Staff Profile
Some of my aims are to (i) provide high quality, student engaged teaching, to Sport and Exercise Science students, (ii) lead, and contribute to, high quality research projects, resulting in peer reviewed publications, (iii) supervise high quality research projects at undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral level, (iv) engage in applied work with athletes, and organisations, to disseminate contemporary research ideas.
M.Sc.- Sport and Exercise Psychology, Northumbria University, 2009
P.G. Dip.- Psychology, Sheffield Hallam University, 2008
B.Sc. (Hons)- Geography and Sport Science, 2007
My research interests predominantly involve the role of social support, in a performance and psychological wellbeing context. My PhD, completed at the University of Exeter, examined the antecedents and performance outcomes of social support, applying generalisability theory.
More recently, my research is examining how social support relates to psychological wellbeing for emergency service employees, with initial research evaluating current levels of support, stressors, and psychological wellbeing. Building upon this work, and working with colleagues, my plans are to develop psychosocial interventions to help improve social support provision and enhance psychological wellbeing. Some of my future plans involve looking at these relationships in an athlete and student cohort.
I have previously supervised a PhD project, at the University of Lincoln, looking at the effectiveness of different types of goal-setting in physically active and non-active populations.
I have published research in peer reviewed leading journals, including examining the antecedents of perceived support from coaches; challenge and threat states under pressurised competition; and evaluating the role of lay health trainers.
I lead modules for Stage One and Two students on the Sport and Exercise Science (SES) programme. I am the Senior Tutor and the Study Abroad lead for SES.
Module Lead:
SES1005- Introduction to Sport and Exercise Psychology
SES2001- Applied Sport and Exercise Psychology
- Coussens AH, Rees T, Freeman P. Applying Generalizability Theory to Examine the Antecedents of Perceived Coach Support. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 2015, 37(1), 51-62.
- Jackman PC, Clay G, Coussens AH, Bird MD, Henderson H. 'We are fighting a tide that keeps coming against us': A mixed method exploration of stressors in an English county police force. Police Practice and Research 2021, 22(1), 370-388.
- Jackman PC, Henderson H, Clay G, Coussens AH. The relationship between psychological wellbeing, social support, and personality in an English police force. International Journal of Police Science and Management 2020, 22(2), 183-193.
- Jeffries O, Evans DT, Waldron M, Coussens A, Patterson SD. Seven-day ischaemic preconditioning improves muscle efficiency during cycling. Journal of Sports Sciences 2019, 37(24), 2798-2805.
- Moore LJ, Wilson MR, Vine SJ, Coussens AH, Freeman P. Champ or chump? Challenge and threat states during pressurized competition. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 2013, 35(6), 551-562.
- Williams R, Middleton G, Allen-Collinson J, Kane R, Coussens AH. The occupational role of the lay health trainer in England: a review of practice. Universal Journal of Public Health 2016, 4(4), 218-224.