I am an Associate Professor in the School of Psychological Sciences at Macquarie University. I was awarded my PhD in Psychology in 2014, and went on to do postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Minnesota and Macquarie University before being awarded three consecutive competitive fellowships.
I currently hold an NHMRC Investigator Grant working to improve our understanding of the empirical structure of psychopathology based on the specific patterns in which symptoms of mental disorders tend to co-occur. For example, someone who is depressed is likely to also experience anxiety, and someone who has problems with gambling is likely to also struggle with drug or alcohol use.
My research uses these patterns in symptoms and disorders to characterise the nature, causes, and consequences of mental illness across the lifespan.
I currently hold an NHMRC Investigator Grant working to improve our understanding of the empirical structure of psychopathology based on the specific patterns in which symptoms of mental disorders tend to co-occur. For example, someone who is depressed is likely to also experience anxiety, and someone who has problems with gambling is likely to also struggle with drug or alcohol use.
My research uses these patterns in symptoms and disorders to characterise the nature, causes, and consequences of mental illness across the lifespan.
NHMRC Investigator Grant Project
Help Us Learn More About Mental Illness
We’re working to improve the way mental illness is assessed and identified in research and practice. (Recruitment complete, study now closed).
Recent Publications
Examining the foundational assumptions of the hierarchical taxonomy of psychopathology.
Aftab A., Wright A. G., Rodriguez-Seijas C., Hankin B. L., Clark L. A., Forbes M. K., ..., C. G. DeYoung
Preprint on PhilPapers, 2026
M. K. Forbes
Preprint on OSF, 2026
Chau T., Carmichael J., Tiego J., Forbes M., Kerestes R., Ure A., ..., & Bellgrove M.
Preprint on ResearchSquare, 2025
Faulkenberry R. S., Lee K. Y., Linscott R. J., Forbes M. K., Kaczkurkin A. N., Naragon-Gainey K., ..., & Sellbom M.
Preprint on OSF, 2025
Where do cognitive and neurodevelopmental disorders fit in dimensional models of psychopathology?
M. K. Forbes
C. Hopwood, C. Sharp, Dimensional Diagnosis: Practical and Conceptual Issues in the Integration of Personality and Psychopathology., Guilford Press, 2025
View all
Contact
Miriam K. Forbes, PhD
School of Psychological Sciences
Faculty of Medicine, Health, and Human Sciences
Macquarie University
2109