School of Psychology: Academic Staff

DR. CAROLINE HEARY

Office Rm. 220, Cairns (St. Anthony's)
Telephone 353-91-495059
E-mail Caroline Heary

CAROLINE IS ON LEAVE UNTIL THE WINTER OF 2013.

Dr. Caroline Heary BA, MPsychSc, PhD

Background

Caroline Heary graduated with a BA from the University College Dublin (UCD), after which she completed a Masters of Psychological Science in Health Psychology in NUI, Galway. She subsequently returned to UCD, where she completed her PhD on the development of a measure to assess children’s satisfaction with hospital services. Having worked as a researcher in the Children’s Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin, she then obtained a post-doctoral research fellowship from the National Children’s Office. She was appointed to her post in NUI, Galway in November 2003.

Caroline was the Director of the Masters in Health Psychology from 2009-2010 and January 2012 to March 2013. This programme is accredited by the Psychological Society of Ireland. Caroline is also a Co-Director of the PhD in Child & Youth Research.

The latter programme is a cross-institutional structured PhD which was launched in Sept. 2009. This programme is delivered by the School of Psychology and the Child and Family Research Centre, School of Political Science and Sociology, NUI, Galway in an institutional partnership with the Children’s Research Centre (a joint initiative of the School of Psychology and the School of Social Work and Social Policy), Trinity College Dublin.

Research Interests

Caroline has specific interests in children’s and adolescents’ health and well-being and methodological issues relevant to conducting research with children and young people. Further details are below:

Child health psychology: Caroline has a particular interest in the health behaviours of children and adolescents and is involved in a number of projects on factors relating to food consumption, physical activity and the sedentary behaviours of school-aged children. During her sabbatical period (2011), she spent a period of time as a visiting research associate of the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, where Prof. Dianne Neumark-Sztainer was her host (and the Project EAT team). Prior to moving to NUI, Galway, Caroline worked as the lead researcher on a national study of children with acquired brain injury based in TCD, which was commissioned by the National Rehabilitation Hospital. Further research interests in this area include: psychosocial issues relevant to childhood chronic illness and children’s experiences of GP consultations / hospital settings.

Caroline is currently engaged in a collaborative programme of research with Dr. Eilis Hennessy (Department of Psychology, University College Dublin) and Dr. Lorraine Swords (Children’s Research Centre, TCD) on children’s understanding of psychological difficulties in peers, understanding the acceptance of children with mental health difficulties (and the stigma that these children can experience) and understanding help-seeking for psychological issues during adolescence and young adulthood. This research team have been successful in receiving funding from the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences and the Millennium Research Fund, National University of Ireland, Galway. More recently Caroline Heary & Eilis Hennessy received a Health Research Award from the Health Research Board to carry out research on the stigmatization of psychological difficulties in children: An exploration of self and public stigma. During her sabbatical period (2011), Caroline spent a period of time at the Illinois Institute of Psychology & the National Consortium of Stigma and Empowerment with Prof. Pat Corrigan.

Supervision of PhD Students

Completed

On-going

Publications

• Heary, C., Hennessy, E. & Swords, L. (2013/ in press). Stigma during childhood and adolescence: A developmental approach. In P. Corrigan (Ed.). The stigma of disease and disability. American Psychological Association.
• Regan, A., Heary, C. (In press). Patterns of sedentary behaviours in Irish female adolescents. Journal of Adolescence.
• Fitzgerald, A., Heary, C., Roddy, S. (In press). Causal information on children's attitudes and behavioural intentions toward a peer with obesity. Obesity Facts
• Fitzgerald, A., Heary, C., Kelly, C. & Nixon, E. (In press). Self-efficacy for healthy eating and peer support for unhealthy eating are associated with adolescents’ food intake patterns. Appetite.
• O’Driscoll, C., Heary, C., Hennessy, E. & McKeague, L. (2012). Explicit and implicit stigma towards peers with mental health problems in childhood and adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry,53 (10):1054-1062.
• Swords, L. Hennessy, E. & Heary, C. (2011). Factors associated with acceptance of peers with mental health problems in childhood and adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 52, (9), 933-941DOI: 10.1111/j.1469- 7610.2010.02351
• Swords, L., Heary, C. & Hennessy, E. (2011). Adolescents’ beliefs about sources of help for ADHD and depression. Journal of Adolescence, 34, 485-492.
• Swords, L. Hennessy, E. & Heary, C. (2011). Development of the Children's Attributions about Psychological Problems in their Peers (CAAPPP) Scale. Child: Care, Health and Development. 37, (3), 446-45doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.06.002
• Fitzgerald, A., Heary, C., Nixon, E., & Kelly, C. (2010). Factors influencing the food choices of Irish children and adolescents: A qualitative investigation. Health Promotion International, 25 (3), 289-98.
• Hennessy, E. & Heary, C. (2009). The development of children’s understanding of common psychological problems. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 14, 42- 47.
• Hennessy, E., Swords, L., & Heary, C. (2008). Children’s understanding of psychological problems displayed by their peers: A review of the literature. Child: Care, Health and Development, 34, 4-9.
• Heary, C. & Hennessy, E. (2006 ). Focus groups versus individual interviews with child: A comparison of data. Irish Journal of Psychology, 27, 58-68.
• Heary, C. & Guerin, S. (2006) (Editorial). Research with children in Psychology: The value of a child-centred approach. Irish Journal of Psychology, 27, 6-7.
• Hennessy, E. & Heary, C. (2005). Valuing the group context: The use of focus groups with children and adolescents. In S. M. Greene and D. M. Hogan (Eds). Researching children’s experiences: Approaches and methods (pp.236-252). London: Sage.
• Heary, C., Hogan, D. & Smyth, C. (May, 2003). Living with acquired brain injury during childhood and adolescence: An Irish perspective. Dublin: The Children’s Research Centre, University of Dublin, Trinity College.
• Heary, C. & Hennessy, E. (2002). The use of focus groups in pediatric health care research. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 27, 47-57.

Teaching

• PS214 Developmental Psychology (with Dr. Mike Hogan)
• PS345 Applied Developmental Psychology
• PS413 Qualitative Research Methods (with Dr. Padraig MacNeela)
• PS702 Qualitative Research Methods (PhD in Child & Youth Research)
• PS581 Current Issues in Health Psychology (Masters in Health Psychology)
• PS583 Dissertation (Masters in Health Psychology)

Youth Academy

Following the call for innovative ideas, entitled the Bright Ideas Campaign, from the Vice President for Innovation and Performance at NUI Galway a proposal to develop a Youth Academy at NUI Galway was successfully awarded funding in January 2012.

The Youth Academy aims to work with high ability primary school children in the local community to support their learning and academic development. The programme aims to inspire entry into university by introducing children and their families to university life and by creating positive perceptions of the university and its academic programmes.

The Youth Academy is a collaboration between Ms. Mary Dempsey (College of Engineering and Informatics), Dr. Caroline Heary (School of Psychology), Ms. Lorraine McIlrath (Community Knowledge Initiative) and Dr. Colm O'Reilly (Irish Centre for Talented Youth, Dublin City University).

A small-scale pilot study was conducted in 2010, in the School of Psychology, NUI Galway in cooperation with the CKI and CTYI. This involved delivery of one course (Psychology) by university students to local primary school children. Demand for this activity indicated that we should mainstream a suite of courses aimed at primary school children (10 to 13 years of age). The first phase of the Youth Academy pilot took place in Spring 2012. Four academic courses were offered on Saturday mornings with approximately fifteen students in each course (N= 63). The pilot was extremely successful and the Youth Academy ’graduation’ ceremony attracted over 300 people to campus. The second phase took place from December 2012 to February 2013. The course offerings doubled (e.g. IT, Science, English, Engineering, Psychology, Italian amongst others), and attracted over 130 high ability children in the Galway region.

For further information on the project please e-mail Geraldine Marley at: youthacademynuigalway.ie

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