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
-
Reading to Dogs in Schools: An Exploratory Study of Teacher Perspectives
In:
Educational Research
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Accepted/In press) -
Animal-assisted interventions, including animal-assisted therapy, animal-assisted activities, and resident animals, for improving quality of life in people with stroke
In:
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Accepted/In press) -
Establishing consensus on the best ways to educate children about animal welfare and prevent harm: An online Delphi study
(17 pages)
In:
Animal Welfare Journal, vol. 30, pp. 179-195
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7120/09627286.30.2.179
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
The challenges and future development of animal welfare education in the UK
(13 pages)
In:
Animal Welfare Journal, vol. 30, pp. 197-209
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7120/09627286.30.2.197
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
“Rabbit Rescuers”: A school-based animal welfare education intervention for young children
In:
Anthrozoös
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Accepted/In press) -
The Animal Welfare Education for Children Toolkit
(31 pages)
Research output: › Other report (Published) -
A cultural validation of the Chinese version of the Multidimensional Depression Assessment Scale (MDAS) in clinically depressed patients in Inner Mongolia
In:
Current psychology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01107-2
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
A qualitative study of children’s accounts of cruelty to animals: Uncovering the roles of trauma, exposure to violence, and attachment
In:
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520928640
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Validation of Chinese Multidimensional Depression Assessment Scale (MDAS) in Inner Mongolia pregnant women and risk factors of antenatal depression in Inner Mongolia in the era of one-child policy
In:
PLoS ONE
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227944
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Children's attitudes towards animal cruelty: Exploration of predictors and socio-demographic variations
(23 pages)
In:
Psychology, Crime and Law, vol. 26, pp. 226-247
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2019.1652747
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)