Dr Rebecca Webster
Department of Psychology
Lecturer
Full contact details
Department of Psychology
Cathedral Court
1 Vicar Lane
Sheffield
S1 2LT
- Profile
-
Following my undergraduate degree in Psychology at Durham University, I went to King’s College London to complete an MSc in Health Psychology. I stayed at King’s to complete my PhD on nocebo effects (the ‘evil twin’ of the better known placebo), and afterwards spent a number of years there as a postdoctoral researcher within the Health Protection Research Unit in Emergency Preparedness and Response. My research interests broadly encompass the area of Health Psychology, in particular placebo/nocebo effects, risk communication and health behaviour in the context of public health emergencies. In 2020 I moved back up north and joined the Psychology department at Sheffield.
- Qualifications
-
- BSc (Hons) Psychology - Durham University
- MSc Health Psychology - King’s College London
- PhD Psychology - King’s College London
- Research interests
-
- Placebo/nocebo effects - How can we enhance placebo and reduce nocebo effects in the context of medicines in a way that is ethical (i.e without impacting informed consent)? And does this have implications for adherence?
- Risk communication - Improving communication of risks in patient information leaflets, the doctor-patient consultation, and the role of empathy.
- Health behaviour in the context of public health emergencies - Changes in behaviour as a result of public health scares and how to encourage protective health behaviours.
- Publications
-
Show: Featured publications All publications
Featured publications
Journal articles
- Do overly complex reporting guidelines remove the focus from good clinical trials?. British Medical Journal, 374. View this article in WRRO
- Research fatigue in COVID-19 pandemic and post-disaster research: Causes, consequences and recommendations. Disaster Prevention and Management. View this article in WRRO
- The effect of positively framing side-effect risk in two different formats on side-effect expectations, informed consent and credibility: A randomised trial of 16- to 75-year-olds in England. Drug Safety. View this article in WRRO
- How to improve adherence with quarantine : rapid review of the evidence. Public Health, 182, 163-169. View this article in WRRO
- A systematic review of factors associated with side-effect expectations from medical interventions. Health Expectations. View this article in WRRO
- The impact of unplanned school closure on children’s social contact : rapid evidence review. Eurosurveillance, 25(13). View this article in WRRO
- The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it : rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet, 395(10227), 912-920. View this article in WRRO
- A systematic review of infectious illness presenteeism : prevalence, reasons and risk factors. BMC Public Health, 19(1). View this article in WRRO
- Inadequate description of placebo and sham controls in a systematic review of recent trials. European Journal of Clinical Investigation, 49(11). View this article in WRRO
- Explaining all without causing unnecessary harm : is there scope for positively framing medical risk information?. Patient Education and Counseling, 102(3), 602-603. View this article in WRRO
- Influencing side-effects to medicinal treatments : a systematic review of brief psychological interventions. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9. View this article in WRRO
- Rapid overview of systematic reviews of nocebo effects reported by patients taking placebos in clinical trials. Trials, 19(1). View this article in WRRO
- Positively framed risk information in patient information leaflets reduces side effect reporting : a double-blind randomized controlled trial. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 52(11), 920-929. View this article in WRRO
- Ethical issues surrounding the study of nocebo effects : recommendations for deceptive research. British Journal of Health Psychology, 23(4), 775-781. View this article in WRRO
- Public attitudes in England towards the sharing of personal data following a mass casualty incident : a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open, 8(5). View this article in WRRO
- Medicine-related beliefs predict attribution of symptoms to a sham medicine : a prospective study. British Journal of Health Psychology, 23(2), 436-454. View this article in WRRO
- How does the side-effect information in patient information leaflets influence peoples’ side-effect expectations? A cross-sectional national survey of 18- to 65-year-olds in England. Health Expectations, 20(6), 1411-1420. View this article in WRRO
- People’s understanding of verbal risk descriptors in patient information leaflets : a cross-sectional national survey of 18- to 65-year-olds in England. Drug Safety, 40(8), 743-754. View this article in WRRO
- Psychological factors associated with uptake of the childhood influenza vaccine and perception of post-vaccination side-effects : a cross-sectional survey in England. Vaccine, 35(15), 1936-1945. View this article in WRRO
- A systematic review of factors that contribute to nocebo effects.. Health Psychology, 35(12), 1334-1355. View this article in WRRO
- Psychosocial Factors Predict COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 1-3. View this article in WRRO
- View this article in WRRO
- View this article in WRRO
- View this article in WRRO
All publications
Journal articles
- Social communication pathways to COVID-19 vaccine side-effect expectations and experience. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 164.
- A qualitative study about how families coped with managing their well-being, children’s physical activity and education during the COVID-19 school closures in England. PLOS ONE, 17(12).
- A qualitative study evaluating the factors affecting families’ adherence to the first COVID-19 lockdown in England using the COM-B model and TDF. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(12).
- Do overly complex reporting guidelines remove the focus from good clinical trials?. British Medical Journal, 374. View this article in WRRO
- Research fatigue in COVID-19 pandemic and post-disaster research: Causes, consequences and recommendations. Disaster Prevention and Management. View this article in WRRO
- The effect of positively framing side-effect risk in two different formats on side-effect expectations, informed consent and credibility: A randomised trial of 16- to 75-year-olds in England. Drug Safety. View this article in WRRO
- How to improve adherence with quarantine : rapid review of the evidence. Public Health, 182, 163-169. View this article in WRRO
- A systematic review of factors associated with side-effect expectations from medical interventions. Health Expectations. View this article in WRRO
- The impact of unplanned school closure on children’s social contact : rapid evidence review. Eurosurveillance, 25(13). View this article in WRRO
- The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it : rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet, 395(10227), 912-920. View this article in WRRO
- A systematic review of infectious illness presenteeism : prevalence, reasons and risk factors. BMC Public Health, 19(1). View this article in WRRO
- Inadequate description of placebo and sham controls in a systematic review of recent trials. European Journal of Clinical Investigation, 49(11). View this article in WRRO
- Explaining all without causing unnecessary harm : is there scope for positively framing medical risk information?. Patient Education and Counseling, 102(3), 602-603. View this article in WRRO
- Influencing side-effects to medicinal treatments : a systematic review of brief psychological interventions. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9. View this article in WRRO
- Rapid overview of systematic reviews of nocebo effects reported by patients taking placebos in clinical trials. Trials, 19(1). View this article in WRRO
- Positively framed risk information in patient information leaflets reduces side effect reporting : a double-blind randomized controlled trial. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 52(11), 920-929. View this article in WRRO
- Ethical issues surrounding the study of nocebo effects : recommendations for deceptive research. British Journal of Health Psychology, 23(4), 775-781. View this article in WRRO
- Public attitudes in England towards the sharing of personal data following a mass casualty incident : a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open, 8(5). View this article in WRRO
- Medicine-related beliefs predict attribution of symptoms to a sham medicine : a prospective study. British Journal of Health Psychology, 23(2), 436-454. View this article in WRRO
- How does the side-effect information in patient information leaflets influence peoples’ side-effect expectations? A cross-sectional national survey of 18- to 65-year-olds in England. Health Expectations, 20(6), 1411-1420. View this article in WRRO
- People’s understanding of verbal risk descriptors in patient information leaflets : a cross-sectional national survey of 18- to 65-year-olds in England. Drug Safety, 40(8), 743-754. View this article in WRRO
- Psychological factors associated with uptake of the childhood influenza vaccine and perception of post-vaccination side-effects : a cross-sectional survey in England. Vaccine, 35(15), 1936-1945. View this article in WRRO
- A systematic review of factors that contribute to nocebo effects.. Health Psychology, 35(12), 1334-1355. View this article in WRRO
- Psychosocial Factors Predict COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 1-3. View this article in WRRO
- View this article in WRRO
- Parents’ Willingness to Send Children Back to School During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey. SSRN Electronic Journal.
- The Psychological Impact of Quarantine and How to Reduce It: Rapid Review of the Evidence. SSRN Electronic Journal.
- Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search. Database.
- View this article in WRRO
- View this article in WRRO
Preprints
- How to improve adherence with quarantine: Rapid review of the evidence, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- The impact of unplanned school closure on children’s social contact: Rapid evidence review, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Do overly complex reporting guidelines remove the focus from good clinical trials?. British Medical Journal, 374. View this article in WRRO
- Research group
-
Current PhD students
- Lisa Woodland (King’s College London) - School children presenteeism
- Ismaila Yakubu (University of Sheffield) - Self-compassion and Perceived Self Control in the Relationship between Occupational Stressors, Adherence to Therapy and Well being of Employees with Diabetes in Nigeria
- Grants
-
SRG19\190568 British Academy small research grant (Sept 2019). Exploring the best method of presenting side-effect information in patient information leaflets: a nationally representative survey of the English public. (£9,969.50)
- Teaching activities
-
I teach on the following modules, on the Undergraduate Psychology degree:
- PSY2001 - Social Psychology II
- PSY346 – Dissertation projects
- PSY331 – Extended essay
- Professional activities and memberships
-
- Chartered member of the British Psychological Society
- Editorial board member for the British Journal of Health Psychology
- Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy