Mental Health in Lockdown and its Impact on Children, Adolescents and Families – Dr. Polly Waite

In this podcast we talk to Dr. Polly Waite, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Oxford and at the University of Reading.

Polly discusses her research on anxiety in adolescents, the Co-Space study on how families are coping during the COVID-19 pandemic, and her recent JCCP Advances paper 'How did mental health symptoms of children and adolescents change over early lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK'.

Polly also discusses further areas of her research interests, including the development of brief psychological treatments for adolescents with anxiety disorders (such as adapting an effective psychological therapy for panic disorder in adults for use with adolescents) and how new technologies can be used to optimise psychological treatments for adolescents.

Furthermore, we hear Polly talk about the role of teachers in supporting students and delivering mental health interventions, as well as whether teachers felt that they were getting adequate support and future research projects, especially with regard to the Co-SPACE study.