Dr Michael Smith

Associate Professor

School: Psychology

Dr Michael Smith completed his PhD in Psychology at the University of Western Australia in 2009, before undertaking postdoctoral work at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and Curtin University in Perth, Australia. Michael then joined the Department of Psychology at Northumbria University in 2010. He is currently the Head of Research and Knowledge Exchange for the Department of Psychology. Michael leads undergraduate and postgraduate modules in Health Psychology, and contributes to research supervision of undergraduate, Masters and PhD students.

Michael’s current research programmes are investigating the psycho(bio)logical causes and consequences of stress. He has further expertise in developing and evaluating simple techniques for alleviating stress and promoting wellbeing, such as expressive writing. Further, Michael has an interest in behaviour change, and is currently using models of behaviour change to investigate the processes which promote engagement with a variety of behaviours, including i) use of stress reduction techniques and ii) sustainable energy behaviours.

Email Michael

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Stress

Wellbeing

Behaviour Change

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
"It is not our job to educate you": Exploring Perceptions of AI-Integrated Menstrual Tracking Apps Through Speculative Reflection, Doughty, F., Sillence, E., Harrison, D., Smith, M. 20 Feb 2026, Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’26) , ACM
The role of demand characteristics and life satisfaction on the subjective wellbeing effects of gratitude letter writing, Smith, M., Colborn, Y., Hoult, L., Allen, S., Wetherell, M. 28 Jan 2026, In: Cogent Psychology
Wellbeing during blue space visits: The role of activity and environment type in a national population sample of 95,790 English adults, Smith, M., Wilkie, S., Wetherell, M. 25 Mar 2026
Facilitators and barriers to engaging in expressive writing among health and social care professionals, Smith, M., Hoult, L., Rippon, D., O’Brien, N., Branley-Bell, D., Byrne-Davis, L., Collins, C., Gallagher, S., Kinman, G., Mark, A., O’Connor, D., Vedhara, K., Williams, G., Wetherell, M. 25 Aug 2025, In: PLoS One
Positive expressive writing interventions, subjective health and wellbeing in non-clinical populations: A systematic review, Hoult, L., Wetherell, M., Edginton, T., Smith, M. 21 May 2025, In: PLoS One
Using the Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behaviour (COM-B) model to investigate end-user barriers and facilitators to low-rise district heating retrofit in the United Kingdom, Smith, M., Doughty, F. 1 Dec 2025, In: Energy Research and Social Science
Facilitators and barriers to engaging in expressive writing among health and social care professionals, Smith, M., Hoult, L., Rippon, D., O'Brien, N., Branley-Bell, D., Byrne-Davis, L., Collins, C., Gallagher, S., Kinman, G., Mark, A., O'Connor, D., Vedhara, K., Wetherell, M. 28 Oct 2024
Friendships, loneliness and psychological wellbeing in older adults: a limit to the benefit of the number of friends, Thompson, A., Smith, M., McNeill, A., Pollet, T. 1 May 2024, In: Ageing & Society
The Moderating Role of Dietary Quality and Dietary Fibre Intake on the Mood Effects of Positive Expressive Writing: A Pilot Study, Levová, L., Smith, M. 27 Aug 2024, In: Nutrients
Effects of chewing gum on nitric oxide metabolism, markers of cardiovascular health and neurocognitive performance after a nitrate-rich meal, Ong, S., Bondonno, N., Downey, L., Scholey, A., Smith, M., Stough, C., Blekkenhorst, L., Woodman, R., Croft, K., Hodgson, J., Bondonno, C. 17 Feb 2022, In: Journal of the American College of Nutrition

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Participating in a conference, workshop, ...: Society for Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine Annual Conference 2026 2026

PGR Supervision

Sarah Chalhoub Assessing the impact of psychological risk to women experiencing sexual changes during menopause Start Date: 21/12/2021 End Date: 28/02/2025