Welcome to the website for the Thoughts and Feelings about Bullying research group. Bullying is a frequent experience for many young people, with international reviews suggesting that between 20 and 25% of young people are bullied in school.

The focus of our research is on understanding the factors that play a role in the relationship between being bullied and poor mental health. In particular, our current work looks at the role of appraisals in the relationship between being bullied and poor mental health, understanding bullying as a traumatic experience, and the nature and impact of appearance-related bullying.

Our research group

Our research group is based in the Psychology in Education Research Centre in the Department of Education at the University of York. 

Dr Nathalie Noret co-ordinates the lab group and is a Senior Lecturer, in Psychology in Education within the Department of Education at the University of York. Her interests broadly focus on understanding children’s and adolescents’ experiences of bullying. Her current research focuses on examining the relationship between such experiences and poor mental health. She is particularly interested in the mechanisms that explain the relationship between being bullied and poor mental health. This includes factors such as perceived social support and threat and challenge appraisals. She is also interested in evaluating interventions used to 1) reduce bullying in schools and 2) support those being bullied to reduce the impact of their experiences on their mental health.

Katelynn Wilson is a second year PhD student researching how appearance related bullying is associated to poor mental health in adolescence. She is currently also working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of Education at the University of York. The focus of her research is examining adolescents experiences of bullying, what they believe is the reason for this bullying (e.g. appearance) and how it can impact their mental health.

Husna Hejazi is a first-year PhD student researching bullying as a traumatic event. She is currently working as a research assistant within the Department of Education at the University of York. Her research focuses on bullying through the lens of trauma and what this means for anti-bullying interventions and trauma-informed educational approaches when implemented to support those who have been bullied.

Sarah Wild is a first-year PhD student examining the impact of bullying on parents and is an Associate Lecturer in Psychology in Education within the Department of Education at the University of York. Her research focus is on how parents cope with stress in the context of the impact of bullying and the effectiveness of the sources of perceived social support and professional support on offer to parents.

Karina Milligan is a first year PhD student researching the relationship between parent experiences of having a child be bullied and the relationship with school support. She is particularly interested in developing an understanding of what the current scope of support is for parents, how this is translated into school policy and how effective that it when operationalised. Karina has previously worked as a teacher and has had personal experience of having a child be bullied. In her spare time she enjoys wild swimming and spending time with her many animals.

To find out more about our work please visit our research project pages on this site or email Nathalie at nathalie.noret@york.ac.uk.