M Barker MRC MR/N011848/1

Staff

Lead researchers

Professor Mary Barker PhD, C Psychol

Prof of Psychology & Behavioural Science

Research interests

Mary Barker is Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Science. She has a joint appointment in both the Faculty of Medicine and the School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Southampton UK. Mary runs a programme of work in both the UK and in low-income countries aiming to engage young people in improving their sense of agency, well-being and mental health, to benefit their health in general but their diets and physical activity habits more specifically. Her team’s approach is participatory and combines social activism focused on engaging young people in the climate change and health agenda and testing methods of one-to-one support and digital resources including smartphone games. Much of this work takes place as part of her NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Research EACH-B (Engaging Adolescents in Changing Behaviour). She partners in this activity with the TALENT network of colleagues with interests in adolescent health and well-being based in institutions in low-and-middle-income countries. Her team also ran a five-country, longitudinal qualitative study with young people throughout the pandemic exploring their experience, mental health, well-being and resilience, data from which supported UK local and national government COVID messaging to young people. She is adjunct professor at the University of Agder, Norway, and has honorary appointments at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, and University College London.

Connect with Mary

Email: meb@mrc.soton.ac.uk

Other researchers

Dr Leanne Morrison

Associate Professor

Research interests

Health Psychology
Person-based intervention development
Digital technology

Connect with Leanne

Email: L.Morrison@soton.ac.uk

Research outputs

Intervention strategies to improve nutrition and health behaviours before conception

Mary Barker, S. Dombrowski, T. Colbourn, Caroline Fall, N.M. Kriznik, Wendy Lawrence, S.A. Norris, G. Ngaiza, D. Patel, J. Skordis-Worrall, F.F. Sniehotta, R.P. Steegers-Theunissen, Christina Vogel, Kathryn Woods-Townsend & J. Stephenson, 2018, The Lancet, 391(10132), 1853-1864

DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30313-1

Type: article

Improving recruitment to clinical trials during pregnancy

Sofia Strommer, Wendy Lawrence, Taylor Rose, Christina Vogel, Daniella Watson, Joanne N. Bottell, Nicholas Harvey, Cyrus Cooper, Hazel Inskip, Janis Baird & Mary Barker, 2018, Social Science & Medicine, 200, 73-82

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.01.014

Type: article

A systematic review of digital interventions for improving the diet and physical activity behaviours of adolescents

Taylor Rose, Mary Barker, Chandni Maria Jacob, Leanne Morrison, Wendy Lawrence, Sofia Strommer, Christina Vogel, Kathryn Woods-Townsend, David Farrell, Hazel Inskip & Janis Baird, 2017, Journal of Adolescent Health, 61(6), 669-677

DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.05.024

Type: article

What influences diet quality in older people? A qualitative study among community-dwelling older adults from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study, UK

Ilse Bloom, Wendy Lawrence, Mary Barker, Janis Baird, Elaine Dennison, Avan Aihie Sayer, Cyrus Cooper & Sian Robinson, 2017, Public Health Nutrition

DOI: 10.1017/S1368980017001203

Type: article

Translating developmental origins: Improving the health of women and their children using a substantial approach to behaviour change

Mary Barker, Janis Baird, Tannaze Tinati, Christina Vogel, Sofia Strommer, Taylor Rose, Rufia Begum, Megan Jarman, Jenny Davies, Sue Thompson, Liz Taylor, Hazel Inskip, Cyrus Cooper, Don Nutbeam & Wendy Lawrence, 2017, Healthcare, 5(1)

DOI: 10.3390/healthcare5010017

Type: article