Alyson is an Associate Professor. Her research investigates the links between emotion regulation and mental health.

Alyson’s research expertise is in the psychological mechanisms underlying mood dysregulation, particularly in mania risk and bipolar disorder. Her methodological expertise is quantitative research, particularly survey and questionnaire design, development and psychometric evaluation of measures (psychological mechanisms and outcomes), and randomised controlled trials of psychological interventions. She is particularly interested in the links between emotion regulation and mental health, and how this may be a transdiagnostic risk factor. Her research in this area has been funded by the National Institute of Health Research. 

Alyson is also interested in young peoples' mental health and well-being. She is on the leadership team for SMaRteN, a UKRI-funded mental health network focused on student mental health and well-being. She is Principal Investigator on a British Academy/Leverhulme funded project focused on understanding what quality of life means to students, and how we can measure this. Alyson is also a partner on the Office for Students Challenge Competition project BRinging Innovation to Graduate mental Health TogethER (BRIGHTER). 

Alyson is a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Alyson supervises undergraduate and postgraduate project and research internship/placement students in the Department of Psychology, leads the psychopathology component of the undergraduate module Social, Developmental and Psychopathology (Level 5), and is Module Tutor for the Research Internship module (Level 6).

• Psychological mechanisms underpinning the development and maintenance of mania risk and bipolar disorder
• Emotion regulation and psychopathology
• Student mental health and wellbeing
• Development/evaluation of process and outcome measures
• Psychological interventions for emotion regulation and mood difficulties