Cathy Creswell

Creswell was educated at University of Oxford, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts (BA)[5] degree. She later qualified as a Clinical Psychologist at University College London followed by a PhD in 2004.[6]

Creswell joined the University of Reading as a research fellow in 2003, where she was later promoted to a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research Professorship.[7] At the University of Reading she led the Anxiety and Depression in Children and Young People clinic (AnDY).[8][9]

Creswell studies why some children develop anxiety disorders.[10] Anxiety disorders often emerge before the age of 12 and develop in preadolescence.[11] and although 6.5% of children suffer from anxiety disorders, only 2% of those who meet the diagnostic criteria for anxiety disorder seek any effective treatment.[12][11] In fact, only around 40% of families of children with children seek any type of help.[11]

She has studied how interactions between children and their parents can maintain or break vicious cycles associated with child anxiety.[13] As part of this work, Creswell showed that children of anxious parents are more likely to become anxious, but that this likely reflects a complex interaction of child, parent, and other characteristics [11] For example, she showed that anxious children were more aware of signals from their parents; and that non-anxious children were less likely to be influenced by what their parents were doing.[11]

As a result of this work, she developed a therapist-guided, parent-led cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for the management of child anxiety disorders, which is a now available on the National Health Service (NHS).[11] She demonstrated that only 5 hours of therapist-supported training was enough to support parents in helping their children tackle anxiety.[11]

She joined the University of Oxford in 2019. At Oxford, Creswell leads the Emerging Minds Mental Health Network.[12][14] Emerging Minds is a network that looks to reduce the number of children who experience mental health challenges. Creswell is a member of the scientific advisory group of Evidence to Impact, a not-for-profit organisation that looks to improve public health.[15]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Creswell co-led the Co-SPACE (COVID–19 Supporting Parents, Adolescents and Children during Epidemics).[16] Co-SPACE looks to understand how families cope with coronavirus disease and the impact of the pandemic on children and young people's mental health.[16] In May 2020, the first round of results from the Co-SPACE study, showing that work and their children's wellbeing was the most frequent source of stress for parents.[17][18] Her study revealed that only 1 in 5 families who had previously received care continued to do so throughout the lockdown.[17] In particular, the highest levels of stress were found amongst parents of children with special educational needs (SEN).[17]