Dr Nicky Wright

My profile

Biography

First Degree BSc, graduated 2009: Psychology (Hons) 1st Class, University of Chester (Department of Psychology). MSc graduated 2010: Research Methods in Psychology Distinction, University of Liverpool (Department of Psychology). PhD graduated 2018: Clinical Psychology, University of Liverpool (Department of Psychology)

My research focuses on identifying the mechanisms underlying mental health problems in childhood and adolescence.  My research combines multiple levels of explanation (biological, social, individual) using multi-method of data (interview, observational, experimental, biological, survey data). I am particularly interested in the role of relationships (parent-child, peer, romantic) in the intergenerational transmission of mental health problems. My post-doctoral work was completed in the Biostatistics Department at Kings College London and I use advanced statistical methods to characterise developmental pathways to mental health problems and to refine measurement of constructs. My PhD and postdoctoral work focused on behavioural problems in childhood, and driven by the current mental health crisis in adolescence, my recent work focuses on adolescent emotional and behavioural problems. I mainly work with longitudinal child development cohorts, I am  co-investigator on the Wirral Child Health & Development Study (WCHADS) and work with a number of other international cohorts. I joined the Psychology Department at MMU in October 2021. 

Interests and expertise

My main program of work focuses on understanding how relationship experiences transmit risk or confer resilience for mental health problems, including parent-child relationships, friendships and romantic relationships. This includes understanding the processes in the inter-generational transmission of inter-partner abuse from parent to adolescent relationships, and the role of parent-child relationships in conferring risk and resilience for mental health problems. More broadly my research interests lie in understanding mechanisms for the emergence and maintenance of mental health problems using longitudinal study designs. I am interested in understanding the risk and protective factors for the broad spectrum of mental health difficulties, including behavioural/antisocial, emotional and personality disturbances. My work also involves examining whether processes operate across cultures or are culture specific and across populations of typically developing and autistic individuals. 

I have expertise in statistical analysis, in particular longitudinal modelling and latent variable modelling. I also have expertise in longitudinal study design and in co-ordinating longitudinal research studies. I also have expertise in harmonising and jointly analysing different datasets.

Projects

I am an investigator on the adolescent waves on the Wirral Child Health and Development Study (WCHADS), a prospective birth cohort of mothers, fathers and their first born children. Wirral Child Health and Development Study: First Steps - Institute of Population Health - University of Liverpool

I was awarded a British Academy grant to conduct a wave of assessment on the sample at age 13 years to examine whether friendship victimisation is an early risk marker for later relationships characterised by Inter-Partner Violence (IPV)

Professor Rebecca Pearson (Professor Rebecca Pearson | Manchester Metropolitan University (mmu.ac.uk) and and I are currently running a study on the WCHADS sample to pilot the use of head-cameras to assess adolescent-parent interaction, as part of a larger programme of work led  by Professor Pearson on understanding adolescent-parent interaction. Teencam Pilot Study - Institute of Population Health - University of Liverpool

You Don’t Get Me: Public Responses to Mood and Behaviour Monitoring Wearable Technology (openaccessgovernment.org)

I work with a number of other international longitudinal studies including:

The Bangalore Child Health and Development Study (BCHADS), a sister cohort to WCHADS of mothers and children based in Bangalore India. Bangalore Child Health and Development Study - Institute of Population Health - University of Liverpool

The Pathways to ASD study, a multi-site inception cohort of children with autism in Canada. The Pathways in ASD study examines how children with ASD grow and develop. | Pathways in Autism Spectrum Disorders (asdpathways.ca)

The La Sabana Parent-Child Study, a longitudinal study of mothers and children in Colombia

The Matter of the First Friendship Study, a longitudinal study of children in Oslo, Norway.The Matter of the First Friendship. A 10-year follow-up - Department of Psychology (uio.no)

______________________________________________________________________________

Other projects:

Quebec 1000 (Q1k), a unique initiative that draws on both autism expertise in Québec with autistic people’s and their families’ experiences to accelerate the discovery process and transform care and services. Welcome to Q1K Families

Feasibility randomised controlled trial of the Caregiver Skill Training Program for parents of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities in Canada led by Mayada Elsabbagh, McGill University Mayada Elsabbagh, PhD | The Neuro - McGill University

Global Report Survey on the impact of Covid-19 on families of children with disabilities, part of an ongoing initiative led by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and Autism Speaks to document the experiences of caregivers of children around the world. 

The societal pressure of the ‘Breast is best’ message: Investigating the impact of breastfeeding difficulties on mental health in new mothers, led by Dr Elizabeth Braithwaite (Dr Elizabeth Braithwaite | Manchester Metropolitan University (mmu.ac.uk))

Teaching

I teach level 4 and 5 on the undergraduate BSc in Psychology at MMU.

I contribute to teaching and supervision of clinical trainees who are part of the Transforming Autism Care Consortium (TACC) research network at McGill University, Canada.

Supervision

I supervise MSc research dissertations on the MSc in Psychological Wellbeing and MSc in Childhood Development at MMU. I have past PhD supervision experience and welcome applications from prospective PhD students.

Current Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (Dclin) students:

Elystan Roberts at the University of Bath “Homotypic and heterotypic continuity of mental health difficulties in a longitudinal cohort study of autistic youth”

James McGuirk at the University of Liverpool “A prospective longitudinal investigation into early childhood predictors of adolescent self-harm at age 13; does parenting quality at age 9 moderate the risk?”

Ella Sollomon at the University of Liverpool “Evaluating the role of antenatal predictors of postnatal depression in men during the perinatal period: a focus on relationship quality”

Research outputs

Press and media

Article in the Guardian reporting my findings on the impact of covid-19 on adolescent male mental health How Covid lockdowns hit mental health of teenage boys hardest | Young people | The Guardian

Article in Research Aether reporting on our public engagement event using performing arts to “bring to life” the lived experience of mental health problems from young people, parents and professionals:  Publication - Research Aether

Open Access Government article reporting our public engagement on understanding parent-adolescent relationships out in the community: You Don’t Get Me: Public Responses to Mood and Behaviour Monitoring Wearable Technology (openaccessgovernment.org)  

A podcast recorded with the Academy of Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH)’s “The Bridge” discussing the impact of Covid-19 on adolescent mental health: https://www.acamh.org/podcasts/adolescent-and-maternal-mental-health-before-during-the-pandemic-in-conversation-dr-nicola-wright/