Dr Leah Sharman
ARC DECRA Research Fellow
School of Psychology
+61 7 334 69506
Researcher biography
Dr Leah Sharman is an ARC DECRA Research Fellow in the School of Psychology. Her research interests are broadly in the fields of Social, Emotion, and Health Psychology with much of her research involving interdisciplinary collaborations across Law, Medicine, and Public Health. Dr Sharman's PhD was completed in 2019 with her thesis furthering understanding of our interpretations of crying and its functions. Dr Sharman's postdoctoral research is currently focused on understanding how victim-survivor experiences of loneliness are associated with health and social outcomes after escaping from intimate partner violence.
Publications
Book Chapters
Dingle, Genevieve A. and Sharman, Leah S. (2022). Social prescribing: a review of the literature. Existential concerns and cognitive-behavioral procedures: an integrative approach to mental health. (pp. 135-149) edited by Ross G. Menzies, Rachel E. Menzies and Genevieve A. Dingle. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-06932-1_8
Dingle, Genevieve, Sharman, Leah and Larwood, Joel (2019). Young people’s uses of music for emotional immersion. Handbook of Music, Adolescents, and Wellbeing. (pp. 25-38) Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780198808992.003.0003
Journal Articles
Dingle, Genevieve A., Aggar, Christina, Arslanovski, Nikita, Astell-Burt, Thomas, Baker, J. R., Baxter, Ruthanne, Bissett, Michelle, Bowe, Mhairi, Brymer, Eric, Burton, Alexandra, Byng, Richard, Elston, Julian, Fancourt, Daisy, Feng, Xiaoqi, Fino, Emmanuel, Freak-Poli, Rosanne, Harkin, Lydia, Hayes, Daniel, Hazeldine, Emma, Kellezi, Blerina, Mcnamara, Niamh, Sharman, Leah, Stevenson, Clifford, Wakefield, Juliet, Warran, Katey, Wells, Leanne, Wright, Laura, Zurynski, Yvonne and Husk, Kerryn (2025). Australian and UK perspectives on social prescribing implementation research: theory, measurement, resourcing and discovery to ensure health equity. Health and Social Care in the Community, 2025 (1) 2650302. doi: 10.1155/hsc/2650302
Conte, Isabella, Sharman, Leah S. and Douglas, Heather (2025). Choking/Strangulation During Sex: Understanding and Negotiating “Safety” Among 18-35 Year Old Australians. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 54 (2), 1-12. doi: 10.1007/s10508-025-03097-3
Sharman, Leah S., Fitzgerald, Robin and Douglas, Heather (2025). Strangulation during sex among undergraduate students in Australia: toward understanding participation, harms, and education. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 22 (1) e072077, 362-375. doi: 10.1007/s13178-024-00941-4
Sharman, Leah S., Douglas, Heather and Fitzgerald, Robin (2024). A Qualitative Exploration of the Impact of Increasing Criminalization on Domestic Violence Support Workers: Nonfatal Strangulation as a Case Study. Violence Against Women, 10778012241289422. doi: 10.1177/10778012241289422
Chatterji, Madhumati, Donald, Maria, van Driel, Mieke L., Marks, Guy B., Liaw, Siaw-Teng and Sharman, Leah S. (2024). Models of care for tuberculosis infection screening and treatment in primary care: A scoping review. Australian Journal of General Practice, 53 (10), 756-763. doi: 10.31128/AJGP-10-23-6988
Clarke, James J., Haslam, S. Alexander, Sharman, Leah S., Guerrini, Briana, Holmes, Kirsten, Talbot, Rebecca, Wild, James and McEvoy, Peter M. (2024). Leading by example: identity leadership and mental health in men’s sheds members. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 44 (5), 815-824. doi: 10.1177/07334648241289020
Haslam, S. Alexander, Haslam, Catherine, Cruwys, Tegan, Sharman, Leah S., Hayes, Shaun, Walter, Zoe, Jetten, Jolanda, Steffens, Niklas K., Cardona, Magnolia, La Rue, Crystal J., McNamara, Niamh, Kellezi, Blerina, Wakefield, Juliet R. H., Stevenson, Clifford, Bowe, Mhairi, McEvoy, Peter, Robertson, Alysia M., Tarrant, Mark, Dingle, Genevieve and Young, Tarli (2024). Corrigendum to "Tackling loneliness together: A three-tier social identity framework for social prescribing". Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 27 (5), 1207-1207. doi: 10.1177/13684302241284453
Hayes, Shaun, Sharman, Leah, Mcnamara, Niamh and Dingle, Genevieve (2024). Link workers' and clients' perspectives on how social prescribing offers a social cure for loneliness. Journal of Health Psychology. doi: 10.1177/13591053241274090
Sharman, Leah, Fitzgerald, Robin and Douglas, Heather (2024). Prevalence of Sexual Strangulation/Choking Among Australian 18–35
Year‑Olds. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 54 (2), 465-480. doi: 10.1007/s10508-024-02937-y
Haslam, S. Alexander, Haslam, Catherine, Cruwys, Tegan, Sharman, Leah S., Hayes, Shaun, Walter, Zoe, Jetten, Jolanda, Steffens, Niklas K., Cardona, Magnolia, La Rue, Crystal J., McNamara, Niamh, Këllezi, Blerina, Wakefield, Juliet R. H., Stevenson, Clifford, Bowe, Mhairi, McEvoy, Peter, Robertson, Alysia M., Tarrant, Mark, Dingle, Genevieve and Young, Tarli (2024). Tackling loneliness together: a three-tier social identity framework for social prescribing. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 27 (5), 1128-1150. doi: 10.1177/13684302241242434
Dingle, Genevieve A., Sharman, Leah S., Hayes, Shaun, Haslam, Catherine, Cruwys, Tegan, Jetten, Jolanda, Haslam, S. Alexander, McNamara, Niamh, Chua, David, Baker, James R. and Johnson, Tracey (2024). A controlled evaluation of social prescribing on loneliness for adults in Queensland: 8-week outcomes. Frontiers in Psychology, 15 1359855, 1359855. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1359855
Douglas, Heather, Sharman, Leah and Fitzgerald, Robin (2024). Domestic violence, sex, strangulation and the ‘blurry’ question of consent. The Journal of Criminal Law, 88 (1), 48-66. doi: 10.1177/00220183241233455
Sharman, Leah S., Fitzgerald, Robin and Douglas, Heather (2024). Correction to: Prevalence of Sexual Strangulation/Choking Among Australian 18–35 Year-Olds (Archives of Sexual Behavior, (2024), 10.1007/s10508-024-02937-y). Archives of Sexual Behavior, 54 (2), 481-481. doi: 10.1007/s10508-024-03014-0
Sharman, Leah S., Fitzgerald, Robin and Douglas, Heather (2023). Medical evidence assisting non-fatal strangulation prosecution: a scoping review. BMJ Open, 13 (3) e072077, 1-11. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-072077
Sheeran, Nicola, Vallury, Kari, Sharman, Leah S., Corbin, Bonney, Douglas, Heather, Bernardino, Brenna, Hach, Maria, Coombe, Leanne, Keramidopoulos, Sophie, Torres-Quiazon, Regina and Tarzia, Laura (2022). Reproductive coercion and abuse among pregnancy counselling clients in Australia: trends and directions. Reproductive Health, 19 (1) 170, 1-10. doi: 10.1186/s12978-022-01479-7
Sharman, Leah S., Avent, Minyon L., Lyall, Vivian, Fejzic, Jasmina, Clark, Julia E., Irwin, Adam, Graham, Nicolette and van Driel, Mieke L. (2022). Improving paediatric antimicrobial stewardship in remote and regional Queensland hospitals: development and qualitative evaluation of a tailored intervention for intravenous-to-oral antibiotic switching. BMJ Open, 12 (12) e064888, 1-10. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-064888
Sharman, Leah S., McNamara, Niamh, Hayes, Shaun and Dingle, Genevieve A. (2022). Social prescribing link workers-A qualitative Australian perspective. Health and Social Care in the Community, 30 (6), 1-10. doi: 10.1111/hsc.14079
Dingle, G. A., Sharman, L. S., Hayes, S., Chua, D., Baker, J. R., Haslam, C., Jetten, J., Haslam, S. A., Cruwys, T. and McNamara, N. (2022). A controlled evaluation of the effect of social prescribing programs on loneliness for adults in Queensland, Australia (protocol). BMC Public Health, 22 (1) 1384, 1384. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-13743-3
Dingle, Genevieve A., Sharman, Leah S., Bauer, Zoe, Beckman, Emma, Broughton, Mary, Bunzli, Emma, Davidson, Robert, Draper, Grace, Fairley, Sheranne, Farrell, Callyn, Flynn, Libby Maree, Gomersall, Sjaan, Hong, Mengxun, Larwood, Joel, Lee, Chiying, Lee, Jennifer, Nitschinsk, Lewis, Peluso, Natalie, Reedman, Sarah Elizabeth, Vidas, Dianna, Walter, Zoe C. and Wright, Olivia Renee Louise (2021). How do music activities affect health and well-being? A scoping review of studies examining psychosocial mechanisms. Frontiers in Psychology, 12 713818, 713818. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.713818
Zickfeld, Janis H., van de Ven, Niels, Pich, Olivia, Schubert, Thomas W., Berkessel, Jana B., Pizarro, José J., Bhushan, Braj, Mateo, Nino Jose, Barbosa, Sergio, Sharman, Leah, Kökönyei, Gyöngyi, Schrover, Elke, Kardum, Igor, Aruta, John Jamir Benzon, Lazarevic, Ljiljana B., Escobar, María Josefina, Stadel, Marie, Arriaga, Patrícia, Dodaj, Arta, Shankland, Rebecca, Majeed, Nadyanna M., Li, Yansong, Lekkou, Eleimonitria, Hartanto, Andree, Özdoğru, Asil A., Vaughn, Leigh Ann, del Carmen Espinoza, Maria, Caballero, Amparo, Kolen, Anouk ... Vingerhoets, Ad (2021). Tears evoke the intention to offer social support: a systematic investigation of the interpersonal effects of emotional crying across 41 countries. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 95 104137, 104137. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104137
Donald, Maria, Partanen, Riitta, Sharman, Leah, Lynch, Johanna, Dingle, Genevieve A., Haslam, Catherine and van Driel, Mieke (2021). Long-term antidepressant use in general practice: a qualitative study of GPs' views on discontinuation. British Journal of General Practice, 71 (708), BJGP.2020.0913-e516. doi: 10.3399/bjgp.2020.0913
Dingle, Genevieve A., Sharman, Leah S., Haslam, Catherine, Donald, Maria, Turner, Cynthia, Partanen, Riitta, Lynch, Johanna, Draper, Grace and van Driel, Mieke L. (2021). The effects of social group interventions for depression: systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 281, 67-81. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.11.125
Sharman, Leah S., Dingle, Genevieve A., Baker, Marc, Fischer, Agneta, Gračanin, Asmir, Kardum, Igor, Manley, Harry, Manokara, Kunalan, Pattara-Angkoon, Sirirada, Vingerhoets, Ad J. J. M. and Vanman, Eric J. (2019). The relationship of gender roles and beliefs to crying in an international sample. Frontiers in Psychology, 10 2288, 2288. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02288
Sharman, Leah S., Dingle, Genevieve A., Vingerhoets, Ad J. J. M. and Vanman, Eric J. (2019). Using crying to cope: physiological responses to stress following tears of sadness. Emotion, 20 (7), 1279-1291. doi: 10.1037/emo0000633
Williams, Elyse, Dingle, Genevieve A., Calligeros, Renee, Sharman, Leah and Jetten, Jolanda (2019). Enhancing mental health recovery by joining arts-based groups: a role for the social cure approach. Arts and Health, 12 (2), 1-13. doi: 10.1080/17533015.2019.1624584
Price, Elizabeth, Sharman, Leah, Douglas, Heather, Sheeran, Nicola and Dingle, Genevieve (2019). Experiences of reproductive coercion in Queensland women. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37 (5-6) online first, 886260519846851-NP2843. doi: 10.1177/0886260519846851
Sharman, Leah S., Douglas, Heather, Price, Elizabeth, Sheeran, Nicola and Dingle, Genevieve A. (2019). Associations between unintended pregnancy, domestic violence, and sexual assault in a population of Queensland women. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 26 (4), 541-552. doi: 10.1080/13218719.2018.1510347
Sharman, Leah S., Dingle, Genevieve A. and Vanman, Eric J. (2018). Does crying help? Development of the beliefs about crying scale (BACS). Cognition and Emotion, 33 (4), 1-15. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2018.1488243
Loxton, Natalie J., Mitchell, Rohani, Dingle, Genevieve A. and Sharman, Leah S. (2016). How to tame your BAS: reward sensitivity and music involvement. Personality and Individual Differences, 97, 35-39. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2016.03.018
Sharman, Leah and Dingle, Genevieve A. (2015). Extreme metal music and anger processing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9 (May) 272, 1-11. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00272
Conference Papers
Fitzgerald, Robin, Douglas, Heather and Sharman, Leah (2022). Criminalisation of non-fatal strangulation in Australia: what is prison for?. Rage, reckoning, and remedy: Global Meeting on Law & Society 2022, Virtual/Lisbon, Spain, 13 - 16 July 2022.
Leah, Sharman, Eric, Vanman and Jenna, Scambler (2015). The social function of tears in crying. ASP 2015 - 25th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Psychophysiology, Sydney, Australia, 2 - 4 December 2015. Frontiers Media SA. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.219.00056
Vanman, Eric J., Horiguchi, Mari and Sharman, Leah (2013). The social function of tears in crying: a facial electromyographic investigation. 53rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Florence Italy, 02 - 06 October 2013. Hoboken, NJ United States: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.. doi: 10.1111/psyp.12120
Generic Document
Sharman, Leah S., Steven, Clair and Shahzad, Erfa (2025). A Brief Report on the Health and Wellbeing Outcomes from Daily Nature: Comparing Connection and Contact. The University of Queensland.
Newspaper Article
Douglas, Heather, Sharman, Leah and Fitzgerald, Robin (2024, 07 02). More than half of Australian young people are using strangulation during sex: new research The Conversation
Department Technical Report
Sharman, Leah, Douglas, Heather and Fitzgerald, Robin (2022). Non-fatal strangulation offence convictions and outcomes: Insights from Queensland wide interlinked courts data, 2016/2017-2019-2020 . Department of Justice and Attorney General, Queensland.
Research Reports
Sharman, Leah S., Jones, Ally and Dingle, Genevieve (2024). 1-Year Evaluation of the Social Prescribing Trial in Brisbane North. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: University of Queensland.
Sharman, Leah S., Hayes, Shaun, Chua, David, Haslam, Catherine, Cruwys, Tegan, Jetten, Jolanda, Haslam, Alex, McNamara, Niamh, Baker, J. R., Johnson, Tracey and Dingle, Genevieve A. (2023). Report on the 18-month evaluation of social prescribing in Queensland. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: University of Queensland.
Sharman, Leah, Douglas, Heather and Fitzgerald, Robin (2021). Review of domestic violence deaths involving fatal or non-fatal strangulation in Queensland. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: The University of Melbourne/The University of Queensland.
Utting, Selina, Douglas, Heather, Sheeran, Nicola, Dingle, Genevieve A., Bell, Jennifer and Sharman, Leah S. (2018). The cost of abortion access in Queensland: data from the Children by Choice financial assistance program for disadvantaged women 2015-2017. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Children by Choice.
Sharman, Leah S. , Douglas, Heather , Price, Liz , Sheeran, Nicola and Dingle, Genevieve A. (2018). Experiences of QLD women seeking support for unplanned pregnancy. Brisbane, Australia: Children by Choice.
Dingle, Genevieve, Williams, Elyse, Sharman, Leah and Jetten, Jolanda (2016). School of hard knocks QLD: final evaluation report. School of Psychology, The University of Queensland.
Theses
Sharman, Leah (2019). Individual and Social Factors in Crying Appraisal and Recovery: An Exploration into the Functions of Crying. PhD Thesis, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2019.792
Sharman, Leah (2013). Frustration Sublimation: An Investigation Into Anger Processing Among Extreme Music Listeners. Honours Thesis, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland.