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

Why is changing health-related behaviour so difficult?

Michael P. Kelly & Mary Barker, 2016, Public Health, 1-8

DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2016.03.030

Type: article

Societal valorization of new knowledge to improve perinatal health: time to act

Eric A.P. Steegers, Mary E. Barker, Regine P.M. Steegers-Theunissen & Michelle A. Williams, 2016, Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, 30(2), 201-204

DOI: 10.1111/ppe.12275

Type: article

Preconception and pregnancy: opportunities to intervene to improve women's diets and lifestyles

M. Barker, J. Baird, W. Lawrence, C. Vogel, S. Strommer, T. Rose, H. Inskip, K. Godfrey & C. Cooper, 2016, Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, 1-4

DOI: 10.1017/S2040174416000064

Type: article

'Making every contact count'. Evaluation of the impact of an intervention to train health and social care practitioners in skills to support health behaviour change

Wendy Lawrence, Christina Black, Tannaze Tinati, Sue Cradock, Rufia Begum, Megan Jarman, Anna Pease, Barrie Margetts, Justin Davies, Hazel Inskip, Cyrus Cooper, Janis Baird & Mary Barker, 2016, Journal of Health Psychology, 21(2), 138-151

DOI: 10.1177/1359105314523304

Type: article

How do mothers manage their preschool children's eating habits and does this change as children grow older? A longitudinal analysis

Megan Jarman, J. Ogden, H. Inskip, W. Lawrence, J. Baird, C. Cooper, S. Robinson & M. Barker, 2015, Appetite, 95, 466-474

DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2015.08.008

Type: article