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Contact Details

Phone
+64 3 474 0999 extn 57299
Email
charlene.rapsey@otago.ac.nz
Position
Associate Professor
Department
Department of Psychological Medicine (Dunedin)
Qualifications
BA BSc(Hons) PhD PGDipCIPs
Research summary
Psychiatric epidemiology, childhood adversity, sexual health
Teaching

Human Sexuality and Health: PSME 201
MICN201, 301, 401, 501

Research

Charlene Rapsey is a clinical psychologist with an interest in mental disorder, childhood adversity, and sexual health and sexual difficulties. She uses quantitative and mixed methods and has a particular interest in applied research. Current research projects include:

  • Psychiatric epidemiology
    The WHO World Mental Health Surveys project is a unique international collaboration with over 30 countries focused on epidemiology and the prevention of mental disorder.
  • Childhood adversity
    The Otago Women’s Health Study is a 25-year longitudinal study investigating associations between childhood abuse and outcomes across the life course.
  • The Foster the Whanau project investigates the costs, benefits, and long-term outcomes for children when the mother participates in an intensive, residential intervention as an alternative to foster care.
  • Sexual health
    Charlene has a broad interest in sexual health including the experience of sexual difficulties and well-being. Several projects focused on sexual pain, sexual difficulties, and sexual health epidemiology are currently in process. Charlene is also involved with medical education research focused on best practice teaching of sexuality as well as teaching focused on healthcare for people who are LGBTQI

Additional details

Follow Charlene on twitter: https://twitter.com/charlene_rapsey

Publications

Mason, A., Winter, T., Fortune, S., Taumoepeau, M., & Rapsey, C. M. (2026). Prevalence and associations of lifetime, 12-month, and 30-day suicidal thoughts and behaviours among 3,702 First-Year university students in New Zealand. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s00127-026-03069-5 Journal - Research Article

Kazdin, A. E., Pozuelo, J. R., Harris, M. G., Stein, D. J., Viana, M. C., Hwang, I., … Rapsey, C., … and World Mental Health Survey collaborators. (2026). Patterns and predictors of the transition between minimally adequate treatment and effective treatment coverage for mental disorders: Results from the World Mental Health Survey. International Journal of Mental Health Systems. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1186/s13033-026-00698-w Journal - Research Article

Alonso, J., Petukhova, M. V., Lee, S., Sampson, N. A., Altwaijri, Y. A., AlHadi, A. N., … Rapsey, C., … World Mental Health International College Student collaborators. (2026). Mental disorders & self-injurious thoughts and behaviors predict high risk of role impairment among university students: World Mental Health International College Student initiative. Journal of Affective Disorders, 397, 120847. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2025.120847 Journal - Research Article

Mason, A., Jamieson, I., Riordan, B. C., Rapsey, C., & Scarf, D. (2025). Understanding the interpersonal psychological theory of suicide and the role of hopelessness within a university sample in Aotearoa New Zealand. Journal of College Student Mental Health. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/28367138.2025.2575186 Journal - Research Article

Roest, A. M., de Vries, Y. A., Pozuelo, J. R., Petukhova, M. V., Lee, S., Sampson, N. A., … Rapsey, C., … World Mental Health International College Student collaborators. (2025). Comorbidity and temporal associations between mental disorders among college students in the World Mental Health International College Student Initiative. Psychiatry Research. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2025.116605 Journal - Research Article

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