Angus Macbeth
Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology

Contact details
- Tel: +44 (0)131 650 3893
- Email: angus.macbeth@ed.ac.uk
- @gusmacbeth
Address
- Street
-
Rm 1M.2, Doorway 6, Medical Quad, Teviot Place
- City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH8 9AG
Background
I joined the School of Health in Social Sciences in 2014 as a Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, becoming a Senior Lecturer in 2019. I am a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychology Society. I also work with NHS Grampian as an Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist. Prior to coming to Edinburgh I completed my PhD research at the University of Glasgow with Professor Andrew Gumley, obtained a DClinPsychol from University of Glasgow and worked as a Clinical Psychologist with NHS Grampian in the rural setting of Dr Gray’s Hospital, Elgin. From 2012 – 2014 I was an NRS Career Research Fellow, funded by NHS Research Scotland.
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.
Responsibilities & affiliations
I am the current Director of Research for the School of Health in Social Science.
Postgraduate teaching
- Doctorate in Clinical Psychology: contribution to CP1 on complex mental health problems; Advanced Practice Seminars on psychosis.
- MSc Global Mental Health and Society: Course Organiser for Interdisciplinary Approaches to Global Mental Health
- MSc Dissertation supervision across the Section of Clinical and Health Psychology
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Areas of interest for supervision
I supervise PhD students across the full range of my research interests.
Research summary
Angus' research focuses on social determinants of mental health, specifically how mental health risk and resilience factors are transmitted intergenerationally, and how these can inform identification, treatment and recovery from mental health difficulties. He uses a lifespan approach to mental health, focused particularly on the perinatal period, from antenatal to infancy, and how it can inform our understanding of the development of risk and resilience factors both in the parental and offspring generation. This has the potential to lead to preventative or early intervention paradigms for mental health and wellbeing. In doing so, his research focuses on global health priorities and sustainable development goals, given the growing burden of mental disorder across the world and the challenge of developing better mental wellbeing and developmental outcomes for the next generation.
Angus’ work uses different methods including longitudinal observational cohort studies, linkage of routine and 'big' data, treatment studies and data synthesis to better understand the impact of parental mental health during pregnancy - both for parents and their children. He is also interested in how developmental perspectives can inform the understanding of existing mental health conditions and inform interventions, health and social systems, and policy programming. His work has been funded by the UKRI MRC and Wellcome Trust, working with public health systems, academic partners, NGOs and UNICEF, and including projects in the UK, Denmark, Malawi, Chile, Moldova and Tajikistan.
From a clinical perspective, his work is broadly concerned with how we can better integrate psychological approaches to mental health into health and social care, incorproating consideration of global mental health challenges and priorities in both high and resource settings.
Within the University of Edinburgh he is a member of the Centre for Applied Developmental Psychology, Edinburgh Neuroscience and the Global Mental Health Research Network.
Research interests
- Intergenerational Mental Health, Perinatal mental health and developmental psychopathology.
- Global mental health.
- Complex mental heath: Psychotic disorders, schizophrenia, personality disorders and complex psychopathology.
- Evidence-based mental health.
Collaborations
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), 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.
Affiliated research centres
- Centre for Applied Developmental Psychology
-
Towards a better understanding of peer support platforms for digital mental health: Learning from stakeholder engagement and mapping a Theory of Change
(32 pages)
Research output: › Other report (Published) -
Developmental trajectories of aggression, hyperactivity/inattention, and anxious depressed mood: Co-occurring problems within a chilean context
(16 pages)
In:
Current psychology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04530-3
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Experiential techniques and therapeutic relationship in the treatment of narcissistic personality disorder: The case of Laura
(14 pages)
In:
Journal of Clinical Psychology, pp. 1-14
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23514
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
An examination of behavioural and emotional problems in children exposed prenatally to the 27F Chilean earthquake: Findings from the ELPI cohort
In:
Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-023-02433-z
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Exploring service users experiences of remotely delivered CBT interventions in primary care during COVID-19: An Interpretative phenomenological analysis
(26 pages)
In:
PLoS ONE, pp. 1-26
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279263
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Multi-trajectories of conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, and peer problems across childhood: Results from the Growing Up in Scotland birth cohort
(15 pages)
In:
Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, vol. 51, pp. 55-69
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-022-00956-8
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
“There's more love between us”: The parental experience of attending Mellow Babies, a targeted, early intervention program for parents and their babies
(17 pages)
In:
Infant Mental Health Journal, vol. 44, pp. 100-116
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.22029
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Being mindful about mindfulness and perinatal mental health - evidence, critique, and new directions
(14 pages)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003165200-13
Research output: › Chapter (Published) -
The effectiveness of psychological interventions for anxiety in the perinatal period: A systematic review and meta-analysis
(32 pages)
In:
Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, pp. 1-32
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/papt.12441
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Metacognitive interpersonal therapy in group versus TAU + waiting list for young adults with personality disorders: Randomized clinical trial
(10 pages)
In:
Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, vol. 13, pp. 619-628
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/per0000497
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Recovery-focused Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy (MIT) for adolescents with first-episode psychosis
(9 pages)
In:
Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-022-09569-0
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Resilience on the Silk Road: A Report on “First 1000 Days” Provision for Parent-Infant Mental Health in Tajikistan
(35 pages)
Research output: › Other report (Published) -
Устойчивость на Шелковом пути: Отчет о результатах краткой оценки положения по обеспечению охраны психического здоровья родителей и детей в «Первые 1000 дней» в Таджикистане
(40 pages)
Research output: › Other report (Published) -
Deconstructing pathways to resilience: A systematic review of associations between psychosocial mechanisms and transdiagnostic adult mental health outcomes in the context of adverse childhood experiences
In:
Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, vol. 29, pp. 1626-1654
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2732
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Review article (Published) -
Transdiagnostic clinical staging for childhood mental health: An adjunctive tool for classifying internalizing and externalizing syndromes that emerge in children aged 5-11 years
(14 pages)
In:
Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, vol. 25, pp. 613-626
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-022-00399-z
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)