Speaker
Dr Lucy Foulkes
Academic Psychologist, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford
Biography
Dr Lucy Foulkes is a Prudence Trust Research Fellow in the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford and an honorary lecturer at University College London (UCL). Her research group focuses on mental health and social development during adolescence, with particular interest in whether well-intentioned efforts to reduce mental health problems—such as awareness-raising campaigns and school-based initiatives—might inadvertently contribute to an increase in these issues for some individuals.
Current research projects include:
– Investigating how school-based mental health interventions might unintentionally harm adolescents, and identifying those most at risk
– Examining how learning about mental health problems influences adolescents’ self-reporting of symptoms
– Exploring the phenomenon of self-diagnosis in adolescence and its connection to identity development during this critical period
Previously, Lucy Foulkes has conducted research on social cognition in adolescents, with a focus on social risk, social reward, and social influence, and how these processes relate to mental health outcomes.
The group employs a variety of methods, including experimental designs, scale development, longitudinal analysis, and systematic reviews/meta-analyses. Lucy Foulkes is also increasingly engaged with qualitative approaches to address questions that quantitative methods cannot fully answer.
In addition to academic work, Lucy Foulkes has extensive experience in public science communication. Their first book, What Mental Illness Really Is (…and what it isn’t), is currently available in paperback (Penguin Random House), following its original publication in hardback as Losing Our Minds in 2021. A second book, focusing on adolescent development, is due for publication in summer 2024 (Penguin Random House).
Lucy Foulkes frequently gives public talks on mental health (e.g. at the Royal Institution), contributes to podcasts and radio programmes (e.g. BBC’s All In The Mind, Guardian Science), and writes regularly for mainstream media outlets (e.g. The Guardian, New Scientist).