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
- 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
- The Impact of the Dog Trade on Canine Welfare
-
Dramatherapy for children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A systematic integrative review
In:
Arts in Psychotherapy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2022.101918
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Veterinarians’ experiences of treating cases of animal abuse: An online questionnaire study
In:
Veterinary Record
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Accepted/In press) -
A systematic review of Horticultural therapy's influence on Chinese older adults' psychosocial wellbeing
In:
Complementary therapies in clinical practice
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Measurement invariance of the Multidimensional Depression Assessment Scale (MDAS) across gender and ethnic groups of Asian, Caucasian, Black, and Hispanic
In:
Journal of Affective Disorders (JAD)
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Accepted/In press) -
A systematic review of Horticultural therapy’s influence on Chinese older adults’ psychosocial wellbeing
In:
Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Accepted/In press) -
Teacher-researcher collaboration in animal-assisted education: Co-designing a reading to dogs intervention
In:
Educational Research
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2021.2016061
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Student veterinarians' ability to recognise behavioural signs of stress in dogs
In:
Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2021.12.002
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Understanding and conceptualizing childhood animal harm: A meta-narrative systematic review
In:
Anthrozoös
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08927936.2021.1986262
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Testing the moderating role of victimization and microaggressions on the relationship between human-animal interaction and psychological adjustment among LGBTQ+ emerging adults
(24 pages)
In:
Human-Animal Interaction Bulletin, vol. 11, pp. 16-39
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Reading to dogs in schools: An exploratory study of teacher perspectives
In:
Educational Research
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2021.1956989
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print)