Dr Kathryn Hesketh and Professor Helen Dodd

Tune into our podcast interview with April's researchers of the month 

As well as providing numerous opportunities for exploration, joy, and expression, outdoor and adventurous play - the type of play that allows children to take age-appropriate risks - is associated with a range of positive health behaviours and outcomes. Yes, we're talking about the kind of play that might leave us adults with our hearts in our mouths at times, as children start to disappear up a tree, or engage in a rough and tumble game of chase. But its benefits are wide-ranging and known impacts include increased levels of habitual physical activity alongside better mental health and positive mood. 

 In 2019, Dr Hesketh was involved in the creation of 

 in the UK, which explicitly note the importance of outdoor play for children in the preschool age group. We know quite a lot about the play habits of school-aged children, but until now, have had significantly less data on their younger counterparts. 

Our Researchers of the Month, Dr Kathryn Hesketh and Professor Helen Dodd set out to discover how much time preschool-aged children spend playing in a range of indoor and outdoor spaces, and how adventurously they are playing within them. In the first national survey of play in children of this age, they asked over 1000 parents of two to four year olds about their children’s play habits, finding that, on average, children aged two to four spend around four hours per day (outside of educational settings) playing. Just under 50% of this was spent playing outdoors. Their findings shed interesting light on some inequalities in play, even in the youngest age group, which may exacerbate existing inequalities in health.

 is a Behavioural Epidemiologist and Principal Research Fellow at University College London. She is an expert in movement behaviours during the transition to parenthood and during the first five years of life. Kathryn is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow – her programme of work seeks to understand how movement behaviours influence health and wellbeing, and how we can better promote physical activity and play during pregnancy, postnatally, and in the preschool period.

is Professor of Child Psychology at the University of Exeter Medical School. She is an expert in children’s play and mental health, with a particular interest in child anxiety. She also holds a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, which funds her research programme examining the role of adventurous play in preventing anxiety.

 (pictured) is a Behavioural Epidemiologist and Principal Research Fellow at University College London. She is an expert in movement behaviours during the transition to parenthood and during the first five years of life, seeking to understand how we can better promote physical activity and play during pregnancy, postnatally, and in the preschool period. 

is Professor of Child Psychology at the University of Exeter Medical School. She is an expert in children’s play and mental health, with a particular interest in child anxiety. 

Dr Hesketh and Professor Dodd have recently published the 

 of the British Preschool Children’s Play Survey, which aimed to assess when, where and how adventurously young children in the UK are playing.

Encouraging adventurous play in the preschool years

Professor Judy Hutchings OBE

Bullying is an extremely important public mental health risk. Around one in five primary school children report being bullied at least weekly. Children who are bullied are more likely to experience depression and anxiety, and are at heightened risk of mental health issues in adolescence and adulthood. Whilst schools in England and Wales are required to have anti-bullying policies, rates of bullying remain high. Bullying is preventable, but schools need more help to tackle it. Typically, school policies focus on how to handle bullying once it happens. However, evidence suggests that a comprehensive approach involving the entire school to prevent bullying, alongside clear strategies for addressing confirmed cases, is the most effective way to tackle the issue.

 is one such whole-school approach, developed in Finland by 

. A large study in Finland which involved 28,000 primary school pupils found that adopting the KiVa programme in Finnish schools significantly reduced bullying and improved children's mental wellbeing. The programme has since been rolled out nationally by the Finnish government and ongoing use of KiVa in Finnish schools is associated with year-on-year incremental reductions in bullying.

Along with colleagues, our researcher of the month, 

, has tested the effectiveness of the KiVa Programme in UK primary schools. The study involved over 11,000 children in Wales, Birmingham, Oxfordshire and Devon, and showed a 13% reduction in reported rates of bullying when compared with existing school approaches to tackle bullying.

Since the 1980s, Professor Hutchings has developed, researched and published extensively on parenting programmes, targeting parents of young, mainly preschool, children with a focus on addressing social
disadvantage. Her work has been pragmatic, working with the staff of statutory and voluntary agencies as a consultant clinical psychologist within the NHS and a researcher in academia. Professor Hutchings worked with the Westminster Government through the 2000s supporting the Sure Start initiative and contributing to Cabinet office discussions. She has worked with schools evaluating social emotional programmes for universal and targeted populations, the most recent of which was a successful randomised controlled trial of the Finnish 

 with 11000 children. Her current parenting work includes three small trials of 

, a dialogic reading programme for parents and school-based staff with 3-5 year olds that successfully promotes children’s language skills and school readiness, and 

 with UNICEF to support parenting in global south countries.

Dr Hutchings' most recent work has been a successful UK randomised controlled trial of the Finnish 

, with 11000 children. Her current parenting work also includes three small trials of 

, a dialogic reading programme for parents and school-based staff with three to five year olds that successfully promotes children’s language skills and school readiness, and 

Along with co-authors, Professor Hutchings has recently published the 

 of the KiVa anti-bullying programme trial, finding it to be effective in reducing bullying victimisation.

Fostering a school culture against bullying: the KiVa Programme

Dr Kim Sylwander

Currently, children's and young people’s use of digital technology is rarely out of the news. Age limits are debated. Calls for stronger limits are made, and questions are raised regarding whether society should ban 'under-age' children from various aspects of the digital world. 13 years of age is often cited as a digital 'age of consent', though this varies in some countries. Commonly used age limits are largely arbitrary, based primarily on US legislation, rather than evidence. In a 

, our researcher of the month, Dr Kim Sylwander, and her co-author Professor Sonia Livingstone, consider age milestones and evaluate whether or not the evidence supports them. 

Are age limits the optimal way to regulate children’s digital experiences? Does it matter that they are widely contested and often poorly implemented? And are common boundaries even the “right” age, according to evidence from the field of children and digital media? Dr Sylwander persuasively argues that moving forward, a developmental approach can better support children’s rights.

Dr Kim Sylwander is a postdoctoral researcher at the 

 research centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science. This joint LSE and 

 centre facilitates research for a rights-respecting digital world for children. Dr Sylwander holds a PhD in Child and Youth studies and has conducted post-doctoral research at the Centre for Sexology and Sexuality Studies at Malmö University. She has also been an appointed expert in government inquiries in Sweden on sexual exploitation and the effects of digital media on children. Her work has focused on children, youth and media, touching on issues such as online hate, racism, bullying, sexuality, sexualisation, digital gender-based violence, consumption of pornography, and online child sexual exploitation and abuse. Dr Sylwander has headed various research projects within academia, the UN, civil society, and within government agencies. Her current research projects focus on children’s rights in the digital world. She is currently researching the impact of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General comment no. 25; the evolving capacities of children in relation to their rights in the digital environments and she is also involved in projects on children’s visions of digital futures and AI.

Dr Sylwander's current research projects focus on children’s rights in the digital world. She is currently researching the impact of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General comment no. 25; the evolving capacities of children in relation to their rights in the digital environments, and she is also involved in projects on children’s visions of digital futures and AI.

Along with co-author, Professor Sonia Livingstone, Dr Sylwander has recently published a 

 which deploys a children’s rights framework to evaluate milestone birthdays as they are applied to the digital environment and the digital 'age of consent'. They highlight emerging alternatives that seek to redesign digital policy and practice in age-appropriate and child-rights-respecting ways.

When is the right age? Searching for age-appropriate ways to support children's online lives

Professor Li Zhao

A new study which explores the development of trust and integrity in children has found that expressing trust in young children encourages them to behave honesty. The research team, including our researcher of the month, Professor Li Zhao, studied whether children were less likely to cheat in a simple test of counting accuracy if the adult administering the test had previously conveyed trust in them. They found that children who were trusted cheated less than those who were not trusted. These findings provide novel evidence about the causal effect of trust on the development of children's honesty.

Professor Li Zhao was made Professor of Psychology at Hangzhou Normal University, China in 2018. Between 2019 and 2020, she was also a visiting scholar at the Graduate School of Education, Harvard University in the US. Her  research focuses on the development of children’s moral behaviour and academic dishonesty in children and adolescents.

Professor Zhao's research focuses on the development of children’s moral behaviour and academic dishonesty in children and adolescents.

Along with co-authors from the University of Toronto and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, in 2024, she published a 

 examining the impact of giving 'trust messages' to young children.

Showing faith and trust in children nurtures integrity

Professor Saloni Krishnan and Professor Pablo Ripollés

From infancy onwards, humans display an innate motivation to acquire language and to communicate. We start acquiring words as babies and continue to do so throughout our lives. In fact, children are thought to learn over 3000 new words each year. However, relatively little work has focused on why we are motivated to learn words, particularly when it comes to adolescents. 

Adolescence is a period of great neurological change and sensitivity to learning. It's also marked by changes in reading behaviours. Whilst children become skilled readers between the ages of 10 and 18, this period is also associated with motivational changes in reading, with teens frequently showing a disinclination to read for pleasure. This change often coincides with the transition from primary to secondary school. 

 adolescents to read for pleasure, arguing that it would improve not just literacy outcomes, but also result in substantial economic and societal benefit.

Recent research has shown that adults find learning words to be intrinsically rewarding, and that this intrinsic reward facilitates the entrance of new words into long-term memory. In their latest 

, our researchers of the month, Professor Saloni Krishnan and Professor Pablo Ripollés, set out to establish whether the same is true for children and teens. 

 is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist and

 her research focuses on understanding childhood communication disorders, such as DLD (developmental language disorder) and dyslexia. She has been awarded funding from the Academy of Medical Sciences, the MRC and the ESRC to support my research. With her MRC New Investigator grant, she is leading a team 

focusing on investigating the links between motivation and language learning in neurodivergent children. She has won several prizes for my research, including the Neil O’Connor Award from the British Psychological Society and the NDAS Mid-Career Prize. She was named a Rising Star by the Association of Psychological Sciences in 2022. Her research has featured on the BBC, the Guardian, Daily Mail, and the Boston Globe.

 is an Assistant Professor with a joint position between the Department of Psychology and the Music and Audio Research Laboratory (MARL) at New York University. He has served as MARL's associate director since September 2020. He received a B.M. in Computer Engineering from University of València (2009), an MSc in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Navarra (2011), and a PhD in Biomedicine from the University of Barcelona (2016). His research focuses on building bridges between different fields of cognitive neurosciences - especially reward - and other areas of study, including music, technology, and language. His work also goes beyond basic research and includes applied scientific studies that capitalise on music to improve human health and wellbeing.

Professor Saloni Krishnan's research focuses on understanding childhood communication disorders, such as DLD (developmental language disorder) and dyslexia. Professor Pablo Ripollés focuses on building bridges between different fields of cognitive neurosciences - especially reward - and other areas of study, including music, technology, and language. They have recently published a 

 which explores why children are motivated to learn words.

Intrinsic reward and word learning

Dr Natalie Brown

Research has shown that menstruation and menstrual cycle symptoms can be disruptive and detrimental to physical, mental and social wellbeing. As many as 93% of teen girls experience dysmenorrhea (severe cramps) and girls with a typical cycle experience 11 menstrual cycle-related symptoms on average, potentially including mood changes, stomach cramps and increased levels of anxiety and fatigue. Adolescents with problematic symptoms have reported a negative impact on school attendance, behaviour, confidence around peers and participation in physical activity.

 suggests that menstrual health education delivered by teachers generally focuses on menstrual cycle biology, as opposed to management of menstruation and menstrual cycle related symptoms. Our latest researcher of the month, 

, set out to understand young people’s perceptions of menstrual education in schools and their experiences of menstruating whilst at school, including within physical education.

 involved nine focus groups with 10-15 year old female pupils attending primary and secondary schools across England and Wales. Pupils highlighted that, in their experience, menstrual education is limited and noted that the menstrual cycle impacts negatively on their school experience, affecting participation in sport and school attendance generally. Participants highlighted a need for more support and information regarding understanding and managing periods in school.

 is a Research Officer at the Welsh Institute of Performance Science, Swansea University. She focuses on female health, specifically the menstrual cycle in relation to sports participation. Dr Brown is driven to support females to stay active across their whole menstrual cycle and use exercise as a vehicle to manage female hormone related symptoms. She is dedicated to educating, raising awareness and breaking down barriers related to the menstrual cycle for girls and women.

Dr Natalie Brown's research focuses on female health, specifically the menstrual cycle in relation to sports participation. Along with co-authors, she has recently published an 

 which aims to develop a greater understanding about young people’s perceptions and experiences of menstrual education in schools and their experiences of menstruating whilst at school, including within physical education.

Delivering effective menstrual education

Dr Margarita Panayiotou

A significant body of evidence tells us that young people's mental health has decreased over time, and a potential link between social media use and this mental health decline has triggered wide interest and concern. Research into social media use and mental health is being conducted at a rapid pace but, so far, findings are far from conclusive. Our new Researcher of the Month, Dr Margarita Panayiotou, adds to this body of work. She led a team of researchers who recently published a 

 involving thousands of young people in the UK. It set out to explore the interplay between social media use and teens' mental health, wellbeing and social life, and found that when considering the complex combination of multiple factors, things such as a lack of family support are arguably more important for adolescent mental health than social media use. 

Dr Margarita Panayiotou is a senior Lecturer in Educational Psychology at the University of Manchester. She is interested in understanding and improving adolescent mental health. Dr Panayiotou is currently leading a project that focuses on better understanding and assessing adolescent social media experience.

Dr Margarita Panayiotou is a senior Lecturer in Educational Psychology at the University of Manchester. She is interested in understanding and improving adolescent mental health. Dr Panayiotou is currently leading a project that focuses on better understanding and assessing adolescent social media experience. Along with co-authors, she has recently published a 

 examining the interplay between social media use and the mental health, wellbeing and social life of just over 12,000 UK teens.

How influential is social media on young people's mental health?

Dr Caoimhe Dempsey

We already know that children's relationships with their parents and teachers contribute to their school adjustment and achievement, and that positive, close relationships with adults are really important for a wide variety of children’s outcomes. However, few studies have examined interactions between these relationships or sought to address the nuances of children’s experiences in terms of how different relationships have different impact or influence.

To address this, along with colleagues, our new Researcher of the Month, Dr Caoimhe Dempsey, has recently published an 

 which aims to examine the links between children's relationships with their mothers, fathers and teachers, and three domains of school adjustment: academic achievement, academic self-concept and behavioural adjustment in the classroom. By examining a range of data, the researchers sought to find out whether some children are more susceptible to the effects of the quality of their relationship with their teacher.

Dr Caoimhe Dempsey is a postdoctoral researcher in Education at the 

 in Ireland. Her research examines child, family and school factors that influence children's adjustment and school experiences. Dr Dempsey's work bridges the fields of developmental and educational psychology and aims to provide tangible policy and practice implications. She holds a PhD and MRes in Developmental Psychology from the University of Cambridge and a Ba in Psychology from Trinity College Dublin. She has recently co-authored a book with Professor Claire Hughes and Dr Elian Fink called 

The Psychology of Starting School: An Evidence-Based Guide for Parents and Teachers

 examines child, family and school factors that influence children's adjustment and school experiences. Along with her co-authors, she has recently published an 

 which examines how young children's relationships with their parents and teachers contribute to their school adjustment and achievement.

How do young children’s relationships with parents and teachers impact their adjustment to school?

Dr Aurelie Lange

Supporting children to successfully transition from primary to secondary or senior school is vitally important. It's a big life change, which can leave both parents and children feeling excited and nervous in equal measure. At Tooled Up, we often use the analogy of a journey for the transitional experience. In fact, anyone who has attended or watched a talk with our founder, Dr Kathy Weston, is likely to have heard her say that we'd all want our children to be well prepared for any journey they go on, and that, as loving parents and carers, we wouldn't dream of sending them off on any journey without the right equipment, mindset and strategies to reach their destination safely and securely. Transition to a new school is no different.

Research shows that there are numerous holistic protective factors that can help to ease transition. Conversely, it's also the case that problems with successfully transitioning to secondary school and subsequent lower levels of school connectedness are associated with lower education outcomes, school drop-out, higher levels of depression and anxiety, and increased involvement in criminal, violent and antisocial behaviour. Research also shows that these difficulties may not be equal across different socio-demographic variables, with children from underserved communities (including those from minority ethnic backgrounds and lower socio-economic status) and children with behavioural difficulties facing greater challenges during the transition to secondary school. It's therefore important for all parents and educators to consider how to make this transition as seamless as possible.

Along with her co-authors, our Researcher of the Month, Dr Aurelie Lange, has published a 

 which evaluates the efficacy of a new UK-based online intervention called Level Up. In it, Dr Lange seeks to explore families' experiences of facilitators and barriers to engagement and change. 

Dr Aurelie Lange studied Pedagogical Sciences at Utrecht University and completed her PhD in 2018 at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam. She works as a researcher at the Youth Care research group on various projects. Before this, she worked at various mental health/youth care institutions in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and has conducted qualitative and quantitative research into the effectiveness and implementation of interventions for young people and families.

Dr Aurelie Lange works as a researcher at the Youth Care research group on various projects. Along with her co-authors, she has recently published a 

 exploring factors that might help or hinder children when transitioning from primary to secondary school. 

Supporting children's transition to secondary school

Dr Kasia Kostyrka-Allchorne

Over the last decade, digital developments have led to major changes in the ways that teens learn, work, play and interact with others. Digital access is a daily reality for most children and young people. Nine in 10 children in the UK now own a smartphone by the time they reach the age of 11, and the large majority of children aged 11 now use social media (78%) and have a social media profile (72%), despite being younger than the minimum age requirement for many platforms. By the time teens are 17 years old, 97% will use social media.

Coincident with this change, adolescent mental health problems have also increased in prevalence. It is therefore no surprise that much research has focused on the relationship between digital experiences and adolescent mental health. However, comparatively few studies have directly compared the experiences of teens with mental health conditions meaning that some key questions remain unanswered. Do adolescents with pre‐existing mental health conditions differ in terms of why and how they engage with the digital world compared to peers without such difficulties? Are specific mental health conditions linked to different patterns of digital usage? What role do such differences play in the development and escalation of these conditions?

, our Researcher of the Month, Dr Kasia Kostyrka-Allchorne, and her colleagues, explore what the evidence shows about the digital experiences of teens with mental health vulnerabilities.

 is a developmental psychologist and lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Queen Mary University of London. Broadly, she researches the risks and opportunities of growing up in a digital world. Her current research cuts across the disciplines of child and adolescent development, mental health, clinical interventions, and human-computer interactions. She works on large, cross-institutional research projects that come under two main strands.

The first strand focuses on gathering evidence of whether digital interventions can provide a solution to the growing problem of the lack of psychological support for parents, who may have a difficult time bringing up their children. Within this strand, Dr Kostyrka-Allchorne works with parents, clinicians, app developers and other researchers on developing and testing digital applications supporting parents both in the community as well as in the clinical services.

Second, she is involved in the work of the 

 study, which investigates whether, why, and for whom digital engagement is a risk or protective factor for mental health. This strand of research aims to provide a comprehensive characterisation of the associations between adolescent digital activity and mental health and identify some of their underpinning mechanisms.

Find Dr Kostyrka-Allchorne’s research here

Dr Kasia Kostyrka-Allchorne researches the risks and opportunities of growing up in a digital world.

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