Dr Susan Rasmussen
Reader
Psychology
Personal statement
I joined the School of Psychological Sciences and Health as a lecturer in September 2008, having previously worked as a Research Fellow at Stirling University (with Professor Rory O'Connor). I am a Chartered Psychologist and my research is in the area of Health Psychology. My work is characterised by an interdisciplinary focus (e.g., psychology, health services research, social policy, primary and secondary care, epidemiology) and aims to address key health issues; However, I focus primarily on suicide and self-harm. My main research interest is to understand how self-harm and suicidal thoughts and behaviour begin, why they might be repeated, and how we can eventually stop these. I am particularly interested in understanding the trajectory of these thoughts and behaviours and how this can influence help seeking. I focus on the application of theoretical models to enhance our understanding of the aetiology of suicidal behaviours and psychological well-being across the lifespan, but I am dedicated to examining these experiences for high-risk groups in particular (e.g., adolescents, older adults, and LGBTQ+). I have a track record of obtaining funding for this work (including Wellcome Trust, Chief Scientist Office, ESRC). I am a Centre for Health Policy Fellow in the Centre for Health Policy at Strathclyde University. I am also an affiliate member of the Suicidal Behaviour Research Lab at the University of Glasgow. My secondary interest is the understanding of vaccine hesitancy in high-risk groups including those who lived with a chronic health condition.
Area of Expertise
- Public health psychology
- Risk and protective factors for suicide and self-harm
- Cross-cultural studies of suicidal behaviour
- Vaccination behaviour and vaccine hesitancy
- Psychological aspects of infection prevention and control
Qualifications
Education:
BA Hons in Psychology (University of Strathclyde)
PhD in Health Psychology (University of Stirling)
PG Certificate in advanced academic studies (university of Strathclyde).
Professional memberships:
- Registered with the Health Professions Council (CPsychol)
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
- Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (AFBPsS).
- Member of the International Academy for Suicide Research.
- International Affiliate of the American Psychological Association.
- Member of the American Association of Suicide.
- Member of the British Psychological Society, Division of Health Psychology.
- Affiliate member of the Suicidal Behaviour Research Laboratory, University of Glasgow, Scotland.
- Affiliate member of the Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Research Lab, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA.
Publications
- A prospective examination of sleep chronotype and future suicide intent among adults in the United Kingdom : A test of the integrated motivational volitional model of suicide
- Rasmussen Susan, Chandler Joseph F, Russell Kirsten, Cramer Robert J
- Sleep Medicine Vol 124, pp. 84-90 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2024.09.004
- Entrapment in the military context : factor structure and associations with suicidal thoughts and behaviors
- Baker Justin C, Cacase Sam, Cramer Robert J, Rasmussen Susan, Martin Christiana, May Alexis M, Thomsen Cynthia, Bryan AnnaBelle O, Bryan Craig J
- Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior Vol 54, pp. 1006-1028 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.13105
- A psychometric evaluation of the life attitudes schedule-short form
- Cramer Robert J, Nobles Matt R, Rooney Emily, Rasmussen Susan
- Death Studies Vol 48, pp. 1097-1106 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2023.2300065
- Posttraumatic growth among suicide-loss survivors : an updated systematic review and meta-analysis (preliminary results)
- Whittaker Spence, Rasmussen Susan, Cogan Nicola, Tse Dwight CK, Martin Bethany, Andriessen Karl, Shiramizu Victor, Krysinska Karolina, Levi-Belz Yossi
- NHS Research Scotland Mental Health Annual Scientific Meeting 2024 (2024)
- Examining mental health correlates of hate-motivated behaviour in Scotland : an investigation of victims, perpetrators, and victim-perpetrators
- Russell Kirsten, Hunter Simon C, Post Abigail, Rasmussen Susan, Cramer Robert J
- International Journal of Social Psychiatry Vol 70, pp. 1341-1345 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1177/00207640241262732
- "Paid yesterday, broke today" : the impact of employment and financial instability on suicidal thinking and behaviour in Scotland
- Rasmussen Susan, Cogan Nicola, Russell Kirsten, Heap Daniel
- (2024)
Teaching
I teach across the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum and I currently lead two undergraduate classes on individual differences and Introduction to Mental Health Difficulties. I am the Associate Dean Undergraduate for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and I am particularly interested in how we support our students' well-being. I run induction sessions for the incoming and continuing students on the faculty's BA degree, and I also contribute to open days.
Research Interests
I am a health psychologist with in interest in health behaviours. My primary research interest focusses on conducting research which will inform and create suicide prevention opportunities. The work includes the testing and adaptation of theoretical models of suicide with a focus on identifying unique suicide resilience and risk factors across diverse populations, and across the lifespan. My work specifically attempts to understand why someone might start to feel suicidal, when those thoughts are translated into suicidal behaviours, and to identify opportunities to stop these thoughts and behaviours. My second research interest is understanding the barriers and facilitators of vaccination behaviours, as well as behaviours during disease epidemics. This research has focussed on understanding the factors which impact key health protective behaviours such as handwashing, as well as to understand the psychological processes involved in individual decision making in relation to getting vaccinated against e.g. the flu or COVID-19.
Professional Activities
- The Samaritans (External organisation)
- Chair
- 2022
- NHS Health Research Authority Ethics Committee (External organisation)
- Member
- 2022
- Feeling Sad, Angry, or Scared: An Investigation of Gender Differences in the Regulation of Specific Emotions during an Emotion Regulation Task, and their Relationship with Mental Health
- Contributor
- 24/6/2021
- Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy (Journal)
- Associate Editor
- 2021
- Public webinar: 'Improving Vaccine Uptake in Scotland: Implications for COVID-19, influenza and other adult vaccines.'
- Speaker
- 29/7/2020
- The consortium of European research on emotion
- Participant
- 4/4/2018
Projects
- Insecure Employment and Suicide in Scotland
- Rasmussen, Susan (Principal Investigator) Russell, Kirsten (Co-investigator) Cogan, Nicola (Co-investigator) Heap, Daniel (Research Co-investigator)
- The aim of the project is to more fully understand the link between employment and financial instability and experiences of suicidal thinking and behaviour for people living in Scotland. In line with the tender, and as a result of adopting a mixed methods approach to the project we are proposing to focus our research questions on exploring what the links are between employment and
financial instability and, importantly, why these links exist. More specifically we wish to explore the following questions:
· What are the experiences of employment and financial instability in Scotland, and do those experiences link to suicidal thinking and behaviours?
· What are the temporal dynamics of the experiences of suicidal thinking and behaviours for individuals living in Scotland who experience employment and financial instability?
· Can we use the risk and protective variables specified by a key theory of suicidal thinking and behaviour to understand how employment and financial instability is linked to suicidal thinking and behaviours? - 01-Jun-2023
- Suicide prevention in later life
- Hafford-Letchfield, Trish (Co-investigator) Karastoyanova-Gibson, Konstantina (Co-investigator) Rasmussen, Susan (Co-investigator) Sledmere, Maria (Co-investigator)
- 01-Apr-2023 - 31-Mar-2028
- £62,000K - Stage-gate funds for Industry Engagement & Commercialisation support (stage 2)
- Cogan, Nicola (Principal Investigator) Kirk, Alison (Principal Investigator) Rasmussen, Susan (Principal Investigator)
- Awarded stage gate 1, 2 & 3 industry engagement and commercialisation for development of Sentinel and translation to Arabic. 42K from stage funding and 20K from company
- 01-Nov-2022 - 22-Dec-2025
- Exploring Chinese international students’ understanding of loneliness to inform cultural adaptation of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT)
- Liu, Xi (Principal Investigator) Anderson, Tony (Co-investigator) Cogan, Nicola (Co-investigator) Kelly, Stephen (Co-investigator) Rasmussen, Susan (Co-investigator) Tse, Dwight (Co-investigator)
- 31-Aug-2021 - 30-Aug-2022
- Improving older adults' vaccination uptake: are existing measures of vaccine hesitancy valid and reliabe for older people?
- Williams, Lynn (Principal Investigator) Brown Nicholls, Louise (Co-investigator) Cogan, Nicola (Co-investigator) Rasmussen, Susan (Co-investigator) Young, David (Co-investigator)
- 01-Feb-2020 - 31-Jul-2020
- Psychological barriers to seasonal influenza vaccination uptake in those with chronic respiratory disease: A mixed methods study
- Williams, Lynn (Principal Investigator) Cogan, Nicola (Co-investigator) Rasmussen, Susan (Co-investigator) Young, David (Co-investigator)
- Psychological barriers to seasonal influenza vaccination uptake in those with chronic respiratory disease: A mixed methods study
- 01-May-2019 - 30-Apr-2020