Dr Rebecca Webster

All publications

Journal articles

• Shpendi S, Norman P, Gibson-Miller J & Webster R (2025) Cervical cancer screening attendance in young women and people with a cervix: an application of the COM-B model. British Journal of Health Psychology, 30(3). View this article in WRRO
• Reid L & Webster RK (2025) Exploring the relationship between medicine related beliefs and side-effect experience among White oral contraceptive users in the UK. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 57(2), 133-137. View this article in WRRO
• Webster RK & Iyer A (2025) Perceived discrimination in healthcare settings is associated with medication side-effects and adherence: a cross-sectional survey representing the four largest ethnic groups in the UK. Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities. View this article in WRRO
• Shpendi S, Norman P, Gibson-Miller J & Webster R (2025) Identifying the key barriers, facilitators and factors associated with cervical cancer screening attendance in young women: A systematic review. Women's Health, 21. View this article in WRRO
• Shpendi S, Norman P, Gibson-Miller J & Webster RK (2024) Utilising the COM-B model to interpret barriers and facilitators to cervical cancer screening in young women. Journal of Health Psychology, 30(9), 2340-2353. View this article in WRRO
• De Brochowski V, Rubin GJ & Webster RK (2024) The effect of nocebo explanation and empathy on side-effect expectations of medication use following a fictional GP consultation. Psychology, Health and Medicine, 29(4), 809-821. View this article in WRRO
• Woodland L, Smith L, Webster R, Amlôt R & Rubin J (2023) Why do children attend school, engage in other activities, or socialise when they have symptoms of an infectious illness? A cross-sectional survey. BMJ Open, 13(11). View this article in WRRO
• Woodland L, Smith L, Brooks S, Webster R, Amlôt R, Rubin A & Rubin GJ (2023) Parent-reported child’s close contact with non-household family members and their well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional survey. PLoS ONE, 18(10). View this article in WRRO
• Woodland L, Brooks S, Webster R, Amlôt R & Rubin GJ (2023) Risk factors for school-based presenteeism in children: a systematic review. BMC Psychology, 11. View this article in WRRO
• Saadi A, Mahmood A, Sweeney J & Webster RK (2023) What Is the benefit of adding placebo side-effect information to positively framed patient leaflets?. European Journal of Health Psychology, 30(3). View this article in WRRO
• Clemens KS, Faasse K, Tan W, Colagiuri B, Colloca L, Webster R, Vase L, Jason E & Geers AL (2023) Social communication pathways to COVID-19 vaccine side-effect expectations and experience. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 164.
• Woodland L, Hodson A, Webster RK, Amlôt R, Smith LE & Rubin GJ (2022) A qualitative study about how families coped with managing their well-being, children’s physical activity and education during the COVID-19 school closures in England. PLOS ONE, 17(12).
• Woodland L, Hodson A, Webster RK, Amlôt R, Smith LE & Rubin J (2022) A qualitative study evaluating the factors affecting families’ adherence to the first COVID-19 lockdown in England using the COM-B model and TDF. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(12).
• Geers A, Clemens K, Colagiuri B, Jason E, Colloca L, Webster R, Vase L, Seig M & Faasse K (2022) Do side effects to the primary COVID-19 vaccine reduce intentions for a COVID-19 vaccine booster?. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 56(8), 761-768. View this article in WRRO
• Woodland L, Mowbray F, Smith L, Webster R, Amlot R & Rubin GJ (2022) What influences whether parents recognise COVID-19 symptoms, request a test and self-isolate: A qualitative study. PLoS ONE, 17(2). View this article in WRRO
• Geers AL, Clemens KS, Faasse K, Colagiuri B, Webster R, Vase L, Sieg M, Jason E & Colloca L (2022) Psychosocial Factors Predict COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 91(2), 136-138.
• Woodland L, Smith L, Webster R, Richard A, Rubin A, Wessely S & Rubin GJ (2021) Why did some parents not send their children back to school following school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional survey. BMJ Paediatrics Open, 5(1). View this article in WRRO
• Howick J, Webster R, Knottnerus JA & Moher D (2021) Do overly complex reporting guidelines remove the focus from good clinical trials?. British Medical Journal, 374.
• Webster R & Rubin GJ (2021) Predicting expectations of side-effects for those which are warned versus not warned about in patient information leaflets. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 55(12), 1253-1261. View this article in WRRO
• Webster R, Bishop F, Collins G, Evers A, Hoffmann T, Knottnerus A, Lamb S, Macdonald H, Madigan C, Napadow V , Price A et al (2021) Measuring the success of blinding in placebo-controlled trials: should we be so quick to dismiss it?. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 135, 176-181. View this article in WRRO
• MacKrill K, Webster R, Rubin GJ, Witthöft M, Silvester C, Emad Y & Petrie K (2021) When symptoms become side effects : development of the Side Effect Attribution Scale (SEAS). Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 141. View this article in WRRO
• Patel S, Webster R, Greenberg N, Weston D & Brooks S (2020) Research fatigue in COVID-19 pandemic and post-disaster research: Causes, consequences and recommendations. Disaster Prevention and Management, 29(4), 445-455. View this article in WRRO
• Webster R & Rubin GJ (2020) The effect of positively framing side-effect risk in two different formats on side-effect expectations, informed consent and credibility: A randomised trial of 16- to 75-year-olds in England. Drug Safety, 43(10), 1011-1022. View this article in WRRO
• Rubin GJ, Webster R, Amlot R, Carter H, Weston D & Wessely S (2020) Public responses to the Salisbury Novichok incident: A cross-sectional survey of anxiety, anger, uncertainty, perceived risk and avoidance behaviour in the local community. BMJ Open, 10. View this article in WRRO
• Howick J, Webster R, Rees J, Macdonald H, Turner R, Price A, Evers A, Bishop F, Collins G, Bokelmann K , Hopewell S et al (2020) TIDieR-Placebo: A guide and checklist for reporting placebo and sham controls. PLoS Medicine, 17(9). View this article in WRRO
• Smith L, Webster R & Rubin J (2020) A systematic review of factors associated with side-effect expectations from medical interventions. Health Expectations, 23(4), 731-758. View this article in WRRO
• Webster RK, Brooks SK, Smith LE, Woodland L, Wessely S & Rubin GJ (2020) How to improve adherence with quarantine : rapid review of the evidence. Public Health, 182, 163-169.
• Brooks SK, Smith LE, Webster RK, Weston D, Woodland L, Hall I & Rubin GJ (2020) The impact of unplanned school closure on children’s social contact : rapid evidence review. Eurosurveillance, 25(13).
• Brooks SK, Webster RK, Smith LE, Woodland L, Wessely S, Greenberg N & Rubin GJ (2020) The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it : rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet, 395(10227), 912-920.
• Webster RK, Liu R, Karimullina K, Hall I, Amlôt R & Rubin GJ (2019) A systematic review of infectious illness presenteeism : prevalence, reasons and risk factors. BMC Public Health, 19(1).
• Webster RK, Howick J, Hoffmann T, Macdonald H, Collins GS, Rees JL, Napadow V, Madigan C, Price A, Lamb SE , Bishop FL et al (2019) Inadequate description of placebo and sham controls in a systematic review of recent trials. European Journal of Clinical Investigation, 49(11).
• Brown P, Tan A-C, El-Esawi MA, Liehr T, Blanck O, Gladue DP, Almeida GMF, Cernava T, Sorzano CO, Yeung AWK , Engel MS et al (2019) Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search. Database - The Journal of Biological Databases and Curation. View this article in WRRO
• Webster RK, Weinman J & Rubin GJ (2019) Explaining all without causing unnecessary harm : is there scope for positively framing medical risk information?. Patient Education and Counseling, 102(3), 602-603.
• Webster RK & Rubin GJ (2019) Influencing side-effects to medicinal treatments : a systematic review of brief psychological interventions. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9.
• Howick J, Webster R, Kirby N & Hood K (2018) Rapid overview of systematic reviews of nocebo effects reported by patients taking placebos in clinical trials. Trials, 19(1).
• Webster RK, Weinman J & Rubin GJ (2018) Positively Framed Risk Information in Patient Information Leaflets Reduces Side Effect Reporting: A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 52(11), 920-929.
• Webster RK, Weinman J & Rubin GJ (2018) Ethical issues surrounding the study of nocebo effects : recommendations for deceptive research. British Journal of Health Psychology, 23(4), 775-781.
• Rubin GJ, Webster R, Rubin AN, Amlot R, Grey N & Greenberg N (2018) Public attitudes in England towards the sharing of personal data following a mass casualty incident : a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open, 8(5).
• Webster RK, Weinman J & Rubin GJ (2018) Medicine-related beliefs predict attribution of symptoms to a sham medicine : a prospective study. British Journal of Health Psychology, 23(2), 436-454.
• Webster RK, Weinman J & Rubin GJ (2017) How does the side-effect information in patient information leaflets influence peoples’ side-effect expectations? A cross-sectional national survey of 18- to 65-year-olds in England. Health Expectations, 20(6), 1411-1420.
• Webster RK, Weinman J & Rubin GJ (2017) People’s understanding of verbal risk descriptors in patient information leaflets : a cross-sectional national survey of 18- to 65-year-olds in England. Drug Safety, 40(8), 743-754.
• Smith LE, Webster RK, Weinman J, Amlôt R, Yiend J & Rubin GJ (2017) Psychological factors associated with uptake of the childhood influenza vaccine and perception of post-vaccination side-effects : a cross-sectional survey in England. Vaccine, 35(15), 1936-1945.
• Webster RK, Weinman J & Rubin GJ (2016) A systematic review of factors that contribute to nocebo effects.. Health Psychology, 35(12), 1334-1355.
• Yakubu I, Sirois F & Webster R () A Qualitative Exploration of the Experiences of Workplace Stress, Treatment Adherence, and Well-Being among Employees with Type 2 Diabetes in Nigeria. Journal of Health Psychology.
• Woodland L, Smith LE, Amlot R, Rubin A, Webster RK, Wessely S & Rubin GJ () Parents’ Willingness to Send Children Back to School During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey. SSRN Electronic Journal.
• Brooks SK, Webster RK, Smith LE, Woodland L, Wessely S, Greenberg N & Rubin GJ () The Psychological Impact of Quarantine and How to Reduce It: Rapid Review of the Evidence. SSRN Electronic Journal.

Book chapters

• Brooks SK, Webster RK, Smith LE, Woodland L & Greenberg N (2024) Quarantine, Lockdown, and Isolation in the COVID-19 Pandemic, Major Incidents, Pandemics and Mental Health (pp. 241-246). Cambridge University Press
• Patel SS, Webster R, Brenner RM & Brooks SK (2022) Ethics of Research and Service-Learning in Disasters, Service-Learning for Disaster Resilience (pp. 97-111). Routledge

Preprints

• Kiley R, Webster R, Sehrawat A & Sherman SM (2026) Understanding Head and Neck Cancer Through the Public Eye: A Qualitative Study of Social Media Responses to Celebrity Cases (Preprint), JMIR Publications Inc..
• Webster RK, Brooks SK, Smith LE, Woodland L, Wessely S & Rubin GJ (2020) How to improve adherence with quarantine: Rapid review of the evidence, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
• Brooks SK, Smith LE, Webster RK, Weston D, Woodland L, Hall I & Rubin GJ (2020) The impact of unplanned school closure on children’s social contact: Rapid evidence review, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.