The 4S Study is a multidisciplinary research study headed by the University of Bristol and the University of Exeter, together with input from collaborators at institutions throughout England.
Principal investigators
Judi Kidger is a Senior Lecturer in Public Health at the University of Bristol and one of the three Principal Investigators on the 4S project. She has many years of experience exploring the determinants of poor mental health and self-harm in young people and evaluating interventions in these areas. Her recent work includes a project co-produced with Samaritans exploring the core components of their Step by Step postvention service for schools and youth organisations.
Find out more about Judi’s work here or email Judi at judi.kidger@bristol.ac.uk
Lucy Biddle is an Associate Professor in Qualitative Mental Health Research at the University of Bristol and one of the three Principal Investigators on the 4S project. She has longstanding research interests in suicide prevention, young people’s mental health and the impact of the online environment on mental health. Lucy specialises in qualitative research and recently worked with Judi Kidger to explore Samaritans’ Step-by-Step postvention service for schools and youth organisations.
Find out more about Lucy’s work here or email Lucy at lucy.biddle@bristol.ac.uk
Abby Russell is a Senior Lecturer in Child and Adolescent Mental Health at the University of Exeter and NIHR Advanced Fellow. She is one of the three Principal Investigators on the 4S project, and is based within the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Research Collaboration (ChYMe) at the University of Exeter. Abby’s work focuses on how education settings can support young people’s mental health, although she also has experience with studying the causes and consequences of mental health and neurodevelopmental challenges. In terms of self-harm, Abby has previously conducted research exploring barriers to doing more in secondary schools to prevent self-harm, as well as investigating whether there are biological pathways that link experiences of early adversity with adolescent self-harm.
Find out more about Abby’s work here or email Abby at a.e.russell@exeter.ac.uk
Research associates
Emily Widnall is a Senior Research Associate in Public Health at the University of Bristol. She is leading the adult stakeholder interviews and coordinates the public involvement stakeholder groups. Emily also worked on the scoping review on the existing self-harm and suicide resources available to educational and youth organisations. Emily has a particular interest in young people’s mental health and well-being, the impacts of the school environment on mental health, and school-based interventions.
Find out more about Emily’s work here or email Emily at emily.widnall@bristol.ac.uk
Rowan Streckfuss Davis is a Graduate Research Assistant at the University of Exeter. He is leading the young people’s focus group interviews and the analysis of secondary data on who young people talk to about self-harm and suicide. Rowan is interested in critical and community-based approaches to addressing mental health inequalities across the lifespan. In addition to research, Rowan works with a number of LGBTQ+ youth organisations as a co-ordinator and deputy safeguarding lead.
Find out more about Rowan’s work here or email him at r.davis6@exeter.ac.uk
Hannah Robinson is a Research Associate in Public Health at the University of Bristol. She is involved in the scoping review and content analysis of existing guidance available to schools and youth organisations, facilitates the advisory group sessions with young people and professionals, and supports the qualitative research with young people and adult stakeholders. Hannah has previously worked in family public health as part of the school nursing service and conducted research about physical activity guidelines for pregnant women and experiences of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Find out more about Hannah’s work here or email her at hannah.robinson@bristol.ac.uk
Liam Spencer is a Research Associate at Newcastle University, a Mental Health Research Fellow for the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration North East and North Cumbria, and a Fuse Associate. He is consulting on recruitment and data collection in Lincolnshire and the Tees Valley. Liam’s work focuses on building capacity for children and young people’s mental health research in the north of England, through collaboration with practice partners and academic colleagues. He is currently undertaking a PhD by published works.
Find out more about Liam’s work here or email him at liam.spencer1@newcastle.ac.uk
Yasmin Safiani is a third-year student at the University of Exeter studying BSc Medical Sciences. She is undertaking a study associated with 4S under the supervision of Abby Russell, which focuses on secondary school staff’s perceptions of supporting students who self-harm. Yasmin’s work aims to improve understanding of the challenges faced by school staff and assist in strengthening support systems for students dealing with self-harm.
Email Yasmin at ys569@exeter.ac.uk
Previous members
Franki Mathews is a Research Fellow in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. She is particularly interested in research on improving the experiences of young people affected by poor mental health. Franki previously worked on a self-harm and suicide project which surveyed schools in the South West of England and Wales to understand more about the support and response for students who self harm or are at risk of suicide. In the 4S Study, Franki was involved in the schools survey and secondary analysis of existing literature on the transparency of intervention and prevention programmes for young people on self harm and suicide.
Franki finished working on this project in February 2024.
Find out more about Franki’s work here.
Sarah Olin is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Sarah is particularly interested in research looking at the how social support can improve wellbeing and mental health. Sarah’s PhD looked at attitudes towards people who self-harm and experiences of disclosure and help-seeking. In this project, she was involved in the surveys and secondary analysis of existing literature on who young people talk to about self-harm.
Sarah finished her work on this project in February 2024.
Find out more about Sarah’s work here.
Sally O’Keeffe is a Mental Health Fellow at Newcastle University and the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration for the North East and North Cumbria. Sally has a particular interest in youth mental health and interventions for self-harm in young people. This includes work on the Supporting Adolescents with Self-Harm (SASH) study, which is testing therapeutic assessment and solution focused follow ups, as an intervention to improve outcomes for young people presenting to A&E with self-harm. In the 4S project, Sally was involved in the survey which is taking place in schools and youth organisations.
Find out more about Sally’s work here
James Parsonage is an NIHR School for Public Health Research pre-doctoral fellow at the University of Bristol with an interest in developing support and access to health services for young people and families. James is currently working on projects working to widen access to maternity services, improve nutrition in the early years setting, and further understand fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
James finished working on this project in September 2024.
Find out more about James’ work here
Additional collaborators
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- James Birchwood (University of Birmingham)
- Anna Lavis (University of Birmingham)
- Tamsin Ford (University of Cambridge)
- G.J. Melendez-Torres (University of Exeter)
- Tamsin Newlove-Delgado (University of Exeter)
- Faraz Mughal (Keele University)
- Greg Hartwell (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine)
- Gillian Samuel (The McPin Foundation)
- Eileen Kaner (Newcastle University; Fuse)
- Katherine McGleenan (NHS)
- Conor Warren (SparkUK)