Dr Laura Simonds

BSc (Lond), PhD (Gre), CPsychol
Lecturer

Research Interests

My main research interest is in the aetiology and maintenance of clinical obsessions and compulsions, including scrupulosity (religious obsessions).  My current work in this area focuses on self-concept, identity, attachment and interpersonal relationships and their relation to obsessive-compulsiveness in clinical and non-clinical groups.  I am also conducting research looking at magical thinking in children and its relationship to anxiety and obsessional problems, the development of rituals over time, and family/parental accommodation of obsessive-compulsive problems.

A second significant area of work is on the concept of ‘recovery’ in young people.  This work involves the conceptualization of the concept of recovery and the development of a measure of recovery that might be used by mental health professionals in evaluating clinical work with young people.

A third main interest is in the development and validation of questionnaire measures that pertain to clinical work and theory.  Current projects focus on rituals in young children aged 4 to 6 years, assessing metacognition in people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, a modified test of executive function for people with learning disabilities, and a measure of shame in young people.

 

Research Funding

NHS Funding: With Mary John and Fiona Warren.  Development and initial validation of a measure of recovery for use in specialist mental health services for young people.  Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

 

Selected Publications

Hepworth, M., Simonds, L.M. & Marsh, R. (in press). Catholic priests’ conceptualisation of scrupulosity: a grounded theory analysis.  Mental Health, Religion and Culture.

Simonds, L.M., Demetre, J.D. & Read, C. (2009). Relationships between magical thinking, obsessive-compulsiveness and other forms of anxiety in a sample of non-clinical children.  British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 27, 457-471.

Rendall, M.J., Simonds, L.M. & Hunter, M. (2008). The Hot Flush Beliefs Scale: A tool for assessing thoughts and beliefs associated with the experience of menopausal hot flushes and night sweats.  Maturitas, 60, 158-169.

Terry, R., Shepherd, M., Simonds, L. & Sperlinger, D. (2007). An initial investigation into clients referred to a primary care psychology and counselling service with CORE-OM scores falling below the clinical cut-off.  Clinical Psychology Forum, 176, 10-13.

Simonds, L.M. & Thorpe, S.J. (2003). Attitudes towards obsessive-compulsive disorders: an experimental investigation.  Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 38, 331-336.

Thorpe, S.J., Patel, S.P. & Simonds, L.M. (2003). The relationship between disgust sensitivity, anxiety and obsessions.  Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 1397-1409.

Simonds, L.M. & Elliott, S.A. (2001). OCD patients and nonpatient groups reporting obsessions and compulsions:  Phenomenology, help-seeking, and access to treatment.  British Journal of Medical Psychology, 74, 431-449.

Simonds, L.M., Thorpe, S.J. & Elliott, S.A. (2000). The Obsessive Compulsive Inventory:  Psychometric properties in a nonclinical student sample.  Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 28(2), 153-159.