Anna Donnla O'Hagan

Dr.

Contact Details


Polaris Building
Glasnevin Campus
Dublin 9
Ireland
T:01 700 6441
M:00353 879433330

E:annadonnla.ohagan@dcu.ie
W:https://www.dcu.ie/shhp/people/anna-donnla-o-hagan-o-hagan

Polaris FT211

E:AnnaDonnla.OHagan@dcu.ie
Profile Photo

Anna Donnla is an Assistant Professor in the School of Health and Human Performance in Dublin City University. Her primary teaching interests are sport psychology, psychology of injury, and research methods. Her main research interests include sleep, stress, and occupational stressors and their impact on mental health, cognitive functioning, performance, and wellbeing in both community and high-stress environments. She is particularly interested in multi-disciplinary collaborative research that is applied in nature with real-world application.

Peer Reviewed Journal

Year Publication
2025 O’Connor, S.; O’Hagan, A.D.; Casey, H.; O’Connor, A.; Creegan, M.; Stapleton, A.; McHugh, L.; Russell, T.; O’Keeffe, S. (2025) 'Between the Farm and Family: A Cross-Sectional Survey on Work–Family Conflict in Farmers in Ireland'. AGRICULTURE-BASEL, 15 . [Link] [DOI]
2025 (2025) 'Lacking the rural empathy”; Irish farmers' and stakeholders’ opinions on current mental health services and preferences for support'. Journal of Rural Studies, . [DOI]
2024 O'Connor, S; Malone, SM; Firnhaber, J; O'Keeffe, S; McNamara, J; O'Hagan, AD (2024) 'Skills for Resilience in Farming; an evidence-based, theory driven educational intervention to increase mental health literacy and help-seeking intentions among Irish farmers'. PLoS ONE, 20 (10). [DOI]
2024 (2024) '“People that are Supporting [the] Whole Sector are on their Knees”; Uncertainty and Socioeconomic Change are Occupational Stressors for Irish Farmers'. Rural Sociology, . [DOI]
2024 (2024) 'Sleep issues and burnout in Irish farmers: A cross sectional survey'. Safety Science, .
2024 (2024) 'Virtual Reality and Pilot Training: Existing Technologies, Challenges, and Opportunities'. Journal of Aerospace Engineering, Sciences and Applications, . https://doi.org/10.58940/2329-258X.1980
2024 (2024) '‘You don’t want to be seen to be struggling’; Identifying sociocultural barriers and facilitators for Irish farmers’ mental health help-seeking'. Sociologia Ruralis, .
2024 (2024) 'The PAWS project – Promoting and supporting the wellbeing of undergraduate students with service dogs'. HUMAN-ANIMAL INTERACTIONS, . [DOI]
2024 Faria, VS; McManus, L; O'Hagan, AD; Egan, B (2024) 'Effects of acute exercise or short-term exercise interventions on metabolic markers during experimentally-induced sleep loss in humans: A systematic literature review'. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 14 . [DOI]
2024 (2024) 'Sowing seeds of awareness: a cross-sectional analysis of mental health literacy and help-seeking in Irish farmers'. International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, . [DOI]
2023 (2023) 'The Design and Implementation of a Novel Mental Health Literacy Educational Intervention Program in Gaelic Footballers'. Journal of Athletic Training, . [DOI]
2023 (2023) 'Disordered alcohol and substance use in Irish farmers: A cross-sectional survey'. Journal of Rural Studies, . https://doi.org/10.1111/jrh.12783
2022 (2022) 'Associations Between Self-Reported Sleep, Wellbeing and Physical Activity in Irish Adolescents'. European Scientific Journal (ESJ), .
2022 (2022) 'Do our movement skills impact our cognitive skills? Exploring the relationship between cognitive function and fundamental movement skills in primary school children'. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, .
2021 O’Connor, S., Moran, K., Sheridan, A., Brady, S., Bruce, C., Beidler, E., O’Hagan, A.D., Whyte, E. (2021) 'Fear avoidance following injury and psychological readiness to return to sport in collegiate male and female Gaelic games players'. Sports Health, .
2019 O’Hagan, A.D., Issartel, J., Wall, A., Dunne, F., Boylan, P., Herring, M., Campbell, M., & Warrington, G. (2019) '“Flying on Empty” – Effects of sleep deprivation on pilot performance'. Biological Rhythm Research, :1-22.
2018 O'Hagan, A.D.; Issartel, J.; McGinley, E.; Warrington, G. (2018) 'A pilot study exploring the effects of sleep deprivation on analogue measures of pilot competencies'. Aerospace Medicine And Human Performance, 89 . [Link] [DOI]
2017 O’Hagan, A.D., Issartel, J., Nevill, A. & Warrington, G. (2017) 'Flying into Depression-Pilot’s sleep & fatigue experiences can explain differences in perceived depression and anxiety associated with duty hours'. Workplace health & safety, 65 (3):109-117.
2016 O'Hagan, AD; Issartel, J; Fletcher, R; Warrington, G (2016) 'Duty hours and incidents in flight among commercial airline pilots'. International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics : JOSE, 22 (2). [DOI]

Other Publication

Year Publication
2025 Casey, H.; O'Connor, A.; O'Keeffe, S.; O'Hagan, A.D.; McNamara, J.; O'Connor, S. (2025) Depression in farming families: A systematic review. [Link] [DOI]
2025 Finnegan, C.; Scriney, M.; Goss, H.; Walsh, J.C.; Bezbradica, M.; O’Hagan, A.D. (2025) Key Performance Indicators in Rugby Sevens: A Systematic Review. [Link] [DOI]
2025 O’Connor, S.; O’Hagan, A.D.; Firnhaber, J.; O’Shaughnessy, B.R.; McNamara, J.; Breslin, G.; O’Keeffe, S.; Malone, S.M. (2025) Correction to: Sowing seeds of awareness: a cross-sectional analysis of mental health literacy and help-seeking in Irish farmers (Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, (2024), 19, 1, (47), 10.1186/s12995-024-00446-1). [Link] [DOI]
2022 O'Shaughnessy, B.R.; O'Hagan, A.D.; Burke, A.; McNamara, J.; O'Connor, S. (2022) The prevalence of farmer burnout: Systematic review and narrative synthesis. [Link] [DOI]
2011 May, Gregory C.; Fitzpatrick, Paula A.; Cullen, Sarah Jane; Kelly, Lauren; O'Hagan, Anna; Warrington, Giles D. (2011) An Analysis of the Impact of Acute Sleep Deprivation on Repeat Cycling Time Trial Performance.
Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2026) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.

Honors and Awards

Date Title Awarding Body
01/06/2019 Nation Research Council Research Associateship Award National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
01/06/2013 Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Irish Research Council

Committees

Committee Function From / To
Exoskeleton Research Steering Group 08/02/2021 - 08/02/2022
Transversal Skills Internal Working Group in DCU 01/01/2023 - 01/01/2026
School of Health & Human Performance Management Board 01/08/2021 - 20/09/2022

Employment

Employer Position From / To
Waterford Institute of Technology Assistant Lecturer in Sport & Exercise Psychology 01/09/2016 - 12/05/2017
Dublin City University Assistant Professor 17/08/2020 -
Naval Postgraduate School Post-Doctoral Research Scholar 22/07/2019 - 21/07/2020
University College Dublin Lecturer in Sport & Exercise Psychology 20/01/2014 - 10/05/2019
Health Research Board Research Project Officer 10/09/2018 - 21/12/2018
Irish Wheelchair Association Community Sports Club Project Coordinator 11/03/2019 - 28/06/2019

Education

Start date Institution Qualification Subject
Bangor University MSc
Dublin City University PhD
10/09/2006 Dublin City University BSc Sports Science & Health

Media

Title Year Type Authors
Study: 54% of farmers do not know how to contact mental health clinics 2024 Newspaper article (Print) Dr Siobhan O’Connor; Dr Anna Donnla O’Hagan; Dr Joseph Firnhaber, Sandra Malone and Dr Sinead O’Keeffe, Dr John McNamara
Waking Up Is Hard to Do 2022 Newspaper article (online) Anna Donnla O'Hagan
Future of Farming Belongs to Those who Define It, Not Defend It 2025 Newspaper article (Print) Dr Siobhan O'Connor, Dr Anna Donnla O'Hagan and Sandra Malone
Hannah Quinn-Mulligan: Taking a much-needed break can be a great reminder of why we love the farming life 2024 Newspaper article (Print) Dr Anna Donnla O'Hagan
All Things Sleep 2021 Podcast Anna Donnla O'Hagan
FarmHealth Project 2022 Radio Interviews O’Connor, S., Malone, S.M., Firnhaber, J., O’Shaughnessy, B.R., & O’Hagan, D.
Sowing mental wellbeing in farming 2025 Newspaper article (Print) Dr Siobhán O’Connor, Dr Anna Donnla O’Hagan
Cultivating Mental Wellbeing In Rural Ireland 2023 Newspaper article (Print) O’Connor, S., Malone, S.M., Firnhaber, J., O’Shaughnessy, B.R., & O’Hagan, D.
FarmHealth Project 2023 Radio Interviews O’Connor, S., Malone, S.M., Firnhaber, J., O’Shaughnessy, B.R., & O’Hagan, D.
Rural and urban: stark differences in home alcohol consumption revealed 2025 Newspaper article (Print) Dr Siobhan O'Connor, Dr Anna Donnla O'Hagan and Sandra Malone
Putting pilot tiredness and fatigue on the radar 2018 Newspaper article (online) Anna Donnla O'Hagan
More than 25pc of Irish farmers are burnt out, new research finds 2023 Newspaper article (Print) O’Connor, S., Malone, S.M., Firnhaber, J., O’Shaughnessy, B.R., & O’Hagan, D.

Research Interests

Sleep; Stress; Performance; Cognitive Function; Mental Health; Wellbeing

Research Projects

Title Role Description Start date End date
Restful Nights, Happy Days – Promoting Healthy Sleep and Wellbeing Practices Among New Parents in Ireland DCU PI 01/12/2024 30/04/2027
The Effect of Bright Light Exposure on Sleep Inertia in Military Personnel Postdoctoral Researcher 29/07/2019 24/07/2020
Sleep Loss and Fatigue Among Commercial Airline Pilots Postgraduate Researcher 01/10/2013 29/06/2018
Restful Nights, Happy Days – Promoting Healthy Sleep and Wellbeing Practices Among New Parents in Ireland DCU PI 01/12/2024 30/04/2027
Machine Learning & Virtual Reality for Sustainable & Effective Pilot Training DCU PI 01/01/2022 31/03/2022
Mental health Help-seeking in Irish Farmers Co-PI 01/02/2022 31/01/2024
An investigation into the effectiveness of in-person and online interventions to support student engagement in the evidencing of transversal skills as part of DCU Futures’ Co-PI 01/01/2024 20/12/2024
Mental Health Help-Seeking in Irish Farm Families DCU PI 02/10/2023 01/10/2026

Teaching Interests

Sport Psychology
Research Methods
Statistical Analysis
Psychology of Injury
PA Psychology

Modules Coordinated

Term Title Module ID
2025 Talent Development & Sports Systems SPO1042-A
2025 Research Methods SPO1037-A
2025 Sport Psychology PSY1089-A
2025 Introduction to Research Methods SPO1024-A