Dr Laian Najjar

Contact

Email: ku76500@kingston.ac.uk
Location: Penrhyn Road
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Social Sciences
School: School of Law, Social and Behavioural Sciences
Department: Department of Psychology

About

I obtained my PhD from the University of Houston, Texas, in 2020. My thesis was on the association between physical activity and alcohol consumption, with particular emphasis on individual differences in those health behaviours. I was especially interested in how individual differences in impulsivity and religiosity influenced the physical activity-drinking relation.

I joined the Department of Psychology at Kingston University in 2024. I deliver lectures and workshops on a range of modules at undergraduate and postgraduate levels: Mental Health and Brain Function, Research Design and Analysis, Foundations of Psychology, and the Psychology of Health and Well-Being.

My current research focuses on associations between physical activity, alcohol consumption, hangovers, and sexual satisfaction.

Academic responsibilities

Lecturer in Psychology

Qualifications

2005 BA Psychology, American University of Beirut
2011 MSc (Hons) Neuroscience, University of Sussex
2020 PhD (Hons) Neuroscience, University of Houston

Teaching and learning

I currently deliver lectures on diverse modules but my areas of greatest teaching interest are Individual Differences, Biological Psychology, and Psychology of Health and Well-Being.

Research

Peer- Reviewed Articles

Najjar LZ, Leasure JL, Henderson CH, Francis DJ, & Neighbors C (2023). Subjective and Behavioral Impulsivity Differentially Moderate Within- and Between-Person Associations between Physical Activity and Alcohol Consumption. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 84(1), 137-146.

Henderson CH, Najjar LZ, Young CM, Gasser ML, Leasure JL, Neighbors C & Lindgren KP (2023). Longitudinal relations between physical activity and alcohol consumption among young adults. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.

West RK, Najjar LZ & Leasure JL (2019) Exercise-driven restoration of the alcohol-damaged brain. International Review of Neurobiology, 147:219-267.

Najjar LZ, Young CM, Leasure JL, Henderson CE & Neighbors C (2017) Religious perceptions of alcohol consumption and drinking behaviours among religious and non-religious groups. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 19:1028-1041.

Articles Under Review

Henderson CE, Young CM, Leasure JL, Najjar LZ, Christensen M, & Neighbors C. Measuring Motives Underlying the Drinking and Physical Activity Relation. Assessment

Neighbors C, Young CM, Leasure JL, Shank F, Ryan P, Najjar LZ, Sze C, Henderson CE. Physical activity as a moderator of the association between alcohol consumption and hangovers.

Areas of specialism

Health Behaviours
Alcohol Consumption
Exercise/Physical Activity

Business, knowledge transfer and international

TBD

Professional practice, knowledge exchange and impact

TBD

Leadership and management

TBD