Katie Baynham

Thesis title: A mixed methods investigation into the role of companion animals in the experiences of early & mid-adolescents with symptoms of anxiety and depression

Biography

Background

I studied for a psychology degree at the University of Glasgow, after which I worked in research assistant roles within the Division of Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh and within Mental Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow. Subsequently, I worked within psychological services in NHS Ayrshire & Arran and then for national charities - as a staff counsellor for Childline (NSPCC) and as service coordinator of the Blues Programme with Action for Children, which involved setting up, delivering and evaluating a new mental health group intervention in Scottish secondary schools.

I then returned to education to study for an Interdisciplinary Masters in Human-Animal Interaction at the Messerli Research Institute in Vienna, Austria, during which I conducted an empirical research project investigating the cognitive strategies used by dogs when searching for different types of objects, and an ethical analysis of the use of captive-bred chimpanzees in cognitive research.

I am currently studying for a PhD within Clinical Psychology in the School of Health in Social Science which combines my interests in child/adolescent mental health and human-animal interaction; this is funded by a Scottish Graduate School of Social Science studentship. I am interested in early/mid adolescents' attachments to their pets and the role of the adolescent-pet relationship in experiences of anxiety and depression, particularly within the family context.

Qualifications

MSc Human-Animal Interaction (Distinction) - Messerli Research Institute, Vienna

BSc (Hons) Psychology (1st class) - University of Glasgow

Current research interests

I have a broad range of academic interests within the fields of clinical and developmental psychology, children and young people’s mental health, human-animal interaction and One Health. These include: attachment theory (including children’s attachment to both human and non-human animals); neurodivergence (including autism, ADHD & associated body-focused repetitive behaviours); childhood trauma and adverse childhood experiences; the impact of psychosocial factors in schools on pupils’ mental wellbeing; risk assessment and safeguarding of adolescents (including theoretical frameworks of suicidality and self-harm); the experiences of care-experienced young people (including in relation to pet attachment); physiological underpinnings of mental health (including endocrine and inflammatory pathways); compassion- and trauma-focused interventions; trans-species psychology; human exceptionalism, speciesism and non-human animal personhood; and, in relation to research methods, particular interests in mixed-methods approaches, the use of qualitative methodology to explore children and young people’s lived experiences, and ethical issues surrounding research with vulnerable human and non-human populations.

Affiliated research centres

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