Dr Zara Brodie
Lecturer in Applied Psychology
Contact details
- Email: Zara.Brodie@ed.ac.uk
Address
- Street
-
Old Medical School
Teviot Place - City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH8 9AG
Background
Following completion of my MSc in Forensic Psychology at Glasgow Caledonian University in 2011, I undertook my PhD in Psychology at Queen Margaret University (2013-2017). My PhD focused on “Adult Attachment, Anger Regulation and Aggression: Individual Differences in the Experience and Expression of Anger”. Towards the end of my PhD, I was appointed as a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of West of Scotland (2016-2022) before being appointed as a Lecturer in Applied Psychology at the University of Edinburgh in August 2022.
Postgraduate teaching
Programme Director - MSc Psychology of Mental Health (Conversion)
Course Organiser – Psychological Therapies
Dissertation Supervisor - MSc Mental Health (Psychology Conversion)
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Current PhD students supervised
Maria Jernslett (Principal) ‘Psychological and psychobiological processes mediating resilience following positive and negative life events.’
Yanming He (Co-Supervisor) ‘Attachment, mindfulness and the regulation of positive emotions.’
Kelan Zhang (Co-Supervisor) “Effects of reality television dating content on psychological violence between intimate partners.”
Rita Kallini (Co-Supervisor) “Cyber sexual trauma and its impact on the development of eating disorders and body image issues.”
Research summary
My research focus lies widely on the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on development and later functioning, with a specific focus on links between poor early relationships and attachments, and maladaptive behaviours in adulthood (e.g. aggression, risky behaviour). I am currently working on projects exploring links between insecure attachment, emotion regulatory deficits, and various forms of aggression including physical, cyber and intimate partner aggression - from both a perpetration and victimisation perspective. I have worked with Police Scotland on projects exploring police officer and service user experiences of the move towards trauma-informed policing. I am also interested in exploring trauma-informed practice in other sectors, including primary and higher education.
Knowledge exchange
02/11/2024 ‘Happy days! Exploring positive emotions through attachment theory’ - ESRC Festival of Social Sciences event
17/04/2023 The Science of Attachment - Public Lecture, The Wardrobe, Leeds
23/05/2023 The Science of Attachment - Public Lecture, Glee Club, Glasgow
30/05/2023 The Science of Attachment - Public Lecture, The Leadmill, Sheffield
21/06/2023 The Science of Attachment - Public Lecture, Assembly Roxy Theatre, Edinburgh
04/07/2023 The Psychology of Psychopaths - Public Lecture, The Assembly Roxy Theatre, Edinburgh
11/07/2023 The Psychology of Psychopaths - Public Lecture, Glee Club, Glasgow
27/09/2023 The Psychology of Love & Relationships - Public Lecture, Online
04/10/2023 The Psychology of Psychopaths - Public Lecture, Online
27/11/2023 The Science of Attachment - Public Lecture, Camp and Furnace, Liverpool
20/03/2024 The Science of Love & Attraction - Public Lecture, Glee Club, Glasgow
11/04/2024 The Psychology of Psychopaths - Public Lecture, The Grove, Newcastle
2022 ‘Victims and Trauma – The Impact of Trauma Training’ Invited seminar for the NHS Scotland Forensic Network
2022 ‘Locked Down: The Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on Domestic Abuse’, Eventbrite seminar targeted at professionals, policymakers and the public.
2022 ‘Experts: Domestic abuse behind closed doors has become a shadow pandemic’, Expert interview with The Sunday Post about the challenges in tackling domestic abuse in the UK.
2022 Press coverage on COVID-19 domestic abuse project (ESRC) The Times, The Herald, The Scotsman, Sunday Post, Edinburgh Evening News, The National, Care Appointments, The i newspaper, The Daily Record, The Independent, The Courier and more.
2021 ‘Sexting and Cyber Coercion in Young People: Risk and Prevention’ invited expert seminar for the Centre for Excellence in Action Against Stalking (CAAS)
2019 ‘The motivators, benefits and consequences of sexting in early adulthood’ ESRC Festival of Social Sciences event
Affiliated research centres
Project activity
Recent projects include on-going investigations into attachment-related differences in the regulation of anger and expression of aggression, exploring police officer understanding of adverse childhood experiences and attitudes towards trauma-informed practice in collaboration with Police Scotland, and working with several UK-based domestic abuse charities to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on those living with domestic abuse, and children and young people within the home, in the UK.
Past project grants
Goodall, K., & Brodie, Z. P. (Co-I) (2023) ESRC Impact Acceleration Grants: Festival of Social Science. (successful; £600).
Goodall, K., Gillespie-Smith, K., & Brodie, Z. P. (Co-I) (2021). Trauma-aware policing in the custody suite: an in-depth case study. SIPR Future of Policing Grant (successful; £16,078).
Brodie, Z. P. (PI), Hawkins, R., & MacLean, C. (2021). Exploring the experiences of domestic abuse helpline staff and service users during COVID-19 lockdown. ESRC/UKRI Rapid COVID-19 Response Fund (successful, £40,950).
Brodie, Z. P. (PI), Hawkins, R., & MacLean, C. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on domestic abuse helpline provision: Perspectives from helpline staff. UWS Crucible Research Fund (successful, £3,539).
Scott, G., Boyle, E., Baxter, G., Brodie, Z. P. (Co-I), Bruce, G., Keir, P. & Simpson, A. (2019). Developing a Graduate Employability Skills App. Erasmus+ (successful, £244,135.00).
Gillespie-Smith, K., Brodie, Z. P. (Co-PI), Goodall, K., & Collins, K. (2018) Moving towards Trauma-Informed policing: An exploration of police officer knowledge and attitudes regarding Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). SIPR Police Community Relations Collaborative Projects fund (successful; £19,284).
Internal research-related grants as PI: UWS Research & Enterprise Fund (£4,462, 2017-2018), Media, Culture & Society Strategic Hub Funding (£6,690.50, 2017-2018).
More video
In the press
My research has appeared in print in various newspapers (e.g., The Times, The Independent). I was also interviewed for the Sunday Post’s Violence Against Women special issue, and for The Herald as part of their feature “top 5 issues facing women in in the UK today”. I am an expert speaker on STV’s Expert Voices panel, where I provide opinion on important news items related to this research - I appeared on Scotland Tonight on STV (live) on 17th December 2023 offering insight into the increase in violence against teachers in schools on a panel of experts.