Dr Rhiannon Evans
Senior Lecturer
- Email:
- evansre8@cardiff.ac.uk
- Telephone:
- +44(0) 29 2087 0099
- Location:
- 1.09, 1-3 Museum Place
- Media commentator
Overview
I am a Senior Lecturer in Social Science and Health based at DECIPHer (Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Public Health Interventions), a UKCRC Public Health Research Centre of Excellence. I am also an affiliated Senior Lecturer at CASCADE (Children's Social Care Research and Development Centre). I am currently a co-applicant and programme lead on the What Works Centre for Children's Social Care. The substantive focus of my research is the improvement of the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people, in addition to the prevention of self-harm and suicide. I have a particular interest in children and young people with additional risks, notable individuals who are care-experienced.
Since 2014 I have secured more than £8m in competitive grant funding.
Current Projects
- What Works Centre for Children's Social Care, Department for Education. 2017-2020, £4.8m.
- Centre for Population Health and Wellbeing Research (NCPHWR), Health and Social care Research Wales. 2018-2020, £1.5m.
- A cluster randomised controlled trial of an intervention to improve the mental health support and training available to secondary school teachers – the WISE (Wellbeing in Secondary Education) project, NIHR. £1.3m, 2015-2019.
- Self-HARm provision in Emergency Services (SHARES study). Children and young people's experience of short-term management and prevention provision following presentation for self-harm: Sytematic review and qualitative study, Health and Care Research Wales. £245,509, 2017-2019.
Adaptation of evidence-informed complex population health interventions for implementation and/or re-evalaution in new contexts, MRC. £320,261, 2018-2020.
Previous Projects
- Self-harm, suicide ideation and suicidal behaviours in looked-after children and young people: Incidence, prevalence and prevention’, Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship NISCHR. £248,364, 2014-2017.
- Well-being and Health in Schools Project (WHISP): Phase 1, Wellcome Trust ISSF Public Health Collaboration Fund.£24,458, 2016-2017.
- Self-harm and Suicide in Children and Young People Research Collaboration, GW4. £56,720.94, 2016.
- Understanding the educational experiences and opinions, attainment, achievement and aspirations of looked after children in Wales’, Welsh Government. £30,957, 2015.
- Self-harm and Suicide in Children and Young People Research Collaboration, GW4, £4000, 2014.
Career
- 2017- : Senior Lecturer, DECIPHer/CASCADE, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University
- 2015 - 2017: Research Fellow, DECIPHer/CASCADE, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University
- 2014 - 2015: Research Associate, DECIPHer, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University
- 2013 - 2014: Public Health Tutor (Lecturer Epidemiology), School of Medicine, Cardiff University
Education and Qualifications
- PhD in Social Sciences, Cardiff University
- MSc Social Science Research Methods, Cardiff University
- MSc Public Policy, University of Bristol
- BA Hons Philosophy, Politics and Economics, University of Oxford
Honours and awards
2017: Learned Society of Wales Dillwyn Medal for Outstanding Early Career Researcher Contribution in Social Sciences, Education and Business.
2017: Social Research Award for Research Innovation - "Understanding the educational experiences and opinions, attainment, achievement and aspirations of looked after children in Wales"
2019
- Evans, R.et al. 2019. When and how do “effective” interventions need to be adapted and/or re-evaluated in new contexts? The need for guidance. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (10.1136/jech-2018-210840)
- Rees, G.et al. 2019. Educational interventions for children and young people in care: A review of outcomes, implementation and acceptability. In: Mannay, D., Rees, A. and Roberts, L. eds. Children and Young People `Looked After'?: Education, Intervention and the Everyday Culture of Care in Wales.. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, pp. 29-42.
- Moore, G.et al. 2019. From complex social interventions to interventions in complex social systems: future directions and unresolved questions for intervention development and evaluation. Evaluation 25(1), pp. 23-45. (10.1177/1356389018803219)
- Mannay, D.et al. 2019. Enabling talk and reframing messages: Working creatively with care experienced children and young people to recount and re-represent their everyday experiences. Child Care in Practice 25, pp. 51-63. (10.1080/13575279.2018.1521375)
2018
- Evans, R.et al. 2018. Adolescent self-harm prevention and intervention in secondary schools: A survey of staff in England and Wales. Child and Adolescent Mental Health (10.1111/camh.12308)
- Moore, G.et al. 2018. School, peer and family relationships and adolescent substance use, subjective wellbeing and mental health symptoms in Wales: a cross sectional study. Child Indicators Research 11(6), pp. 1951-1965. (10.1007/s12187-017-9524-1)
- Trickey, H.et al. 2018. Introducing WRISK: drawing on women’s experiences to develop recommendations for public health messaging in pregnancy. [Online]. WRISK Project. Available at: https://www.wrisk.org/uncategorized/introducing-wrisk-drawing-on-womens-experiences-to-develop-recommendations-for-public-health-messaging-in-pregnancy/
- Scourfield, J.et al. 2018. The number and characteristics of newspaper and Twitter reports on suicides and road traffic deaths in young people. Archives of Suicide Research (10.1080/13811118.2018.1479321)
- Harding, S.et al. 2018. Is teachers’ mental health and wellbeing associated with students’ mental health and wellbeing?. Journal of Affective Disorders (10.1016/j.jad.2018.08.080)
- Evans, R.et al. 2018. Process evaluation protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial of an intervention to improve the mental health support and training available to secondary school teachers– the Wellbeing in Secondary Education (WISE) project. Trials 19, article number: 270.
- Evans, R. 2018. Survival, signaling, and security: Foster carers’ and residential carers’ accounts of self-harming practices among children and young people in care. Qualitative Health Research 28(6), pp. 939-949. (10.1177/1049732318759935)
2017
- Moore, G. and Evans, R. E. 2017. What theory, for whom and in which context? reflections on the application of theory in the development and evaluation of complex population health interventions. SSM - Population Health 3, pp. 132-135. (10.1016/j.ssmph.2016.12.005)
- Evans, R. E.et al. 2017. Comparison of suicidal ideation, suicide attempt and suicide in children and young people in care and non-care populations: Systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence. Children and Youth Services Review 82, pp. 122-129. (10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.09.020)
- Jacob, N., Evans, R. E. and Scourfield, J. B. 2017. The influence of online images on self-harm: A qualitative study of young people aged 16-24. Journal of Adolescence 60, pp. 140-147. (10.1016/j.adolescence.2017.08.001)
- Mannay, D.et al. 2017. The consequences of being labelled ‘looked-after’: Exploring the educational experiences of looked-after children and young people in Wales. British Educational Research Journal 43(4), pp. 683-699. (10.1002/berj.3283)
- Moore, G.et al. 2017. All interventions are complex, but some are more complex than others: using iCAT_SR to assess complexity [Editorial]. The Cochrane Library 7 (10.1002/14651858.ED000122)
- Evans, R.et al. 2017. Understanding the diffusion of non-evidence-based health interventions: the role of experiential evidence. Health Education Journal 76(4), pp. 411-422. (10.1177/0017896916688711)
- Moore, G.et al. 2017. School composition, school culture and socioeconomic inequalities in young people's health: Multi-level analysis of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey in Wales. British Educational Research Journal 43(2), pp. 310-329. (10.1002/berj.3265)
- Long, S. J.et al. 2017. Comparison of substance use, subjective well-being and interpersonal relationships among young people in foster care and private households: a cross sectional analysis of the School Health Research Network survey in Wales. BMJ Open 7(2), pp. e014198. (10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014198)
- Evans, R. E.et al. 2017. Systematic review of educational interventions for looked-after children and young people: Recommendations for intervention development and evaluation. British Educational Research Journal 43(1), pp. 68-94. (10.1002/berj.3252)
- Evans, R. E. 2017. Emotional pedagogy and the gendering of social and emotional learning. British Journal of Sociology of Education 38(2), pp. 184-202. (10.1080/01425692.2015.1073102)
- Evans, R.et al. 2017. A cluster randomised controlled trial of an intervention to improve the mental health support and training available to secondary school teachers. Presented at: 6th European Network for Social and Emotional Competence Conference,, Stockholm, 7 –9 June 2017.
- Evans, R. E. and Hurrell, C. 2017. The role of schools in children and young people’s self-harm and suicide: systematic review and meta-ethnography of qualitative research. Presented at: XXVIII IASP World Congress of International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP 2017), Kuching, Malaysia, 18 – 22 July 2017.
2016
- Evans, R.et al. 2016. GW4 Children and young people's self-harm and suicide research collaboration. Report.. Project Report. [Online]. GW4. Available at: http://decipher.uk.net/report-launch-gw4-children-young-peoples-self-harm-suicide-research-collaboration/
- Evans, R.et al. 2016. The acceptability of educational interventions: Qualitative evidence from children and young people in care. Children and Youth Services Review 71, pp. 68-76. (10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.10.030)
- Evans, R. E., Scourfield, J. B. and Moore, G. 2016. Gender, relationship breakdown, and suicide risk: a review of research in western countries. Journal of Family Issues 37(16), pp. 2239-2264. (10.1177/0192513X14562608)
- Kidger, J.et al. 2016. Protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial of an intervention to improve the mental health support and training available to secondary school teachers – the WISE (Wellbeing in Secondary Education) study. BMC Public Health 16, pp. 1089. (10.1186/s12889-016-3756-8)
- Evans, R. 2016. Process evaluation and implementation science research. Presented at: Implementation Science Research Network, Galway, 19 September 2016.
- Scourfield, J. B.et al. 2016. The response in Twitter to an assisted suicide in a television soap opera. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention 37(5), pp. 392-395. (10.1027/0227-5910/a000377)
- Evans, R. E. and Hurrell, C. 2016. The role of schools in children and young people’s self-harm and suicide: systematic review and meta-ethnography of qualitative research. Presented at: KCRC Public Health Research Centres of Excellence Conference, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, 14-15 July 2016.
- Fletcher, A.et al. 2016. Realist complex intervention science: applying realist principles across all phases of the Medical Research Council framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions. Evaluation 22(3), pp. 286-303. (10.1177/1356389016652743)
- Evans, R. E. and Hurrell, C. 2016. The role of schools in children and young people’s self-harm and suicide: systematic review and meta-ethnography of qualitative research. BMC Public Health 16, article number: 401. (10.1186/s12889-016-3065-2)
- Evans, R. E. 2016. Growing up in care: the disempowerment and disenfranchisement of carers. BMJ 353, article number: i1866. (10.1136/bmj.i1866)
- Mannay, D.et al. 2016. Exploring the educational experiences and aspirations of Looked After Children and Young People (LACYP) in Wales. Project Report. Cardiff: Children's Social Care and Research and Development Centre (CASCADE).
2015
- Mannay, D.et al. 2015. Understanding the educational experiences and opinions, attainment, achievement and aspirations of looked after children in Wales. Project Report. [Online]. Cardiff: Welsh Government. Available at: http://gov.wales/statistics-and-research/understanding-educational-experiences-opinions-attainment-achievement-aspirations-looked-after-children-wales/?lang=en
- Mannay, D.et al. 2015. Executive summary: Understanding the educational experiences and opinions, attainment, achievement and aspirations of looked after children in Wales.. Technical Report.
- Evans, R. E., Scourfield, J. B. and Murphy, S. 2015. Pragmatic, formative process evaluations of complex interventions and why we need more of them [Editorial]. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 69(10), pp. 925-926. (10.1136/jech-2014-204806)
- Scourfield, J. B. and Evans, R. E. 2015. Why might men be more at risk of suicide after a relationship breakdown? Sociological insights. American Journal of Men's Health 9(5), pp. 380-384. (10.1177/1557988314546395)
- Evans, R. E., Murphy, S. and Scourfield, J. B. 2015. Implementation of a school-based social and emotional learning intervention: understanding diffusion processes within complex systems. Prevention Science 16(5), pp. 754-764. (10.1007/s11121-015-0552-0)
- Evans, R. E., Scourfield, J. B. and Murphy, S. 2015. The unintended consequences of targeting: young people's lived experiences of social and emotional learning interventions. British Educational Research Journal 41(3), pp. 381-397. (10.1002/berj.3155)
- Fletcher, A. and Evans, R. E. 2015. Child and adolescent mental health services in crisis. [Online]. Cost of Living. Available at: http://www.cost-ofliving.net/camhs-in-crisis/
- Evans, R. E.et al. 2015. Systematic review of self-harm and suicide in children and young people in the care of the state. Presented at: 28th World Congress of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 16-20 June 2015. pp. 82-82.
- Evans, R. E., Murphy, S. and Scourfield, J. B. 2015. The unintended consequences of targeting: young people's lived experiences of targeted social and emotional learning interventions. Presented at: Society for Prevention Research 23rd Annual Meeting: Integrating Prevention Science and Public Policy, Washington DC, USA, 29 May 2015. pp. 82-82.
- Evans, R. E. 2015. The gender of suicide: knowledge production, theory and suicidology [Book Review]. Critical Public Health 25(2), pp. 239-240. (10.1080/09581596.2014.966529)
2014
- Jacob, N., Scourfield, J. B. and Evans, R. E. 2014. Suicide prevention via the internet. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention 35(4), pp. 261-267. (10.1027/0227-5910/a000254)
- Evans, R. 2014. Mr Drew’s School: the unintended consequences of targeted interventions. [Online]. Cost of Living. Available at: http://www.cost-ofliving.net/is-mr-drews-school-a-cure-that-actually-harms/
- Evans, R. E., Murphy, S. and Scourfield, J. B. 2014. The diffusion of social and emotional learning interventions: exploring and the role and impact of proselytism. Presented at: UKCRC Public Health Research Centres of Excellence Conference, Leeds, UK, 19-20 June 2014.
2013
- Evans, R. E. 2013. The diffusion of social and emotional learning interventions: a dynamic model of intervention practice?. Presented at: 4th European Network for Social and Emotional Competence, Zagreb, Croatia, 3-7 July 2013.
- Evans, R. E. 2013. ‘I think it just makes us think more though that the teachers hate us’: The iatrogenic effects of targeted social and emotional learning interventions. Presented at: 4th European Network for Social and Emotional Competence Conference, Zagreb, Croatia, 3-7 July 2013.
- Evans, R. E., Scourfield, J. B. and Murphy, S. 2013. The diffusion of social and emotional learning interventions: is belief and conviction enough?. Presented at: Society for Prevention Research 21st Annual Meeting, The Science of Prevention: Building a Comprehensive National Strategy for Well-being, San Francisco, USA, 28-31 May 2013.
- Evans, R. E. 2013. 'He is taking it in. He might just not say it often': Exploring the reconstitution of the masculine subject position within social and emotional learning interventions. Presented at: British Sociological Association Annual Conference, London, UK, 3-5 April 2013.
- Evans, R. E. 2013. Ecological public health: Reshaping the conditions for good health, by Geof Rayner and Tim Lang [Book Review]. Critical Public Health 23(1), pp. 123-124. (10.1080/09581596.2012.746820)
- Evans, R. E. and Price, S. 2013. Exploring organisational influences on the implementation of gatekeeper training: a qualitative study of the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training(ASIST) programme in Wales. Critical Public Health 23(2), pp. 213-224. (10.1080/09581596.2012.752069)
2012
- Evans, R. E. and Holland, S. 2012. Community parenting and the informal safeguarding of children at neighbourhood level. Families, Relationships and Societies 1(2), pp. 173-190. (10.1332/204674312X645501)
- Evans, R. E. 2012. System level influences on implementation: a process evaluation of the Student Assistance Programme. Presented at: Public Health Research - Methods and Challenges, Medical Research Council, Birmingham, UK, 24-26 April 2012.
- Evans, R. E. 2012. Theorising social and emotional learning interventions: A case study of the Student Assistance Programme. Presented at: Improving Young People's Health. Association for Young People's Health., Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, UK, 27th March 2012.
2009
- Evans, R.et al. 2009. Schools needs and fears about self-harm prevention and intervention: A mixed method study of secondary schools in the UK. Presented at: 6th European Network for Social and Emotional Competence Conference, Stockholm, 7–9 June 2009.
0
- Evans, R.et al. . Systematic review of educational interventions for looked-after children and young people: Recommendations for intervention development and evaluation. British Educational Research Journal
Undergraduate Teaching
Sociology of Health and Illness (3rd Year) (Module Convenor / Lecturer)
Equality and Diversity in Education and Work (3rd Year) (Lecturer)
Experiments in Knowing (3rd Year) (Lecturer)
Postgraduate Teaching
Childhood, Youth and Policy, MSc Childhood and Youth (Module Convenor / Lecturer)
Professional Doctorate (Lecturer)
MA Social Work: Dissertation Supervisor and Assessor
Masters in Public Health (MPH): Dissertation Supervisor and Assessor
PHD Supervision
Hayley Reed (ESRC 1+3) (2016- 2020)
Rachel Parker (ESRC 1+3) (2016-2020)
Stephen Jennings (Health and Care Research Wales) (2016-2019)
Elen De Lacy (DECIPHer) (2015-2018)
DECIPHer Short Courses
Developing Complex Public Health Interventions
Process Evaluation of Public Health Interventions (Convenor)
External Courses
Process Evaluation of Public Health Interventions, University of Galway (University of Berkley Initiative for Transparancy in the Social Sciences Scholarship)
Canadian Institute for Collaborative Learning Institute in Evaluation, PROPEL, University of Waterloo, Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions, Welsh Government.
Process Evaluation of Public Health Interventions, NIHR Research Design Service
Process Evaluation of Public Health Interventions, HSC Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland
Developing and Evalauting Complex Interventions, Welsh Government
My research interests include:
- Children and young people
- Mental health, social and emotional learning, and wellbeing
- Self-harm and suicide
- School-based intervention
- Development and evaluation of complex interventions
- Process evaluation and implementation science
