Angus Macbeth

Lecturer in Clinical Psychology

School of Health in Social Science
Clinical Psychology

Street: Rm 1M.2, Doorway 6, Medical Quad, Teviot Place
City: Edinburgh
Post code: EH8 9AG

Biography

Background

I joined the School of Health in Social Sciences in 2014 as a Lecturer in Clinical Psychology. I am a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychology Society. I also work with NHS Grampian as an Honorary Principal Clinical Psychologist in Adult Mental Health. Prior to coming to Edinburgh I worked as a Clinical Psychologist with NHS Grampian, working in adult mental health, in the rural setting of Dr Gray’s Hospital, Elgin. Prior to this my PhD research was completed at the University of Glasgow with Professor Andrew Gumley, investigating attachment and mentalisation in First Episode Psychosis (FEP). Subsequently, I completed my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Glasgow. From 2012 – 2014 I was an NRS Career Research Fellow, funded by NHS Research Scotland; and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, working with the Psychiatry Research Group and the Centre for Rural Health. In addition, I am an Associate Editor for Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice and a member of the Steering group for the NHS Scotland Perinatal Mental Health Managed Care Network.

Teaching & PhD supervision

Postgraduate teaching

Doctorate in Clinical Psychology: Research 1 and 2; Advanced Practice Seminars on psychosis.

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Current PhD students supervised

I am Lead Supervisor for the following DClinPsychol and PhD students:

Lived Experience of Mental Health difficulties in Pregnancy and contact with Perinatal Mental Health Services (Student: Alison Reddish)
Engagement, Attachment and Metacognition in Psychosis (Student: Caroline Reid)
Psychological factors in the perinatal mental health of women with substance misuse issues (Student: Imogen Marsh)
Psychological correlates of PTSD in relation to stressful life events (Student: Erifili Efthymiadou)

Past PhD students supervised

I have supervised numerous DClinPsychol theses and MSc dissertations, including the following:

ICD-11 Complex Trauma in a male Prison sample (Student: Richard Browne)
Mixed methods evaluation of MBT for Borderline PD (Student: John Flood)
Depression, hopelessness and psychological factors in older adults (Student: Shri Cameron)
PTSD and psychological factors in paramedics: an SEM approach (Student: Katie Davis; co-superivsed with Stella Chan)
Attachment and eating disorders in an adolescent sample (Student: Laurie Siddell; co-supervised with Fiona Duffy)
Pilot RCT of metacognitive training in psychosis (Student: David Turner)
Self-stigma, recovery and capacity in psychosis (Student: Helen Lynch)
Psychological Factors in Cluster C Personality Disorder (Student: Vicky Honeyman)
Evaluating the HUB programme for Borderline Personality Disorder (Student: Jennifer Perrin)
Distress during pregnancy, an exploration of protective factors and offspring outcomes. (Student: Fiona Ram)

Research

Research summary

Developmental psychopathology. I am interested in how early development and developental theories can inform our understanding of risk and resilience in psychiatric disorder. The current focus of this work is on understanding pregnancy and perinatal mental health as windows of opportrunity for identifying how biological and environmental (psychological) factors interact to potentiate optimal and suboptimal outcomes for mothers, their infants and the broader family/support network. My work includes data linkage, use of routine data, cohort studies and meta-analysis, reviews work. I am also involved in evaluation of infant and perinatal mental health interventions. I am increasingly interested in perinatal and infant mental health as a focus for primary prevention of mental health difficulties.
Psychotic disorders, schizophrenia and complex psychopathology. I have a long-standing interest in psychological frameworks, treatment models and the psychological management of psychotic disorders. My research has mainly been with early intervention models for first-episode psychosis. More recently I have broadened this focus into other complex mental health difficulties including borderline and other personality disorders. My work uses developmentally-informed theoretical frameworks, particularly attachment, mentalization and metacognition.
Evidence-based mental health. I also am interested in applying multiple methodologies to improve the use of research methodologies in the development and evaluation of routine psychiatric care. These include data-linkage strategies for optimising use of routine data, use of small-scale research designs to measure pathways into care and service delivery, and using meta-analysis to inform health care delivery.
Global mental health. I have an interest in how perinatal and infant mental health is delivered across culturallly differentiated settings. In this strand of my work I have active collaborations with colleagues in Malawi and Chile.

Research activity

I am currently lead investigator on a CSO-funded project evaluating antenatal and early postnatal outcomes for mothers with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and their offspring, using data-linkage of maternity and psychiatric data. In addition, I am also a team member of the Danish Council for Independent Research | Humanities (FKK) funded WARM study (University of Copenhagen, University of Southern Denmark and University of Glasgow) developing a programme of research into the psychological needs of mothers with a psychotic disorder and their infants. WIth colleagues at the University of Edinburgh and collaboratotrs in Malawi I am involved in an MRC Network Grant to develop Global Mental Health Research in resilience.

I was a co-investigator on the Mellow Bumps mother-infant psychological intervention evaluation, funded by the Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy. With colleagues at the University of Aberdeen I continue to develop work on infant mental health interventions, mainly using the Mellow Parenting intervention model.

With colleagues in NHS Grampian I am using routine data to map rural care pathways and outcomes for individuals with psychotic disorders. I am also involved in several projects developing psychological treatments for personality disorders in north-east Scotland.

Alongside collaborations within University of Edinburgh I have external collaborations with the University of Aberdeen (Professor Philip Wilson, Professor David St Clair, Dr Sohinee Bhattacharya, Dr Lucy Thompson), College of Medicine in Malawi, University of Glasgow (Professor Andrew Gumley, Dr Hamish McLeod, Dr Helen Minnis), University of Copenhagen Dr (Dr Susanne Harder), University of Southern Denmark (Dr Kirstine Davidsen), the Centre for Metacognitive Therapy, Rome (Dr Giancarlo Dimaggio), and the Pontifica Unversidad Catolica de Chile (Dr Chamaritta Farkas). I have a number of NHS collaborations, particularly in NHS Lothian and NHS Grampian (Dr Selena Gleadow Ware).