Dr Rachel Hayes

About me:

I am a Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at the University of Exeter. I am interested in finding ways to support the emotional and social development of children and young adults. My focus has been evaluating complex interventions with families, schools and health services.

I have previously worked at the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) and I collaborate with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and Youth Endowment Fund (YEF). My focus over 20 years of academic research has been on the promotion of good mental health, particularly within education settings, and the development of interventions to clinically treat mood disorders. I have been a professional author with MindEd and a research advisor for Place2Be. I am experienced in managing large trials of complex interventions to support the mental health of both children and adults and within primary schools have led trials investigating the effectiveness of both the Incredible Years ® Teacher Classroom Management programme and the KiVa anti-bullying programme. I am a senior member of staff in the Children and Young People's Mental Health Research Collaboration (ChYMe) based in Exeter and have previously co-led the Peninsula Mental Health Research Initiative (PenMHRI).

My current young people’s work focusses on the reduction of adolescent depression and the development of a new secondary school based public health intervention to support healthier adolescent relationships. In addition, I am exploring how mental health services can offer the most effective treatments to adults within coastal and rural communities as well as evaluating new interventions to support complex depression in adults. 

Interests:

Mental Health

Developmental Psychology

Clinical Psychology

School Based Research

Qualifications:

BSc Psychology

MSc Psychological Research Methods

PhD

Career:

• Research interest in the promotion of good mental health in young people and families, with a particular focus on prevention and school based intervention
• Managed large successful trials of complex health interventions, main outcomes published in high quality scientific journals
• A Ph.D. in developmental psychology investigating young infant’s perception of speech sounds
• Experienced in all aspects of research – design, funding, implementation, analysis and dissemination