Psychological interventions

Developing psychological interventions to improve the mental health of young people.

Theme Mental health

This workstream focuses on developing interventions aimed at psychological processes (e.g., thinking style, behaviour) that contribute to the risk of certain types of mental illnesses. Getting people to engage with these interventions can improve their mental health. Our researchers are developing virtual reality and other digital interventions aimed at young people at risk of eating disorders, self-harm or depression.

These interventions aim to change how young people think before they develop an illness. For example, an intervention can challenge how a young person perceives their body and how satisfied they are with it. This can lead them to develop more helpful ways of thinking and reduce the burden of eating disorder symptoms. We are also testing whether making small changes to the environment (such as altering mannequin sizes in shops) can reduce body dissatisfaction and eating disorders in the general population.

We are assessing the impact of posting and blocking information about self-harm online and are developing a set of guidelines for social media companies around this topic.

We are also developing an intervention to help make accessing health care easier for people who have experienced significant trauma or abuse in their lives. We will examine whether this has the potential to improve access, experiences and health outcomes among patients and staff in mental healthcare settings.

View all research projects

Developing novel virtual reality treatments for eating disorders

The aim of this project is to develop novel treatments for eating disorders using immersive…

Theme Mental health

Workstream Psychological interventions

Informing a digital intervention for self-harm

Previous longitudinal research has helped us understand lifetime/long-term predictors of self-harm thoughts and behaviour (SHTB).

Theme Mental health

Workstream Psychological interventions

How to evaluate trauma-informed care in community mental health services

Trauma can be caused by accidents, violence, abuse, loss, disaster, war, social injustice, and many…

Theme Mental health

Workstream Psychological interventions

Developing and testing a nature-based intervention for mothers with postnatal depression

Postnatal depression is a type of depression that many parents experience after having a baby.

Theme Mental health

Workstream Psychological interventions

Psychosis prediction in primary care

Risk prediction models use data from electronic health records to predict the likelihood of something…

Theme Mental health

Workstream Biological interventions, trial recruitment and safety

Developing guided EMDR to treat PTSD in primary care

Approximately four per cent of the UK population has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is…

Theme Mental health

Workstream Psychological interventions

Experimental manipulation of cognitive processes

This project aims to build on our previous work around mental health interventions that target…

Theme Mental health

Workstream Psychological interventions

Changing attention bias to reduce body dissatisfaction

Eye-tracking studies have found that people living with an eating disorder are likely to pay…

Theme Mental health

Workstream Psychological interventions

Supporting neurodivergent young people who mask

Neurodivergent children and young people have a high risk of developing anxiety and depression, however…

Theme Mental health

Workstream Psychological interventions

Brainteract

The aim of this project is to understand the effects of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)…

Theme Mental health

Workstream Biological interventions, trial recruitment and safety

Mental health and online activity – exploring training needs

Young people – aged 16-24 – are more likely to use digital technology to access…

Theme Mental health

Workstream Psychological interventions

Investigating the link between asthma and mental health in children

Asthma is the most common long-term condition among children and young people in the UK,…

Themes Mental health Respiratory disease

Workstream Exacerbation prediction and aerosol emissions

Do school PE kit policies impact girls’ body image?

The physical activity levels and self-esteem of girls decline with age. This is because adolescent…

Themes Diet and physical activity Mental health

Workstreams Population diet and physical activity Psychological interventions

Investigating the link between asthma, brain inflammation and MRI changes

Eight million people in the UK have been diagnosed with asthma. Asthma + Lung UK…

Themes Mental health Respiratory disease

Workstream Exacerbation prediction and aerosol emissions

Designing an art and wellbeing programme to help prevent anxiety and depression in schools

Taking part in art therapy and practising art can help people regulate their emotions and…

Theme Mental health

Workstream Psychological interventions

Using choice architecture to help prevent eating disorders

The aim of this project is to develop a choice architecture intervention to reduce eating…

Theme Mental health

Workstream Psychological interventions

Using dopamine to treat impaired memory in neurodegenerative disease

This project aims to explore if we can use dopamine to enhance sleep in people…

Theme Mental health

Workstream Biological interventions, trial recruitment and safety

Targeting inflammation to treat psychosis

The Psychosis Immune Mechanism Stratified Medicine (PIMS) trial is a proof-of-concept, randomised, double blind, placebo…

Theme Mental health

Workstream Biological interventions, trial recruitment and safety

Identifying biomarkers for treatment response and disease prognosis

The aim of this project is to identify biomarkers that could help us predict how…

Theme Mental health

Workstream Biological interventions, trial recruitment and safety

Adapting trial methods for neurodiverse populations

The aim of this project is to understand how we can involve people with neurodevelopmental…

Theme Mental health

Workstream Biological interventions, trial recruitment and safety

Exploring safe moderation of online suicide and self-harm content

The aim of this project is to assess the impact of blocking online self-harm content.

Theme Mental health

Workstream Psychological interventions