Emily Hayward
Research Trainee
Profile
Biography
Emily Hayward is a Research Trainee in the Department of Psychology at the University of York. She is currently based within the Sleep, Language and Memory (SLAM) Lab, where she supports research within the SmartSleep Project, a programme of research investigating how smartphone use and digital technology influence sleep, mental health, cognitive development and social behaviour in young people, with a particular focus on understanding the mechanisms through which these effects occur.
Emily has extensive experience in child and adolescent mental health research and has contributed to a range of NIHR, MRC and charity-funded studies, including randomised controlled trials, feasibility studies, systematic reviews and intervention development projects. Her work has focused on improving outcomes for children, young people and families across a range of mental health and developmental areas, including depression, anxiety, specific phobias, autism assessment, infant development and digital wellbeing.
Her interests include child and adolescent mental health, sleep and wellbeing, digital technology use, psychological assessment, intervention development and evaluation, and improving the accessibility and acceptability of evidence-based support for children and young people.
Career
- Student Research Assistant, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, York St John University (May–October 2014)
- Assistant Psychologist, The Retreat, York (October–December 2014)
- Graduate Research Intern, Developmental Psychology and Mind-Mindedness Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of York (2015–2016)
- Research Assistant, Child Oriented Mental Health Innovation Collaborative (COMIC), Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (2017–2021)
- Research Assistant, Mental Health and Addictions Research Group (MHARG), Department of Health Sciences, University of York (2021–2026)
- Research Trainee, Sleep, Language and Memory (SLAM) Lab, Department of Psychology, University of York (2026–present)
Research
Overview
Emily is part of the Sleep, Language and Memory (SLAM) Lab and contributes to the SmartSleep Project, which investigates the effects of smartphone use and digital technology on sleep, mental health, cognitive development and social behaviour in young people.
She has extensive experience in child and adolescent mental health research and has contributed to a range of studies evaluating psychological assessment tools and interventions and improving access to evidence-based support for children, young people and families.
Her previous research has included the evaluation of psychological interventions, the adaptation of assessment tools for diverse populations, and the development of approaches to improve access to evidence-based support for children, young people and families.
Projects
- Waking up to the effects of smartphones: The SmartSleep Project
- Self-Esteem Intervention Development for Adolescents
- Behavioural Activation for Young people with depression in specialist child and adolescent mental health services (BAY)
- Community-based Behavioural Activation Training for Depression in Adolescents (ComBAT)
- Alleviating Specific Phobias Experienced by Children Trial (ASPECT)
- Diagnostic Instruments for Autism in Deaf children’s Study (DIADS)
- Baby+Me Study
Research group(s)
Sleep Language and Memory (SLAM) Lab
Collaborators
- Professor Lisa Henderson
- Dr Harry Bennett
- Eleanor Caldwell
- Professor Lina Gega
- Dr Lucy Tindall
- Susan Metcalfe
- Dr Beth Bell
- Professor Barry Wright
- Professor Elizabeth Meins
Publications
Selected publications
- Tindall, L., Hayward, E., Li, J., Kerrigan, P., Metcalfe, S., & Gega, L. (2025). Community-based behavioural activation for depression in adolescents: feasibility study, survey and stakeholder consultations. Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 4, 1596294.
- Tindall, L., Kerrigan, P., Li, J., Hayward, E., & Gega, L. (2024). Is behavioural activation an effective treatment for depression in children and adolescents? An updated systematic review and meta-analysis. European child & adolescent psychiatry, 33(12), 4133-4156.
- Larkin, F., Oostenbroek, J., Lee, Y., Hayward, E., Fernandez, A., Wang, Y., Mitchell, A., Y Li, L & Meins, E. (2024). A smartphone app effectively facilitates mothers' mind-mindedness: A randomized controlled trial. Child Development, 95(3), 831-844.
- Wright, B., Tindall, L., Scott, A.J., Lee, E., Cooper, C., Biggs, K., Bee, P., Wang, H.I., Gega, L., Hayward, E., Solaiman, K., Teare, D., Davis, T., Wilson, J., Lovell, K., McMillan, D., Barr, A., Edwards, H., Lomas, J., Turtle, C., Parrott, S., Teige, C., Chater, T., Hargate, R., Ali, S., Parkinson, S., Gilbody, S. & Marshall, D. (2023). One session treatment (OST) is equivalent to multi‐session cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in children with specific phobias (ASPECT): results from a national non‐inferiority randomized controlled trial. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 64(1), 39-49.
- Hayward, E., Solaiman, K., Bee, P., Barr, A., Edwards, H., Lomas, J., Tindall, L., Scott, A., Biggs, K. & Wright, B. (2022). One-session treatment for specific phobias: Barriers, facilitators and acceptability as perceived by children & young people, parents, and clinicians. PLOS One, 17(9), e0274424.
- Phillips, H., Wright, B., Allgar, V., McConachie, H., Sweetman, J., Hargate, R., Hodkinson, R., Bland, M., George, H., Hughes, A., Hayward, E., Fernandez Garcia De Las Heras, V., & Le Couteur, A. (2022). Adapting and validating the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule Version 2 for use with deaf children and young people. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 52(2), 553-568.
Full publications list
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=b84q5cQAAAAJ
