Student Research

Our community of PhD students brings together doctoral researchers from multiple disciplines in the School of Health in Social Science.

We've collated our student profiles into a single directory to showcase the range of topics studied.

To make it easy to navigate, the page is organised alphabetically by name of PhD programme.

Alexandros KapataisAlexandros is currently studying university students' experience of the peak performance state, known as flow, with the aim of understanding and promoting the flow state within higher education, as a way to enhance student wellbeing, engagement and performance
Alicia GroomCamouflaging behaviours in Autistic adolescent girls and the impact on the diagnostic process
Ally Pax Arcari MairAutism & Grief: a mixed-methods study on the perception of grief and loss experienced by autistic adults
Amber RamosIntegrating cognitive, behavioral and veterinary healthcare using applied behavior analysis to improve health and welfare in captive marine mammals
Aradhita GuptaUnderstanding the process and impacts of narcissistic parenting
Asaly SkrenesDisclosure experiences of and resilience in male survivors of childhood sexual abuse
Benjamin BulmashChildhood sexual abuse trauma and recovery
Cristian Alcaino MaldonadoBipolar Disorder early detection in adolescents
Dennis Relojo-HowellDigital mental health intervention
Elvis Ho Shun TseAcceptance and Commitment Therapy and Employee Wellbeing in the Workplace
Hamdullah TuncUnderstanding mental health through personal values: The effect of value priorities, value congruence, and valued living on depression, anxiety, and mental well-being
Hongen MaExploring the Role of Psychological Flexibility on Relationship Functioning Among Couples Affected by Prostate Cancer
Imogen PeeblesFriendships and peer relationships in inpatient eating disorders treatment
Isabella WebsterAttachment in adolescence: An investigation of collaborative and disrupted parent-teen relationships and associated mental health outcomes
Islay BarneUsing experience sampling methodology to understand experiential avoidance in clinical and non-clinical samples
Joanna  Moy Factors affecting how parents respond to their children's emotions
Kate LeventhalSocially Transformative Resilience: Exploration of a new construct among marginalised adolescents
Katie BaynhamA mixed-methods investigation into the role of companion animals in the experiences of early and mid-adolescents with anxiety & depression symptomatology and/or neurodivergent traits
Ke ShiInvestigating how individual differences shape the effects of mindfulness on cognitive functioning
Lauren BruhaExploring disordered eating in adults with systemic lupus erythematosus: a mixed-methods investigation using grounded theory and cross-sectional analysis
Louisa LeiThe Influence of "What I Eat in a Day" Social Media Content on Body Image Perception and Disordered Eating Behaviours Among Young Adults
Mathilde LotteauCreation of a standardized assessment tool for fitness to plead in Scotland
Michelle CarrollDisordered eating and body image concerns amongst fitness professionals
Mingzhen LiangMy research focuses on the impact of nature-based interventions on the mental health of teenagers. I also study the eco-emotions of adolescents.
Qiyue XiaoMindfulness and sleep outcomes in young people
Rabia AfzalCross-Cultural differences in humor use, altruistic acts and mental health among young adults
Rhys Maredudd DaviesAthlete and Retired-athlete mental health
Rita KalliniCyber Sexual Trauma and its relationship with eating disorders
Rea MichalopoulouAn Investigation into Primary School Pupils’ Conceptual Frameworks of COVID-19 and the Co-Development of a Targeted VR Educational Intervention
Samar AlzeerTransgenerational Trauma in Arab Refugees: Approaching a Constructivist Grounded Theory to Explore Intra-Familial Trauma in Cross-Culture-Developmental Context
Sian MuirheadA dynamic systems perspective on co-regulatory behavior among adolescents with anorexia nervosa and their parents
Siennamarisa BrownPro-Eating disorder online communities
Siti NuraeniParenting Support for Autistic and/or ADHD Adults who are Parents in Indonesia
Suzanne LawrieRSPCA Studentship
Whitney Wanjiku Whitney MwangiExploring mental health impacts of generational political violence on African youth
Yingna LiThe roles of intolerance of uncertainty and psychological flexibility in distress and quality of life for men living with prostate cancer
Yixuan LiMy research revolves around mental health in children and adolescents, with a special focus on cyberbullying victimisation and their mental health outcomes
Yuze ShiInvestigating Interpersonal Resilience Mechanisms in the Recovery of Severe Mental Illness

Ajmer WahiwalaRevisioning the Maternal Gaze: A study to discover how sight can be compensated for within relationship.
Alexander RomanitanMan-to-Man—Staying With the (in)Between: Inter-standing Intimacy and the Male Body  Through Performative Writing and Artistic Presence
Alice Yendle-ParsonsEmbodied narratives: Navigating the complexities concerning intimate partner relationships within relational counselling/psychotherapy with clients who have been born and/or raised in high control religions or cultic groups
Amanda Moore VoelkerStrict Obedience: A creative inquiry into the emergence of inner authority within the totalizing system of Mormonism.
Anita RampatMental health models in prison, a prisoner’s perspective.
Anjum NaqviGrief & The Sahifa Sajjadia, Prayer (Du'a) As a Method of Self-Other Enquiry
Augustus ReidEpistolary Wanderings through the (!)llusion of (Non): A Black male Study and (Blac-Male)Ethnography in (Resistance) to the Pervasive Colonial Violence
Barbara ErberThe purpose of this project is to study the experience of embodied presence and its relationship to feeling safe in theory and in the practice of Authentic Movement, hereafter referred to as AM (Bacon 2015, Pallaro ed. 1999). 
Buddhini WithanaChildren’s mental health and wellbeing in Sri Lanka: the contribution of social and emotional skills that stem from culturally specific socialisation processes, and its relevance to universal frameworks of social and emotional learning
Caren ChristieIntergenerational preparedness for Trauma?  An Autoethnography.
Dana Grinde A Phenomenological Autoethnography of Consciousness and Caregiving in the Meaning Crisis. If consciousness is a relational unfolding, how does caregiving reveal its structure, depth, and purpose?
Debbie SolomonAn Ethnographic Study of how liveability is understood and made sense of by communities and/or peer-led support for people who are minoritised/racialised people experiencing suicidality
Dee BlackGaslighting from an animist perspective; auto-philosophy; shame; meme theory; affect theory; decoloniality; posthumanism; post-qualitative; creative-relational inquiry
Dima Al RayesThe Link Between Mindfulness and Mental Health, Incorporating Dialectical Behavioural Therapy Mindfulness Skills through the lens of Yogic Practices
Duncan RoebuckHow newly qualified therapists experience the transition into practice
Ela AltinThe Power Processes Involved in Multilingual Counsellors' Experiences of Working in Different Languages
Gillian FitzsimmonsExploring midwives experiences caring for trans men
Hassan BishilExploring the experience of fathering a son with schizophrenia through an autoethnographic study, the  research emphasizes lived experience and fatherhood as essential sources of knowledge in mental health
Isaac Chun-Yeung YuThe Experiences and Psychosocial Struggles of Novice Counselling Psychologists during the Transition from Training to Practice in Hong Kong
Jing Xuan YapSelf-harm and children: Exploring lived experiences through an existential phenomenological perspective
Ji Won KangDeprived Grief: A South Korean Fathers’ Bereavement around losing their unborn baby
Julia LiuA phenomenological study about Chinese clients’ experience in working with “Jianghu Pai” ("江湖派") practitioners; reflecting on how colonised knowledge in psychotherapeutic training could affect the indigenisation of counselling and psychotherapy in China.
Karen Kaufman8:07pm - A Monument; A Creative-Relational Enactment of Grief.
Kelly StewartThe Intergenerational Impact of Suicide
Lindsay HayesThe lived experience of being polyamorous: A longitudinal narrative inquiry
Lucy Dixon(W)ri[gh]ting Trauma: An inquiry into the transformation of childhood relational trauma through reflective writing and anarchiving
Marie MeechanA qualitative inquiry into the psychological effects of an unexplained infertility diagnosis and loss: A response to counselling intervention.
Maro McNabA psychodynamic art psychotherapist encounters posthuman feminism in an autotheoretical exploration of placental relationality during pregnancy and beyond
Miriam MerinA Good Enough (Alma) Mater: Narratives of Self and Campus Among Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse
Mia LivingstonThe Anatomy of Recovery from Complex Trauma: An Autoethnography
Moniq Mabasa MuyargasCritical Phenomenology of Ageing in Older Queer Filipinos
Mridula SridharHealing beyond colonial fragmentation: insights for/from decolonial practice
Nikos TsogkasTransactional Analysis (TA) for Grief: A Phenomenological study of the Transactional Analysts’ experience with grieving clients
Nourhan IbrahimThe Role of Culture, Religion, Spirituality in Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Olukemi AmalaNarratives from the wheelchair
Ping (Iris) HuangCulturally responsive  Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy(MBCT): Teachers' lived experiences of adaptation across cultures and embodiment in everyday life. 
Rhea GandhiExploring how the dynamics of coloniality manifest in counselling training in the UK
Richard  WhitefieldNavigating the Biographical Journey: A Qualitative Study of Spousal Caregivers' Experiences from Pre-Diagnosis to Post Caregiving in Young-Onset Dementia
Sally ByersGrief and the emergence of repressed trauma through a Fairbairnian lens
Sara MollisFinding some love in the blood: an autoethnography of building a soul
Siobhán Fergus EvansPsychotherapeutic Applications of Trans Theory: An Autotheory
Stéphane de LeymarieUnmasking Burnout
Sylvia HillmanAn inquiry into the adult experience of living and relating with ADHD
Sydney MillmanIneffable: Healing and Transformation through Psychedelic Therapy
Yang LiuOut-of-Plan Daughters: daughterhood, subjectivity and power under the One-Child Policy

Agnieszka ButterTo investigate whether the usage of essential oils is a recognised therapy in reducing the associated stress symptoms of informal caregivers of dementia patients
April JakubecConceptualizing a human rights approach to suicide, centering the voices of those with lived experience
Catalina MartinHow do LGBTQ+ young people in Scotland understand and experience home
Christopher WoodExploring the relationship between occcupational identity and experiences of homelessness
Clare WyllieExplaining gambling addiction: the case of slots gambling in a place of inequalities (working title)
Eleanor WhiteMy research examines the overlap of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and autism, and the implications of misdiagnosis for Autistic women
Emily HennessyExploring the uptake of the HPV vaccine within the traveller community to inform public health and social policy
Florencia Vergara EscobarFollowing Body connections: Ethnographies of Chilean Communities and the possibilities of Relational Wellbeing in a wounded country
Gosaye FidaEvaluating the outcome lifestyle interventions to delay the onset of diabetes in high risk /Pre-diabetes population.
Hannah KimlerIdentifying Psychosocial Quality of Life Indicators Amongst Adults with Fecal Incontinence
Jessica GreenhalghRural homelessness in Scotland: scale, causes, manifestations and impacts.
Joana Esteves Craveiro De OliveiraONE FOR THE JOURNEY: READING AS A SOOTHING EMBODIED EXPERIENCE IN THE FACE OF ECO-ANXIETY
Juliana Ramirez MuñozSpeaking of Politics at Grandmother's lunch: Exploring Narratives of Social Identity Boundaries with My Family in Bogotá’s middle class
Kai Chung PoonStorytelling as a means for building up children’s positive characters: Using Chinese Classics for bibliotherapy
Kunhyo Jee A Comparative Study on the Elderly Policy between the UK, the USA, Sweden, Japan and South Korea: Focused on income security, medical security, housing security, and social services for Elderly
Liam GilchristHow can Community Based Participatory Research be used as a framework for healthcare research with improved health outcomes in comparative public health contexts? 
Lucy CampbellBecoming Haunted - An Autoethnographic Exploration into the Hauntology of Imprisonment and the Affected Afterlife
Luka WhiteA qualitative and creative exploration into disordered eating in trans and/or nonbinary autistic adults
Lynda KlemDancing with body memory to foster sense of self, emotional well-being and embodied learning in MCI and early-stage dementia: A bioethnographic study
Maisie JenkinsUsing participatory and qualitative methods to explore self-harm in men
Maria Catalina de LunaFarm Animal Welfare and Human Behaviour Change
Nancy BrownEmbodied Relationality in Virtual Space during COVID-19: A Focused Ethnography of Cultural Adaptation, Belonging and Meaning-Making in Advanced Dementia
Oluchi Dominica Mellor Examining the experiences of Black African nurses in the UK healthcare system: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Rachel RoyNavigating Complexity: Understanding, Developing, and Piloting Multidimensional Health Promotion Evaluation for Cross-National Impact
Rose Vincent Developing an inclusive model of volunteering to reduce social isolation for people living with young onset dementia
Romy Goossens Covid-19 and Health Policymaking: Comparing and Drawing Lessons from the National Responses of the UK, Sweden, and Taiwan to the Covid-19 Pandemic
Ruth GaileyAn Autohistoria-Teoria Exploration of Aging, Spirituality, and Identity Labelling.  A neurodivergent menopausal woman’s journey through female lineage - exploring how labels become portals to new worlds of meaning
Sarah WalterEmpowering Research Ambassadors to promote participation of high-risk communities in Alzheimer’s research 
Sonal KatyalExploring the experiences of children with visual impairments, with Multisensory Storytelling-based Science and Health Communication
Summer HolemanEvaluating a comprehensive approach to health intervention: Community-based Functional Fitness in disadvantaged populations
Taichun ZhengArt, Multi-sensory, Theraputy therapeutic space, University student, Well-being
Valeria Lembo The Art of Caring: An Ethnographic Study of Artistic Interventions for Dementia Care in Scotland
Wako Golicha Wako Asthma Sufferers’ Personal Exposure to Air Pollution and Risk Perception in Urban Environments
William TaylorWellbeing and recovery, with a focus on how meaning is re-established following disruption. My work examines how this process is shaped within social context and how it relates to sustained change over time.
Yuen Wai Vennus Ho ARTŠ-pirit : An arts-based research into the spirituality of family caregivers in Hong Kong in the wake of loss
Xinyi Yang Exploring Chinese International Students' Experiences of Mental Health Well-being and Accessing Mental Health Services in Scotland
Zorana Alimpic The Sustained Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Well-Being of Youth in South Africa 
Exploring Psychosocial Intervention Strategies from Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Adrienne SeabrookeNurse-Led Resuscitation in Emergency Departments: Exploring Team Dynamics, Leadership, and Patient Outcomes
Asma AlbalushiDeveloping a Culturally-Adapted Intervention for Depression in Adults with ESKD Undergoing Hemodialysis in Oman
Balssam AlmuqeetSchool Nursing in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Christopher SweeneyUnderstanding how new parents respond to childhood illness and use urgent care services within NHS Scotland.
Daniela PeruccaTeaching sustainability: How sustainability education could empower nurses’ capacity to integrate sustainability in nursing care
Deby UligraffUnderstanding undergraduate nursing students' learning strategies during clinical placements within an internship programme in Indonesia
Emmanuel Kwadwo AnagoSpiritual Care Provision for Patients with Advanced Cancer in Ghana: A Focused Ethnographic Study of Patients, Carers, Healthcare Professionals, and Religious Leaders.
Febriana SabrianDeveloping a model for primary health care nursing practice in Indonesia
Framita RahmanAn Indonesian Adolescent Care Health Service for HIV Stigma Reduction: A Realist Evaluation
Hadham Al RawahiLived Experience of young Omani women with breast cancer and their families pre- and post-mastectomy: A qualitative study
Huda Alamri Exploring the Methods of Teaching Fundamentals of Nursing in Saudi Arabia.
Huimin ChongRegional difference of Chinese parental acceptance of the HPV vaccine
Kirsty DouglasA Qualitative Study of Millennial and Generation Z Nurse Turnover in the UK
Kurnia Putri YuliandariNurses' Environmentally Sustainable Practices: A Qualitative Realist Informed Exploration in Perioperative Unit
Lian ZhuA Realist Evaluation of ICU Diaries: What Works For Whom in Which Circumstances
Natedao ChutchawanFamilies’ Experiences Related to Post-Intensive Care Syndrome–Family (PICS-F) of Older Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgery ICU Survivors in Thailand: A Focused Ethnography
Noura AljannounExploring post-intensive care syndrome in Lebanon: understanding the lived experiences and post-ICU recovery needs of survivors to guide the development of follow-up care the model
Paichit AmsriLife experiences in the sex work industry in Pattaya: the migrants ’perspective
Pinsuda SangkanoPost intensive care syndrome in paediatric family
Ratna GandanaClinical nurses' perspectives and experiences of practicing within mixed-payment
methods hospitals in relation to health economics literacy: A phenomenological study.
Reham AlmabadiCo-design of a Theory- and Evidence-Based Toolbox of Self-Management Interventions to Support University Students with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) in Saudi
Saad AlharthiPaediatric nursing and the implementation of nurse-led non-pharmacological interventions to manage pain and anxiety in hospitalised children
Sandra PenistonDeveloping co-produced primary health interventions for rural adults living with hypertension in Ghana.
Tanawan PitakkochakornThe Implementation of Family-Centred Care for Chronically Ill Children and Young People and their Families in Thai Paediatric Wards: A Focused Ethnography
Visya SeptianaExploring the perception and understanding of trauma to develop a Nursing-Led Community-Based Mental Health Nursing Intervention in Indonesia.
Yuet Man LaiExplore Hong Kong educated nurses’ motivation and experience of transitioning into the United Kingdom’s healthcare environment
Yuetong GaoAI-Supported Adolescent Health Interventions: Design, Adoption, and User Experience
Yujing (Helen) ZhangFamily and Adolescent Health Promotion in Urban-Rural Contexts: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed-Methods Research