Staff profile

I am social/health/personality psychologist interested in the factors that create risk or resilience for health and well-being. I have a particular interest in the how self-regulation (how we manage and direct our thoughts, emotions, and behaviours to reach our goals) can impact health and well-being and the factors and qualities that contour people’s capacities to self-regulate. 

I joined Durham University as a Professor in Social and Health Psychology in May 2022, and was previously a Professor at the University of Sheffield. Prior to arriving in the UK in 2015, I was a Canada Research Chair and the Co-ordinator of the multidisciplinary Psychological Health and Well-being Research cluster at Bishop’s University (2010-2015).

I am passionate about communicating the results of psychological science with the public so that research is accessible and impactful beyond academia. To this end, I regularly engage with the public, media, and journalists about research on health and well-being. You can read some of the articles that I have written for The Conversation here.

• Adjustment to chronic health conditions
• Counterfactual thinking
• Emotion regulation
• Health behaviours
• Loneliness and meaningful relationships
• Personality and health-related outcomes
• Positive psychology, esp. self-compassion and gratitude
• Time perspective and temporal thinking

Edited book

• Sirois, F. M., & Molnar, D. M. (Eds.). (2016). Perfectionism, Health, and Well-Being. Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18582-8
• Sirois, F. M., & Pychyl, T. A. (Eds.). (2016). Procrastination, Health, and Well-Being. https://doi.org/10.1016/c2014-0-03741-0

Journal Article

• Baxter, R., & Sirois, F. M. (2025). Self‐compassion and psychological distress in chronic illness: A meta‐analysis. British Journal of Health Psychology, 30(1), Article e12761. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12761
• Shepherd, L., Sirois, F. M., Harcourt, D., Norman, P., Aaron, D., Adkins, K., Cartwright, A., Hodgkinson, E., Murphy, N., & Thompson, A. R. (2025). A multi‐centre prospective cohort study investigating the roles of psychological flexibility and self‐compassion in appearance concerns after burn injuries. British Journal of Health Psychology, 30(1), Article e12754. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12754
• Charzyńska, E., Offenbächer, M., Halverson, K., Hirsch, J. K., Kohls, N., Hanshans, C., Sirois, F., & Toussaint, L. (online). Profiles of well-being and their associations with self-forgiveness, forgiveness of others, and gratitude among patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. British Journal of Health Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12749
• Shepherd, L., Sirois, F., Harcourt, D., Norman, P., & Thompson, A. R. (online). The acceptability of early psychological interventions for adults with appearance concerns after burns. Burns, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2024.07.038
• Shepherd, L., Sirois, F., Harcourt, D., Norman, P., & Thompson, A. R. (2024). Early appearance concerns after burns: Investigating the roles of psychological flexibility and self-compassion. Body Image, 51, Article 101797. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101797
• Sirois, F. M., & Biskas, M. (2024). Procrastination and Health in Nurses: Investigating the Roles of Stress, Health Behaviours and Social Support. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(7), Article 898. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21070898
• Hartley, G., Sirois, F., Purrington, J., & Rabey, Y. (2024). Adverse Childhood Experiences and Autism: A Meta-Analysis. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse, 25(3), 2297 - 2315. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380231213314
• Essex, R., Booth, L., Sirois, F., Burch, J., & Dibley, L. (2024). A scoping review of the qualitative literature reporting experiences of living with a stoma for inflammatory bowel disease. Journal of Advanced Nursing, https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.16254
• Hinch, R., & Sirois, F. M. (2024). A meta‐analysis of coping strategies and psychological distress in rheumatoid arthritis. British Journal of Health Psychology, 29(3), 771-787. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12726
• Biskas, M., Sirois, F. M., & Webb, T. L. (2023). Does Psychoeducation Help People to Respond to Goal Lapses With Self-Compassion?. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 41(8), 839-851. https://doi.org/10.1177/07342829231189010
• Sirois, F. M., Stride, C. B., & Pychyl, T. A. (2023). Procrastination and health: A longitudinal test of the roles of stress and health behaviours. British Journal of Health Psychology, 28(3), 860-875. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12658
• Genes, D., Sirois, F. M., & Buckland, N. J. (2023). The impact of the first COVID-19 lockdown on weight management practices in UK adults: A self-regulation perspective. Health Psychology Open, 10(2), https://doi.org/10.1177/20551029231214058
• Toussaint, L., Huynh, K., Kohls, N., Sirois, F., Alberts, H., Hirsch, J., Hanshans, C., Nguyen, Q. A., van der Zee-Neuen, A., & Offenbaecher, M. (2023). Expectations Regarding Gastein Healing Gallery Treatment and Their Connection to Health-Related Quality of Life. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(7), Article 5426. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20075426
• Sirois, F. M., & Biskas, M. (2023). Loneliness and preferences for palatable foods: The role of coping. Current Research in Behavioural Sciences, 5, Article 100119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbeha.2023.100119
• Finlay-Jones, A. L., Parkinson, A., Sirois, F., Perry, Y., Boyes, M., & Rees, C. S. (2023). Web-Based Self-Compassion Training to Improve the Well-Being of Youth With Chronic Medical Conditions: Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25, e44016. https://doi.org/10.2196/44016
• Danson, S., Sirois, F., Fradley, K., Wadsley, J., Ray, J., Bishop, R., Horsman, J., Mann, C., Chantry-Groves, L., Young, M., & Bentall, R. (2023). Mental health burden for NHS healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic: First results of a longitudinal survey. Heliyon, 9(3), Article e13765. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13765
• Sirois, F. M., & Owens, J. (2023). A meta-analysis of loneliness and use of primary health care. Health Psychology Review, 17(2), 193-210. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2021.1986417
• Beaton, D. M., Sirois, F., & Milne, E. (2022). The role of self‐compassion in the mental health of adults with ADHD. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 78(12), 2497-2512. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23354
• Beaton, D. M., Sirois, F., & Milne, E. (2022). Experiences of criticism in adults with ADHD: A qualitative study. PLoS ONE, 17(2), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263366
• Biskas, M., Sirois, F. M., & Webb, T. L. (2022). Using social cognition models to understand why people, such as perfectionists, struggle to respond with self‐compassion. British Journal of Social Psychology, 61(4), 1160-1182. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12531
• Baird, H. M., Webb, T. L., Sirois, F. M., & Gibson-Miller, J. (2021). Understanding the effects of time perspective: A meta-analysis testing a self-regulatory framework. Psychological Bulletin, 147(3), https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000313
• Sirois, F. M., Toussaint, L., Hirsch, J. K., Kohls, N., & Offenbächer, M. (2021). A person-centred test of multidimensional perfectionism and health in people with chronic fatigue syndrome versus healthy controls. Personality and Individual Differences, 181, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111036
• Stevenson, J. C., Millings, A., Emerson, L.-M., Sirois, F., & Rowe, A. C. (2021). Adult attachment and Mindfulness: Examining directionality, causality, and theoretical implications. Journal of Research in Personality, 90, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2020.104043
• Trindade, I. A., & Sirois, F. M. (2021). The prospective effects of self-compassion on depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress: A study in inflammatory bowel disease. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 146, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2021.110429
• Chen, Z., Feng, P., Becker, B., Xu, T., Nassar, M. R., Sirois, F., Hommel, B., Zhang, C., He, Q., Qiu, J., He, L., Lei, X., Chen, H., & Feng, T. (2021). Neural connectome prospectively encodes the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom during the COVID-19 pandemic. Neurobiology of Stress, 15, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ynstr.2021.100378
• Sirois, F. M., & Owens, J. (2021). Factors Associated With Psychological Distress in Health-Care Workers During an Infectious Disease Outbreak: A Rapid Systematic Review of the Evidence. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.589545
• Xu, T., Sirois, F. M., Zhang, L., Yu, Z., & Feng, T. (2021). Neural basis responsible for self-control association with procrastination: Right MFC and bilateral OFC functional connectivity with left dlPFC. Journal of Research in Personality, 91, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2021.104064
• Lilley, C., Sirois, F., & Rowse, G. (2020). A meta-analysis of parental multidimensional perfectionism and child psychological outcomes. Personality and Individual Differences, 162, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110015
• Millings, A., Hirst, S. L., Sirois, F., & Houlston, C. (2020). Emotional adaptation to relationship dissolution in parents and non-parents: A new conceptual model and measure. PLoS ONE, 15(10), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239712
• Molnar, D. S., Janssen, W. F., & Sirois, F. M. (2020). Sleeping perfectly? Trait perfectionism, perceived stress, and sleep quality. Personality and Individual Differences, 167, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110244
• Xu, T., Chen, Z., Sirois, F. M., Zhang, R., Yang, Y., & Feng, T. (2020). Neuroanatomical substrates accounting for the effect of present hedonistic time perspective on risk preference: the mediating role of right posterior parietal cortex. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 15(1), https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-019-00251-z
• Sirois, F. M. (2020). The association between self-compassion and self-rated health in 26 samples. BMC Public Health, 20(1), https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-8183-1
• Beaton, D. M., Sirois, F., & Milne, E. (2020). Self-compassion and Perceived Criticism in Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Mindfulness, 11(11), https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01464-w
• Sirois, F. M. (2019). Trait procrastination undermines outcome and efficacy expectancies for achieving health-related possible selves. Current Psychology, 40(8), https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00338-2
• Neff, K. D., Tóth-Király, I., Yarnell, L. M., Arimitsu, K., Castilho, P., Ghorbani, N., Guo, H. X., Hirsch, J. K., Hupfeld, J., Hutz, C. S., Kotsou, I., Lee, W. K., Montero-Marin, J., Sirois, F. M., de Souza, L. K., Svendsen, J. L., Wilkinson, R. B., & Mantzios, M. (2019). Examining the factor structure of the Self-Compassion Scale in 20 diverse samples: Support for use of a total score and six subscale scores. Psychological Assessment, 31(1), https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000629
• Sirois, F. M., Yang, S., & van Eerde, W. (2019). Development and validation of the General Procrastination Scale (GPS-9): A short and reliable measure of trait procrastination. Personality and Individual Differences, 146, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.03.039
• Sirois, F. M., & Iyer, A. (2018). “At least David Cameron resigned”: The protective effects of just-world beliefs for counterfactual thinking after Brexit. Personality and Individual Differences, 121, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.09.015
• Baird, H. M., Webb, T. L., Martin, J., & Sirois, F. M. (2018). The Relationship Between a Balanced Time Perspective and Self-monitoring of Blood Glucose Among People With Type 1 Diabetes. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 53(2), https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kay028
• Sirois, F. M., & Giguère, B. (2018). Giving in when feeling less good: Procrastination, action control, and social temptations. British Journal of Social Psychology, 57(2), https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12243
• Sirois, F. M., Bögels, S., & Emerson, L.-M. (2018). Self-compassion Improves Parental Well-being in Response to Challenging Parenting Events. The Journal of Psychology, 153(3), https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2018.1523123