Logo close icon
search button

    Close window

      Close window

      Contact
      Share
      Section navigation

      Dr Nicola Payne

      ROLE: Associate Professor in Psychology
      SCHOOL: Science & Technology
      DEPARTMENT: Psychology
      TELEPHONE: +44 (0)20 8411 5467
      EMAIL: N.Payne@mdx.ac.uk
      1. Biography &
        Qualifications
      2. Learning &
        Teaching Interests
      3. Research Outputs &
        Interests
      4. Funded Research &
        Knowledge Exchange Projects
      5. Engagement &
        Impact

      • Biography &
        Qualifications

        Dr Nicky Payne joined the Psychology Department at Middlesex University in 2002. Her research focuses on:

        • Occupational health psychology, especially work stress and work-life balance, including the experiences of and supports available for employees having fertility treatment; work-life balance in the fire and rescue service; the impact of working life on health behaviour and interventions to promote healthy behaviour in the workplace.
        • Health psychology, especially barriers to health behaviours such as exercise; interventions to promote behaviour change and evaluating interventions; living with chronic conditions, and the impacts of fertility challenges.

        Qualifications:

        • BSc (Hons) Psychology (Hertfordshire), MSc Health Psychology (City), PhD (Hertfordshire), PGCertHE (Middlesex)
        • Chartered Psychologist and full member of the BPS Division of Health Psychology
        • HCPC registered and practitioner Health Psychologist
        • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

        Languages spoken


        Languages Spoken

      • Learning &
        Teaching Interests

        Programme and module leadership:

        • Psychology Research Degrees Co-ordinator
        • MSc Clinical Health Psychology and Wellbeing Course Director
        • Module leadership: Applying health psychology to behaviour change (PSY3051); Clinical Health Psycholgy: Perspectives, practice and placement (PSY4047); Reserach: practice and reporting (PSY4035).

        Teaching interests:

        • Defining and measuring health
        • Theories of health behaviour
        • Health promotion and behaviour change
        • Inequalities in health

      • Research Outputs &
        Interests

        I am Chair of the Psychology, Health and Wellbeing Research Group and member of the Health Psycholgy lab at Middlesex.

        Occupational health psychology interests:

        • Work-life balance and flexible working
        • The impact of the work environment and working life on individual and family health behaviours
        • Health behaviour change in the workplace (especially exercise)
        • Stress and wellbeing at work

        Health psychology interests:

        • Experiences of fertility challenges
        • Experiences of lving with chronic conditions
        • Theory-based health behaviour change interventions
        • Public health service evaluations

        Examples of Projects:

        • How people undergoing fertility treatment manage work and treatment
        • The psychological impacts of fertility challenges
        • Work-life balance and well-being in the fire and rescue service
        • The impacts on families of children with Long covid 
        • Quality of life in children with sickle cell anemia
        • Service evaluations e.g. physical activity, child weight management

        Research Supervision:

        • Kanchi Gunaratna. The impact of occupational stress on psychological well-being in the fire services (PhD awarded)
        • Padma Ramachandran. An investigation of occupational stress and coping among staff in Higher Education: A comparison between the UK and Malaysia (PhD posthumously awarded)
        • Christina Constantinou. Quality of Life and health behaviours in children and adolescents with Sickle Cell Disease (PhD awarded)
        • Fatemeh Fazeli. Children's and parents’ perceptions of weight status, physical activity, sedentary behaviour and fundamental movement skills (PhD awarded)
        • Neelam Ghuman.Work-life balance in employees with different family structures.
        • Tasneem Wadee. Doctorate in Professional Studies in Psychology: Leading and Managing business transformation in a changing economic climate.
        • Nikki Swales. The psychological impact of skin cancer and the client’s experience of psychotherapeutic interventions.
        • Lindsay van Dijk. The experience of humanist healthcare chaplains entering faith-based NHS Chaplaincy teams.
        • Hosna Yasin. Workplace bullying and intergroup relations. The effect of organizational level social dominance and power distance orientation.

        Examples of Publications:

          • Constantinou, C., & Payne. N. (2023). Health-related quality of life in children and adolescents with sickle cless diease. In B. Inusa, K. Nwankwo, N. Azinge & B. Bolarinwa (Eds). Sickle Cell Disorder in Subsaharan Africa.
          • Payne, N., & van den Akker, O. (2022). Mental health and coping with fertility treatment cessation during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology. Online first
          • Abdurahman, F.& Payne, N. (2022). Reiki practitioners’ perceptions of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the experience, practice and future of Reiki. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 46. Online first.
          • Constantinou, C., Payne. N., Inusa, B., & van den Akker, O. A (2021). Qualitative exploration of health-related quality of life and health behaviours in children with Sickle Cell Disease and healthy siblings. Psychology and Health. Online first
          • Payne, N. and Kinman, G. (2019). Job demands, resources and work-related well-being in UK firefighters. Occupational Medicine, 69(8-9), 604-609.
          • Payne, N., Seenan, S. and van den Akker, O. Experiences of involuntary childlessness and treatment in the UK: what has changed in 20 years? Human Fertility. Online first.
          • Eaves, J., & Payne, N. (2019). Resilience, stress and burnout in student midwives. Nurse Education Today, 79, 188-193.
          • Payne, N., Seenan, S. and van den Akker, O. (2019). Experiences and psychological distress of fertility treatment and employment. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology, 40(2), 156-165.
          • Carneiro, D., Novais, P., Augusto, J. C., & Payne, N. (2019). New Methods for Stress Assessment and Monitoring at the Workplace. IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing, 10(2), 237-254.
          • van den Akker, O., Payne, N. and Lewis, S. (2017). Catch 22? Disclosing assisted conception treatment at work. International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 10(5), 364-375.
          • Ciclitira, K., Starr, F., Payne, N., Clarke, L., & Marzano, L. (2017). A sanctuary of tranquility in a ruptured world: Evaluating long-term counselling at a women’s community health centre. Feminism and Psychology, 27(4), 530-552.
          • Lewis, S., Anderson, D., Lyonette, C., Payne, N., & Woods, S. (eds.) (2017). Work-Life Balance in Times of Recession, Austerity and Beyond. Routledge.
          • Lyonette, C., Anderson, D., Lewis, S., Payne, N., & Woods, S. (2017) Work-life balance and austerity: implications of new ways of working in British public sector organisations. In S. Lewis, D. Anderson, C. Lyonette, N. Payne & S. Woods (Eds.), Work-Life Balance in Times of Recession, Austerity and Beyond. Routledge.
          • Lewis, S., Anderson, D., Lyonette, C., Payne, N., & Woods, S. (2017). Public sector austerity cuts in Britain and the changing discourse of work-life balance. Work, Employment and Society, 31(4), 586-604.
          • Sumodhee, D. & Payne, N. (2015). Healthy eating beliefs and intentions of mothers and their adult children: an intergenerational transmission perspective. Journal of Health Psychology, 21(12), 2775-2787. DOI: 10.1177/1359105315586214
          • Constantinou, C., Payne, N. & Inusa, B. (2015). Assessing the Quality of Life of Children with Sickle Cell Anaemia using Self-, Parent-proxy and Healthcare Professional-proxy Reports. British Journal of Health Psychology, 20, 290-304. DOI: 10.1111/bjhp.12099
          • Payne, N., Ciclitira, K., Starr, F., Marzano, L., & Brunswick, N. (2015). Evaluation of long-term counselling at a community health service for women on a low-income. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 15(2), 79-87. DOI:1080/14733145.2013.877513
          • Payne, N., Jones, F., & Kinman, G. (2012). Work, stress and health behaviours. In J. Houdmont, S. Leka, & R. Sinclair (Eds.), Contemporary Occupational Health Psychology: Global Perspectives on Research and Practice, Volume 2. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
          • Payne, N., Jones, F. & Harris, P.R. (2013). Employees’ perceptions of the impact of work on health behaviours. Journal of Health Psychology, 18, 887-899. DOI:1177/1359105312446772
          • Murdoch, M., Payne, N., Samani-Radia, D., Rosen-Webb, J., Walker, L., Howe, M. & Lewis, P. (2011). Family Based Behavioural Management of childhood obesity: Service evaluation of a group programme run in a community setting in the UK. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 65, 764-767. DOI: 10.1038/ejcn.2011.23
          • Payne, N., Jones, F. & Harris, P.R. (2010). A daily diary investigation of the effects of work stress on exercise intention implementation: Can planning overcome the disruptive effects of work? Psychology and Health, 25, 1, 111-129. DOI:10.1080/08870440903337622
          • Elander, J., Pittam, G., Lusher, J., Fox, P. & Payne, N. (2010). Evaluation of an intervention to help students avoid unintentional plagiarism by improving their authorial identity. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 35, 2, 157 - 171. DOI: 10.1080/02602930802687745
          • Pittam, G., Elander, J., Lusher, J., Fox, P. & Payne, N. (2009). Student beliefs and attitudes about authorial identity in academic writing. Studies in Higher Education 34, 2, 153-170. DOI: 10.1080/03075070802528270
          • Payne, N. (2008). Learning, teaching and assessment of Health Psychology MSc courses: Results from a survey. Health Psychology Update, 17, 2, 34-40.
          • Payne, N. & Jones, F. (2007). Work stress and health behaviour: Daily diary methodology and multilevel modelling. Health Psychology Update, 16, 3, 13-18.
          • Jones, F., Kinman, G. & Payne, N. (2006). Work stress and health behaviours: a work life balance issue. In F. Jones, R. Burke & M. Westman (Eds.), Work Life Balance: A Psychological Perspective. London: Taylor Francis.
          • Payne, N. (2006). Learning, teaching and assessment in health psychology. Health Psychology Update, 15, 2, 4-5.
          • Payne, N., Jones, F. & Harris, P.R. (2005). The impact of job strain on the predictive validity of the theory of planned behaviour: An investigation of exercise and healthy eating. British Journal of Health Psychology, 10, 115-131. DOI: 10.1348/135910704X14636
          • Payne, N., Jones, F. & Harris, P.R. (2004). The role of perceived need within the theory of planned behaviour: a comparison of intentions to exercise and intentions to eat healthily. British Journal of Health Psychology, 9, 489-504. DOI: 10.1348/1359107042304524
          • Payne, N., Jones, F. & Harris, P. (2002). The impact of working life on health behaviour: the effect of job strain on the cognitive predictors of exercise. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 7, 4, 342-353. DOI:1037/1076-8998.7.4.342
          • Payne, N. (2001). Occupational stressors and coping as determinants of burnout in female hospice nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 33, 3, 396-405. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2648.2001.01677.x

        Publication Feed

        Applying motivational techniques for user adherence to adopt a healthy lifestyle in a gamified application

        Fatima, Shabih and Augusto, Juan Carlos and Moseley, Ralph and Urbonas, Povilas and Elliott, Anne and Payne, Nicola (2023) Applying motivational techniques for user adherence to adopt a healthy lifestyle in a gamified application. Entertainment Computing . ISSN 1875-9521 (Accepted/In press)

        Mental health and coping with fertility treatment cessation during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK

        Payne, Nicola and van den Akker, Olga (2022) Mental health and coping with fertility treatment cessation during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology . ISSN 0167-482X (Published online first)

        Reiki practitioners’ perceptions of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the experience, practice and future of Reiki

        Abdurahman, Fatma and Payne, Nicola (2022) Reiki practitioners’ perceptions of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the experience, practice and future of Reiki. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice , 46 . ISSN 1744-3881

        Experiences of involuntary childlessness and treatment in the UK: what has changed in 20 years?

        Payne, Nicola and Seenan, Susan and van den Akker, Olga (2021) Experiences of involuntary childlessness and treatment in the UK: what has changed in 20 years? Human Fertility , 24 (5). pp. 333-340. ISSN 1464-7273

        A qualitative exploration of health-related quality of life and health behaviours in children with sickle cell disease and healthy siblings

        Constantinou, Christina and Payne, Nicola and van den Akker, Olga and Inusa, Baba (2021) A qualitative exploration of health-related quality of life and health behaviours in children with sickle cell disease and healthy siblings. Psychology and Health . ISSN 0887-0446 (Published online first)

        View more publications

      • Funded Research &
        Knowledge Exchange Projects

        Recent funding:

        Nicola Payne. Evaluating the impact of National Lottery funded staffing at Fertility Network UK. £5,000

        Nicola Payne, Camille Alexis-Garsee. Evaluation of Barking and Dagenham's community weight management service pilot funded by Barking and Dagenham Council. £27,829.

        Nicola Payne. Experiences of infertility and treatment. Fertility Network UK. £5,700.

        Olga van den Akker, Nicola Payne, Uracha Chatrakul Na Ayudhya & Suzan Lewis. The intersection of contemporary reproduction, work and working life: Towards an agenda for research and practice. Workshop Funded by the Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology. £1,500.

        Uracha Chatrakul Na Ayudhya, Nicola Payne, Olga van den Akker & Suzan Lewis. Organisational policies and practices to support employees who use fertility treatment. Birkbeck, University of London. £4,500.

        Camille Alexis-Garsee, Nicola Payne, et al. Evaluation of Barnet’s Physical Activity Services funded by GLL. £150,000.

        Suzan Lewis, Clare Lyonette, Nicola Payne et al. Work-life balance in the recession and beyond. ESRC Seminar series. £23,536.

        Nicola Payne and Olga van den Akker. Experiences of infertility and treatment. Fertility Network UK. £6,900.

      • Engagement &
        Impact

        • BPS Division of Occupational Psychology Work-life Balance Working Group member
        • European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology member
        • Work and Family Researchers Network member
        • Families and Work Network member
        •  

      In this section

      Back to top