Dan Frings

I joined LSBU in 2008, having gained my PhD from the University of Kent and spent a short period as a visiting researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara. I am currently Professor of Social Psychology in the School of Applied Sciences, Division of Psychology. I co-Direct the ETU in conjunction with Professor Paula Reavey and I am also Chair of the LSBU University Ethics Panel.

Alongside my basic and applied research I have a strong commercial focus and am involved in the design and evaluation of both public health and commercial mental health supporting products such as apps, online platforms and face to face service provision. My work in this area includes both consultation and leading projects (ranging from small pilots to fully fledged randomised controlled trials).  Notable recent evaluation projects include the evaluation of online counselling services, a gold standard randomised controlled trial of a stop smoking service, and a mixed methods evaluation of AI services in public health contexts.

My work has been supported from a wide range of funders including the Economic and Social Research Council, the Medical Research Council, the European Regional Development Fund and Cancer Research UK as well as private enterprises. I have been lucky enough to have worked on publications of all shapes and sizes, including academic journal articles, various book chapters, a popular press psychology book, a concise overview of social psychology aimed at students and a comprehensive handbook on alcohol use.  

I deeply believe in the value of making research accessible to as wide an audience as possible and regularly take part in public engagement events, have discussed my work on national television and write the popular psychology blog psychologyitbetter.com. I am always keen to keep learning, including currently training to become a counsellor and psychotherapist.

ORCID iD:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0183-9516

Selected evaluation publications

Frings D, Albery I.P., Moss A.C., Brunger, H., Burghela, M, White, S., Wood, K.V. (2020). Comparison of Allen Carr’s Easyway programme with a specialist behavioural and pharmacological smoking cessation support service: a randomised controlled trial. Addiction, 115, 977-985 https://doi.org/10.1111/add.14897.

Kimber, C., Frings, D., Cox, S., Albery, I.P. & Dawkins, L. (2020). Communicating the Relative Health Risks of E-Cigarettes: An online experimental study exploring the Effects of a Comparative Health Message versus the EU Nicotine Addiction Warnings on Smokers’ and Non-Smokers’ Risk Perceptions and Behavioural Intentions. Addictive Behaviours, 101, 106177, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.106177

Frings, D., Hogan, C. J., Jn-Pierre, K. H., Wood, K. V., Holmes, M., & Albery, I. P. (2018). Online and face-to-face extended brief interventions for harmful alcohol use: client characteristics, attendance and treatment outcomes. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2018.1555516.

Kelly, M., Wills, J. & Frings, D. (2019).  Nurses as role models in health promotion: piloting the acceptability of a social marketing campaign. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 72, 423-431

Kolubinski, D. C., Frings, D., Nikčević, A. V., Lawrence, J. A., & Spada, M. M. (2018). A systematic review and meta-analysis of CBT interventions based on the Fennell Model of Low Self-Esteem. Psychiatry Research, 267, 296-305.

Stautz, K., Frings, D., Albery, I.P., Moss, A.C. Marteau, T.M. (2017). Impact of alcohol promoting and alcohol warning advertisements on alcohol consumption, affect, and implicit cognition in heavy drinking young adults: a laboratory-based randomized controlled trial. British Journal of Health Psychology, 22, 128-150.

Aihio, N., Frings, D. Wilcock, R., Burrell, P. (2016). Crime Victims’ Demographics Inconsistently Relate to Self-Reported Vulnerability,  Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 24, 1-13.