DISCOVER CUTTING EDGE MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH
Researchers at Queen's University Belfast are dedicated to advancing the field of mental health through comprehensive and innovative studies.
Their research spans various aspects of mental health, including the identification of risk factors, the development of effective treatments, and the enhancement of support systems for individuals with mental health conditions.

PERSONALITY DISORDER
At Queen's, researchers are deeply engaged in studying personality disorders, aiming to unravel their underlying causes, manifestations, and impacts on individuals' lives. This research encompasses exploring the biological, psychological, and social factors that contribute to the development and persistence of personality disorders.
- The McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder: What, and why in a clinical cohort?
- Age and gender differences in narcissism: A comprehensive study across eight measures and over 250,000 participants
- Emotion Recognition and the Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder (SI-Bord): Outcomes and Community-Based Validation
- Revealing what is distinct by recognising what is common: distinguishing between complex PTSD and Borderline Personality Disorder symptoms using bifactor modelling
- Borderline personality disorder traits and mentalising ability: The self-other social cognition paradox
- Self and identity in women with symptoms of borderline personality: A qualitative study

PERSONALITY DISORDER, MENTAL CAPACITY AND COMPULSORY INTERVENTION IN NORTHERN IRELAND
Researchers at Queen’s are conducting significant research on the current personality disorder services and compulsory interventions in Northern Ireland. This research aims to understand the complexities of treating individuals with personality disorders, particularly focusing on their mental capacity to make informed decisions about their treatment.
- Comparing mental health and mental capacity law data across borders: challenges and opportunities
- Legal capacity, developmental capacity, and impaired mental capacity in children under 16: Neurodevelopment and the law in Northern Ireland
- The development of a non-discriminatory alternative to mental health law, the Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016.
- No Longer ‘Anomalous, Confusing and Unjust’: The Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016
- An international comparison of legal frameworks for supported and substitute decision-making in mental health services

MENTAL HEALTH CARE
Queen's researchers undertake cutting edge research into mental health care, aiming to improve the understanding, treatment, and support for individuals experiencing mental health issues. The university's research covers a broad spectrum, from investigating the biological and psychological underpinnings of mental health conditions to developing innovative therapeutic approaches and evaluating their effectiveness.
- Community level digital mental health interventions: a policy and practice brief
- Trauma-focused EMDR for Personality disorders among Outpatients (TEMPO): study protocol for a multi-centre, single-blind, randomized controlled trial
- Connecting Care: An Overview of the Northern Ireland Framework for Integrated Therapeutic Care for Care Experienced Children and Young People
- Does EMDR Therapy Have an Effect on Memories of Emotional Abuse, Neglect and Other Types of Adverse Events in Patients with a Personality Disorder? Preliminary Data
- Personality Disorder Services: Rapid Review
- Transforming mental health care: a rapid review of emerging international evidence

TRAUMA
The Research Centre for Stress, Trauma & Related Conditions (STARC) was established in 2019 and is led by Professor Cherie Armour.
STARC's work centers on the mental health and psychological well-being of individuals who have faced stress, adversity, and trauma. The team investigates the predictors, correlates, and effects of various psychological disorders, such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, and dissociation, across diverse populations including healthcare workers, emergency services, armed forces, children, adolescents, and the general adult population. Additionally, their recent research has delved into the concept of psychological resilience following adversity.

TRAUMA
- ‘We are on a journey’: implementing trauma informed approaches in Northern Ireland - Executive summary report
- Anxiety, distress tolerance, and the relationship between complex posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and alcohol use in veterans
- Flexible emotional regulation typology: associations with PTSD symptomology and trait resilience
- A tri-directional examination of adolescent personality, perceived parenting, and economic and parental adversity contexts in influencing adolescent behavioral outcomes
- Contributing factors to secondary traumatic stress and vicarious posttraumatic growth in therapists
- Flexible emotional regulation typology: associations with PTSD symptomology and trait resilience
- Exploring complex-PTSD comorbidity in trauma-exposed Northern Ireland veterans
- A novel approach for understanding trauma related youth violence in low resource contexts: A retrospective case file review in Northern Ireland