Emily Whitaker

I am a DPhil student in Experimental Psychology, based in The Oxford Psychological Interventions for Children and young people (TOPIC) research group.

My DPhil project is supervised by Professor Cathy Creswell and Dr Chloe Chessell, and focuses on digital interventions for child anxiety problems. In particular, I am looking at a parent-led treatment called Online Support and Intervention for child anxiety (OSI). I will be exploring who OSI currently works well for, and who it does not work so well for, with the aim of maximising access to treatment and improving clinical outcomes. I am using a range of methods including systematic reviews, secondary data analyses, qualitative interviews and co-design.

Alongside my doctoral research I work on the STAR-CAT study. STAR-CAT is a large randomised controlled trial in which we are evaluating a version of OSI (called OSI-A) that has been adapted to meet the needs of autistic children and their families. We are testing whether OSI-A can make treatment for anxiety problems among autistic children more accessible without compromising outcomes.

Previously, I worked as a Research Assistant in TOPIC on the Co-CAT and OSI-GROWS projects. Before coming to Oxford, I completed my BSc in Psychology followed by my MSc in Development, Disorders and Clinical Practice. I have also previously worked as a Research Assistant investigating literacy skills in children with Developmental Language Disorder, as a Teaching Assistant with autistic children, and as a Mental Health Support Worker in a CAMHS psychiatric intensive care unit.