Dr Kirsten Russell
Lecturer
Psychology
Personal statement
I joined the School of Psychological Sciences and Health as a Lecturer in Psychology in 2022, having previously worked as a Researcher for Police Scotland and the Scottish Government. My research interests lie predominantly within the field of the psychology of mental health, developmental psychology and health psychology. My work focuses on understanding both risk and protective factors associated with mental health and wellbeing as well as self-directed and interpersonal violence.
Publications
- A systematic review of ecological momentary assessment procedures of self-harm (with and without suicidal intent) studies in adolescents and young adults
- Martin Bethany, Rasmussen Susan, Russell Kirsten, Crawford Megan, Whittaker Spence, Thomson Scott, Greenwood Abbie
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Vol 23 (2026)
- https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23010084
- Characteristics of individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds who die by suicide : a systematic review
- Crowley Grace, Gnanapragasam Sam, Fanshawe Jack B, Allberry Henry, Bojanić Lana, Tham Su-Gwan, Hannam-Swain Stephanie R, Mughal Faraz, Pendrous Rosina, Russell Kirsten, Kapur Navneet, Troya M Isabela, Knipe Duleeka
- Journal of Affective Disorders Vol 398 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.121021
- "It feels like the world is falling on your head" : Exploring the link between financial instability, employment insecurity, and suicidality
- Cogan Nicola, Rasmussen Susan, Russell Kirsten, Heap Dan, Archbold Heather, Milligan Lucy, Thomson Scott, Whittaker Spence, Morris Dave, Rowley Danielle
- Death Studies, pp. 1-12 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2025.2598324
- A preliminary examination of the relationship between specific adverse childhood experiences and perpetration of hate-motivated behaviours
- Desogus Sofia, Russell Kirsten
- International Journal of Social Psychiatry Vol 71, pp. 1410-1413 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1177/00207640251353819
- Sleep and self-harm in young people : a co-designed ecological momentary assessment study
- Martin Bethany, Rasmussen Susan, Russell Kirsten, Crawford Megan, Thomson Scott, Chan Xavier
- Innovations in Psychology and Mental Health (2025)
- Trauma‐informed practice for children and young people with intellectual disabilities : A scoping review
- Wilson Claire, Brodie Zara P, Russell Kirsten
- British Journal of Educational Psychology (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.70011
Teaching
I currently teach on both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes within the School of Psychological Sciences and Health
I am Class Lead for the undergraduate Development class and contribute to teaching in both Clinical Psychology and Professional Practice on the MSC in Clinical Health Psychology programme.
Research Interests
My research interests lie predominantly within the field of health psychology, clinical psychology, and developmental psychology and focus on understanding risk and protective factors associated with self-directed and interpersonal violence.
My primary research interest focuses on conducting research that provides insights into risk and protective factors for self-harm during adolescence. In particular, I have focused on the role of sleep disturbance within the pathway to self-harm thoughts and behaviours, and have sought to better understand the psychological processes underpinning this link.
I am also interested in examining interpersonal violence in young people. My work in this area focuses on predictors of involvement in violence and evaluating violence prevention initiatives in Scotland. I have published a report, In partnership with Scottish Government, summarising international research evidence on what works to prevent and reduce youth violence.
Professional Activities
- Co-designing a Sleep and Self-Harm Ecological Momentary Assessment Study
- Contributor
- 26/8/2026
- Implementation and Behavioural Science in Health and Social Care
- Organiser
- 17/5/2023
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-Jan-2023