MA, M.Litt (St And), MA(Cantab)
PhD Student, Suicide and Mental Health Research Group
Contact details
Email davst397@student.otago.ac.nz
Background
I began work at the University of Otago Wellington in 2015 as an Assistant Research Fellow in the Department of Psychological Medicine and with the Suicide and Mental Health Research Group from 2016. I have been working on a range of projects, including a qualitative study of social exclusion and mental distress, an evaluation of stigma/discrimination in the police force (ongoing), and a policy paper on death review mechanisms for suicide. I began PhD study in March 2017.
Prior to this, I worked in several research and university roles in mainland China and the UK, including 4 years of social research for the UK Government. My academic training is in psychology, and previously in analytical philosophy.
Current project
Where is an emotion – and can finding it help to prevent suicide?
This is an investigation of whether emotion manifests in the body as a localised feeling (i.e. with a more or less clear boundary, as with physical pain). It will focus on interoception (i.e. sensing the physiological condition of the body) and its relationship with localisation, in addition to inhibitory processes that could (if they exist) maintain emotional feeling as an otherwise vague and physically diffuse experience. Based on recent research indicating links between emotion, interoceptive ability and suicidality, this study seeks to provide a basis for novel suicide prevention interventions with emotional localisation as an additional key element. In addition to the potential for practical benefits, this project would also be relevant to emotion theory and the philosophy of emotion.
Research interests and activities
- Embodied emotion and affective science
- Interoception
- Suicide prevention
- Philosophy of emotion
- Social theory and mental ill health
Publications
Davey, S., Bell, E., & Halberstadt, J. (2023). Using targeted visceroception to improve interoceptive sensibility and emotion regulation. New Ideas in Psychology, 68, 100989. doi: 10.1016/j.newideapsych.2022.100989
Davey, S., Bell, E., & Halberstadt, J. (2022). Adapting a two-stage water load test to measure gastric sensitivity over time [Brief communication]. Physiology & Behavior, 253, 113856. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2022.113856
Davey, S., Halberstadt, J., & Bell, E. (2022). Where is an emotion? Greater interference in a gut-focused visceroception group undertaking an emotional stop-signal task. New Ideas in Psychology, 65, 100933. doi: 10.1016/j.newideapsych.2022.100933
Davey, S. A. (2021). Where is an emotion? (PhD). University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10523/12060
Davey, S., Halberstadt, J., & Bell, E. (2021). Where is emotional feeling felt in the body? An integrative review. PLoS ONE, 16(12), e0261685. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261685
Davey, S., Bell, E., & Halberstadt, J. (2023). Using targeted visceroception to improve interoceptive sensibility and emotion regulation. New Ideas in Psychology, 68, 100989. doi: 10.1016/j.newideapsych.2022.100989
Journal - Research Article
Davey, S., Halberstadt, J., & Bell, E. (2022). Where is an emotion? Greater interference in a gut-focused visceroception group undertaking an emotional stop-signal task. New Ideas in Psychology, 65, 100933. doi: 10.1016/j.newideapsych.2022.100933
Journal - Research Article
Davey, S., Gordon, S., & Tester, R. (2021). Addressing police discrimination regarding mental distress using a service user-led and interpersonal contact/education based ‘e-Learning’. Police Practice & Research, 22(1), 426-442. doi: 10.1080/15614263.2019.1689128
Journal - Research Article
Davey, S., Halberstadt, J., & Bell, E. (2021). Where is emotional feeling felt in the body? An integrative review. PLoS ONE, 16(12), e0261685. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261685
Journal - Research Article
Davey, S., & Gordon, S. (2017). Definitions of social inclusion and social exclusion: The invisibility of mental illness and the social conditions of participation. International Journal of Culture & Mental Health, 10(3), 229-237. doi: 10.1080/17542863.2017.1295091
Journal - Research Article
Davey, S., Bell, E., & Halberstadt, J. (2022). Adapting a two-stage water load test to measure gastric sensitivity over time [Brief communication]. Physiology & Behavior, 253, 113856. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2022.113856
Journal - Research Other
Davey, S., Bell, E., Halberstadt, J., & Collings, S. (2020). Where is an emotion? Using targeted visceroception as a method of improving emotion regulation in healthy participants to inform suicide prevention initiatives: A randomised controlled trial. Trials, 21, 642. doi: 10.1186/s13063-020-04479-9
Journal - Research Other
Davey, S., Halberstadt, J., Bell, E., & Collings, S. (2018). A scoping review of suicidality and alexithymia: The need to consider interoception. Journal of Affective Disorders, 238, 424-441. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2018.06.027
Journal - Research Other
Davey, S., Bell, E., Halberstadt, J., & Collings, S. (2018). A scoping review of suicidality and alexithymia: The need to consider interoception. Proceedings of the 8th Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Suicide Prevention (IASP). (pp. 117). Retrieved from https://iasp.info/newzealand/
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Davey, S. (2017). Building bridges by 're-anchoring': New avenues for the way mental distress is understood by the public. Proceedings of the 7th Service User Academia Symposium. (pp. 7-8). Retrieved from http://www.otago.ac.nz/wellington/departments/psychologicalmedicine/suas/
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Gordon, S., Davey, S., Waa, A., Tiatia, R., & Waaka, T. (2017). Social inclusion and exclusion, stigma and discrimination, and the experience of mental distress. Auckland, New Zealand: Mental Health Foundation.
Working Paper; Discussion Paper; Technical Report
Davey, S. A. (2021). Where is an emotion? (PhD). University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10523/12060
Awarded Doctoral Degree
