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Research project

M Barker MRC MR/N011848/1

Staff

Lead researchers

Professor Mary Barker PhD, C Psychol

Prof of Psychology & Behavioural Science

Research interests

  • Mary Barker is Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Science. She has a joint appointment in both the Faculty of Medicine and the School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Southampton UK.  Mary runs a programme of work in both the UK and in low-income countries aiming to engage young people in improving their sense of agency, well-being and mental health, to benefit their health in general but their diets and physical activity habits more specifically. Her team’s approach is participatory and combines social activism focused on engaging young people in the climate change and health agenda and testing methods of one-to-one support and digital resources including smartphone games. Much of this work takes place as part of her NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Research EACH-B (Engaging Adolescents in Changing Behaviour). She partners in this activity with the TALENT network of colleagues with interests in adolescent health and well-being based in institutions in low-and-middle-income countries. Her team also ran a five-country, longitudinal qualitative study with young people throughout the pandemic exploring their experience, mental health, well-being and resilience, data from which supported UK local and national government COVID messaging to young people. She is adjunct professor at the University of Agder, Norway, and has honorary appointments at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, and University College London.
Connect with Mary

Email: [email protected]

Other researchers

Dr Leanne Morrison

Associate Professor

Research interests

  • Health Psychology 
  • Person-based intervention development 
  • Digital technology 
Connect with Leanne

Email: [email protected]

Research outputs

Improving pregnant women's diet and physical activity behaviours: The emerging role of health identity
Taylor Morris, Sofia Strommer, Christina Vogel, Nicholas Harvey, Cyrus Cooper, Hazel Inskip, Kathryn Woods-Townsend, Janis Baird, Mary Barker & Wendy Lawrence, 2020, BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 20(1)
DOI: 10.1186/s12884-020-02913-z
Type: article
A context-specific digital alcohol brief intervention in symptomatic breast clinics (Abreast of Health): development and usability study
Julia Sinclair, Pierre Dutey-Magni, Ellen Copson, Annie Anderson, Janis Baird, Mary Barker, Ramsey Cutress, Eileen Kaner, Mark McCann, Caspian K Priest & Ellen Copson, 2020, JMIR Research Protocols, 9(1), 1-13
DOI: 10.2196/14580
Type: article
How can we best use opportunities provided by routine maternity care to engage women in improving their diets and health?
Wendy Lawrence, Christina Vogel, Sofia Strommer, Taylor Morris, Bethan, Mair Treadgold, Daniella Watson, Kate Hart, Karen I Mcgill, Julia Hammond, Nicholas Harvey, Cyrus Cooper, Hazel Inskip, Janis Baird & Mary Barker, 2020, Maternal & Child Nutrition, 16(1)
DOI: 10.1111/mcn.12900
Type: article
Age and gender influence healthy eating and physical activity behaviours in South African adolescents and their caregivers: Transforming Adolescent Lives through Nutrition Initiative (TALENT).
Stephanie V. Wrottesley, Edna N. Bosire, Gudani Mukoma, Molebageng Mothathedi, Gugulethu Mabena, Mary Barker, Polly Langdon, Caroline Fall & Shane A. Norris, 2019, Public Health Nutrition, 1-20
DOI: 10.1017/S1368980019002829
Type: article
Preconception health in England: a proposal for annual reporting with core metrics
Mark Hanson, Christina Vogel, Kathryn Woods-Townsend, Keith Godfrey & Mary Barker, 2019, The Lancet, 393(10187), 2262-2271
DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30954-7
Type: article