Dr Barry Coughlan

Barry is a psychology graduate with an interest in child development, mental health, and child welfare assessments. Before joining the Unit in 2017 to undertake doctoral research, Barry was an assistant psychologist in the Health Service Executive in Ireland working in child and adolescent primary care and early intervention.

Barry’s doctoral research explored social and neurodevelopmental assessment practices. Barry’s PhD, which was funded by the NIHR School for Primary Care Research, used multiple methods, including literature reviews, qualitative interviews, and quantitative analysis of electronic healthcare records to provide an account of these assessment practices.

Barry is a postdoctoral researcher on Living Assessments, a Wellcome funded research project exploring the experiences and impact of health and social care assessments on children and families. He uses anonymised electronic healthcare records to provide an account of the mental and physical health needs of children and families who have experienced various types of adversities. He is also working on several literature reviews on the topic of child maltreatment.