Professor Joanne Williams
Professor of Applied Developmental Psychology
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Research (CAMHR)
- Children, Adolescents and Animals Research (CAAR)
- Human-Animal Interactions
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, and children’s interactions with animals. I am also a parent of two amazing children (who are both taller than me now), have a range of much-loved pets, and a wildlife-friendly garden.
My career at The University of Edinburgh began in 1993 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 was Director of the Centre for Applied Developmental Psychology and am currently a member of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Research group. I coordinate Children, Adolescents and Animals Research (caar), and am a member of the Human-Animal Interaction Research group.
In terms of teaching I am Director of the Clinical and Health Psychology PhD and MSc Research programmes and have supervised around 40 doctoral students. I have also held a range of post-graduate taught programme leadership roles including creating and being the first Programme Director of the highly successful MSc Psychology of Mental Health (Conversion) programme a British Psychological Society accredited conversion programme. I contribute developmental psychology teaching and project supervision on a range of postgraduate programmes including the MSc Psychology of Mental Health (Conversion).
I am a long-standing member of the British Psychological Society Developmental Section and organised the Annual Developmental Psychology Conference in 2005. I was recently a Board member for the International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ) and led the organising committee for ISAZ 2023 Annual Conference, which was in Edinburgh. I am also a member of the SCAS Mental Health Working Group, and Honorary Chair of the Board of Trustees for Fostering Compassion.
Postgraduate teaching
- Developmental Psychology and Developmental Psychopathology
- 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. Below I have listed my students along with the themes of their PhDs.
Current PhD students supervised
I am fortunate to have excellent PhD students. I list my current students and their broad topics below:
Amber Ramos (Human-animal interaction with military marine mammals)
Liron Blajwajs (Joint hypermobility in adolescent dancers)
Katie Baynham (Adolescent mental health and pets)
Suzanne Lawrie (Evaluation of RSPCA 'Breaking the Chain' intervention)
Rea Michalopoulou (Children's understanding of Covid-19 and VR interventions)
Rina De Luna (Farm animal welfare in the Philippines)
Past PhD students supervised
I have been fortunate to work with some brilliant PhD students in the past who have all been awarded their PhDs and gone on to amazing careers. Below I list them and their board topics:
Dr Lynne Binnie (Childhood neurodiversity and biology and physics concepts)
Dr Lesley Smith (Children's and adolescents' understandings of disabilities)
Dr Diana Gossrau (Adolescent substance use)
Dr Katherine Myant (Children's and adolescents' understandings of illness)
Dr Ai Keow Lim (Theory of Mind and Pretend play in pre-schoolers)
Dr Monica Odinko (Pre-school education in Nigeria)
Dr Lynsey Burke (Children's thinking skills)
Dr Dia (Daisy) Qian (British-born Chinese children's identity development)
Dr Jennifer van Bekkum (Cycling Behaviour)
Dr Julie Moote (Children's self-regulated learning in science)
Dr Jia (Ava) Guo (Adolescent development in China)
Dr Elpida Pavlidou (Developmental dyslexia and implicit grammar learning)
Dr Carol Thompson (Farmer's welfare beliefs and behaviour)
Dr Nikki Georgakakou-Koustonikuo (Children's and adolescents' understandings of depression)
Dr Susannah Johnston (Adolescent perfectionism and mental health)
Dr Siti Norhedayah Abdul Latif (Social, emotional and behavioural issues among adolescents in Brunei)
Dr Kiyoshi Nasir Bhuiyan (Autisitic children's interactions with tablets)
Dr Loukia Bololia (Autistic adolescents and drama therapy)
Dr Roxanne Hawkins (Animal welfare education for children)
Dr Ho Nam (Amy) Cheung (Depression in China)
Dr Jingni Ma (Nature-based interventions for mental health)
Isobel Voysey (Zoomorphic robots for childhood animal cruelty prevention)
Dr Hasan Huseyin Ates (Eating disorders, disordered eating and neurodivergence)
Dr Unaiza Iqbal (Pets and vulnerable children)
Dr Laura Wauthier (Evaluation of Scottish SPCA 'Animal Guardians' programme)
Peilin (Ruby) Lin (Gardening and mental health in Chinese older adults)
Xiaoshan (Sylph) Yin (Pet effects in Chinese adolescents and emerging adults)
Hamdulla Tunc (Values and mental health in adolescents)
Rowena Piers (Digital mental health interventions for adolescents)
Research summary
Research Interests
- Child and adolescent health and mental health
- Children’s and adolescents’ interactions with animals
- Childhood and adolescent animal abuse prevention
- Psychological impacts of pets
- Animal-assisted interventions for university students
- Children’s understandings of mind, body and mental health
Research Centre
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Research
Research Themes
- Applied Developmental Psychology
- One Health
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