Dr Keith Harris

Biography

Dr Keith Harris completed his PhD at the University of Queensland, with a dissertation examining how suicidal individuals use the internet for suicide-related purposes. Keith is from the USA, and has lived in Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, and traveled extensively. He has been active in the field of Suicidology since 2005, is a member of the International Association of Suicide Prevention (IASP), the International Academy of Suicide Research (IASR), the American Association of Suicidology (AAS), and the Australian Psychological Society (MAPS). He has worked with coroner departments, hospitals, suicide prevention organisations, students and academics to promote suicide prevention and research. He is founder and director of the Suicide Study Group, and is happy to work with anyone interested in this area.

Qualifications

• PhD, University of Queensland, 2009
• Master of Arts, Claremont Graduate University - USA, 1987
• Bachelor of Science, Michigan State University - USA, 1983

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Research

Research keywords

• Help-Seeking
• ORB - Online Relationship Building
• Online Behaviors
• Social Support
• Suicide

Research expertise

I am interested in any factor, risk or protective, related to suicidality. The suicidal mind is one of my greatest areas of interest, and a frequent research topic of mine. Other specific areas include: how suicidal people use the internet, help-seeking, social support, psychopathology, sexual orientation, and cultural factors related to mental health and suicide risk. My research methods include online surveys, laboratory experiments, as well as analysis of hospital and clinical data. My projects are aimed at both furthering scientific knowledge as well as applying that knowledge to help solve real-world problems.

Some of my research contributions include: furthering the understanding of how suicidal people think about life and death and deciding on suicide; developing the ORBS - Online Relationship Building Scale; developing the LDAS - Life-Death Ambivalence Scale, empirical study of online suicidal behaviours, how suicidal individuals differ by sexuality, and evaluation of how hospitals process suicide attempters.

In addition, I am interested and actively involved in researching areas such as: health psychology, pyschometrics (creating and evaluating new scales/measures), use of technology for mental health purposes, help-seeking, cross cultural factors, and whatever else grabs my interest at the moment.

I am always happy to find colleagues, students, and professionals to collaborate with on projects of mutual interest. Feel free to get in touch if there is something you would like to work together on.

Collaboration

Dr Harris is founder and director of the Suicide Study Group (SSG). The SSG is dedicated to furthering theoretical and applied research on suicide, contributing to public education on suicide prevention, and applying research findings to improved treatment and prevention of suicidal behaviours.

The SSG can be found at: https:// www.facebook.com/pages/The-Suicide-Study-Group/148265885183967?v=wall

Currently, Keith's students are doing projects on: Thai and Cambodian media reports of suicide; online help-seeking; risk perceptions and behaviours of suicide-risk adults; borderline personality disorder treatment and reduction in suicidal behaviours; post-treatment help-seeking by patients suffering from comorbid alcohol and depression; pathways to suicide in the Australian farming community.

Other current projects include: suicide-related stigma; personality differences and suicide risk; and the safety/efficacy of conducting suicide risk assessment and research.

Languages

• Japanese

Fields of Research

Code	Description	Percentage
170100	Psychology	40
179999	Psychology And Cognitive Sciences Not Elsewhere Classified	40
111712	Health Promotion	20

Memberships

Body relevant to professional practice.

• Member - Australian Psychological Society
• Member - International Association of Suicide Prevention

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Administrative

Administrative expertise

Dr Harris has experience coordinating small to large projects, including a multidisciplinary ARC-Linkage project, Suicide Study Group (SSG) events and research, as well as seminars - including his World Suicide Prevention Day seminars (e.g. 10th September, 2012, 6-8PM, University of Newcastle, Australia, McMullen Lecture Theater).

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Teaching

Teaching keywords

• Health Psychology
• Research Methods
• Suicidology

Teaching expertise

Dr Harris has taught courses on: Suicidology, Introduction to Psychology, Psychopathology, Health Psychology, and Research Methods and Statistics.

He also gives workshops and seminars on applied research, online surveys, using SPSS and EndNote.