This page contains an up-to-date list of publications in the Lab’s various research streams. If you have difficulty accessing any of the publications, feel free to email the authors, who will be happy to send you a copy.
Psychiatric diagnosis
O’Connor, C., Seery, C., & Young, C. (2022) How does it feel to have one’s psychiatric diagnosis altered? Exploring lived experiences of diagnostic shifts in adult mental healthcare. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 820162. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.820162.
Dave, B., & O’Connor, C. (2022). A systematic review of the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of continuum beliefs about depression. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 10, 100403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2022.100403.
O’Connor, C. (2021). Has the COVID-19 pandemic affected lay beliefs about the cause and course of mental illness? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(9), 4912. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094912
O’Connor, C., Brassil, M., O’Sullivan, S., Seery, C., & Nearchou, F. (2021). How does diagnostic labelling affect social responses towards people with mental illness? A systematic review of experimental studies using vignette-based designs. Journal of Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2021.1922653
Seery, C., Bramham, J., & O’Connor, C. (2021). Effects of a psychiatric diagnosis vs a clinical formulation on lay attitudes to people with psychosis. Psychosis. https://doi.org/10.1080/17522439.2021.1901302
O’Connor, C., & Vaughan, S. (2021). Does selectively endorsing different approaches to treating mental illness affect beliefs about the cause and course of mental illness? Psychiatry Research, 297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113726
O’Connor, C., & McNicholas, F. (2020). Lived experiences of diagnostic shifts in child and adolescent mental health contexts: A qualitative interview study with young people and parents. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 48(8), 979-993. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10802-020-00657-0
O’Connor, C., Downs, J., Shetty, H., & McNicholas, F. (2020). Diagnostic trajectories in child and adolescent mental health services: Exploring the prevalence and patterns of diagnostic adjustments in an electronic mental health case register. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 29(8), 1111-1123. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00787-019-01428-z
O’Connor, C., Downs, J., McNicholas, F., Cross, L., & Shetty, H. (2020). Documenting diagnosis in child and adolescent mental healthcare: A content analysis of diagnostic statements in a psychiatric case register. Children and Youth Services Review, 113, 104948. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.104948
Fowler, K., & O’Connor, C. (2020). “I just rolled up my sleeves”: Mothers’ perspectives on raising girls on the autism spectrum. Autism, 25(1), 275-287. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361320956876
O’Connor, C., Burke, J., & Rooney, B. (2020). Diagnostic disclosure and social marginalisation of adults with ASD: Is there a relationship and what mediates it? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 50(9), 3367-3379. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04239-y
O’Connor, C., & Murphy, L. (2020). Effects of diagnostic disclosure and varying diagnostic terminology on social attitudes to personality disorder: An experimental vignette study. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/per0000447
O’Connor, C., & McNicholas, F. (2020). What differentiates children with ADHD symptoms who do and do not receive a formal diagnosis? Results from a prospective longitudinal cohort study. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 51, 138-150. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10578-019-00917-1
McNicholas, F., Sharma, S., O’Connor, C., & Barrett, E. (2020). Burnout in consultants in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in Ireland: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open, 10(1), e030354. http://dx.doi.org.ucd.idm.oclc.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030354
Nolan, A., & O’Connor, C. (2019). The effect of causal attributions for depression on help-seeking and treatment preferences. Journal of Affective Disorders, 257, 477-485. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.07.017
O’Connor, C., McNamara, N., & O’Hara, L., McNicholas, M., & McNicholas, F (2019). How do people with eating disorders experience the stigma associated with their condition? A mixed-methods systematic review. Journal of Mental Health. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2019.1685081
O’Connor, C., Kadianaki, I., Maunder, K., & McNicholas, F. (2018). How does psychiatric diagnosis affect young people’s self-concept and social identity? A systematic review and synthesis of the qualitative literature. Social Science & Medicine, 212, 94-119. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.07.011
O’Connor, C., Reulbach, U., Gavin, B., & McNicholas, F. (2018). A prospective longitudinal investigation of the (dis)continuity of mental health difficulties between mid-to late-childhood and the predictive role of familial factors. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 27(3),289-300. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00787-017-1044-5
McNicholas, F., O’Connor, C., McNamara, N., & O’Hara, L. (2018). Eating disorder services for young people in Ireland: Perspectives of service providers, service users and the general adolescent population. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 35(4), 301-309. https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/ipm.2015.66
O’Connor, C., McNamara, N., O’Hara, L., & McNicholas, F. (2015). Eating disorder literacy and stigmatising attitudes toward anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder among adolescents. Advances in Eating Disorders, 4(2), 125-140. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21662630.2015.1129635
McNicholas, F., O’Connor, C., O’Hara, L., & McNamara, N. (2015). Stigma and treatment of eating disorders in Ireland: Healthcare professionals’ knowledge and attitudes. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 33(1), 21-31. https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/ipm.2015.24
Lay theories of gender and sexual orientation
O’Connor, C., Maher, P., & Kadianaki, K. (2019). Exploring the relationship between lay theories of gender and attitudes to abortion in the context of a national referendum on abortion policy. PLOS ONE, 14(6):e0218333. https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218333
O’Connor, C. (2017). ‘Appeals to nature’ in marriage equality debates: A content analysis of newspaper and social media discourse. British Journal of Social Psychology, 56(3), 493-514. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12191
O’Connor, C., & Joffe, H. (2014). Gender on the brain: A case study of science communication in the new media environment. PLoS ONE, 9, e110830. https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0110830
O’Connor, C., & Joffe, H. (2014). The social aetiology of essentialist beliefs. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 37(5), 498-499. https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X1300383X
Public engagement with neuroscience
O’Connor, C. (2019). Enhancing young brains in contemporary family life: Exploring the context and scope of paediatric neuro-enhancement. In S. Nagel (ed.), Shaping Children – Ethical and Social Questions That Arise When Enhancing the Young (pp. 105-121). Dordrecht: Springer. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10677-5_8
O’Connor, C., & Nagel, S. K. (2017). Neuro-enhancement practices across the lifecourse: Exploring the roles of relationality and individualism. Frontiers in Sociology, 2, 1. https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2017.00001
O’Connor, C., & Joffe, H. (2016). Making brain waves in society. The Psychologist, 29, 358-361.
O’Connor, C. (2016). Science in society: Neuroscience and lay understandings of self and identity. In J.R. Absher & J. Cloutier (eds.), Neuroimaging Personality, Social Cognition and Character: Traits and Mental States in the Brain (pp. 371-382). London: Elsevier. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-800935-2.00020-8
O’Connor, C., & Joffe, H. (2015). How the public engages with brain optimization: The media-mind relationship. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 40(5), 712-743. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0162243915576374
O’Connor, C., & Joffe, H. (2014). Gender on the brain: A case study of science communication in the new media environment. PLoS ONE, 9, e110830. https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0110830
O’Connor, C., & Joffe, H. (2014). Social representations of brain research: Exploring public (dis)engagement with contemporary neuroscience. Science Communication, 36, 617-645. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1075547014549481
O’Connor, C., & Joffe, H. (2013). How has neuroscience affected lay understandings of personhood? A review of the evidence. Public Understanding of Science, 22(3), 254-268. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0963662513476812
O’Connor, C., & Joffe, H. (2013). Media representations of early human development: Protecting, feeding and loving the developing brain. Social Science & Medicine, 97, 297-306. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.09.048
O’Connor, C., Rees, G., & Joffe, H. (2012). Neuroscience in the public sphere. Neuron, 74(2), 220-226. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2012.04.004
Miscellaneous publications
O’Connor, C., O’Connell, N., Burke, E., Dempster, M., Graham, C. D., Scally, G., … & Darker, C. D. (2021). Bordering on crisis: A qualitative analysis of focus group, social media, and news media perspectives on the Republic of Ireland-Northern Ireland border during the ‘first wave’of the COVID-19 pandemic. Social Science & Medicine, 282, 114111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114111
O’Connor, C., O’Connell, N., Burke, E., Nolan, A., Dempster, M., Graham, C. D., Nicolson, G., Barry, J., Scally, G., Crowley, P., Zgaga, L., Mather, L., & Darker, C. D. Media Representations of Science during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Analysis of News and Social Media on the Island of Ireland. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(18):9542. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189542
Darker, C.D., O’Connell, N., Dempster, M., Graham, C.D, O’Connor, C., et al. (2020). Study protocol for the COvid-19 Toolbox for All IslaNd (CONTAIN) project: A cross-border analysis in Ireland to disentangle psychological, behavioural, media and governmental responses to COVID-19. HRB Open Research, 3, 48. https://dx.doi.org/10.12688/hrbopenres.13105.1
O’Connor, C., & Joffe, H. (2020). Inter-coder reliability in qualitative health research: Debates and practical guidelines. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19, 1-13. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1609406919899220
Joffe, H., Rossetto, T., Bradley, C., & O’Connor, C. (2018). Stigma in science: The case of earthquake prediction. Disasters, 42(1), 81-100. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/disa.12237
Kirrane, M., Breen, M., & O’Connor, C. (2018). A qualitative investigation of the origins of excessive work behaviour. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 91(2), 235-260. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12203
Kirrane, M., Breen, M., & O’Connor, C. (2017). A qualitative study on the consequences of intensive working. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 28(2), 227–268. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21284
Kirrane, M., O’Connor, C., Dunne, A.M., & Moriarty, P. (2017). Intragroup processes and teamwork within a successful chamber choir. Music Education Research, 19(4), 357-370. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2016.1166195
O’Connor, C. (2017). Embodiment and the construction of social knowledge: Towards an integration of embodiment and social representations theory. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 42(1), 2-24. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jtsb.12110
Smith, N., O’Connor, C., & Joffe, H. (2015). Social representations of threatening phenomena: The role played by themata. Papers on Social Representations, 24(2), 1-23.
Joffe, H., Rossetto, T., Solberg, C., & O’Connor, C. (2013). Social representations of earthquakes: A study of people living in three highly seismic areas. Earthquake Spectra, 29(2), 367-397. https://dx.doi.org/10.1193/1.4000138
Joffe, H., & O’Connor, C. (2013). Risk society and representations of risks: Earthquakes and beyond. In H. Joffe, T. Rossetto & J. Adams (eds.), Cities at Risk: Living with Perils in the 21st Century (pp. 9-23). Dordrecht: Springer. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6184-1_2
O’Connor, C. (2012). Using social representations theory to examine lay explanation of contemporary social crises: The case of Ireland’s recession. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 22(6), 453-469. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/casp.1125