dempsey, R.C., Povey, R. (2021) '“If they believe, then so shall I”: Perceived beliefs of the in-group predict conspiracy theory belief.' Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 24(5) pp. 759-782.
Calvert, S., Dempsey, R.C., Povey, R. (2021) 'Normative misperceptions of unhealthy snacking amongst 11- to 12-year-old secondary school students.' Appetite, 166pp. 105462-105462.
McAlaney, J., Dempsey, R.C., Helmer, S.M., Van Hal, G., Bewick, B.M., Akvardar, Y., Guillen-Grima, F., Orosova, O., Kalina, O., Stock, C., Zeeb, H. (2021) 'Negative consequences of substance use in European university students: Results from Project SNIPE..' European Addiction Research, 27(1) pp. 75-82.
Dempsey, R.C., Eardley, K., Dodd, A. (2020) 'The role of tenacious versus flexible goal pursuit in the vulnerability to bipolar disorder.' Current Psychology, 41(4) pp. 2382-2389.
Calvert, S., Dempsey, R.C., Povey, R. (2020) 'A qualitative study investigating food choices and perceived psychosocial influences on eating behaviours in secondary school students.' British Food Journal, 122(4) pp. 1027-1039.
Hughes, M., Burton, A.E., Dempsey, R.C. (2019) '‘I am free in my wheelchair but pain does have a say in it though’: The meaning and experience of quality of life when living with paraplegia and chronic pain.' Journal of Health Psychology, 24(10) pp. 1356-1367.
Calvert, S., Dempsey, R.C., Povey, R. (2019) 'Delivering in‐school interventions to improve dietary behaviours amongst 11‐ to 16‐year‐olds: A systematic review.' Obesity Reviews, 20(4) pp. 543-553.
Dempsey, R.C., McAlaney, J., Bewick, B.M. (2018) 'A Critical Appraisal of the Social Norms Approach as an Interventional Strategy for Health-Related Behavior and Attitude Change.' Frontiers in Psychology, 9
Lehne, G., Zeeb, H., Pischke, C.R., Mikolajczyk, R., Bewick, B.M., McAlaney, J., Dempsey, R.C., Van Hal, G., Stock, C., Akvardar, Y., Kalina, O., Orosova, O., Aguinaga-Ontoso, I., Guillen-Grima, F., Helmer, S.M. (2018) 'Personal and perceived peer use and attitudes towards use of non-prescribed prescription sedatives and sleeping pills among university students in seven European countries.' Addictive Behaviors, 87pp. 17-23.
Owen, R., Dempsey, R., Jones, S., Gooding, P. (2018) 'Defeat and Entrapment in Bipolar Disorder: Exploring the Relationship with Suicidal Ideation from a Psychological Theoretical Perspective.' Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 48(1) pp. 116-128.
Burton, A., Hughes, M., Dempsey, R.C. (2017) 'Quality of life research: a case for combining photo-elicitation with interpretative phenomenological analysis.' Qualitative Research in Psychology, 14(4) pp. 375-393.
Dempsey, R.C., Gooding, P.A., Jones, S.H. (2017) 'A prospective study of bipolar disorder vulnerability in relation to behavioural activation, behavioural inhibition and dysregulation of the Behavioural Activation System..' European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists, 44pp. 24-29.
Owen, R., Gooding, P., Dempsey, R., Jones, S. (2016) 'The Reciprocal Relationship between Bipolar Disorder and Social Interaction: A Qualitative Investigation.' Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 24(4) pp. 911-918.
Owen, R., Gooding, P., Dempsey, R., Jones, S. (2016) 'The Experience of Participation in Suicide Research from the Perspective of Individuals with Bipolar Disorder.' Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 204(11) pp. 840-844.
Helmer, S.M., Pischke, C.R., Van Hal, G., Vriesacker, B., Dempsey, R.C., Akvardar, Y., Guillen-Grima, F., Salonna, F., Stock, C., Zeeb, H. (2016) 'Personal and perceived peer use and attitudes towards the use of nonmedical prescription stimulants to improve academic performance among university students in seven European countries.' Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 168pp. 128-134.
Dempsey, R.C., McAlaney, J., Helmer, S.M., Pischke, C.R., Akvardar, Y., Bewick, B.M., Fawkner, H.J., Guillen-Grima, F., Stock, C., Vriesacker, B., Van Hal, G., Salonna, F., Kalina, O., Orosova, O., Mikolajczyk, R.T. (2016) 'Normative Perceptions of Cannabis Use Among European University Students: Associations of Perceived Peer Use and Peer Attitudes With Personal Use and Attitudes..' Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs, 77(5) pp. 740-748.
Pischke, C.R., Helmer, S.M., McAlaney, J., Bewick, B.M., Vriesacker, B., Van Hal, G., Mikolajczyk, R.T., Akvardar, Y., Guillen-Grima, F., Salonna, F., Orosova, O., Dohrmann, S., Dempsey, R.C., Zeeb, H. (2015) 'Normative misperceptions of tobacco use among university students in seven European countries: Baseline findings of the 'Social Norms Intervention for the prevention of Polydrug usE' study.' Addictive Behaviors, 51pp. 158-164.
McAlaney, J., Helmer, S.M., Stock, C., Vriesacker, B., Van Hal, G., Dempsey, R.C., Akvardar, Y., Salonna, F., Kalina, O., Guillen-Grima, F., Bewick, B.M., Mikolajczyk, R. (2015) 'Personal and perceived peer use of and attitudes toward alcohol among university and college students in seven EU countries: Project SNIPE.' Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 76(3) pp. 430-437.
Owen, R., Gooding, P., Dempsey, R., Jones, S. (2015) 'A qualitative investigation into the relationships between social factors and suicidal thoughts and acts experienced by people with a bipolar disorder diagnosis.' Journal of Affective Disorders, 176pp. 133-140.
Dempsey, R.C., Gooding, P.A., Jones, S.H. (2014) 'Assessing the specificity of autobiographical memory in individuals at a trait-based vulnerability to bipolar disorder using a sentence completion task.' Memory, 22(3) pp. 222-231.
Helmer, S.M., Mikolajczyk, R.T., McAlaney, J., Vriesacker, B., Van Hal, G., Akvardar, Y., Guillen-Grima, F., Salonna, F., Stock, C., Dempsey, R.C., Bewick, B.M., Zeeb, H. (2014) 'Illicit substance use among university students from seven European countries: A comparison of personal and perceived peer use and attitudes towards illicit substance use.' Preventive Medicine, 67pp. 204-209.
Jones, S., Calam, R., Sanders, M., Diggle, P.J., Dempsey, R., Sadhnani, V. (2014) 'A pilot web based positive parenting intervention to help bipolar parents to improve perceived parenting skills and child outcomes.' Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 42(3) pp. 283-296.
Calam, R., Jones, S., Sanders, M.R., Dempsey, R., Sadhnani, V. (2012) 'Parenting and the emotional and behavioural adjustment of young children in families with a parent with bipolar disorder.' Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 40(4) pp. 425-437.
Dempsey, R.C., Gooding, P.A., Jones, S.H. (2011) 'Positive and negative cognitive style correlates of the vulnerability to hypomania.' Journal of Clinical Psychology, 67(7) pp. 673-690.
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Non-peer reviewed articles / reviews
Burton, A., Priest, H., Dent, H.R., Dempsey, R., Hutton, S., McGarry, S. (2016) Wellbeing: How is it conceptualised by psychology students?.
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Conference papers
Drousiotis, E., Joyce, D.W., Dempsey, R.C., Haines-Delmont, A., Spirakis, P.G., Shi, L., Maskell, S. (2023) 'Probabilistic decision trees for predicting 12-month university students likely to experience suicidal ideation.' In 19th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Applications and Innovations. León, Spain, 14/6/2023 - 17/6/2023. Maglogiannis, I., Iliadis, L., MacIntyre, J., Dominguez, M. (ed.) Cham: Springer, pp. 475-490.
Hamilton, T., Dempsey, R.C., Bradley, E. (2022) 'Implementing adult safeguarding practices in National Health Service Mental Health Trusts: challenges for leadership and service provision.' In Twelfth International Conference on Health, Wellness, and Society. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, 8/9/2022 - 9/9/2022. Health, Wellness, and Society,
Cookson, D., Jolley, D., Dempsey, R., Povey, R. (2021) 'Addressing misperceptions of UK parents’ belief in anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. Division of Health Psychology Annual Conference 2021 (Online), 30th June 2021..' In British Psychological Society - Division of Health Psychology Annual Conference 2021.
Fedorowicz, S., Dempsey, R.C., Ellis, N.E., Phillips, E., Gidlow, C. (2021) 'How is suicide risk assessed in healthcare settings in the UK? A systematic scoping review..' In The 5th Suicide & Self-Harm Early and Mid-Career Researchers’ Forum (Online). University of Glasgow, 17/6/2021 - 18/6/2021.
Bewick, B., McAlaney, J., Dempsey, R., Crosby, H. (2020) 'Realising the potential of electronic brief personalized feedback interventions for alcohol use: Current state of the evidence.' In 2020 ABM Annual Meeting. 54. 20/5/2020 - 20/5/2020. Oxford University Press (OUP), pp. S417-S417.
Dodd, A.L., Robinson, L., Wright, K., Steel, C., Byrom, N., Dempsey, R., Palmier-Claus, J., Varese, F. (2019) 'Pathways to Mania Risk in Young Adults: Investigating Concurrent and Prospective Associations with Affective Lability and Emotion Regulation.' In 9th World Congress of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies. Berlin, Germany, 18/7/2019 - 20/7/2019.
Povey, R., Calvert, S., Dempsey, R. (2019) '“If there was an apple or a cake, I would obviously choose the cake”: A qualitative study investigating food choices and perceived psychosocial influences on eating behaviours in secondary school students..' In The International Conference on Children’s Eating Behaviour (ICCEB),. Birmingham, UK., 22/3/2019.
Dempsey, R. (2016) 'Beyond Substance Use: Applying the Social Norms Approach to Change Dietary Behaviour in High Schools and Promote Cancer Screening Intentions in Young Adults..' In 5th European Symposium for Substance Use in Students (ESSUS). Rouen University Hospital, Rouen, France, 30/6/2016 - 1/7/2016.
Pischke, C., Helmer, S., McAlaney, J., Bewick, B.M., Akvardar, Y., Orosova, O., Salonna, F., Stock, C., Dempsey, R., Mikolajczyk, R. (2016) 'Injunctive norms regarding cognitive enhancing prescription drug use among European students..' In 36th Annual Meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. 50. San Antonio, Texas, USA, 22/4/2015 - 25/4/2015. Oxford University Press (OUP), pp. S256-S256.
Burton, A., Hughes, M., Dempsey, R. (2016) 'Using photo elicitation to explore quality of life in people with paraplegia and chronic pain..' In 2016 Midlands Health Psychology Network Annual Conference. Kings’ Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, UK, 25/2/2016 - 25/2/2016.
Pischke, C.R., Helmer, S.M., Van Hal, G., Vriesacker, B., Dempsey, R., McAlaney, J., Bewick, B.M., Akvarder, Y., Guillen-Grima, F., Orosova, O., Salonna, F., Stock, C., Zeeb, H., Mikolajczyk, R. (2014) 'Personal and Perceived Peer Use of Tobacco Among University Students in Seven European Countries..' In 13th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine. 21. University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands, 21/8/2014 - Springer Verlag, pp. S7-S7.
Vriesacker, B., Dempsey, R.C., Helmer, S., McAlaney, J., Bewick, B., van Hal, G. (2013) 'Online social norms interventions for substance use among students: a qualitative literature study.' In 6th Annual European Public Health Conference (EUPHA). 23. Brussels, Belgium, 13/11/2013 - 16/11/2013. Oxford University Press (OUP),
Helmer, S., Mikolajczyk, R., Pischke, C.R., Zeeb, H., van Hal, G., Vriesacker, B., Dempsey, R.C., Bewick, B.M., Akvardar, Y., Guillen-Grima, F., Orosova, O., Salonna, F., Kalina, O., Stock, C., McAlaney, J. (2013) 'Personal and perceived peer use of alcohol among university and college students in seven European countries: the SNIPE study.' In 6th Annual European Public Health Conference (EUPHA). 23. Brussels, Belgium, 13/11/2013 - Oxford University Press (OUP), pp. 22-22.
Helmer, S.M., Mikolajczyk, R., Pischke, C.R., van Hal, G., Vriesacker, B., Dempsey, R.C., McAlaney, J., Bewick, B.M., Akvardar, Y., Guillen-Grima, F., Orosova, O., Kalina, O., Stock, C., Zeeb, H. (2012) 'Gender-specific differences in rates of licit and illicit substance use and associated negative consequences among German university students.' In 5th Annual European Public Health (EUPHA) Conference. 22. St Julian's, Malta, 10/11/2012 - Oxford University Press (OUP), pp. 190-190.
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Presentations
Dempsey, R.C., Clarke, P. (2023) Social Norms: An application of theory to practice in elite sport and mental health. [Presentation] Festival of Psychology (BPS East and West Midlands Branches Conference),8/9/2023.
Dempsey, R. (2017) The Psychology of Suicidality: New Developments in Theory & Research. Invited talk presented at the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Suicide Prevention Action Planning Stakeholder Event, Bridge Centre, Stoke-on-Trent.. [Presentation] 19/9/2017.
Dempsey, R., Gooding, P.A., Jones, S.H. (2012) Autobiographical Memory in Bipolar Disorder. [Presentation] Lancaster University, UK,24/4/2012.
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Posters
Dempsey, R.C., Spasova, L. (2016) 'A qualitative investigation into young heterosexual males’ knowledge and attitudes towards pansexuality.' [Poster] In British Psychological Society’s West Midlands Branch Conference. Date viewed 7/9/2016.
Press and media
Media Appearances
- November 2021: Coverage of Cookson et al (2021) published in PLOS ONE:
- June 2019: I’m a Scientist… Get Me Out of Here! Two week-long online public engagement event with secondary school and college students. Invited Psychologist in the British Psychological Society’s Mental Health Zone: https://mentalhealthj19.imascientist.org.uk/
- May 2018: Coverage of the Helmer et al (2016/Drug & Alcohol Dependence) study by the i
newspaper on the use of ‘smart drugs’ and the dark web: https://inews.co.uk/news/education/university-students-turn-to-dark-web-smart-drugs/
- May 2017: Coverage of the Helmer et al (2016/Drug & Alcohol Dependence) study by the Guardian on the issue of the use of academic performance enhancing drugs by students: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/may/10/universities-do-more-tackle-smart-drugs-say-experts-uk-exams?CMP=share_btn_link
- May 2017: HeartFM (National UK Radio station) also ran a feature including a short interview
about the study: https://audioboom.com/posts/5942023-staffordshire-university-professor-says-there-needs-to-be-more-debate-on-students-using-smart-pills
- March 2017: Recorded interview with BBC Radio Stoke about World Bipolar Day 2017 and my
research into understanding the experiences of suicidality amongst people living with bipolar.- Excerpts of the interview were featured on various BBC Radio Stoke news bulletins
throughout 30th March 2017.
- Excerpts of the interview were featured on various BBC Radio Stoke news bulletins
- February 2017: International coverage in multiple media outlets of a Staffordshire University Press Release on the Helmer et al (2016/Drug & Alcohol Dependence) study on the use of academic performance enhancing drugs by students, e.g.: