Student publications
Our students’ research spans neuroscience, psychology, and early child development. Many of these have been published in peer-reviewed journals, showcasing the impact of their work. Explore their research below.
About our student research
Students enrolled on our postgraduate programmes - Developmental Neuroscience and Psychopathology (MRes), Developmental Psychology and Clinical Practice (MSc), and Early Child Development and Clinical Applications (MSc) - have made significant contributions to the field through their dissertations and collaborative projects.
Many of these projects have led to peer-reviewed publications in collaboration with academic staff and clinical partners at Anna Freud, University College London, and Yale University. Showcasing our students’ research highlights both the impact of their work and the important role they play in advancing knowledge and practice in child and adolescent mental health.
Exploring mental health and development
The publications below span a wide range of themes, including how children, young people, and families experience and manage mental health and development. They cover areas such as depression, self-harm, and therapy experiences in adolescence, alongside the influence of parental wellbeing, trauma, and caregiving on children’s growth. Other studies examine how the brain and behaviour shape emotions, relationships, and social understanding, as well as the development of new tools and approaches to support young people and families.
To update or add to the list, please contact Senior Course Tutor Elizabeth Li.
Browse our student publications
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Mazhar, A. & Bailey, C. S. (2025). Emotion-specific recognition biases and how they relate to emotion-specific recognition accuracy, family and child demographic factors, and social behaviour. Cognition and Emotion, 39(2), 320–338. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2024.24086522.
Zhang, Y., Hillman, S., Pereira, M., Anderston, K., & Cross, R. M. (2025). Preliminary findings on psychometric properties of the Adolescent Story Stem Profile. Frontiers in Psychology, 16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1478372
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Amin Choudhury, A., Lecchi, T., & Midgley, N. (2024). Understanding change–developing a typology of therapy outcomes from the experience of adolescents with depression. Psychotherapy Research, 34(2), 171–181. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2023.2179440
Cirasola, A., Heller, O., & Midgley, N. (2024). Transference work and the repair of ruptures in psychoanalytic psychotherapy with depressed adolescents. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 23(3), 269–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/15289168.2024.2373596
Ibrahim, K., Iturmendi-Sabater, I., Vasishth, M., Barron, D. S., Guardavaccaro, M., Funaro, M. C., Holmes, A., McCarthy, G., Eickhoff, S. B., & Sukhodolsky, D. G. (2024). Neural circuit disruptions of eye gaze processing in autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia: An activation likelihood estimation metaanalysis. Schizophrenia research, 264, 298–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2023.12.003
Kristen, A., Lecchi, T., Loades, M. E., & Midgley, N. (2024). “I can’t escape my scars, even if I do get better”: A qualitative exploration of how adolescents talk about their self-harm and self-harm scars during cognitive behavioural therapy for depression. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 29(4), 1277–1295. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591045241241348
Levy, J. C., Yatziv, T., Bunderson, M., Bartz, C., Vancor, E. A., & Rutherford, H. J. V. (2024). Anxiety and neural correlates of attention and self-regulation in pregnancy: A resting-state EEG study. Archives of women's mental health, 28(1), 43–53. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-024-01505-6
Martin, R., Sandoval, K., Penner, F., Mayes, L. C., Potenza, M. N., Krishnan-Sarin, S., & Rutherford, H. J. V. (2024). Parental tobacco-smoking and caregiving in the perinatal and early infancy periods. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 33, 2583–2595. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-024-02800-7
Munns, L. B., Crossland, A. E., McPherson, M., Panagiotopoulou, E., & Preston, C. E. J. (2024). Developing a new measure of retrospective body dissatisfaction: links to postnatal bonding and psychological well-being. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2024.2386077
Shin, J. Y., McMahon, T., Penner, F., & Lowell, A. (2024). Maternal childhood trauma, caregiving behavior, and child cognitive development in the context of drug addiction. The American journal of orthopsychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000802
Sicilia, M. G. S., & Hillman, S. (2024). Being able to see your child: The journey of a single mother in an MBT group for high-risk parents, through her representations of the child. Journal of Child Psychotherapy, 50(1), 53–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/0075417X.2024.2305728
Sistiaga, S., Tseng, W. L., Zhang, L., Rossignol, M., & Bellaert, N. (2024). How are irritability and anhedonia symptoms linked? A network approach. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 80(7), 1552–1567. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23679
Stover, C. S., Holland, M. L., Martin, E., Modanesi, E., Fish, M. C., & Beebe, R. (2024). Comparing in person to telehealth delivery of a family violence intervention. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 31(4), e3034. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.3034
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Baker, E. N., McFaul, C., Wu, J., Rutherford, H., Crowley, M., & Stover, C. S. (2023). Frontal EEG asymmetry in fathers who use intimate partner violence. Journal of Family Violence, 38, 321–332. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-022-00366-w
Beech, A., Edelman, A., Yatziv, T., Rutherford, H. J. V., Joormann, J., & Gadassi-Polack, R. (2023). Cortisol reactivity to a laboratory stressor predicts increases in depressive symptoms in perinatal and nulliparous women during population-level stress. Journal of Affective Disorders, 340, 33–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.07.093
Chiang, C. P., Hayes, D., & Panagiotopoulou, E. (2023). Apps targeting anorexia nervosa in young people: A systematic review of active ingredients. Translational Behavioral Medicine, 13(6), 406–417. https://doi.org/10.1093/tbm/ibad003
Lord, H., O’Keeffe, S., Panagiotopoulou, E., & Midgley, N. (2023). Exploring parental perspectives on dropout from treatment for adolescent depression. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 22(2), 169–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/15289168.2023.2191167
MacKean, M., Lecchi, T., Mortimer, R., & Midgley, N. (2023). “I’ve started my journey to coping better”: Exploring adolescents’ journeys through an internet-based psychodynamic therapy (I-PDT) for depression. Journal of Child Psychotherapy, 49(3), 432–453. https://doi.org/10.1080/0075417X.2023.2173271
Mehta, A., Dykiert, D., & Midgley, N. (2023). Understanding treatment non-responders: A qualitative study of depressed adolescents’ experiences of ‘unsuccessful’ psychotherapy. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 96(2), 448–463. https://doi.org/10.1111/papt.12448
Sandoval, I. K., Ngoh, G., Wu, J., Crowley, M. J., & Rutherford, H. J. V. (2023). EEG coherence before and after giving birth. Brain research, 1816, 148468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2023.148468
Stover, C. S. & Shafai, A. (2023). Individual prevention and intervention for children exposed to intimate partner violence and those who have caused harm. In P. Sturmey (Ed.), Violence in families: Integrating research into practice (pp. 177–200). Springer Nature Switzerland AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31549-7_8
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Hillman, S., Villegas, C., Anderson, K., Kerr-Davis, A., & Cross, R. (2022). Internal representations of attachment in story stems: Changes in the narratives of foster care children. Journal of Child Psychotherapy, 48(2), 261– 289. https://doi.org/10.1080/0075417X.2022.2088824
Lee, K. S., Xiao, J., Liew, Z., Gau, S. S., & Tseng, W. L. (2022). Perinatal and birth correlates of childhood irritability in Taiwan’s national epidemiological study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 299, 273–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.12.016
Lee, K. S., Xiao, J., Luo, J., Leibenluft, E., Liew, Z., & Tseng, W. L. (2022). Characterizing the neural correlates of response inhibition and error processing in children with symptoms of irritability and/or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in the ABCD study. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 803891. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.803891
Mackin, J., Hillman, S., Cross, R., & Anderson, K. (2022). The internal worlds of sexually abused looked-after children. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 75(1), 278–298. https://doi.org/10.1080/00797308.2021.2022413
Martin, H., Hillman, S., Cross, R., & Anderson, K. (2022). The manifestations and correlates of dissociation amongst looked-after children in middle childhood. European Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 6(1), 100232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejtd.2021.100232
Nakajima, M., Dykiert, D., Wilkinson, P., & Midgley, N. (2022). How do therapists assess suitability? A qualitative study exploring therapists’ judgements of treatment suitability for depressed adolescents. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 22(2), 503–513. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12452
Ngoh, G., Wu, J., Potenza, M. N., Mayes, L. C., & Rutherford, H. J. V. (2022). Exploring resting frontal EEG and reflective functioning in maternal substance use. Infant Mental Health Journal, 43(4), 519–532. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21991
Peoples, S. G., Lowell, A. F., Bunderson, M., Bartz, C., Yip, S. W., & Rutherford, H. J. V. (2022). The effects of prenatal stress on neural responses to infant cries in expectant mothers and fathers. Developmental Psychobiology, 64(5), e22280. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.22280
Stover, C. S., Shafai, A., Kwinjo, S. J., Farren, A. R., Mazany, E., & McFaul, C. J. (2022). Agreement Between Mother and Father Reports of IPV in a Sample of Child Protection Referred Coparents. Journal of interpersonal violence, 38(3- 4), 3489–3512. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605221107055
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Arnsten, A., Condon, E. M., Dettmer, A. M., Gee, D. G., Lee, K. S., Mayes, L., Stover, C. S., Tseng, W. L., & Yale Early Stress and Adversity Consortium. (2021). The prefrontal cortex in a pandemic: Restoring functions with system-, family-, and individual-focused interventions. American Psychologist, 76(5), 729–743. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000823
Hayes, D., & Za’ba, N. (2021). What metrics of harm are being captured in clinical trials involving talking treatments for young people? A systematic review of registered studies on the ISRCTN. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 22(1), 108-129. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12407
Hillman, S., Anderson, K., Demetri, C., & Cross, R. (2021). Exploring foster carers’ experiences of the assessment and feedback processes of children in their care. Child Care in Practice, 27(4), 375–394. https://doi.org/10.1080/13575279.2021.1986806
Miller, M. L., Balsamo, L., Pashankar, F. D., & Bailey, C. S. (2021). Emotion regulation in pediatric sickle cell patients: Associations with mental health outcomes and pain interference. Journal of Affective Disorders, 282, 829–835. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.12.068
Panagiotopoulou, E., Peiris, C., & Hayes, D. (2021). Behaviour change techniques in mobile apps targeting self-harm in young people: A systematic review. Translational Behavioural Medicine, 11(3), 832–841. https://doi.org/10.1093/tbm/ibaa131
Stumpfögger, N. & Panagiotopoulou, E. (2021). Blurred body boundaries of first-time mothers: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Neuropsychoanalysis, 23(2), 97– 109. https://doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2021.1972441
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Castro Batic, B., & Hayes, D. (2020). Exploring harm in psychotherapy: Perspectives of clinicians working with children and young people. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 20(4), 647-656. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12347
Condon, E. M., Dettmer, A. M., Gee, D. G., Hagan, C., Lee, K. S., Mayes, L., Stover, C. S., & Tseng, W. L. (2020). Commentary: COVID-19 and mental health equity in the United States. Frontiers in sociology, 5, 584390. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2020.584390
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Alvarez-Monjaras, M., Mayes, L. C., Potenza, M. N., & Rutherford, H. J. V. (2019). A developmental model of addictions: Integrating neurobiological and psychodynamic theories through the lens of attachment. Attachment & Human Development, 21(6), 616–637. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2018.1498113
Alvarez-Monjarás, M., McMahon, T. J., & Suchman, N. E. (2019). Does maternal reflective functioning mediate associations between representations of caregiving with maternal sensitivity in a high-risk sample? Psychoanalytic Psychology, 36(1), 82-92. https://doi.org/10.1037/pap0000166
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Rutherford, H. J. V., Guo, X. M., Wu, J., Graber, K. M., Hayes, N. J., Pelphrey, K. A., & Mayes, L. C. (2018). Intranasal oxytocin decreases cross-frequency coupling of neural oscillations at rest. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 123, 143–151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2017.09.017
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Cirasola, A., Hillman, S., Fonagy, P., & Chiesa, M. (2017). Mapping the road from childhood adversity to personality disorder: The role of unresolved states of mind. Personality and Mental Health, 11(2), 77–90. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmh.1365
Rutherford, H. J. V., Guo, X. M., Graber, K. M., Hayes, N. J., Pelphrey, K. A., & Mayes, L. C. (2017). Intranasal oxytocin and the neural correlates of infant face processing in non-parent women. Biological Psychology, 129, 45–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.08.002
von Mohr, M., Crowley, M. J., Walthall, J., Mayes, L. C., Pelphrey, K. A., & Rutherford, H. J. V. (2017). EEG captures affective touch: CT-optimal touch and neural oscillations. Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience, 18(1), 155–166. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-017-0560-6
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Rutherford, H. J. V., Graber, K. M., & Mayes, L. C. (2016). Depression symptomatology and the neural correlates of infant face and cry perception during pregnancy. Social Neuroscience, 11(4), 467–474. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2015.1108224
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Carter Leno, V., Naples, A., Cox, A., Rutherford, H. J. V., & McPartland, J. C. (2015). Common and distinct modulation of electrophysiological indices of feedback processing by autistic and psychopathic traits. Social neuroscience, 11(4), 455–466. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2015.1108223
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Kapur, P., Hayes, D., Waddingham, R., Hillman, S., Deighton, J., & Midgley, N. (2014). The experience of engaging with mental health services among young people who hear voices and their families: A mixed methods exploratory study. BMC Health Services Research, 14, 527. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-014- 0527-z
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Panwar, K., Rutherford, H. J. V., Mencl, W. E., Lacadie, C. M., Potenza, M. N., & Mayes, L. C. (2013). Differential associations between impulsivity and risk-taking and brain activations underlying working memory in adolescents. Addictive Behaviors, 39(1), 1606–1621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.12.007
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Bychkova, T., Hillman, S., Midgley, N., & Schneider, C. (2012). The psychotherapy process with adolescents: A first pilot study and preliminary comparisons between different therapeutic modalities using the Adolescent Psychotherapy Q-Set. Journal of Child Psychotherapy, 37(3), 327–348. https://doi.org/10.1080/0075417X.2011.614754
Noll, L. K., Mayes, L. C., & Rutherford, H. J. V. (2012). Investigating the impact of parental status and depression symptoms on the early perceptual coding of infant faces: An event-related potential study. Social neuroscience, 7(5), 525–536. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2012.672457
White, L. O., Wu, J., Borelli, J. L., Rutherford, H. J. V., David, D. J., Kim-Cohen, J., Mayes, L. C., & Crowley, M. J. (2012). Attachment dismissal predicts frontal slow-wave ERPs during rejection by unfamiliar peers. Emotion (Washington, D.C.), 12(4), 690–700. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026750
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Cheung, C. H. M., Rutherford, H. J. V., Mayes, L. C., & McPartland, J. (2010). Neural responses to faces reflect social personality traits. Social neuroscience, 5(4), 351–359. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470911003597377
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