Dr Leah Sharman
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
School of Psychology
+61 7 334 69506

Researcher biography
Dr Leah Sharman is a Research Fellow in the School of Psychology. Her research interests are broadly in the fields of Emotion, Health, Music, and Social Psychology, often focusing on disadvantaged and marginalised groups. Much of her research involves interdisciplinary or cross-cultural collaborations, with links to the UQ School of Law and Medicine, as well as NGOs focused on women's health. Her PhD was completed in 2019 with her thesis furthering understanding of our interpretations of crying and its functions. Dr Sharman's postdoctoral research is aimed at understanding and evaluating community interventions to loneliness in Australia, with a focus on social prescribing in community centres and GP practices.
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
Sharman, Leah S., Fitzgerald, Robin and Douglas, Heather (2023). Medical evidence assisting non-fatal strangulation prosecution: a scoping review. BMJ Open, 13 (3), e072077. 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
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
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, 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 in Queensland: data from the Children by Choice financial assistance program for disadvantaged women 2015-2017. Brisbane, 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.