Dr Sarah Halligan
Dr Halligan’s research has been funded by the MRC, the ESRC and the Nuffield Foundation
Applications from PhD students welcome in any of the research areas described.
Profile
Dr Sarah Halligan is a Reader in Developmental Psychopathology. Her research examines factors that contribute to psychological disorder in children and adolescents, particularly considering social influences.
Dr Halligan’s current research examines the potential role that parents may play in facilitating child adjustment following exposure to a traumatic event. This project builds on Dr Halligan’s previous work in identifying disturbances in cognition/appraisals, trauma memories, and biological stress response systems that contribute to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Dr Halligan’s PTSD work reflects a broader interest in the processes via which social experiences may contribute to psychological disorder in young people. Using longitudinal designs, Dr Halligan studies psychological and biological pathways via which early experiences may contribute to risk for depressive disorder. She has similarly applied this longitudinal approach to studying processes that contribute to the emergence of externalising difficulties in young people, and also examines the role of parents and peers in influencing youth aggression.
Alongside these research interests, Dr Halligan is involved in coordinating and delivering clinical psychology teaching to both Psychology undergraduates and to postgraduate students completing the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology programme.
Research interests
- Maternal depression and risk for depression in young people
- Socio-cognitive process in the development of aggressive behaviour in children and adolescents
- Family influences on child psychological recovery following trauma
Teaching
Undergraduate
Postgraduate
Publications
Book Sections
Murray, L., Halligan, S. and Cooper, P. J., 2010. Effects of postnatal depression on mother-infant interactions and child development. In: Wachs, T. and Bremner, G., eds. Handbook of Infant Development (2nd ed.). Oxford, U. K.: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 192-220. (Wiley-Blackwell Handbooks of Developmental Psychology)
Cooper, P., Murray, L. and Halligan, S., 2010. Treatment of post-partum depression. In: Tremblay, R. E., Barr, R. G., Peters, R.D. and Boivin, M., eds. Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development. Montreal, Canada: Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development.
Articles
Gunning, M., Halligan, S. L. and Murray, L., 2013. Contributions of maternal and infant factors to infant responding to the Still Face paradigm : a longitudinal study. Infant Behavior and Development, 36 (3), pp. 319-328.
Halligan, S. L., Cooper, P. J., Fearon, P., Wheeler, S. L., Crosby, M. and Murray, L., 2013. The longitudinal development of emotion regulation capacities in children at risk for externalizing disorders. Development and Psychopathology, 25 (2), pp. 391-406.
Sheridan, A., Murray, L., Cooper, P. J., Evangeli, M., Byram, V. and Halligan, S. L., 2013. A longitudinal study of child sleep in high and low risk families : relationship to early maternal settling strategies and child psychological functioning. Sleep Medicine, 14 (3), pp. 266-273.
Freeman, K., Hadwin, J. A. and Halligan, S. L., 2011. An experimental investigation of peer influences on adolescent hostile attributions. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 40 (6), pp. 897-903.
Murray, L., Arteche, A., Fearon, P., Halligan, S. L., Goodyer, I. and Cooper, P., 2011. Maternal postnatal depression and the development of depression in offspring up to 16 years of age. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 50 (5), pp. 460-470.
Murray, L., Arteche, A., Fearon, P., Halligan, S. L., Croudace, T. and Cooper, P., 2010. The effects of maternal postnatal depression and child sex on academic performance at age 16 years: a developmental approach. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51 (10), pp. 1150-1159.
Halligan, S. L. and Philips, K. J., 2010. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Peer group similarities in adolescent hostile attribution tendencies. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 46 (5), pp. 1385-1388.
Murray, L., Halligan, S. L., Goodyer, I. and Herbert, J., 2010. Disturbances in early parenting of depressed mothers and cortisol secretion in offspring: a preliminary study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 122 (3), pp. 218-223.
Cronin, A., Halligan, S. L. and Murray, L., 2008. Maternal psychosocial adversity and the longitudinal Ddvelopment of infant sleep. Infancy, 13 (5), pp. 469-495.
Halligan, S. L., Cooper, P. J., Healy, S. J. and Murray, L., 2007. The attribution of hostile intent in mothers, fathers and their children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35 (4), pp. 594-604.
Halligan, S. L., Herbert, J., Goodyer, I. and Murray, L., 2007. Disturbances in morning cortisol secretion in association with maternal postnatal depression predict subsequent depressive symptomatology in adolescents. Biological Psychiatry, 62 (1), pp. 40-46.
Halligan, S. L., Murray, L., Martins, C. and Cooper, P. J., 2007. Maternal depression and psychiatric outcomes in adolescent offspring : a 13-year longitudinal study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 97 (1-3), pp. 145-154.
Michael, T., Halligan, S. L., Clark, D. M. and Ehlers, A., 2007. Rumination in posttraumatic stress disorder. Depression and Anxiety, 24 (5), pp. 307-317.
Halligan, S. L., Michael, T., Wilhelm, F. H., Clark, D. M. and Ehlers, A., 2006. Reduced heart rate responding to trauma reliving in trauma survivors with PTSD : correlates and consequences. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19 (5), pp. 721-734.
Murray, L., Halligan, S. L., Adams, G., Patterson, P. and Goodyer, I. M., 2006. Socioemotional development in adolescents at risk for depression : the role of maternal depression and attachment style. Development and Psychopathology, 18 (02), pp. 489-516.
Michael, T., Ehlers, A., Halligan, S. L. and Clark, D. M., 2005. Unwanted memories of assault: what intrusion characteristics are associated with PTSD? Behaviour Research and Therapy, 43 (5), pp. 613-628.
Michael, T., Ehlers, A. and Halligan, S. L., 2005. Enhanced priming for trauma-related material in posttraumatic stress disorder. Emotion, 5 (1), pp. 103-112.
Yehuda, R., Golier, J. A., Halligan, S. L., Meaney, M. and Bierer, L. M., 2004. The ACTH response to dexamethasone in PTSD. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161 (8), pp. 1397-1403.
Yehuda, R., Halligan, S. L., Golier, J. A., Grossman, R. and Bierer, L. M., 2004. Effects of trauma exposure on the cortisol response to dexamethasone administration in PTSD and major depressive disorder. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 29 (3), pp. 389-404.
Halligan, S. L., Herbert, J., Goodyer, I. M. and Murray, L., 2004. Exposure to postnatal depression predicts elevated cortisol in adolescent offspring. Biological Psychiatry, 55 (4), pp. 376-381.
Yehuda, R., Golier, J. A., Halligan, S. L. and Harvey, P. D., 2004. Learning and memory in Holocaust survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 55 (3), pp. 291-295.
Spertus, I. L., Yehuda, R., Wong, C. M., Halligan, S. and Seremetis, S. V., 2003. Childhood emotional abuse and neglect as predictors of psychological and physical symptoms in women presenting to a primary care practice. Child Abuse and Neglect, 27 (11), pp. 1247-1258.
Yehuda, R., Halligan, S. L., Yang, R. K., Guo, L. S., Makotkine, I., Singh, B. and Pickholtz, D., 2003. Relationship between 24-hour urinary-free cortisol excretion and salivary cortisol levels sampled from awakening to bedtime in healthy subjects. Life Sciences, 73 (3), pp. 349-358.
Halligan, S. L., Michael, T., Clark, D. M. and Ehlers, A., 2003. Posttraumatic stress disorder following assault : the role of cognitive processing, trauma memory, and appraisals. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71 (3), pp. 419-431.
Yehuda, R., Halligan, S. L., Grossman, R., A. Golier, J. and Wong, C., 2002. The cortisol and glucocorticoid receptor response to low dose dexamethasone administration in aging combat veterans and holocaust survivors with and without posttraumatic stress disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 52 (5), pp. 393-403.
Halligan, S. L., Clark, D. M. and Ehlers, A., 2002. Cognitive processing, memory, and the development of PTSD symptoms : two experimental analogue studies. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 33 (2), pp. 73-89.
Yehuda, R., Halligan, S. L. and Bierer, L. M., 2002. Cortisol levels in adult offspring of Holocaust survivors : relation to PTSD symptom severity in the parent and child. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 27 (1-2), pp. 171-180.
Halligan, S. L. and Yehuda, R., 2002. Assessing dissociation as a risk factor for PTSD : a study of the adult offspring of Holocaust survivors. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 190 (7), pp. 429-436.
Yehuda, R., Halligan, S. L. and Bierer, L. M., 2001. Relationship of parental trauma exposure and PTSD to PTSD, depressive and anxiety disorders in offspring. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 35 (5), pp. 261-270.
Yehuda, R., Halligan, S. L. and Grossman, R., 2001. Childhood trauma and risk for PTSD : relationship to intergenerational effects of trauma, parental PTSD and cortisol excretion. Development and Psychopathology, 13 (3), pp. 733-753.
Halligan, S. L. and Yehuda, R., 2001. Cognitive and biologic components involved in the development of posttraumatic stress disorder. The Economics of Neuroscience, 3, pp. 51-58.
Halligan, S. L. and Yehuda, R., 2000. Risk factors for PTSD. PTSD Research Quarterly, 11 (3), pp. 1-3.
Westbrook, R. F., Duffield, T. Q., Good, A. J., Halligan, S., Seth, A. K. and Swinburne, A. L., 1995. Extinction of within-event learning is contextually controlled and subject to renewal. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section B: Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 48 (4), pp. 357-375.
