Agata Wezyk

Agata Wezyk

  • awezyk at bournemouth dot ac dot uk
  • Lecturer in Psychology
  • Poole House P250, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, BH12 5BB
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Biography

I obtained my Master’s degree in Psychology with a specialism in Health and Clinical Psychology in 2008 after a 5-year course at the University of Lodz (Poland). At that time I also completed a post-diploma course in Sports Psychology so my Master’s dissertation focused on self-handicapping in young athletes. I have always been interested in health and occupational psychology and initially I worked in HR for about two years. Then, I moved on to a research position in Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine where I worked on various research projects related to employee well-being (job stress, fitness for work, presenteeism, work-life balance) as well as clinical issues such as PTSD in motor vehicle accident perpetrators.

In 2017 I was offered a PhD studentship at Bournemouth University under the supervision of Prof. Julie Turner-Cobb, Dr David Jones, and Dr Emily Arden-Close. I successfully defend my thesis “Understanding Stress and Health Through the Use of Visual Metaphor” in 2021. Throughout my PhD I was involved in teaching, and since January 2021 I have been working as a part-time lecturer at BU.

Research

My previous research experience focused mainly on broadly defined stress and well-being in different contexts. I have background in both quantitative and qualitative methods including working multi-modal data (verbal and visual). Currently, with colleagues from BU, University of West London, and Lyon Catholic University, I am working on a mixed-method project which has been developed to explore the efficacy of individual protective factors, family and social support networks, and organisational support available to psychology practitioners at the most critical times during and after the lockdown period. I also work part-time for the University of Lincoln on a mixed-method project “Breadwinning Mums, Caregiving Dads: Transforming Gender in Work and Childcare?” founded by Nuffield Foundation. It aims to identify the barriers to greater gender equality by exploring parenting arrangements in which childcare responsibilities are shared equally or assumed primarily by the mother/father.

Journal Articles

  • Wezyk, A.B., Arden-Close, E. and Turner-Cobb, J.M., 2023. ‘Ask a hundred people, you get a hundred definitions’: A comparison of lay and expert understanding of stress and its associations with health. Stress and Health.
  • Panourgia, C., Wezyk, A., Ventouris, A., Comoretto, A., Taylor, Z. and Yankouskaya, A., 2022. Individual factors in the relationship between stress and resilience in mental health psychology practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Health Psychology, 27 (11), 2613-2631.
  • Aliche, C.J., Ifeagwazi, C.M., Yankouskaya, A., Comoretto, A., Wezyk, A., Ventouris, A. and Panourgia, C., 2021. Post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive symptoms following a Herdsmen attack: The role of life meaning in mediating trait mindfulness. Stress and Health, 37 (3), 528-537.
  • Merecz-Kot, D., Wezyk, A., Waszkowska, M. and Andysz, A., 2021. Shame, guilt, time perspective, time of imprisonment and PTSD symptoms in sentenced motor vehicle accidents perpetrators - A preliminary report. Psychiatria Polska, 54 (6), 1163-1180.
  • Panourgia, K., Ventouris, A., Wezyk, A., Yankouskaya, A., Comoretto, A. and Taylor, Z., 2020. COVID-19: Vicarious traumatisation and resilience in Mental Health Psychology Practitioners.
  • Wezyk, A., Turner-Cobb, J. and Arden-Close, E., 2020. "Trapped under a tonne of rubble": using LEGO to explore conceptual metaphors of psychological stress. Qualitative Methods in Psychology Bulletin, 30, 40-50.
  • Waszkowska, M. and Wężyk, A., 2018. Psychological examinations in occupational health services: Legal regulations. Part I. Medycyna pracy, 69 (5), 561-572.
  • Jacukowicz, A. and Wezyk, A., 2018. Development and validation of the Psychosocial Risks Questionnaire for Musicians (PRQM). Psychology of Music, 46 (2), 252-265.
  • Waszkowska, M. and Wężyk, A., 2018. Psychological examinations in occupational health services: Legal regulations. Part II. Medycyna Pracy, 69 (6), 673-684.
  • Jacukowicz, A. and Wężyk, A., 2018. Musculoskeletal, hearing and skin problems related to playing the instrument. Medycyna Pracy, 69 (4), 383-394.
  • Bjornholt, M., Stefansen, K., Wezyk, A. and Merecz, D., 2017. The Role of Family Policy Regimes in Work–Family Adaptations: Polish Parents in Norway and Poland. Central and Eastern European Migration Review, 6 (2), 31-50.
  • Marcinkiewicz, A., Wężyk, A., Muszyński, P., Polańska, K., Makowiec-Dąbrowska, T., Wiszniewska, M., Walusiak-Skorupa, J. and Hanke, W., 2015. Good practice in occupational health services – The influence of hazardous conditions and nuisance coexisting in the work environment and at home on the course and outcome of pregnancy. Medycyna Pracy, 66 (5), 713-724.
  • Merecz-Kot, D., Waszkowska, M. and Wężyk, A., 2015. Mental health status of drivers – Motor vehicle accidents perpetrators. Medycyna Pracy, 66 (4), 525-538.
  • Wężyk, A. and Merecz, D., 2015. For the sake of linguistic and scientific appropriateness – How to translate ‘presenteeism’ into polish with respect to the language and particular care of scientific precision? Medycyna Pracy, 66 (3), 451-452.
  • Wezyk, A. and Merecz, D., 2013. Presenteeism - (not) new phenomenon in the occupational environment. Medycyna Pracy, 64 (6), 847-861.
  • Merecz, D., Waszkowska, M. and Wezyk, A., 2012. Psychological consequences of trauma in MVA perpetrators - Relationship between post-traumatic growth, PTSD symptoms and individual characteristics. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 15 (5), 565-574.

Chapters

  • Wężyk, A., 2019. Metaphors of Pride in Polish and English—A Corpus-Based Study. Second Language Learning and Teaching. 103-117.
  • Wężyk, A. and Czarnecka, K., 2018. Presenteeism among healthcare sector specialists. Healthcare Policy and Reform: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications. 1300-1321.
  • Wȩzyk, A. and Czarnecka, K., 2015. Presenteeism among healthcare sector specialists. Organizational Culture and Ethics in Modern Medicine. 180-201.

Conferences

  • Ventouris, A., Wezyk, A., Panourgia, K., Comoretto, A. and Yankouskaya, A., 2021. Keep the bounce in your step: Developing resilience as a Mental Health Psychology Practitioner during Covid -19. In: 3rd International Conference on Psychology, Counselling and Education : Redefining Resilience 29-31 October 2021 virtual conference.

Reports

Theses

Profile of Teaching PG

  • Advanced Research Methods
  • Stress and Developmental Influences on Health and Illness

Profile of Teaching UG

  • Developmental and Applied Psychology
  • Occupational and Consumer Psychology
  • Health Psychology
  • Social Psychology and Individual Differences
  • Developmental and Clinical Psychology
  • Applied Clinical Psychology

Grants

  • Understanding resilience in mental health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic (follow-up) (BU QR-fund, 01 Nov 2021). Completed
  • Work-life balance through the eyes of women in academia with caring responsibilities (Women's Academic Network, 01 Oct 2021). Awarded
  • Understanding resilience in mental health psychology practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic (BU QR-fund, 01 May 2020). Completed

Conference Presentations

  • BPS Psychology of Women and Equalities Section Annual Conference 2022, “It gives access to a different layer of meaning” – photo-production as a feminist research method, 06 Jul 2022, Windsor
  • 3rd International Conference on Psychology, Counselling and Education, Keep the bounce in your step:​ Developing resilience as a Mental Health Psychology Practitioner during Covid -19​, 29 Oct 2021, Virtual conference
  • BPS Conference 2021: Positive Adaptations: Psychological Strengths, Risk and resilience in mental health psychology practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic., 01 Jul 2021, virtual
  • The Third Cultural Linguistics International Conference, MULTIMODAL METAPHORS IN LAY CONCEPTUALISATION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS, 16 Jun 2021, Budapest, Hungary (online)

Qualifications

  • PhD in Psychology (Bournemouth University, 2021)
  • MA in English Philology (University of Lodz (Poland), 2017)
  • Post-graduate Diploma in Transport Psychology (University of Warsaw (Poland), 2013)
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Labour Law (University of Lodz (Poland), 2011)
  • MSc in Health and Clinical Psychology (University of Lodz (Poland), 2008)
  • Post-graduate Diploma in Sports Psychology (Jozef Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw (Poland), 2008)

Memberships

  • European Association of Work and Organisational Psychology, Member (2020-),
  • British Psychological Society, Member (2018-),
  • European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Member (2015),