Professor Joanne Williams
Professor of Applied Developmental Psychology
- Centre for Applied Developmental Psychology
- Children, Adolescents and Animals Research (CAAR)
Contact details
- Tel: +44 (0)131 650 9962
- Email: Jo.Williams@ed.ac.uk
Address
- Street
-
Room 2.4, Doorway 6, Medical Quad, Teviot Place
- City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH8 9AG
Background
I am an applied developmental psychologist with research interests in child and adolescent health and mental health, the development of health concepts, and children’s interactions with animals.
My career in Edinburgh began as a post-doctoral research fellow examining psychological factors associated with child and adolescent injuries. In 1996, I took a two-year lectureship in Psychology, and from 1998 to 2012 I was Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Psychology, in Moray House School of Education.
Since 2012 I have been Senior Lecturer/Professor of Applied Developmental Psychology in Clinical and Health Psychology. I coordinate Children, Adolescents and Animals Research (caar), and I am Director of the Centre for Applied Developmental Psychology. I contribute developmental psychology teaching on a range of postgraduate programmes including the MSc Psychology of Mental Health (Conversion).
I am a Board member for the International Society for Anthrozoology and will be leading the organising committee for ISAZ 2023, which will be in Edinburgh.
Postgraduate teaching
- Developmental Psychology and Developmental Psychopathology
- PhD and MSc research supervision
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Areas of interest for supervision
I am always interested to hear from students wishing to pursue research degrees. I am particularly interested to work with students on the role of animals in children’s development and mental health, animal-assisted therapies for children and adolescents, and psychological factors in child and adolescent cruelty to animals. Please also contact me if you wish to research children’s understanding of mental health/illness or evaluate psycho-education interventions.
Current PhD students supervised
Amber Arnold
Hasan Huseyin Ates
Unaiza Iqbal
Laura Wauthier
Past PhD students supervised
Kiyoshi Nasir Bhuiyan
Loukia Bololia
Roxanne Hawkins
Research summary
Research Interests
- Child and adolescent health and mental health
- Children’s understandings of mind, body and mental health
- Developmental disabilities
- Children’s and adolescents’ interactions with animals
Research Centre
Research Themes
Knowledge exchange
I have won a series of research impact awards, including:
ESRC Impact Accelerator Award: Breaking the cycle of cruelty and harm: Promoting positive interactions between children and animals through impactful research
Affiliated research centres
Research activities
- Curiouser and Curiouser: Why Research Mattters
- Listening to children's voices in relation to animal cruelty
- Children and animals: Cruelty and compassion
- The links between animal cruelty, adverse childhood experiences and human violence: Research and practice
- The links between animal cruelty, adverse childhood experiences and human violence: Research and practice
- Human-Animal Interactions: Human Wellbeing and Animal Welfare
- Children's emotional attachment to pets
- The 'pet effect'
- Research in Developmental Disabilities (Journal)
- Puppy Trade Working Group Meetings (Event) to
-
Understanding Animal Abuse and How to Intervene with Children and Young People
Research output: › Book (Accepted/In press) -
The role of attachment in children’s relationships with pets: From pet care to animal harm
In:
Human-Animal Interaction Bulletin
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Animal abuse: A concern for all
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Accepted/In press) -
Psychological risk factors for animal harm and abuse among children and young people
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Accepted/In press) -
Parents and professionals working with children and young people
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Accepted/In press) -
A toolkit for evaluating animal welfare education interventions
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Accepted/In press) -
Animal abuse: What we know, what we can do, and what we need to know
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Accepted/In press) -
Effectiveness of mindful walking intervention on nature on sleep quality and mood among university student during Covid-19: A randomised control study
(12 pages)
In:
Explore
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2022.08.004
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Psychological risk factors for childhood animal cruelty: The roles of attachment, empathy, executive functioning, and externalizing behaviours
In:
Anthrozoös
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Accepted/In press) -
A systematic review of horticultural therapy’s influence on Chinese older adults’ psychosocial wellbeing
(11 pages)
In:
Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, vol. 8, pp. 1-11
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/23337214221093891
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Review article (E-pub ahead of print)