Social Mental Health

Social influence | Adolescence | mental health

Our research group investigates how social environments shape the emergence and maintenance of common mental health problems, and how this knowledge can be used to design, evaluate, and improve interventions. A central focus of our work is adolescence - a developmental period marked by heightened social sensitivity, social cognitive changes, and increased vulnerability to mental health difficulties.

RESEARCH strands

Social networks and peer influence. We examine how peer relationships, friendship networks, and broader social structures shape mental-health trajectories across adolescence. We are especially interested in peer influences on mental health problems, and whether mental health problems might be socially contagious through processes such as co-rumination. 

Social cognition. This work investigates how social-cognitive abilities such as social working memory and perspective-taking enable adolescents to navigate their social networks. In particular, we are interested in how social networks are represented in our minds, and how social cognitive development might relate to peer status.

School-based mental-health interventions. We study why some school-based interventions succeed while others fail, or produce unintended effects, when implemented in real-world school settings. A particular emphasis is placed on improving how interventions are evaluated, including developing novel approaches that move beyond average treatment effects to capture heterogeneity, sustainability, and unintended consequences.

Measuring what matters. Most mental heath outcomes are focused on symptoms, and do not measure the impact that symptoms have on young people’s day-to day lives. We are interested in finding new ways to measure the functional impact that symptoms have on our ability to engage in everyday activities. This reflects a broader concern that commonly used symptom-based measures may not always align with what young people, families, or practitioners consider meaningful.

METHODS

Across these research areas, we use a combination of methods, including behavioural experiments, social network analysis, longitudinal modelling, psychometrics, and intervention designs such as randomised controlled trials. 

LAB MEMBERS

Dr Jack Andrews, Principle Investigator

Dr Delfina Bilello, Postdoctoral Researcher

Dr Holly Crudgington, Postdoctoral Researcher

Caroline Wunn, MSc Cognitive Neuroscience (Erasmus)

Jay Bate, MSci Experimental Psychology 

Tamsin White, MSci Experimental Psychology 

Dr Joseph Newton, Visiting Researcher & Trainee Clinical Psychologist (Southampton)