Applied clinical and health psychology

Our research group brings together psychologists investigating a range of areas related to health, clinical and behavioural psychology.

Our research

We broadly focus on the application of psychological theory to promote wellbeing, healthy attitudes and behaviours. This involves developing and evaluating interventions for those who are at risk of, or are experiencing, mental health difficulties related to physical health conditions, and their families. Co-design of interventions with lived experience advisors and NHS colleagues are integral to our approach to ensure interventions are relevant and can be implemented into routine clinical practice. We have close ties with NHS Trusts, schools, third sector organisations and commercial partners. In addition to trial and experimental design utilising mixed methodology, the research group has expertise in longitudinal surveys, evidence synthesis, as well as the design, development and psychometric evaluation of patient reported outcome measures.

Funding

Members of the research group have secured competitive funding from the National Institute for Health Research, Research for Patient Benefit Programmes, Diabetes UK, the Food Standards Agency and Dunhill Medical Trust to name the most current sources.

Example projects

The group is home to a number of PsychD trainee clinical psychologists conducting research in a variety of clinical and general populations. Examples of trainee projects include:

Feasibility studies and trials (i.e. online compassion focussed intervention for people experiencing the menopause transition, group intervention to support siblings of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, parent intervention to raise confident children with long term health conditions, photovoice as an intervention to improve wellbeing during COVID-19),
Cross-sectional studies (e.g. understanding the role of distress intolerance and accommodation behaviours in caregivers of young people with eating disorders).
Qualitative studies (e.g. phenomenological approach to explore people’s experience of critical illness with COVID-19).

Sugunasingha, N., Jones, F.W., & Jones, C.J. (2020). Interventions for caregivers of children with food allergy: a systematic review. Pediatric Allergy & Immunology. doi: 10.1111/pai.13255

Siew, J., Iles, J., Domoney, J., Bristow, F., Darwin, Z.J., & Sethna, V (2020). The applicability and performance of tools used to assess the father-offspring relationship in relation to parental psychopathology and offspring outcomes. Frontiers in Psychiatry(Psychopathology).

Atkins, E., John, M and Collville, G (2020) Families experiences of life in the year after a child’s critical Illness: Navigating the road to a new normal J of Pediatric Intensive Care 2020

Darwin, Z.J., Domoney, J., Iles, J., Bristow, F, Siew, J & Sethna, V (2020). Assessing the mental health of fathers, other co-parents and partners in the perinatal period: Mixed methods evidence synthesis. Frontiers in Psychiatry (Mood and Anxiety Disorders).

Hazell, C.M., Hayward, M., Lobban, F., Pandey, A., Pinfold, V., Smith, H.E., & Jones, C.J. (2020). Demographic predictors of wellbeing in carers of people with psychosis: secondary analysis of trial data. BMC Psychiatry, 20, 269. doi: 10.1186/s12888-020-02691-0

Paudyal, P., Apfelbacher, C., Jones, C., Siddiqui, S., El-Turki, A., DeGiovanni, C., & Smith, H. (2020). DLQI seems to be ‘action’, and Skindex-29 seems to be ‘emotion’ ”; the perceptions of patients with psoriasis or eczema on two common dermatology-specific quality of life measures. Acta Dermato-Venereologica, doi: 10.2340/00015555-3417

Hazell, C., Jones, C.J., MacLachlan, E., & Smith, H.E. (2020). Is the content of patient’s written emotional disclosure associated with improved health outcomes for asthma patients? Health Psychology Update, 29(2), 31-42

Phillips, C., Schulkind, J., O’Sullivan, M., Edelman, N., Smith, H.E., Verma, S., & Jones, C.J. (2020). Improving access to care for People Who Inject Drugs: Qualitative evaluation of Project ITTREAT, an integrated community hepatitis C service. Journal of Viral Hepatitis, 27, 176-187. doi: 10.1111/jvh.13214

Hazell, C., Jones, C.J., Pandey, A., & Smith, H.E. (2019). Barriers to Recruiting and Retaining Psychosis Carers: A Case Study on the Lessons Learned from the Caring for Caregivers (C4C) Trial. BMC Research Notes, 12, 810. doi: 10.1186/s13104-019-4832-9.

Hazell, C., Jones, C.J., & Smith, H.E. (2019). The blurred line between physical and mental health in older adults: implications for the assessment of depression. Clinical Medicine Insights: Psychiatry, 10, 1-5. doi/10.1177/1179557319885634

Smith, H.E., Brown, C., Robertson, A., Stuttaford, L., Rashid, R., & Jones, C.J. (2019). The experience of being tested for allergies; the views of children and their parents. Journal of Allergy & Therapy, 10: 1. doi: 10.4172/2155-6121.1000287

Jones, C.J., Sommereux, L., & Smith, H.E. (2018). Exploring what motivates and sustains support group engagement amongst young people with allergies: a qualitative study. Clinical & Experimental Allergy, 48(9), 1195-1205. doi: 10.1111/cea.13193

Lambregtse-van den Berg, M.P., Tiemeier, H., Verhulst, F.C., Jaddoe, V., Tindall, E., Vlachos^,H., Aumayer, K., Iles, J., & Ramchandani, P.G (2018). Early childhood aggressive behaviour: negative interactions with paternal antisocial behaviour and maternal postpartum depressive symptoms across two international cohorts. European Psychiatry

Sethna, V., Murray, L., Edmondson, O., Iles, J., & Ramchandani, P.G. (2018). Depression and playfulness in fathers and young infants: a matched design comparison study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 229.

Huckle, C. and Fasoulaki, R. (2018). Living with extreme mood swings: A Recovery Focused Group Intervention. Clinical Psychology Forum, 311, 20-24.

Ramchandani, P., O’Farrelly, C., Babalis, D., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., Byford, S., Grimas, E.S.R., Iles, J.E, et al (2017). Preventing enduring behavioural problems in young children through early psychological intervention: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials, 18 (1)

Iles, J., Rosan, C., Wilkinson, E., & Ramchandani, P. (2017) Adapting and developing a video-feedback intervention for co-parents of infants at risk of externalising behaviour problems (VIPP-Co): A feasibility study. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 22 (3).

Domoney, J., Iles, J., & Ramchandani, P (2017). Fathers in the perinatal period: should we be taking their mental health into account? Transforming Infant Wellbeing: Research, policy and practice for the first 1001 critical days, Routledge (book chapter)

Barker, B., Iles, J., & Ramchandani, P. (2017). Fathers, fathering and child psychopathology. Current Opinion in Psychology, 15.

Sethna, V., Perry, E., Domoney, J., Iles, J., Psychogiou, L., Rowbotham, N., Stein, A., Murray, L., Ramchandani, P.G (2017). Father-child interactions at 3-months and 2 years: contributions to children’s cognitive development at 2 years. Infant Mental Health Journal, 38 (3).

Hazell, C., Jones, C.J., Hayward, M., Bremner, S., O’Connor, D.B., Pinfold, V., & Smith H.E. (2017). Caring For Caregivers (C4C): Study protocol for a pilot feasibility randomised controlled trial of Positive Written Disclosure for Older Adult Caregivers of people with psychosis. Pilot & Feasibility Studies, 3, 63. DOI: 10.1186/s40814-017-0206-z

Paudyal, P., Jones, C.J., Grindey, C., Dawood, R., & Smith, H.E. (2017). Meditation for asthma: systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Asthma, 30, 1-8. DOI 10.1080/02770903.2017.1365887

Smith, H.E., Bulbul, A., & Jones, C.J. (2017). Can online discussion sites generate quality data for research purposes? Frontiers in Public Health, 5, 156. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2017.00156

Apfelbacher, C.J., Jones, C.J., Frew, A.J., & Smith, H.E. (2016). Validity of three asthma-specific quality of life questionnaires: the patients’ perspective. BMJ Open, 6:e011793. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-011793

Brown, C.E., Jones, C.J., Stuttaford, L., Robertson, A., Rashid, R.S., & Smith, H.E. (2016). A qualitative study of the allergy testing experiences, views and preferences of adult patients. Clinical & Translation Allergy, 6, 34. DOI: 10.1186/s13601-016-0125-8

Jones, C.J. (2016). How to conduct a trial using written emotional disclosure. Health Psychology Update, 25, 2.

Riddle, J.P., Smith, H.E., & Jones, C.J. (2016). Does written emotional disclosure improve the psychological and physical health of caregivers? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Behaviour Research & Therapy, 80, 23-32. DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2016.03.004.

Jones, C.J., Smith, H.E., & Llewellyn, C.D. (2016). A systematic review of the effectiveness of interventions using the Common Sense Self-Regulatory Model to improve adherence behaviours. Journal of Health Psychology, 21¸2709-2724. Doi: 10.1177/1359105315583372.

Jones, C.J., et al. (2016). Feasibility and participant experiences of a written emotional disclosure intervention for parental caregivers of people with psychosis. Stress & Health, 32, 485-493. DOI: 10.1002/smi.264.

Denton, R., Frogley. C. Jackson, S., John. M., and Querstret. D (2016) The assessment of developmental trauma in children and adolescents: A systematic review Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry 1–28 DOI: 10.1177/1359104516631607

Simonds. L, John, M, Fife-Schaw. C., Willis, S., Taylor, H., Hand, H., Rahim., Winstanley, H., and Winton, H (2015) Development and Validation of an Adolescent Shame -pronness Scale. Psychological Assessmentdoi: 10.1037/pas0000206

Smith, H., Jones, C. J., Hankins, M., Field, A., Theadom, A., Bowskill, R., Horne, R., Frew, A. (2015). The effects of expressive writing on lung function, quality of life, medication use and symptoms in adults with asthma: a randomised controlled trial. Psychosomatic Medicine, 77, 429-437. Doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000166.

Smith, H.E., & Jones, C.J. (2015). Psychological interventions in asthma. Current Treatment Options in Allergy, 2, 155-168. DOI: 10.1007/s40521-015-0051-3.

Jones, C.J., Llewellyn, C. D., Frew, A., du Toit, G., Mukhopadhyay, S., & Smith, H. (2015). Factors associated with good adherence to self-care behaviours amongst adolescents with food allergy. Pediatric Allergy & Immunology, 26, 111-118. DOI:10.1111/pai.12333

Domoney, J., Iles, J., O’Farrelly, C., Sanger, C., Kellet., P. (2015). Bringing the relationship to life: the power of video-feedback approaches. Journal of Health Visiting, 3 (7)

Madden, V., Domoney, J., Aumer, K., Sethna, V., Iles, J., et al. (2015). Intergenerational transmission of parenting: findings from a UK longitudinal study. European Journal of Public Health.

Iles, J., & Pote, H. (2015). Postnatal posttraumatic stress: A grounded theory model of first time mother’s experiences. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology.

Sanger, C., Iles, J., Andrew, C.S., & Ramchandani, P.G. (2014). Associations between postnatal maternal depression and psychological outcomes in adolescent offspring: a systematic review. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 18(2), 147-62.

Ramchandani, P.G., & Iles, J. (2014). Getting Fathers into Parenting Programmes. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (a commentary)

Domoney, J., Iles, J., & Ramchandani, P.G. (2014). Paternal depression in the postnatal period: reflections on current knowledge and practice. International Journal of Birth and Parent Education, 3.

Iles, J., Spiby, H., & Slade, P. (2014). Modification and preliminary use of the five-minute speech sample in the postpartum: associations with postnatal depression and posttraumatic stress. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 17 (5).

Mulligan, B., John, M., Coombes, R., Singh, R., (2014) - Developing outcome measures for a Family Intensive Support Service for Children presenting with challenging behaviours. British Journal of Learning Disabilities March

John, M., Jefferies, F., Acuna-Rivera, M., Warren, F., and Simonds, L. (2014) Development of measures to assess personal recovery in young people treated in Specialist Mental Health Services Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy , 2 (3) 1063-3995 doi:10.1002/cpp.1095

Simonds, L.M., Pons,R.A., Stone, N.J., John, M. (2014) Adolescents with Anxiety and Depression: Is Social recovery relevant? Clin Psychol Psychother, 21 (4) pp 289-298

Atkins, E., Colville., G and John. M. (2012)A 'biopsychosocial' model for recovery: a grounded theory study of families' journeys after a Paediatric Intensive Care Admission Intensive Crit Care Nurs. Jun;28(3):133-40

Paudyal, P., Hine, P., Theadom, A., Apfelbacher, C. J., Jones, C. J., Yorke, J., Hankins, M., & Smith, H. E. (2014). Written emotional disclosure for asthma. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 19, 5. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD007676.pub2.

Jones, C. J., Smith, H. E., & Llewellyn, C. (2014). Evaluating the effectiveness of Health Belief Model interventions in improving adherence: A systematic review. Health Psychology Review, 8, 253-269. DOI: 10.1080/17437199.2013.802623

Jones, C. J., Smith, H. E., Frew, A. F., du Toit, G., Mukhopadhyay, S., & Llewellyn, C. (2014). Explaining adherence to self-care behaviours amongst adolescents with food allergy: A comparison of the health belief model and the common sense-self regulation model. British Journal of Health Psychology, 19, 65-82. DOI: 10.1111/bjhp.12033.

Apfelbacher, C. J., Jones, C. J., Hankins, M., & Smith, H. (2012). Validity of two common asthma-specific quality of life questionnaires: Juniper Mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire and Marks Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 10, 97. DOI:10.1186/1477-7525-10-97.

Iles, J., Slade, P., & Spiby, H. (2011). Posttraumatic stress and postnatal depression in couples after childbirth: the roles of partner support and attachment. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 25, 520-530.

McDonald, S., Slade, P., Spiby, H., & Iles, J. (2011). Posttraumatic stress symptoms, parenting stress and mother-child relationships following childbirth and at two years postpartum. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 32, 141-146.

Ramchandani, P.G., Psychogiou, L., Vlachos, H., Iles, J., Sethna, V., Netsi, E., Lodder, A. (2011). Paternal depression: an examination of its links with father, child and family functioning in the postnatal period. Depression and Anxiety, 28(6), 471-477.

Blumenthal, S., Huckle, C., Czornyj, R., Craissati, J. & Richardson, P. (2010). The role of affect in the estimation of risk. Journal of Mental Health, 19, 5, 444-451.