Dr Sarah Allen

Assistant Professor

School: Psychology

I graduated from Northumbria University with a BSc (hons) Psychology in 2010 and a MSc Health Psychology in 2013. I completed my PhD in 2018, also at Northumbria University, under the supervision of Dr Michael Smith and Prof. Mark Wetherell.

After completing my PhD, I worked as a Senior Research Assistant on the Healthy Sleep Project for one year under the supervision of Prof. Jason Ellis. Following this, I worked as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the University of York with Prof Christina Van der Feltz-Cornelis in the Mental Health and Addictions Research Group on several projects in applied mental health and somatic symptom disorders.

I was appointed as Lecturer in Psychology at Teesside University in January 2020 and then returned to Northumbria University as an Assistant Professor in Psychology in 2022.

Email Sarah

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

My research interests broadly fit into the areas of Health Psychology, Psychobiology and Applied Mental Health research. My PhD focused on the effects of individual differences (i.e., Type D personality) on stress reactivity and associated health outcomes and my post-doc work involved the development of interventions for somatic symptom disorders.

More recently the focus of my research has involved the exploration of factors underpinning the development of mental health issues in students, particularly with regards to previous trauma and sleep health. I am also interested in the bidirectional relationship between poor sleep and mental health disorders as well as the use of creative and compassionate interventions for improving psychological well-being.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
The role of demand characteristics and life satisfaction on the subjective wellbeing effects of gratitude letter writing, Smith, M., Colborn, Y., Hoult, L., Allen, S., Wetherell, M. 28 Jan 2026, In: Cogent Psychology
A latent profile analysis of psychosocial factors and trauma exposure in U.K. students and their association with mental health and academic persistence, Allen, S., Thursby, S., Elkwood, L., Carthy, N. 1 Nov 2025, In: Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy
Exploration of the factor structure of the Physical Symptoms Questionnaire (PSQ-51). Comparisons between Dutch and English samples, Allen, S., van Hemert, A., de Waal, M., van der Feltz-Cornelis, C. 1 Jul 2025, In: General Hospital Psychiatry
Prevalence and psychiatric correlates of loneliness in UK university students, Akram, U., Drabble, J., Irvine, K., Allen, S., Akram, A., Stevenson, J., Gardani, M. 16 Sep 2025, In: npj Mental Health Research
Exploring the effects of written emotional disclosures (WED) on healthcare workers' (HCWs) mental health symptoms in the UK: A feasibility study, Kilvington, A., Allen, S., Kyriakopoulos, A. 1 Jun 2024, In: Counselling and Psychotherapy Research
Social Pain: Comment on ‘Environmental factors and their impact on chronic pain development and maintenance’ by Morena Brazil Sant'Anna, Louise Faggionato Kimura, Willians Fernando Vieira, Vanessa Olzon Zambelli, Leonardo Santana Novaes, Natália Gabriele Hösch, Gisele Picolo, Allen, S., van der Feltz-Cornelis, C. 1 Sep 2024, In: Physics of Life Reviews
What do we know about hoarding behaviours among care-experienced children (CEC)? A systematic review, Close, H., Vincent, S., Alderson, H., Wilson-Harrop, C., Allen, S., Waters, G., Hanson, S., Pepper, G., Neave, N. 31 Dec 2024, In: Cogent Psychology
Author Correction: Internet memes related to the COVID-19 pandemic as a potential coping mechanism for anxiety, Akram, U., Irvine, K., Allen, S., Stevenson, J., Ellis, J., Drabble, J. 21 Jun 2023, In: Scientific Reports
Exercise referral scheme participant characteristics, referral mode and completion status, Portman, R., Levy, A., Allen, S., Fairclough, S. 1 Apr 2023, In: Health Education Journal
Personality and insomnia: A systematic review and narrative synthesis, Akram, U., Stevenson, J., Gardani, M., Allen, S., Johann, A. 1 Dec 2023, In: Journal of Sleep Research