Dr Ajay Thapar
Honorary Research Fellow, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences
- thaparak@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2068 8490
- 2.12, Hadyn Ellis
Overview
My clinical and research interests are centred around childhood and adolescent mental health disorders (particularly depression and ADHD) and links between mental health and physical health problems (particularly epilepsy, insomnia and cardiovascular risk factors).
I have developed skills in longitudinal data analysis, clinical trials, qualitative research and in appropriate methods of establishing causality.
My MD explored factors influencing the quality of life and quality of care of adults with epilepsy and my PhD was based on learning appropriate multivariate statistical techniques to examine causal relationships in longitudinal studies.
I have been involved in a wide range of projects either as the principal investigator or as a co-investigator and have received personal funding for career fellowships as well as a travel fellowship.
Biography
I started my career as a full-time GP but then embarked on a career in academic general practice combining clinical , research and teaching roles. I initially worked as a Lecturer in General Practice at Cardiff University but then moved to the same role at Manchester University where I also worked at the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre. I then returned to Cardiff University and roles included Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Psychological Medicine.
I am currently a Honorary Research Fellow at the MRC Centre.
Publications
2023
- Santosh, P. et al. 2023. Remote assessment of ADHD in children and adolescents: recommendations from the European ADHD Guidelines Group following the clinical experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (10.1007/s00787-023-02148-1)
2021
- Riglin, L. et al. 2021. ADHD and depression: investigating a causal explanation. Psychological Medicine 51(11), pp. 1890-1897. (10.1017/S0033291720000665)
- Riglin, L. et al. 2021. Variable emergence of Autism Spectrum Disorder symptoms from childhood to early adulthood. American Journal of Psychiatry 178(8), pp. 752-760. (10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.20071119)
- Riglin, L. et al. 2021. Investigating the validity of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire to assess ADHD in young adulthood. Psychiatry Research 301, article number: 113984. (10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113984)
- Leppert, B. et al. 2021. The effect of ADHD on physical health outcomes - a two-sample Mendelian randomization study. American Journal of Epidemiology 190(6), pp. 1047-1055. (10.1093/aje/kwaa273)
- Riglin, L. et al. 2021. Investigating attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder traits in the general population: What happens in adult life?. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 62(4), pp. 449-457. (10.1111/jcpp.13297)
2020
- Riglin, L. et al. 2020. Using genetics to examine a general liability to childhood psychopathology. Behavior Genetics 50, pp. 213-220. (10.1007/s10519-019-09985-4)
- Bevan-Jones, R. et al. 2020. A digital intervention for adolescent depression 'MoodHwb': mixed-methods feasibility evaluation. JMIR Mental Health 7(7), article number: e14536. (10.2196/14536)
- Addicoat, A., Thapar, A., Riglin, L., Thapar, A. and Collishaw, S. 2020. Adult mood problems in children with neurodevelopmental problems: evidence from a prospective birth cohort followed to age 50. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 55, pp. 351-358. (10.1007/s00127-019-01727-5)
2019
- Collishaw, S., Furzer, E., Thapar, A. K. and Sellers, R. 2019. Brief report: a comparison of child mental health inequalities in three UK population cohorts. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 28(11), pp. 1547-1549. (10.1007/s00787-019-01305-9)
- Eyre, O. et al. 2019. Childhood neurodevelopmental difficulties and risk for adolescent depression: the role of irritability. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 60(8), pp. 866-874. (10.1111/jcpp.13053)
2018
- Riglin, L. et al. 2018. The impact of schizophrenia and mood disorder risk alleles on emotional problems: investigating change from childhood to middle age. Psychological Medicine 48(13), pp. 2153-2158. (10.1017/S0033291717003634)
- Cooper, M. et al. 2018. Investigating late-onset ADHD: a population cohort investigation. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 59(10), pp. 1105-1113. (10.1111/jcpp.12911)
- Bevan Jones, R. et al. 2018. A web-based psychoeducational intervention for adolescent depression: design and development of MoodHwb. JMIR Mental Health 5(1), article number: e13. (10.2196/mental.8894)
2017
- Bevan-Jones, R., Thapar, A., Stone, Z., Thapar, A., Jones, I. R., Smith, D. and Simpson, S. 2017. Psychoeducational interventions in adolescent depression: A systematic review. Patient Education and Counseling (10.1016/j.pec.2017.10.015)
- McNamara, R. et al. 2017. A pilot randomised controlled trial of community-led ANtipsychotic Drug REduction for Adults with Learning Disabilities. Project Report. [Online]. Health Technology Assessment. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3310/hta21470
- Riglin, L., Collishaw, S., Richards, A., Thapar, A., Maughan, B., O'Donovan, M. C. and Thapar, A. 2017. Schizophrenia polygenic risk score and psychotic risk detection - authors' reply. The Lancet Psychiatry 4(3), pp. 188-189. (10.1016/S2215-0366(17)30052-4)
- Rice, F. et al. 2017. Antecedents of new-onset major depressive disorder in children and adolescents at high familial risk. JAMA Psychiatry 74(2), pp. 153-160. (10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.3140)
- Stuart-Smith, J., Thapar, A., Maughan, B., Thapar, A. and Collishaw, S. 2017. Childhood hyperactivity and mood problems at mid-life: evidence from a prospective birth cohort. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 52(1), pp. 87-94. (10.1007/s00127-016-1285-5)
- Riglin, L., Collishaw, S., Richards, A., Thapar, A. K., Maughan, B., O'Donovan, M. C. and Thapar, A. 2017. Schizophrenia risk alleles and neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood: a population-based cohort study. Lancet Psychiatry 4(1), pp. 57-62. (10.1016/S2215-0366(16)30406-0)
2016
- Riglin, L. et al. 2016. Association of genetic risk variants with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder trajectories in the general population. JAMA Psychiatry 73(12), pp. 1285-1292. (10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.2817)
- Bevan-Jones, R. et al. 2016. Prevalence and correlates of psychotic experiences amongst children of depressed parents. Psychiatry Research 243, pp. 81-86. (10.1016/j.psychres.2016.03.012)
- Thapar, A. et al. 2016. Identifying key parent-reported symptoms for detecting depression in high risk adolescents. Psychiatry Research 242, pp. 210-217. (10.1016/j.psychres.2016.05.025)
- Davidovich, S., Collishaw, S., Thapar, A. K., Harold, G., Thapar, A. and Rice, F. 2016. Do better executive functions buffer the effect of current parental depression on adolescent depressive symptoms?. Journal of Affective Disorders 199, pp. 54-64. (10.1016/j.jad.2016.03.049)
- Riglin, L. et al. 2016. Higher cognitive ability buffers stress-related depressive symptoms in adolescent girls. Development and Psychopathology 28(1), pp. 97-109. (10.1017/S0954579415000310)
- Sellers, R. et al. 2016. Examining whether offspring psychopathology influences illness course in mothers with recurrent depression using a high-risk longitudinal sample. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 125(2), pp. 256-266. (10.1037/abn0000080)
- Collishaw, S. et al. 2016. Mental health resilience in the adolescent offspring of parents with depression: a prospective longitudinal study. Lancet Psychiatry 3(1), pp. 49-57. (10.1016/S2215-0366(15)00358-2)
2015
- Mars, B. et al. 2015. Longitudinal symptom course in adults with recurrent depression: Impact on impairment and risk of psychopathology in offspring. Journal of Affective Disorders 182, pp. 32-38. (10.1016/j.jad.2015.04.018)
2014
- Eyre, O. et al. 2014. Reported child awareness of parental depression. Psychiatric Bulletin 38(3), pp. 122-127. (10.1192/pb.bp.113.044198)
- Thapar, A. K. et al. 2014. Detecting recurrent major depressive disorder within primary care rapidly and reliably using short questionnaire measures. British Journal of General Practice (BJGP) 64(618), pp. e31-7. (10.3399/bjgp14X676438)
- Hammerton, G., Thapar, A. and Thapar, A. K. 2014. Association between obesity and depressive disorder in adolescents at high risk for depression. International Journal of Obesity 38, pp. 513-519. (10.1038/ijo.2013.133)
2013
- Lewis, K. J. et al. 2013. The Depression impairment scale for parents (DISP): A new scale for the measurement of impairment in depressed parents. Psychiatry Research 210(3), pp. 1184-1190. (10.1016/j.psychres.2013.08.001)
- Mars, B. et al. 2013. Specific parental depression symptoms as risk markers for new-onset depression in high-risk offspring. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 74(9), pp. 925-931. (10.4088/JCP.12m08152)
- Hammerton, G., Harold, G. T., Thapar, A. K. and Thapar, A. 2013. Depression and blood pressure in high-risk children and adolescents: an investigation using two longitudinal cohorts. British Medical Journal Open 3(9), pp. e003206. (10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003206)
2012
- Lewis, K. J. et al. 2012. Do parents know best? Parent-reported vs. child-reported depression symptoms as predictors of future child mood disorder in a high-risk sample. Journal of Affective Disorders 141(2-3), pp. 233-236. (10.1016/j.jad.2012.03.008)
- Sellers, R. et al. 2012. Risk of psychopathology in adolescent offspring of mothers with psychopathology and recurrent depression. British Journal of Psychiatry 202(2), pp. 108-114. (10.1192/bjp.bp.111.104984)
- Thapar, A. K., Heron, J., Bevan Jones, R., Owen, M. J., Lewis, G. and Zammit, S. 2012. Trajectories of change in self-reported psychotic-like experiences in childhood and adolescence. Schizophrenia Research 140(1-3), pp. 104-109. (10.1016/j.schres.2012.06.024)
- Bevan-Jones, R., Thapar, A. K. and Thapar, A. 2012. Review: psychological and educational interventions may reduce risk of depressive disorders in children and adolescents. Evidence-Based Mental Health 15(3), pp. 82. (10.1136/ebmental-2012-100681)
- Potter, R. et al. 2012. Missed opportunities: mental disorder in children of parents with depression. British Journal of General Practice (BJGP) 62(600), pp. e487-e493. (10.3399/bjgp12X652355)
- Thapar, A., Collishaw, S., Pine, D. S. and Thapar, A. K. 2012. Depression in adolescence. The Lancet 379(9820), pp. 1056-1067. (10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60871-4)
- Mars, B. et al. 2012. Offspring of parents with recurrent depression: which features of parent depression index risk for offspring psychopathology?. Journal of affective disorders 136(1-2), pp. 44-53. (10.1016/j.jad.2011.09.002)
2011
- Margrove, K. L., Thapar, A. K., Mensah, S. and Kerr, M. P. 2011. Help-seeking and treatment preferences for depression in epilepsy. Epilepsy & Behavior 22(4), pp. 740-744. (10.1016/j.yebeh.2011.08.042)
- Margrove, K., Mensah, S., Thapar, A. K. and Kerr, M. P. 2011. Depression screening for patients with epilepsy in a primary care setting using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 and the Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory for Epilepsy. Epilepsy & Behavior 21(4), pp. 387-390. (10.1016/j.yebeh.2011.05.026)
2010
- Langley, K. et al. 2010. Adolescent clinical outcomes for young people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry 196(3), pp. 235-240. (10.1192/bjp.bp.109.066274)
- Thapar, A., Collishaw, S., Potter, R. and Thapar, A. K. 2010. Managing and preventing depression in adolescents [Review]. British Medical Journal (BMJ) 340, pp. c209. (10.1136/bmj.c209)
- Smith, D. J., Thapar, A. K. and Simpson, S. A. 2010. Bipolar spectrum disorders in primary care: optimising diagnosis and treatment [Editorial]. British Journal of General Practice (BJGP) 60(574), pp. 322-324. (10.3399/bjgp10X484165)
2009
- Jacoby, A. and Thapar, A. K. 2009. The contribution of seizures to psychosocial ill-health. Epilepsy & Behavior 15(2), pp. S41-S45. (10.1016/j.yebeh.2009.03.019)
- Thapar, A. K., Kerr, M. P. and Harold, G. T. 2009. Stress, anxiety, depression, and epilepsy: investigating the relationship between psychological factors and seizures. Epilepsy & Behavior 14(1), pp. 134-140. (10.1016/j.yebeh.2008.09.004)
- Thapar, A. K. 2009. Examining the association between depression and seizures amongst adults with epilepsy: A longitudinal analysis. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
2008
- Turky, A., Beavis, J. M., Thapar, A. K. and Kerr, M. P. 2008. Psychopathology in children and adolescents with epilepsy: an investigation of predictive variables. Epilepsy & Behavior 12(1), pp. 136-144. (10.1016/j.yebeh.2007.08.003)
2007
- Mensah, S. A., Beavis, J. M., Thapar, A. K. and Kerr, M. P. 2007. A community study of the presence of anxiety disorder in people with epilepsy. Epilepsy & Behavior 11(1), pp. 118-124. (10.1016/j.yebeh.2007.04.012)
2006
- Mensah, S. A., Beavis, J. M., Thapar, A. K. and Kerr, M. P. 2006. The presence and clinical implications of depression in a community population of adults with epilepsy. Epilepsy & Behavior 8(1), pp. 213-219. (10.1016/j.yebeh.2005.09.014)
2005
- Thapar, A. K. and Roland, M. O. 2005. General practitioner attitudes to the care of people with epilepsy: an examination of clustering within practices and prediction of patient-rated quality of care. BMC Family Practice 6(1), pp. 9. (10.1186/1471-2296-6-9)
2003
- Elwyn, G. et al. 2003. A 'real puzzle': the views of patients with epilepsy about the organisation of care. BMC Family Practice 4, pp. 4. (10.1186/1471-2296-4-4)
- Thapar, A. K. and Thapar, A. 2003. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.. British Journal of General Practice 53(488), pp. 225-230.
2002
- Edwards, A. G. et al. 2002. Responses of primary health care professionals to UK national guidelines on the management and referral of women with breast conditions. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 8(3), pp. 319-325. (10.1046/j.1365-2753.2002.00335.x)
- Edwards, A. G. et al. 2002. The views of primary health care professionals about the management of breast problems in clinical practice. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 8(3), pp. 313-318. (10.1046/j.1365-2753.2002.00334.x)
- Campbell, S. M., Hann, M., Hacker, J., Durie, A., Thapar, A. K. and Roland, M. O. 2002. Quality assessment for three common conditions in primary care: validity and reliability of review criteria developed by expert panels for angina, asthma and type 2 diabetes. Quality and Safety in Health Care 11(2), pp. 125-130. (10.1136/qhc.11.2.125)
- Robling, M. R. et al. 2002. The development of a new site-specific measure of quality of life for breast problems: the Cardiff breast scales.. Quality of Life Research 11(4), pp. 339-348.
- Robling, M. R. et al. 2002. The development of a new site-specific measure of quality of life for breast problems: the Cardiff breast scales. Quality of Life Research 11(4), pp. 339-348. (10.1023/A:1015595627501)
- Thapar, A. K. and Thapar, A. 2002. Is primary care ready to take on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?. BMC Family Practice 3, pp. 7-7. (10.1186/1471-2296-3-7)
- Thapar, A. K. et al. 2002. A pragmatic randomised controlled trial of a prompt and reminder card in the care of people with epilepsy. The British Journal of General Practice 52(475), pp. 93-98.
2001
- Campbell, S. M. et al. 2001. Identifying predictors of high quality care in English general practice: observational study. BMJ 323(7316), pp. 784-787. (10.1136/bmj.323.7316.784)
- Thapar, A. K. et al. 2001. Are serum anticonvulsant levels in people with epilepsy appropriately monitored?. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 7(3), pp. 335-338. (10.1046/j.1365-2753.2001.00289.x)
1999
- Edwards, A. G. et al. 1999. The presentation and management of breast symptoms in general practice in South Wales. The BRIDGE Study Group. British Journal of General Practice 49(447), pp. 811-812.
- Thapar, A. K. et al. 1999. Is EUROQOL a good summary measure of the quality of life of people with epilepsy?. Epilepsia 40, pp. 184-184.
1998
- Thapar, A. K., Stott, N. C., Richens, A. and Kerr, M. P. 1998. Attitudes of GPs to the care of people with epilepsy. Family Practice 15(5), pp. 437-442. (10.1093/fampra/15.5.437)
- Koppel, S. M. and Thapar, A. K. 1998. Treating blood needle phobia. Hospital Medicine 59(9), pp. 730-732.
1996
- Dearden, A., Smithers, M. and Thapar, A. K. 1996. Interruptions during general practice consultations--the patients' view. Family Practice 13(2), pp. 166-169. (10.1093/fampra/13.2.166)
- Thapar, A. K. 1996. Care of patients with epilepsy in the community: will new initiatives address old problems?. British Journal of General Practice 46(402), pp. 37-42.
1994
- Thapar, A. K. 1994. Educating Asthmatic Patients in Primary Care: a Pilot Study of Small Group Education. Family Practice 11(1), pp. 39-43. (10.1093/fampra/11.1.39)
1992
- Thapar, A. K. and Thapar, A. 1992. Psychological sequelae of miscarriage: a controlled study using the general health questionnaire and the hospital anxiety and depression scale.. British Journal of General Practice (BJGP) 42(356), pp. 94-96.
Teaching
I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.