Dr Sam Cartwright-Hatton B.A. D.Phil. Clin.Psy.D

• British Psychological Society
• British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (Secretary of Children and Families' branch)
• Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Interests:

Anxiety disorders of childhood are extremely common (an incidence of up to 17% by adulthood), and can have disabling outcomes. In addition, there is now thought to be a causal association between early anxiety and subsequent negative outcomes, including depression and substance misuse.

Despite these concerns, adequate research into the development and treatment of anxiety in childhood is lacking. My research aims to extend our knowledge of the development of anxiety in children and adolescents, and to use this to produce urgently required new interventions.

PACMan trial (Parents for anxious children - Manchester):  A first key area of research concerns anxiety in young children (aged below 10 years), for whom there is currently no published treatment. I am developing a new intervention for this population, which is based on a cognitive-behavioural parenting skills model. An MRC funded trial of this intervention has just been completed, with very promising results.  Detail of the trial can be found at www.manchester.ac.uk/pacmantrial

TOPCAT study (Theory of parent-child anxiety transmission):  A related strand of research explores processes in the transmission of fear from parents to children.  We know that anxiety runs in families, and this research aims to unpick some of the cognitive and behavioural elements in this transmission.  For instance, do some parents have cognitive biases towards threat in their children's environment?  Do these biases cause them to act differently with their child in the presence of a threat, or to pass biased information about that threat to their child.  This research is being carried out in collaboration with Dr. Andy Field (University of Sussex) and is funded by the lovely people at the ESRC.

An additional strand of research concerns the cognitive behavioural treatment (CBT) of anxiety in older children. CBT is highly effective for the treatment of anxiety in adults, and recently, its investigation as a treatment for anxiety in children has begun. My research is examining the suppositions on which CBT is based, in a young population. Of particular interest is my research that has cast doubt on a widely held assumption that socially anxious children are in need of social skill remediation (Cartwright-Hatton, Porter & Hodges, 2003; Cartwright-Hatton, Tschernitz & Gomersall, 2005).

Sam Cartwright-Hatton started her career by carrying out a D.Phil (PhD) in the Department of Psychiatry at Oxford, under the supervision of Adrian Wells. The subject of this thesis was a MetaCognitive model of Generalised Anxiety Disorder in Adults. During subsequent clinical psychology training in Manchester, she developed an interest in the far less well-researched area of anxiety in childhood. On qualifying, she joined the Manchester clinical course as academic tutor, whilst working half-time as an A grade clinical psychologist at the Carol Kendrick Unit in South Manchester. Eighteen months after qualification, she was awarded a 3-year NHS executive fellowship to develop her research in anxiety in childhood, with Professor Richard Harrington. Upon completion of this fellowship she rejoined the Manchester clinical course as Senior Lecturer. She has recently completed a 4-year MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship, developing and trialling a new intervention for families of young anxious children.  In 2009, she was awarded the British Psychological Society 'May Davidson Award' for outstanding contribution to clinical psychology in the first ten years after qualifying as a clinical psychologist.

• Dr Andy Field
  University of Sussex
  Co applicant on ESRC seminar series award and TOPCAT study, and collaborator on other projects related to child anxiety
• Dr Cathy Creswell
  University of Reading
  Co-applicant on ESRC seminar series award
• Prof Shirley Reynolds
  University of East Anglia
  Co-applicant on ESRC seminar series award
• Dr Brian Fisak
  University of Northern Florida