Meet our Team


This study is run by a team of researchers from the School of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Galway and Trinity College Dublin.

Meet our team of Principal Investigators below.


Dr. Caroline Heary

School of Psychology

National University of Ireland, Galway

Dr. Elizabeth Nixon,

School of Psychology

Trinity College Dublin

Dr. Lorraine Swords

School of Psychology & Trinity Research in Childhood Centre

Dr. Caroline Heary

Caroline is a developmental psychologist at the School of Psychology NUI, Galway. Her programme of research focuses on child/adolescent health and wellbeing. Her programme of research focuses on the social context of health and wellbeing and the role of family, school and peer support in fostering health & wellbeing. She is a co-investigator on YOULEAD, a youth mental health leadership doctoral training programme and a Co-Director of the PhD in Child & Youth Research at NUI, Galway. She has secured research funding from the Health Research Board, Rethink Ireland, Safefood, Economic, Social Research Council (UK), Irish Heart Foundation and Irish Research Council.


Dr. Elizabeth Nixon

Elizabeth Nixon is Assistant Professor in Developmental Psychology in the School of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin. She is the director of the undergraduate degree programme in psychology. Her research and teaching interests lie in the area of parenting and family as a context for children and adolescent’s development. She is a Co-Investigator of Growing up in Ireland, the first national longitudinal study of children’s development in Ireland. Elizabeth established and co-directs the Infant and Child Research Lab at Trinity, where she conducts research on parent-child interactions. She has been funded by the Department of Health and Children and the Irish Research Council to conduct several research projects on parenting.


Dr. Lorraine Swords

Lorraine Swords is an Assistant Professor with the School of Psychology and board member of the Trinity Research in Childhood Centre. Lorraine's primary teaching responsibilities are in the area of developmental psychology. She publishes on a range of topics relating to child and adolescent health and wellbeing. She has a particular interest in children and adolescents' peer relationships; experiences of stress and mental health difficulties during this stage of life and help-seeking and coping strategies.




Contact Details:

If you require any further information, please get in touch with Dr. Caroline Heary: caroline.heary@nuigalway.ie

School of Psychology,

National University of Ireland, Galway.