Dr Patrycja J. Piotrowska

I have a BSc (Hons) in Psychology & Criminology, and completed my PhD in Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Sheffield (2015) focussing on the relationship between socio-economic status and child and adolescent behavioural problems. I worked in a research and policy team for a mental health charity and as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Sydney (2015-2018) and Neuroscience Research Australia - NeuRA (2018-2019). I held a lectureship in the School of Psychological Social and Behavioural Sciences at Coventry University (2020-21) and joined the University of Leicester in October 2021.

My research seeks (i) to understand socio-emotional and behavioural development across the lifespan and (ii) factors that affect child and adolescent mental health. I am particularly interested in developing further our understanding of the mechanisms underlying social inequality in emotional and behavioural difficulties and designing programmes to improve these outcomes. I consider mental health difficulties from the lifecourse perspective and often apply advanced statistical techniques to complex secondary datasets. I worked on projects designed to improve children’s socio-emotional development via an online parenting programme (with the father involvement focus), and model child resilience. I am currently a co-investigator on the project funded by the Nuffield Foundation (‘Identifying the mechanisms linking socioeconomic status and child antisocial behaviour’; £127,555).

Selected publications

Piotrowska, P.J., Stride, C.B., Maughan, B., Ford, T., McIntyre, N.A., & Rowe, R. (2022). Understanding the relationship between family income and conduct problems. Findings from the Mental Health of Children and Young People Survey. Psychological Medicine, 1-8. DOI:10.1017/S0033291722000654.

Green, M.J., Piotrowska, P.J., Tzoumakis, S., Whitten, T., Laurens, K.R., Butler, M., Katz, I., Harris, F., & Carr, V.J. (2021). Profiles of resilience from early to middle childhood among children known to child protection services. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 1-14. DOI: 10.1080/15374416.2021.1969652. 

Piotrowska, P. J., Whitten, T., Tzoumakis, S., Laurens, K. R., Katz, I., Carr, V. J., Harris, F. & Green, M. J. (2020). Transitions between socio-emotional and cognitive vulnerability profiles from early to middle childhood: a population study using multi-agency administrative records. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 29(12), 1659-1670. DOI: 10.1007/s00787-020-01475-x.

Piotrowska, P.J., Tully, L.A., Collins, D.A.J., Sawrikar, V., Hawes, D., Kimonis, E., Lenroot, R., Moul, C., Anderson, V., Frick, P. J., & Dadds, M. R. (2019). ParentWorks: Evaluation of an online, father-inclusive, universal parenting intervention to reduce child conduct problems. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 51, 503-513. DOI: 10.1007/s10578-019-00934-0.

Piotrowska, P.J., Stride, C.B., Maughan, B., & Rowe, R. (2019). Mechanisms underlying social gradients in child and adolescent antisocial behaviour. Social Science & Medicine: Population Health, 7, 100353. DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2019.100353.

Lechowicz, M.E., Jiang, Y., Tully, L.A., Burn, M.T., Collins, D.A.J., Hawes, D.J., Lenroot, R.K., Anderson, V., Doyle, F.L., Piotrowska, P.J., Frick, P.J., Moul, C., Kimonis, E.R., & Dadds, M. R. (2019). Enhancing Father Engagement in Parenting Programs: Translating Research into Practice Recommendations. Australian Psychologist, 54(2), 83-89. DOI: 10.1111/ap.12361.

Burn, M., Tully, L.A., Jiang, Y., Piotrowska, P.J., Collins, D.A.J., Sargeant, K., Hawes, D., Moul, C., Lenroot, R.K., Frick, P.J., Anderson, V., Kimonis, E.R., & Dadds, M.R. (2018). Evaluating practitioner training to improve competencies and organizational practices for engaging fathers in parenting interventions. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 50(2), 230-244. DOI: 10.1007/s10578-018-0836-2.

Piotrowska, P.J., Tully, L.A., Lenroot, R., Kimonis, E., Hawes, D., Moul, C., Frick, P. J., Anderson, V., & Dadds, M. R. (2017). Mothers, fathers, and parental systems - a conceptual model of parental engagement in programs for child mental health: Connect, Attend, Participate, Enact (CAPE). Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 20(2), 146-161, DOI: 10.1007/s10567-016-0219-9. 

Piotrowska, P.J., Stride, C.B., Maughan, B., Goodman, R., McCaw, L., & Rowe, R. (2015). Income gradients within child and adolescent antisocial behaviours. British Journal of Psychiatry, 207(5), 385-391, DOI: 10.1192/bjp.bp.113.143636.

Piotrowska, P.J., Stride, C.B., Croft, S.E., & Rowe, R. (2015). Socioeconomic status and antisocial behaviour among children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 35, 47-55, DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2014.11.003.

I am interested in supervising PhD study in any of the areas listed under Research. I am particularly interested in applying various analytical approaches to social inequalities and investigating proximal and distal factors that influence a range of child and adolescent mental health difficulties using advanced statistical techniques.

My teaching is mainly in the area of mental health and wellbeing, clinical psychology, and research methods. I currently teach on a number of undergraduate Psychology modules: Introduction to Developmental, Social and Applied Psychology; Psychopathology: an integrated approach to disorders of the mind; Practical Research Skills in Psychology; Topics in Health and Wellbeing; Psychology across the Lifespan. 

• Behavioural/conduct problems (antisocial behaviour)
• Social inequality in child and adolescent mental health
• Parenting programmes