What is behavioural medicine? Commentary on definition proposed by Dekker, Stauder & Penedo

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Hybrid Time in The Living and the Dead

The ghost story typically presents an interaction of the past with the present, often in the form of ‘stone tape’ type repeats of an event from the past. The 2016 BBC series The Living and the Dead went beyond this to show the merging of multiple time streams, so people made choices in the ‘present’ because of influences from past and future, and past, present and future interacted, affecting each other. This breaking down of linear time breaks down concepts of rational cause and effect. Simultaneously it emphasises interconnectedness across time, the way that decisions made in the past influence the present, and the way that choices made in the present will influence the future. The series emphasises this temporal hybridity within its narrative, showing traditional life encountering modernisation and the modern finding the value of the traditional, but also making use of familiar imagery and narrative tropes from period dramas to remind the viewer of other texts. By collapsing time in this way, at a time of choices over the future of Britain in Europe, and over the future of the environment, this haunted pastorale interrogated the ways that decisions made now are tied up with our (mis)understanding of causes and consequences, and our fears of what went wrong in the past, and what may happen in the future

The distribution of pre-Norman sculpture in South-West Scotland : provenance, ornament and regional groups.

In 4 volsSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:D175400 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Testing an integrated behavioural and biomedical model of disability in N-of-1 studies with chronic pain.

Background. Previous research has supported an integrated biomedical and behavioural model explaining activity limitations. However, further tests of this model are required at the within-person level, because while it proposes that the constructs are related within individuals, it has primarily been tested between individuals in large group studies. We aimed to test the integrated model at the within-person level. Method. Six correlational N-of-1 studies in participants with arthritis, chronic pain and walking limitations. Daily measures of theoretical constructs were collected using a handheld computer (PDA), activity was assessed by self-report and accelerometer, and data analysed using time-series analysis. Results. The biomedical model was not supported as pain-impairment did not predict activity, so the integrated model was supported partially. Impairment predicted intention to move around while perceived behavioural control (PBC) and intention predicted activity. PBC did not predict activity limitation in the expected direction. Conclusions. The integrated model of disability was partially supported within individuals, especially the behavioural elements. However, results suggest that different elements of the model may drive activity (limitations) for different individuals. The integrated model provides a useful framework for understanding disability and suggests interventions, and the utility of N-of-1 methodology for testing theory is illustrated

Describing, predicting and explaining adherence to total skin self-examination (TSSE) in people with melanoma : a 12-month longitudinal study

Funding This work was supported by a grant from a Cancer Research UK Population Research Committee project award (C10673/A21685).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Season, Landscape and Identity in the BBC Ghost Story for Christmas

Invited research presentation given at the University of Reading, 8 October 2015

Seasonal Horror Traditions and Reflecting on Fear

This paper focuses on UK and US traditions of seasonal horror at Christmas and Halloween to consider how they provide opportunities for reflection on the causes of fear at liminal times in the calendar. These liminal times contain numerous traditions dedicated to looking back and forward, such as end of year reviews, or addresses from heads of state to the ‘family’ of the nation in which they consider the past year and look hopefully to the future. As part of these traditions, the seasonal horror story, whether delivered as an oral tradition, published, or broadcast, offers a clear opportunity to engage with causes of unease and fear. At the same time, it allows these fears to be diminished as they are treated as ‘just entertainment’, and traditional forms of the seasonal horror story are recreated as nostalgic pastiche or given a comedy treatment. Even here, these more-lighthearted renditions can allow audiences to engage with and work through issues that concern them in ways similar to those stories intended to cause fear, even if the fear itself is softened. Examples of such issues that have been dealt with through seasonal horror include disconnection from society in A Christmas Carol, the power of grief in The Woman in Black, or the power of the media in Ghostwatch or of technological change in Black Mirror’s Christmas episode ‘White Christmas’. Utilising these and other examples, this paper will outline the significance of narratives of fear as part of traditions of reflection at particular seasons