Rate My Professor Charlene Rapsey

Charlene Rapsey is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Otago's Dunedin School of Medicine. She is a clinical psychologist holding qualifications of BA, BSc(Hons), PhD, and PGDipCIPs. Throughout her career at the University of Otago, she has advanced from Lecturer in Behavioural Science to Senior Lecturer and now Associate Professor, contributing significantly to teaching and research in psychological medicine.

Her research employs quantitative and mixed methods with an emphasis on applied studies in mental disorder, childhood adversity, and sexual health and sexual difficulties. Key ongoing projects include the WHO World Mental Health Surveys, an international collaboration across over 30 countries examining psychiatric epidemiology and mental disorder prevention; the 25-year longitudinal Otago Women’s Health Study investigating associations between childhood abuse and outcomes across the life course; the Foster the Whanau project assessing costs, benefits, and long-term outcomes of intensive residential interventions for mothers as alternatives to state foster care; and multiple sexual health initiatives addressing sexual pain, difficulties, epidemiology, and medical education on best practices for teaching sexuality and healthcare for LGBTQI+ individuals. Rapsey has co-authored numerous peer-reviewed articles, including Mason et al. (2026) 'Prevalence and associations of lifetime, 12-month, and 30-day suicidal thoughts and behaviours among 3,702 First-Year university students in New Zealand' in Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology; Kazdin et al. (2026) 'Patterns and predictors of the transition between minimally adequate treatment and effective treatment coverage for mental disorders: Results from the World Mental Health Survey' in International Journal of Mental Health Systems; Alonso et al. (2026) 'Mental disorders & self-injurious thoughts and behaviors predict high risk of role impairment among university students: World Mental Health International College Student initiative' in Journal of Affective Disorders; Mason et al. (2025) 'Understanding the interpersonal psychological theory of suicide and the role of hopelessness within a university sample in Aotearoa New Zealand' in Journal of College Student Mental Health; and Roest et al. (2025) 'Comorbidity and temporal associations between mental disorders among college students in the World Mental Health International College Student Initiative' in Psychiatry Research. She teaches Human Sexuality and Health courses including PSME 201, MICN201, 301, 401, and 501.