Dr Catherine Sebastian

Research

My research looks at how young people learn to regulate or control their emotions, and how this relates to socioemotional wellbeing and mental health. In particular, I study reactive aggression: that is, aggression caused by threat, frustration or provocation, and which is associated with excessive emotional reactivity and poor emotion regulation. I work with both typically developing adults and adolescents as well as young people with conduct problems. I use a variety of research methods from cognitive neuroscience and developmental psychology, including functional and structural neuroimaging, cognitive testing, and questionnaires. I direct the Emotion, Development & Brain Lab, and our work has received funding from the ESRC and British Academy. Please see our website for more information.

Teaching

I currently teach on the BSc 3rd year option 'Developmental Disorders'. I also contribute to 3rd year options 'Advanced Developmental Psychology' and 'The Social Brain', and supervise projects for BSc Psychology. MSc Clinical Psychology and MSc Forensic Psychology.

Other Service

I am currently Deputy Director of Graduate Studies within the Department of Psychology, with co-responsibility for a programme of ~35 PhD students. I conduct peer review for >20 academic journals, as well as for funding bodies including the ESRC, MRC, Royal Society and the Wellcome Trust.