Professor Joanne Williams
Professor of Applied Developmental Psychology
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, developmental disabilities 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 Deputy 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).
Postgraduate teaching
- Developmental Psychology and Developmental Psychopathology
- Child Development in Practice
- 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
Kiyoshi Nasir Bhuiyan
Loukia Bololia
Emma Hawkins
Unaiza Iqbal
Lu Wang
Laura Wauthier
Past PhD students supervised
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
- The links between animal cruelty, adverse childhood experiences and human violence: Research and practice Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
- New Advances in Animal Cruelty Prevention Workshop Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in workshop, seminar, course
- Children's Relationships with Different Types of Companion Animal Workshop, Children's Relationships with Different Types of Companion Animal Workshop Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in workshop, seminar, course
- Human-Animal Interaction: Joint Conference by SHAIR, CAAR and Paws for Progress Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
- Animal Welfare and Animal Assisted Intervention Workshop Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in workshop, seminar, course
- Cruelty to animals: What does it mean and who is ‘at risk’?, Cruelty to animals: What does it mean and who is ‘at risk’? Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in workshop, seminar, course
- Human-Animal Interactions: Human Wellbeing and Animal Welfare Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
- Improving the lives of young people through dog-assisted intervention Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in workshop, seminar, course
- Research in Developmental Disabilities (Journal) Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial activity
- The Impact of the Dog Trade on Canine Welfare Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
-
Children's attitudes towards animal cruelty : Exploration of predictors and socio-demographic variations
In:
Psychology, Crime and Law
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2019.1652747
Contribution to journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Animal-assisted therapy for schizophrenia and related disorders : A systematic review
In:
Journal of Psychiatric Research, vol. 115, pp. 51-60
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2019.05.013
Contribution to journal › Article (Published) -
The development and pilot evaluation of a ‘Serious Game’ to promote positive child-animal interactions
In:
Human-Animal Interaction Bulletin
Contribution to journal › Article (Accepted/In press) -
Children's concepts of depression
Contribution to specialist publication › Article (Published) -
Differences in boys’ and girls’ attachment to pets in early-mid adolescence
(8 pages)
In:
Journal of applied developmental psychology, vol. 62, pp. 50-58
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2018.12.002
Contribution to journal › Article (Published) -
Animal-assisted therapy, including animal-assisted activities and resident animals, for improving quality of life in people with stroke
In:
The Cochrane Library, no. 4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD013314
Contribution to journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
The development and evaluation of ‘Farm Animal Welfare’ an educational computer game for children
In:
Animals, vol. 9, no. 3
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9030091
Contribution to journal › Article (Published) -
Children’s concepts of childhood and adolescent depression
(10 pages)
In:
Child and Adolescent Mental Health, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 19-28
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12266
Contribution to journal › Article (Published) -
Attitudes towards animals among Spanish primary school children
In:
Anthrozoos, vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 797-812
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08927936.2019.1673055
Contribution to journal › Article (Published) -
The nature and psychological impact of child/adolescent attachment to dogs compared with other companion animals
In:
Society & animals, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 55-74
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-12341579
Contribution to journal › Article (Published)