Dom ConroyLondon Metropolitan University
Dom Conroy
PhD Psychology
About
35
Publications
42,957
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Introduction
Lecturer in psychology at University of East London. Background in alcohol consumption research and mental imagery interventions in the context of health behaviours. Recent research projects include experiences of multisystemic therapy among young people; non-drinking behaviour; dark triad personality traits as predictors of health behaviour; and smartphone use among young adults.
Additional affiliations
September 2011 - September 2014
September 2011 - September 2014
Position
- Associate Tutor
Description
- As an Associate Tutor at Sussex, I taught on the Linear Models, Research Methods, and Social Psychology modules. My teaching experiences includes class preparation, essay/report marking, forum administration, and seminar/practical class facilitation.
Education
September 2008 - September 2010
Publications
Publications (35)
Objective: Imagery-based interventions represent an inexpensive, potentially effective technique for changing health behavior and promoting adaptive health outcomes. However, research adopting mental imagery techniques in health behavior interventions has shown considerable variability in effects across studies. In the present analysis we present a...
Background:
Evaluations of "the prototypical nondrinker" and of "the prototypical regular drinker" have been demonstrated to hold associations with more harmful drinking behavior, yet the extent to which the relative evaluation of these prototypes is associated with drinking intention remains to be tested.
Objectives:
To explore whether relative...
Background/objectives: Promoting the benefits of not drinking alcohol during social occasions where other peers may be drinking (‘social non-drinking’) may support more moderate drinking among young people. We analysed free-text responses from university students to gauge the frequency/focus of identified benefits of, and drawbacks to, social non-d...
Objectives:
This study aimed to explore (a) how people interpret responsible drinking messages on alcohol product labels, and (b) the acceptability of including health information on labels.
Design:
Qualitative interviews.
Methods:
Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 people aged 21-63; 18 were classified risky drinke...
Developing rapport with learners has presented challenges for Higher Education teaching practitioners since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, who increasingly facilitate learning within synchronous/ asynchronous online environments. Podcasts are of renewed interest as a digital learning resource in this context. We explored, inductively, views of...
Background
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has witnessed wide-ranging efforts to minimize the spread of the virus and to protect those most vulnerable to becoming unwell following viral infection. Core COVID-19 preventive measures include social distancing, regular hand washing, and wearing face coverings in public places. Understanding links between so...
Objective:
Mental imagery interventions are a cost-effective way of promoting health behaviour change. We tested a mental imagery intervention designed to promote adherence to wearing face coverings during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design: A four-arm randomised controlled trial to explore potential mechanisms of action. Main outcome measures: Measures...
Introduction
The closure of licensed venues during the COVID-19 pandemic meant that most alcohol has been consumed at home during lockdown periods in the UK, a phenomenon that remains under-researched despite the public health implications.
Methods
This article draws on a study consisting of online semi-structured interviews and focus groups with...
This qualitative study examines the possible long-term impact of multisystemic therapy (MST) as young people experience the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. MST is an intensive intervention aimed at reducing antisocial behavior among young people. Interviews were conducted with 32 young people aged 16 to 22 years at their 48-month fo...
This qualitative study examines the possible long-term impact of multisystemic therapy (MST) as young people experience the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. MST is an intensive intervention aimed at reducing antisocial behavior among young people. Interviews were conducted with 32 young people aged 16 to 22 years at their 48-month fo...
Definitions of drinker ‘categories’ (e.g., ‘light drinkers’) typically ignore the role of self-identification involved in drinking practices. To explore this, we presented self-identified ‘non’ or ‘light’ drinkers with official formal definitions of ‘light’ and ‘binge’ drinking as found in public health and academic research. A qualitative design w...
The Handbook of Psychological Perspectives on Alcohol provides a wide ranging treatment of psychological research applied to alcohol consumption in multiple social contexts authored by an eminent cast of contemporary international researchers. This chapter summarises the main messages arising from the Handbook, reflects on what is currently known d...
This Handbook provides a broad and comprehensive overview of psychological research on alcohol consumption. It explores the psychological theories underpinning alcohol use and misuse, discusses the interventions that can be designed around these theories, and offers key insight into future developments within the field.
A range of international ex...
This Handbook provides a broad and comprehensive overview of psychological research on alcohol consumption. It explores the psychological theories underpinning alcohol use and misuse, discusses the interventions that can be designed around these theories, and offers key insight into future developments within the field.
A range of international ex...
Background
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has witnessed wide-ranging efforts to minimize the spread of the virus and to protect those most vulnerable to becoming unwell following viral infection. Core COVID-19 preventive measures include social distancing, regular hand washing and wearing face coverings in public places. Understanding links between soc...
Objectives:
University students in the UK engage in relatively high alcohol consumption levels, yet young adults, including students, now drink less than previously and abstain more. Against this cultural backdrop, our objective was to further understanding of 'maturing out' of excessive drinking practices among students by focusing on drinking tr...
The global ‘lockdowns’ and social distancing measures triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic have brought about unprecedented social changes, including the sudden, temporary closure of licensed venues and significant modifications to leisure and drinking practices. In this piece, we argue that these changes invite researchers to consider the short and...
Background
To encourage people to lead healthier lifestyles, governments in many countries publish guidelines for alcohol intake, physical activity (PA), and fruit and vegetable (FV) intake. However, there is a need for better understanding of whether people understand such guidelines, consider them useful, and adhere to them. University students a...
Imagery or “visualization” involves a person imagining or rehearsing future events, actions, or tasks, usually with the person performing the imagery imagining themselves actually performing an action or task. It has been used as a strategy to change behavior in many contexts and groups, and its effects on behavior change have been supported by an...
Non-drinkers make up a growing proportion of young adults in many countries. Perhaps mirroring this, academic research focused on non-drinkers is an emerging field of work across disciplinary boundaries. In this chapter, we first provide an overview of qualitative research which has tended to focus on non-drinking as a lifestyle choice for young pe...
Alcohol consumption among young adults conjures up images of unrestrained, excessive consumption. However, alcohol use among young adults is increasingly understood using different lenses and with different emphases. This chapter introduces book aims and outlines contributions that reflect this range of lenses and emphases. Contributions cover alco...
A recurrent theme throughout the production of this book has been a sense of new discourses emerging, along with associated new terminology, that are guiding our understanding of young adult drinking practices. An early starting point in the inception and development of this book—through to communication and discussion with collaborators—was the ne...
Links between young adult friendships and drinking practices have recently emerged as an area of interest from multiple disciplinary perspectives. This can be seen in emergent discussion of alcohol’s role as a catalyst for initiating friendships and developing intimacy within friendships. Using a cross-disciplinary, methodologically plural approach...
This book brings together cutting-edge contemporary research and discussion concerning drinking practices among young adults (individuals aged approximately 18-30 years old). Its chapters showcase an interdisciplinary range of perspectives from psychology, sociology, criminology, geography, public health and social policy. The contributors address...
Research relating to alcohol use amongst university students primarily examines the effects of binge drinking. Researchers rarely focus on a range of drinking styles including light or non-drinking. This study was designed to gain an in-depth understanding of the lived experiences of female, first year UK undergraduates, who do not drink alcohol. S...
Objective:
Imagery-based interventions represent an inexpensive, potentially effective technique for changing health behavior and promoting adaptive health outcomes. However, research adopting mental imagery techniques in health behavior interventions has shown considerable variability in effects across studies. In the present analysis we present...
This review provided a quantitative synthesis of the effectiveness of mental imagery interventions in health behaviour and tested key moderator effects. Thirty-three independent data sets were eligible for inclusion. Mental imagery interventions led to non-trivial, small averaged corrected effect sizes of imagery interventions on post-intervention...
Reflections from the Qualitative Methods in Psychology 2013 annual conference in Huddersfield, 4–6 September.
Objectives
To assess the impact of a mental simulation intervention designed to reduce student alcohol consumption by asking participants to imagine potential positive outcomes of and/or strategic processes involved in not drinking during social occasions.
Design
English university students aged 18–25 years ( n = 211, M age = 20 years) were random...
- Objectives: To assess the impact of a mental simulation intervention designed to reduce student alcohol consumption by asking participants to imagine potential positive outcomes of and/or strategic processes involved in not drinking during social occasions.
- Design: English university students aged 18–25 years (n = 211, Mage = 20 years) were ran...
Our article illustrates the importance of authenticity to student non-drinkers. Semi-structured interviews focussing on the lived experiences of five non-drinking students were subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis. We present four inter-related themes: 'Retaining authenticity by not drinking', 'Tainting the self by drinking alcohol...
Abstract Recent research suggests that safer student alcohol consumption might be assisted by understanding how social occasions are managed by non-drinkers. In-depth, semi-structured interviews with five 19-22 year old non-drinking English undergraduates were subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). We present five inter-linked...
This study adopted a discursive approach to explore how not drinking alcohol (non-drinking) is construed in relation to masculine identity among 12 undergraduate interviewees. Three prominent discourses were revealed. First, non-drinking was constructed as something strange requiring explanation. Second, contradictory discourses constructed non-dri...
Questions
Questions (2)
Model image attached. Many thanks.
I am looking for literature which specifically evaluates the efficacy of health promotion messages relating to safe drinking limits. By conventional, I mean messages which are designed to increase awareness of what constitutes ‘safe’ drinking levels and to increase understanding of existing government recommendations regarding weekly/daily unit intake maxima. Many thanks.
