About Us
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Dr Jennifer Allen, Director of the SHINE research lab, is a Reader and Clinical Psychologist specialising in child and adolescent mental health. She also leads the Pathline network, which aims to better understand pathways to mental health for children: https://www.pathwaystochildmentalhealth.com. This network aims to take advantage of the opportunities provided by longitudinal cohort study datasets and data linkage to achieve this goal.
The SHINE research lab is dedicated to understanding the role of ecological processes in shaping risk pathways to child and adolescent psychopathology, and the translation of models of risk and resilience into school and family-based interventions.
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We believe that a better understanding of the interplay between individual child characteristics and the environment in the development of child and adolescent psychopathology is crucial for the development of high quality interventions aimed at improving mental health. Our work is also designed to inform practitioners how to best support adults who children most rely on for their social and emotional well-being: their parents and teachers.
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Research at SHINE falls broadly into two main streams:
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Schools and child mental health
Please follow the links above to learn more about our research.
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Research Themes
Our director, Jennifer Allen researches the interplay between child individual differences, the environment, and child and adolescent psychopathology:
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Child individual differences:
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Child temperament, sex, cognitive ability, pubertal timing, physical health
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Contextual/environmental factors:​
Family/parent factors, teacher-child interaction and relationships, stressful or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) including parental intimate partner violence, positive childhood experiences (PCEs), neighbourhood characteristics, and poverty
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Child and adolescent psychopathology:
Antisocial behaviour, ADHD, anxiety, depression, substance use, and the
co-occurrence of these mental health problems
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Other themes include:
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Assessment - of mental health symptoms or specific constructs such as ACEs, measurement invariance across sex, cultural group, time or informant / multi-informant issues.
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Family or school-based intervention (focused on promoting positive interactions and relationships)
More Information:
See additional research information about our lab director:
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Google Scholar | Research Gate | ORCID | Publons | Pathline
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