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
- Posttraumatic growth among suicide-loss survivors : an updated systematic review and meta-analysis
- Whittaker Spence Hayden, Rasmussen Susan, Cogan Nicola, Tse Dwight, Martin Bethany, Andriessen Karl, Medeiros Shiramizu Victor Kenji, Krysinska Karolina, Levi-belz Yossi
- NHS Scotland Event 2025 (2025)
- Navigating bereavement by suicide in later life : a qualitative analysis of health and social care professional perspectives
- Cogan Nicola, Hafford-Letchfield Trish, Rasmussen Susan, Martin Sophie, Owen Adele, Goodman Jolie, Hanna Jeffrey R
- Aging and Mental Health, pp. 1-9 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2025.2468410
- Posttraumatic growth among suicide-loss survivors : protocol for an updated systematic review and meta-analysis
- Whittaker Spence, Rasmussen Susan, Cogan Nicola, Tse Dwight, Martin Bethany, Andriessen Karl, Shiramizu Victor, Krysinska Karolina, Levi-Belz Yossi
- JMIR Research Protocols Vol 14 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.2196/64615
- Predicting adherence to ankle-foot orthoses in people with stroke : an application of the theory of planned behaviour
- McMonagle Christine, Rasmussen Susan, Rooney Robbie, Elliott Mark
- 49 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1097/PXR.0000000000000370
- "I wanted to be proud of myself, not ashamed” : a qualitative investigation of suicide and self-injury inflection points
- Rasmussen Susan, Kaufman Erin A, Kaniuka Andrea R, Meddaoui Brianna, Miller Raina H, Kinnard Rachel, Stage Dese’Rae L, Cramer Robert J
- Death Studies (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2025.2452465
- Multidimensional impulsivity and suicidal behaviour : a partial test of the Integrated Motivational-Volitional (IMV) model of suicide
- Rasmussen Susan, Martin Bethany, Cramer Robert
- Archives of Suicide Research Vol 29, pp. 26-44 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2024.2322118
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
- NHS Health Research Authority Ethics Committee (External organisation)
- Member
- 2022
- The Samaritans (External organisation)
- Chair
- 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-Jan-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-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-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-Jan-2022 - 22-Jan-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-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-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-Jan-2020 - 31-Jan-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-Jan-2019 - 30-Jan-2020