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Dr Abby (Abigail) Russell

Dr Abby (Abigail) Russell

Senior Lecturer in Child and Adolescent Mental Health and NIHR Advanced Fellow

 01392 72 2985

 South Cloisters 2.05a

 

South Cloisters, University of Exeter, St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, UK

 Office hours:

I teach for the equivalent of one day per week. I am available for queries and meetings by phone, Teams or zoom as well as meeting in person.

Overview

Abby is a Senior Lecturer in Child and Adolescent Mental Health based within the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Research Collaboration (ChYMe), that sits within the Child Health group of the College of Medicine and Health. Her research focuses on the causes and consequences of child and adolescent mental health difficulties, and the role that schools play in preventing, identifying and managing mental health difficulties. 

Abby is currently conducting a programme of research that aims to explore and ameliorate the impact of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in schools. She is currently carrying out a 5 year NIHR Advanced Fellowship, developing and conducting initial evaluation of a school-based intervention for young people with impairing traits related to ADHD. Abby will be working with children, parents and schools to co-design a toolkit of evidence-based behavioural strategies with extensive patient and public involvement. Abby plans to extend this approach to developing evidence-based public health interventions to other mental health problems, such as strategies to help school staff manage young people who self-harm. 

Abby also collaborates on a variety of projects centering on child and adolescent mental health. ADHD and neurodevelopmental conditions, self-harm and suicide, and dimensional measures of mental health have been the main focus of her work thus far. She has experience of a variety of research methods, including epidemiological, qualitative and evidence synthesis. Abby has recently completed a postdoctoral position with Dr Becky Mars at the University of Bristol, exploring biological mechanisms linking early adversity and adolescent self-harm, and exploring the genetics of self-harm and suicide. Her PhD explored the association between parental socioeconomic disadvantage and ADHD in children and young people.

Prior to her research career, Abby has worked in learning disability support services, child and adolescent mental health services, and a school for children with special educational needs.

Qualifications

PhD Medical Studies

BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences (Psychology)

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice

Career

Senior Lecturer in Child and Adolescent Mental Health                                                    2021-current 

University of Exeter College of Medicine and Health

Lecturer in Child and Adolescent Mental Health                                                                 2020-2021

University of Exeter College of Medicine and Health

Senior Research Associate in Epidemiology                                                                       2018-2020

University of Bristol Medical School

Postdoctoral Research Fellow: secondary data analysis 

University of Exeter Medical School                                                                                          2018-2018

Postdoctoral Research Associate: Child Mental Health Group                                                     

University of Exeter                                                                                                                    2017-2018

Postdoctoral Research Associate: Shared decision making in mild to moderate dementia

University of Exeter Medical School                                                                                           2017-2017

Postdoctoral Research Associate: Self-harm and suicide in schools project

University of Exeter Medical School                                                                                           2016-2016

Associate Research Fellow: Collaborative Care for Depression randomised controlled trial                     

University of Exeter Medical School                                                                                           2012-2013

Associate Research Fellow: Fathers in Focus study                                                               2012-2012

Mood disorders centre, Psychology, University of Exeter

Teaching Assistant at Summit School, Canada                                                                       2010-2012 

Honorary Assistant Psychologist at CAMHS, Edinburgh                                                       2009-2010 

Support worker for ENABLE Scotland                                                                                      2006-2010 

 

 

Links

Research group links

Research

Research interests

Abby has research interests in mental health, with a focus on children and adolescents. The main aim of her work is to better understand the causes of mental health difficulties in young people, and to ameliorate the negative consequences of these difficulties.

Abby's work thus far has explored social, environmental and biological causes of mental health difficulties in children and adolescents, largely working with cohort and other large epidemiological datasets. Alongside ongoing epidemiological research, Abby is now moving into the field of developing and evaluating public health interventions that promote positive outcomes for children and young people with mental health difficulties.

Abby is currently carrying out a 5-year NIHR Advanced Fellowship (July 2020-July 2025) to work alongside schools, young people and parents in order to develop and evaluate a toolkit for primary schools which aims to improve school for children and young people with impairing traits of inattention, impulsivity or hyperactivity.

Research projects

Current projects:

Development and initial evaluation of a school-based intervention for ADHD (NIHR)

What outcomes are most important for school-based interventions for ADHD to target? Results from a Delphi survey

Understanding impacts of parent depression on children's social outcomes

Exploring education experiences of young adults with ADHD

Understanding the biological and genetic mechanisms underpinning self-harm and suicide (MRF/MRC)

Gender differences in ADHD prevalence: systematic review

Exploring links between childhood adversity and multiple risk behaviours

Exploring links between adversity and suicide attempt in Canada, the UK and Sri Lanka

 

Research networks

Abby is a Honorary Research Fellow with the Centre for Academic Mental Health, University of Bristol Medical School

Publications

Key publications | Publications by category | Publications by year

Publications by category


Journal articles

Russell A (In Press). A process evaluation of a peer education project to improve mental health literacy in secondary school students: Study Protocol. BMC Public Health
Evans R, Parker R, Russell AE, Mathews F, Ford T, Hewitt G, Scourfield J, Janssens A (In Press). Adolescent self-harm prevention and intervention in secondary schools: a survey of staff in England and Wales. Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Russell A, Hemani G, Jones H, Ford T, Gunnell D, Heron J, Moran P, Joinson C, Relton C, Suderman M, et al (In Press). An Exploration of the genetic epidemiology of non-suicidal self-harm and suicide attempt. BMC Psychiatry
Russell A, May F, Ford T, Janssens A, Newlove-Delgado T, Salim J, Ukoumunne O, Hayes R (In Press). Attainment, attendance and school difficulties in UK primary school children with probable ADHD. British Journal of Educational Psychology
Russell A, Rajapakse T, Kidger J, Bandara P, López-López J, Senarathna L, Metcalfe C, Gunnell D, Knipe D (In Press). Childhood adversity and self-poisoning: a hospital case control study in Sri Lanka. PLoS One
Russell A, Joinson C, Roberts E, Heron J, Ford T, Gunnell D, Moran P, Relton C, Suderman M, Mars B, et al (In Press). Childhood adversity, pubertal timing and self-harm: a longitudinal cohort study. Psychological Medicine
Troy D, Russell A, Kidger J, Wright C (In Press). Childhood psychopathology mediates associations between childhood adversities and multiple health risk behaviours in adolescence: analysis using the ALSPAC birth cohort. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Russell AE, Ford T, Moore D, Russell G, Tay M (In Press). Educational practitioners’ perceptions of ADHD. A qualitative study of views of the home lives of children with ADHD in the UK. British Journal of Special Education
Russell A, Mars B, Wen CP, Chang S-S, Gunnell D (In Press). Evidence for an association between inflammatory markers and suicide: a cohort study based on 359,849 to 462,747 Taiwanese adults. Journal of Affective Disorders
Orri M, Russell A, Mars B, Turecki G, Gunnell D, Heron J, Tremblay R, Boivin M, Nuyt A-M, Sylvana C, et al (In Press). Perinatal adversity profiles and suicide attempt in adolescence and young adulthood: Longitudinal analyses from two 20-year birth cohort studies. Psychological Medicine
Perry R, Ford T, O'Mahen H, Russell A (In Press). Prioritising targets for school-based ADHD interventions: a Delphi survey. School Mental Health
Benham-Clarke S, Ford T, Mitchell S, Price A, Newlove-Delgado T, Blake S, Eke H, Moore D, Russell A, Janssens A, et al (In Press). Role of Education Settings in Transition from Child to Adult Health Services for Young People with ADHD. Journal of Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties
Russell A, Newlove-Delgado T, Russell G (In Press). The challenges and opportunities of mental health data sharing in the UK. The Lancet Digital Health
Russell AE, Curtin E, Widnall E, Dodd S, Limmer M, Simmonds R, Kidger J (2023). Assessing the Feasibility of a Peer Education Project to Improve Mental Health Literacy in Adolescents in the UK. Community Mental Health Journal, 59(4), 784-796. Abstract.
Russell AE, Dunn B, Hayes R, Moore D, Kidger J, Sonuga-Barke E, Pfiffner L, Ford T (2023). Investigation of the feasibility and acceptability of a school-based intervention for children with traits of ADHD: protocol for an iterative case-series study. BMJ Open, 13(2), e065176-e065176. Abstract.
Newlove‐Delgado T, Russell AE, Mathews F, Cross L, Bryant E, Gudka R, Ukoumunne OC, Ford TJ (2022). Annual Research Review: the impact of Covid‐19 on psychopathology in children and young people worldwide: systematic review of studies with pre‐ and within‐pandemic data. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 64(4), 611-640.
Russell A, Moore D, Sanders A, Dunn B, Hayes R, Kidger J, Sonuga-Barke E, Pfiffner L, Ford T (2022). Synthesising the existing evidence for nonpharmacological interventions targeting outcomes relevant to young people with ADHD in the school setting: systematic review protocol. Systematic Reviews, 11 Abstract.
Pavlickova H, Russell AE, Lightman S, McCabe R (2021). Feasibility of salivary cortisol collection in patients and companions attending dementia diagnostic meetings in memory clinics. BMC Research Notes, 14(1). Abstract.
Russell AE, Ford T, Gunnell D, Heron J, Joinson C, Moran P, Relton C, Suderman M, Hemani G, Mars B, et al (2020). Investigating evidence for a causal association between inflammation and self-harm: a multivariable Mendelian Randomisation study. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 89, 43-50. Abstract.
Russell A, Ford T, Russell G (2019). Barriers and predictors of medication use for childhood ADHD: findings from a UK population-representative cohort. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Russell AE, Heron J, Gunnell D, Ford T, Hemani G, Joinson C, Moran P, Relton C, Suderman M, Mars B, et al (2019). Pathways between early-life adversity and adolescent self-harm: the mediating role of inflammation in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. J Child Psychol Psychiatry, 60(10), 1094-1103. Abstract.  Author URL.
Ford T, Hayes RA, Edwards V, Logan GS, Norwich B, Allen KL, Hansford L, Longdon BM, Norman S, Price A, et al (2019). Training teachers in classroom management to improve mental health in primary school children: the STARS cluster RCT. Public Health Research, 7
Psychogiou L, Kallitsoglou A, Dimatis K, Parry E, Russell AE, Yilmaz M, Kuyken W, Moberly NJ (2018). Children's emotion understanding in relation to attachment to mother and father. British Journal of Developmental Psychology
Moore D, Russell A, Matthews J, Ford T, Rogers M, Ukoumunne O, Kneale D, Thompson Coon J, Sutcliffe K, Nunns M, et al (2018). Context and Implications Document for: School-based interventions for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a systematic review with multiple synthesis methods. Review of Education, 6
Moore D, Russell A, Matthews J, Ford T, Rogers M, Ukoumunne O, Kneale D, Thompson Coon J, Sutcliffe K, Nunns M, et al (2018). School‐based interventions for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a systematic review with multiple synthesis methods. Review of Education, 6
Psychogiou L, Moberly N, Parry E, Russell A, Nath S, Kallitsoglou A (2017). Does fathers’ and mothers’ rumination predict emotional symptoms in their children?. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 56, 431-442.
Moore DA, Russell AE, Arnell S, Ford TJ (2017). Educators' experiences of managing students with ADHD: a qualitative study. Child: Care, Health and Development, 43(4), 489-498. Abstract.
Ford T, Macdiarmid F, Russell AE, Racey D, Goodman R (2017). The predictors of persistent DSM-IV disorders in 3-year follow-ups of the British Child and Adolescent Mental Health Surveys 1999 and 2004. Psychol Med, 47(6), 1126-1137. Abstract.  Author URL.
Ford TJ, Russell AE, Russell G (2017). The relationship between fnancial difficulty and childhood symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a UK longitudinal cohort study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 9
Gwernan-Jones RC, Moore DA, Cooper P, Russell AE, Richardson M, Rogers M, Thompson Coon J, Stein K, Ford T, Garside R, et al (2016). A Systematic Review and Synthesis of Qualitative Research: the Influence of School Context on Symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 21(1), 83-100. Abstract.
Richards DA, Bower P, Chew-Graham C, Gask L, Lovell K, Cape J, Pilling S, Araya R, Kessler D, Barkham M, et al (2016). Clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of collaborative care for depression in UK primary care (CADET): a cluster randomised controlled trial. Health Technol Assess, 20(14), 1-192. Abstract.  Author URL.
Russell AE, Moore DA, Ford T (2016). Educational practitioners’ beliefs and conceptualisation about the cause of ADHD: a qualitative study. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 1-18. Abstract.
Russell AE, Ford T, Williams R, Russell G (2016). The Association Between Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): a Systematic Review. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev, 47(3), 440-458. Abstract.  Author URL.
Russell AE, Ford T, Russell G (2015). Socioeconomic Associations with ADHD: Findings from a Mediation Analysis. PLoS One, 10(6). Abstract.  Author URL.

Chapters

Russell A (2022). Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Attendance at School. In Finning K, Ford T, Moore D (Eds.) Mental Health and Attendance at School, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Publications by year


In Press

Russell A (In Press). A process evaluation of a peer education project to improve mental health literacy in secondary school students: Study Protocol. BMC Public Health
Evans R, Parker R, Russell AE, Mathews F, Ford T, Hewitt G, Scourfield J, Janssens A (In Press). Adolescent self-harm prevention and intervention in secondary schools: a survey of staff in England and Wales. Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Russell A, Hemani G, Jones H, Ford T, Gunnell D, Heron J, Moran P, Joinson C, Relton C, Suderman M, et al (In Press). An Exploration of the genetic epidemiology of non-suicidal self-harm and suicide attempt. BMC Psychiatry
Russell A, May F, Ford T, Janssens A, Newlove-Delgado T, Salim J, Ukoumunne O, Hayes R (In Press). Attainment, attendance and school difficulties in UK primary school children with probable ADHD. British Journal of Educational Psychology
Russell A, Rajapakse T, Kidger J, Bandara P, López-López J, Senarathna L, Metcalfe C, Gunnell D, Knipe D (In Press). Childhood adversity and self-poisoning: a hospital case control study in Sri Lanka. PLoS One
Russell A, Joinson C, Roberts E, Heron J, Ford T, Gunnell D, Moran P, Relton C, Suderman M, Mars B, et al (In Press). Childhood adversity, pubertal timing and self-harm: a longitudinal cohort study. Psychological Medicine
Troy D, Russell A, Kidger J, Wright C (In Press). Childhood psychopathology mediates associations between childhood adversities and multiple health risk behaviours in adolescence: analysis using the ALSPAC birth cohort. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Russell AE, Ford T, Moore D, Russell G, Tay M (In Press). Educational practitioners’ perceptions of ADHD. A qualitative study of views of the home lives of children with ADHD in the UK. British Journal of Special Education
Russell A, Mars B, Wen CP, Chang S-S, Gunnell D (In Press). Evidence for an association between inflammatory markers and suicide: a cohort study based on 359,849 to 462,747 Taiwanese adults. Journal of Affective Disorders
Orri M, Russell A, Mars B, Turecki G, Gunnell D, Heron J, Tremblay R, Boivin M, Nuyt A-M, Sylvana C, et al (In Press). Perinatal adversity profiles and suicide attempt in adolescence and young adulthood: Longitudinal analyses from two 20-year birth cohort studies. Psychological Medicine
Perry R, Ford T, O'Mahen H, Russell A (In Press). Prioritising targets for school-based ADHD interventions: a Delphi survey. School Mental Health
Benham-Clarke S, Ford T, Mitchell S, Price A, Newlove-Delgado T, Blake S, Eke H, Moore D, Russell A, Janssens A, et al (In Press). Role of Education Settings in Transition from Child to Adult Health Services for Young People with ADHD. Journal of Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties
Russell A, Newlove-Delgado T, Russell G (In Press). The challenges and opportunities of mental health data sharing in the UK. The Lancet Digital Health

2023

Russell AE, Curtin E, Widnall E, Dodd S, Limmer M, Simmonds R, Kidger J (2023). Assessing the Feasibility of a Peer Education Project to Improve Mental Health Literacy in Adolescents in the UK. Community Mental Health Journal, 59(4), 784-796. Abstract.
Russell AE, Dunn B, Hayes R, Moore D, Kidger J, Sonuga-Barke E, Pfiffner L, Ford T (2023). Investigation of the feasibility and acceptability of a school-based intervention for children with traits of ADHD: protocol for an iterative case-series study. BMJ Open, 13(2), e065176-e065176. Abstract.

2022

Newlove‐Delgado T, Russell AE, Mathews F, Cross L, Bryant E, Gudka R, Ukoumunne OC, Ford TJ (2022). Annual Research Review: the impact of Covid‐19 on psychopathology in children and young people worldwide: systematic review of studies with pre‐ and within‐pandemic data. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 64(4), 611-640.
Russell A (2022). Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Attendance at School. In Finning K, Ford T, Moore D (Eds.) Mental Health and Attendance at School, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Russell A, Moore D, Sanders A, Dunn B, Hayes R, Kidger J, Sonuga-Barke E, Pfiffner L, Ford T (2022). Synthesising the existing evidence for nonpharmacological interventions targeting outcomes relevant to young people with ADHD in the school setting: systematic review protocol. Systematic Reviews, 11 Abstract.

2021

Pavlickova H, Russell AE, Lightman S, McCabe R (2021). Feasibility of salivary cortisol collection in patients and companions attending dementia diagnostic meetings in memory clinics. BMC Research Notes, 14(1). Abstract.
Russell A, Ford T, McIntosh A, Jones PB, Shenow S, Russell G, McManus S (2021). Researcher access to mental health data: results from an online consultation.  Abstract.

2020

Russell AE, Ford T, Gunnell D, Heron J, Joinson C, Moran P, Relton C, Suderman M, Hemani G, Mars B, et al (2020). Investigating evidence for a causal association between inflammation and self-harm: a multivariable Mendelian Randomisation study. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 89, 43-50. Abstract.
Russell A (2020). Prioritising targets for school-based ADHD interventions: a Delphi survey. Survey data.

2019

Russell A, Ford T, Russell G (2019). Barriers and predictors of medication use for childhood ADHD: findings from a UK population-representative cohort. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Russell AE, Heron J, Gunnell D, Ford T, Hemani G, Joinson C, Moran P, Relton C, Suderman M, Mars B, et al (2019). Pathways between early-life adversity and adolescent self-harm: the mediating role of inflammation in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. J Child Psychol Psychiatry, 60(10), 1094-1103. Abstract.  Author URL.
Ford T, Hayes RA, Edwards V, Logan GS, Norwich B, Allen KL, Hansford L, Longdon BM, Norman S, Price A, et al (2019). Training teachers in classroom management to improve mental health in primary school children: the STARS cluster RCT. Public Health Research, 7

2018

Psychogiou L, Kallitsoglou A, Dimatis K, Parry E, Russell AE, Yilmaz M, Kuyken W, Moberly NJ (2018). Children's emotion understanding in relation to attachment to mother and father. British Journal of Developmental Psychology
Moore D, Russell A, Matthews J, Ford T, Rogers M, Ukoumunne O, Kneale D, Thompson Coon J, Sutcliffe K, Nunns M, et al (2018). Context and Implications Document for: School-based interventions for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a systematic review with multiple synthesis methods. Review of Education, 6
Moore D, Russell A, Matthews J, Ford T, Rogers M, Ukoumunne O, Kneale D, Thompson Coon J, Sutcliffe K, Nunns M, et al (2018). School‐based interventions for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a systematic review with multiple synthesis methods. Review of Education, 6

2017

Psychogiou L, Moberly N, Parry E, Russell A, Nath S, Kallitsoglou A (2017). Does fathers’ and mothers’ rumination predict emotional symptoms in their children?. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 56, 431-442.
Moore DA, Russell AE, Arnell S, Ford TJ (2017). Educators' experiences of managing students with ADHD: a qualitative study. Child: Care, Health and Development, 43(4), 489-498. Abstract.
Ford T, Macdiarmid F, Russell AE, Racey D, Goodman R (2017). The predictors of persistent DSM-IV disorders in 3-year follow-ups of the British Child and Adolescent Mental Health Surveys 1999 and 2004. Psychol Med, 47(6), 1126-1137. Abstract.  Author URL.
Ford TJ, Russell AE, Russell G (2017). The relationship between fnancial difficulty and childhood symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a UK longitudinal cohort study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 9

2016

Gwernan-Jones RC, Moore DA, Cooper P, Russell AE, Richardson M, Rogers M, Thompson Coon J, Stein K, Ford T, Garside R, et al (2016). A Systematic Review and Synthesis of Qualitative Research: the Influence of School Context on Symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 21(1), 83-100. Abstract.
Richards DA, Bower P, Chew-Graham C, Gask L, Lovell K, Cape J, Pilling S, Araya R, Kessler D, Barkham M, et al (2016). Clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of collaborative care for depression in UK primary care (CADET): a cluster randomised controlled trial. Health Technol Assess, 20(14), 1-192. Abstract.  Author URL.
Russell AE, Moore DA, Ford T (2016). Educational practitioners’ beliefs and conceptualisation about the cause of ADHD: a qualitative study. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 1-18. Abstract.
Russell AE, Ford T, Williams R, Russell G (2016). The Association Between Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): a Systematic Review. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev, 47(3), 440-458. Abstract.  Author URL.

2015

Russell AE, Ford T, Russell G (2015). Socioeconomic Associations with ADHD: Findings from a Mediation Analysis. PLoS One, 10(6). Abstract.  Author URL.

Abby_Russell Details from cache as at 2023-03-31 22:31:58

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Teaching

Abby's teaching interests are around in epidemiology and health research. She has taught on a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, including Introduction to StataCritical appraisal in psychiatry, and contributed content to the Massive Open Online Course on ADHD, hosted by Kings College, London.

Current teaching in 2021/2022

Master of Public Health- HPDM121 Epidemiology (module co-lead)

BMBS Problem Based Learning

Medical Sciences Academic Tutor

 

Modules

2022/23


Supervision / Group

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