I am a Senior Lecturer in Psychology of Education in the Manchester Institute of Education.

My research focuses on mental health and development in adolescence. I am interested in how developmental and social processes and experiences affect adolescent mental health. This includes the ways that systemic inequalities translate into mental health inequalities, with a focus on gendered mental health patterns and experiences, particularly among adolescent girls. Another strand of my work focuses on how schools can support mental health and wellbeing and best meet adolescents' developmental and wellbeing needs. 

Current research projects include: 

• Investigating the drivers of the increase in poor mental health for young people 
• Exploring adolescent girls' perspectives on rates of low mood and anxiety
• Advancing understanding of the wellbeing experiences of young LGBTQIA+ people in Greater Manchester 
• Developing a measure for adolescent social media usage 
• Evaluating curriculum-based social and emotional learning in relation to mental health in the transition from childhood to adolescence 

I have led and collaborated on research projects funded by organisations including the National Lottery Community Fund, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the National Institute for Health and Care Research, UK Research and Innovation, and the Education Endowment Foundation. I have offered expert comment to various media outlets including the Financial Times, the BBC, and the Times Education Supplement and my work has featured in discussions in various outlets including The Guardian. 

I have a professional background as an Early Years Practitioner, and I am a Chartered Psychologist registered with the British Psychological Society. I have been based at the Manchester Institute of Education since 2016, and now teach predominantly on the BSc Educational Psychology. I am also an Honorary Research Fellow at the Evidence Based Practice Unit (a collaboration between Anna Freud and the UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences).

Alongside my research and teaching, I have a strong record of service and leadership in research infrastructure. I co-convene the 'Education and Psychology' research group and the special interest group 'Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education'. I sit on the operational board for the new University of Manchester Healthier Futures platform and co-lead the Children and Young People theme of this initiative. I currently serve as the Co-Associate Director of Research Ethics in the School of Environment, Education, and Development. 

My research interests are generally centred around: 

• Developmental psychopathology and the mechanisms involved in the development of mental health difficulties 

• Emotional distress and difficulties (low mood and anxiety) 

• Systemic inequalities including in relation to gender and sexuality

• Social connection and support in adolescence

• Children and adolescents' experiences of education systems, including mental health and wellbeing provision
  
  

Examples of current and recently completed research students: 

• Stephanie Ray: Examining the relationship between young people’s participation in arts, culture and entertainment activities and their wellbeing

• Parise Carmichael-Murphy: Understanding the social determinants of adolescent boys' mental health and wellbeing

• Devi Khanna: Adolescent wellbeing and educational experiences

• Lauren Burke: Loneliness and mental health in childhood and adolescence

• Megan Cutts: Special educational needs and wellbeing in the school context

• Carla Mason: Teacher implementation of universal, school-based mental health interventions

Opportunities 

I am interested in supervising PhD students who are interested in the following topics:

• Adolescent mental health and developmental psychopathology 
• Adolescent girls' mental health 
• Child and adolescent social and emotional development
• School-based wellbeing and mental health provision
• Inequalities and marginalisation in childhood and adolescence

I am a mixed methods researcher, skilled in both qualitative and quantitative analysis, including advanced approaches such as structural equation modelling. I have a particular interest in how multiple methods can be blended to create a fuller understanding of mental health mechanisms. I am experienced in working with young people as active partners in research, including through co-production, and I have particular expertise in complex ethical considerations involved in engaging children, adolescents, and young adults in sensitive research.

Recent research projects

Investigating the drivers of the increase in poor mental health for young people. Co-Investigator, 2024-2025, funded by the Youth Futures Foundation

This is a multi-disciplinary project using an evidence-based approach to investigate current trends in youth mental health and identifying drivers of the increase in poor youth mental health. Analysis and reviews are currently underway and we expect to begin sharing findings in Spring 2025. 

#BeeProud: Understanding and supporting LGBTQIA+ young people's wellbeing. Principal Investigator, 2022-2023, funded by The University of Manchester Research Institute 

This is a co-produced project that aims to advance understanding of the causes and consequences of wellbeing inequalities among LGBTQIA+ young people across Greater Manchester. Analysis is currently underway and we expect to share findings in early 2025. 

Development and validation of the Social Media Measure for adolescents. Co-Investigator, 2022-2025, funded by UKRI and led by Dr. Margarita Panayiotou 

The Social Media Measure project is an open-science groundbreaking effort aiming to improve our understanding and measurement of adolescent social media use, and consequently, improve our understanding of how social media influences adolescent mental health and wellbeing. Using a co-production model, we are developing and testing, with young people, a measure to assess adolescent experience of social media use. 

Evaluation of Passport to Success, Co-Investigator, 2022-2025, funded by the Kavli Trust and led by Prof. Neil Humphrey and Prof. Pamela Qualter 

The study is a major trial across Greater Manchester that investigates whether "Passport: Skills for Life", a mental health promotion programme used widely in primary schools, is successful at promoting children's ability to manage their emotions as a means to reduce distress, loneliness, and bullying during the transition between childhood to adolescence. Our study protocol can be found here and our qualitative Stage One Registered Report can be found here. 

INSIGHT: Young women's perspectives on psychological distress in their population and priority actions for responding: A co-produced qualitative investigation, Principal Investigator, 2022, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research

This is a co-produced project funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, aiming to explore adolescent girls' perspectives of low mood and anxiety in their population. We engaged with diverse young women across England to explore their views, and engaged with stakeholders to discuss how this can be translated into future directions in research, policy, and practice. We are in the process of writing up and sharing key findings from the study; our first pre-print can be found here. 

Evidence on the relationship between socio-economic disadvantage and the attainment gap in the English education system, Co-Investigator, 2021-2022, funded by the Education Endowment Foundation and led by Prof. Carlo Raffo 

This study was a cross-disciplinary partnership exploring the causes of the socio-economic gap in attainment among 3-18 year-old children in England.

HeadStart National Evaluation, Co-Investigator, 2016-2023, funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and led by Prof. Jessica Deighton, Evidence Based Practice Unit (a collaboration between the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families and University College London)

HeadStart was a six-year, £67.4 million National Lottery funded programme set up by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK. It aimed to explore and test new ways to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people aged 10 to 16 and prevent serious mental health issues from developing. The evaluation used quantitative and qualitative strands to evaluate programme effectiveness as well as to longitudinally explore adolescent mental health and wellbeing trajectories and experiences. You can find out more about the project here. 

The TELL Study (Teenagers' Experiences of Life in Lockdown), Principal Investigator, 2020-2021, partially funded by The University of Manchester's Economic and Social Research Council Impact Acceleration 

The TELL Study was a research project that aimed to understand 16- to 19-year-olds' experiences of the initial UK lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, with an emphasis on wellbeing. We asked UK-based 16- to 19-year-olds to share their lockdown experiences, sharing what lockdown looked like for them, what it felt like, and how they managed it. You can find out more about the project here and read our paper here. 

Children and young people's perceptions and experiences of social, emotional, and mental wellbeing in school, Co-Principal Investigator alongside Dr. Alexandra Hennessey, 2020-2021, funded by The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

This research was commissioned by NICE (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) to inform development of guidance for school-based wellbeing interventions and provision practices, with the aim of understanding what children and young people themselves consider good practice in this area. We engaged with children and young people in focus groups and asked them to tell us what they thought wellbeing provision ought to look like. Findings from our work with children and young people are available here and the linked NICE guidance can be found here. We have also shared academic pieces on our methodology, as well as on key findings and implications around school culture and educational transitions.