Tolerating uncertainty and mental health

Research Group

Centre for Mind and Behaviour

Proposed supervisory team

Dr Sharon Morein-Zamir

Theme

Clinical and Wellbeing

Summary of the research project

The PhD student will be leading a multi-part project that will uncover determinants of coping with uncertainty and their contribution to mental health. Having to cope with uncertainty is inherent to everyday life, however there are considerable differences in people’s reactions to mild forms of uncertainty with intolerance of uncertainty believed to contribute to the development and maintenance of various mental health conditions such as anxiety disorders, eating disorders and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Namely, people may differ in their tendency to avoid uncertain situations, seek more information to help them reduce uncertainty, or in their propensity to check previous actions or decisions. Most of the research to date has relied heavily on self-report measures, which whilst informative, has known limitations.

This project will employ multiple behavioural tasks to directly assess behaviour during well-controlled situations of uncertainty, coupled with self-report and physiological measures to provide an integrative view of intolerance of uncertainty and its role in different mental health conditions. In a series of experiments, the candidate will apply established cognitive paradigms and help develop novel behavioural assays to assess performance and behaviour under uncertainty. Interested candidates should have a psychology background with experience of running quantitative research projects. Willingness to work with clinical populations is desirable. Equipment and software is available and extensive training will be provided for all required skills.

To discuss the project informally prior to application, please contact Dr Sharon Morein-Zamir.

Where you'll study

Cambridge

Funding

This project is self-funded.

Details of studentships for which funding is available are selected by a competitive process and are advertised on our jobs website as they become available.

Next steps

If you wish to be considered for this project, you will need to apply for our Psychology PhD. In the section of the application form entitled 'Outline research proposal', please quote the above title and include a research proposal.