Dr Rhiannon Evans
Reader
- evansre8@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44(0) 29 2087 0099
- sbarc|spark, Maindy Road, Cathays, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ
- Media commentator
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
Overview
I am a Reader in Social Science and Health, based at DECIPHer (Centre for Development, Evaluation, Complexity and Implementation in Public Health Improvement), School of Social Sciences. I am a member of the Senior Management Team at DECIPHer, where I am academic lead for the 'Healthy Social Relationships' research programme and the Centre's Teaching and Learning profile. I am also a member of the SPARK Management Board and the SPARK International Working Group.
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 key groups who experience disadvantage, notably those who are care-experienced.
My methodological focus is on intervention development, process evaluation, qualitative methods and mixed-method systematic reviews. I have leading expertise in intervention adaptation for implementation in new contexts, having co-led NIHR-MRC funded methodological guidance.
I lead on a range of methodological teaching for both undergraduates and postgraduates at Cardiff University. I contribute to the leadership of the DECIPHer methodological short course programme, and deliver these short courses to a number of international academic partners, most recently in Denmark, Namibia and South Africa.
Biography
Career
- 2022 - : Reader, DECIPHer, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University
- 2017 - 2022: Senior Lecturer, DECIPHer, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University
- 2015 - 2017: Research Fellow, DECIPHer, 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
- Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy
- 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
Publications
2024
- Trubey, R. et al. 2024. Effectiveness of mental health and wellbeing interventions for children and young people in foster, kinship, and residential care: systematic review and meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse 25(4), pp. 2829-2844. (10.1177/15248380241227987)
- Evans, R. et al. 2024. Interventions targeting the mental health and wellbeing of care-experienced children and young people: Mixed-methods systematic review with stakeholder consultation to inform transportability and adaptability to UK context. The British Journal of Social Work, article number: bcae061. (10.1093/bjsw/bcae061)
- Uddin, J. et al. 2024. Adaptation of complex interventions for people with long-term conditions: a scoping review. Translational Behavioral Medicine 14(9), pp. 514-526. (10.1093/tbm/ibae031)
- Hewitt, G., MacDonald, S., Evans, R., Rees, A., Brown, R., Anthony, R. and Jones, S. 2024. Challenges and opportunities for social work practice in mental health and wellbeing support for care-experienced children and young people in schools and colleges in Wales. Presented at: 13th European Conference for Social Work, Vilnius, Lithuania, 17-19 April 2024.
- Wood, S. et al. 2024. Family group conference provision in UK local authorities and associations with children looked after rates. The British Journal of Social Work 54(5), pp. 2045-2066. (10.1093/bjsw/bcae019)
- Fang, Z., Martin, M., Copeland, L., Evans, R. and Shenderovich, Y. 2024. Parenting interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review of the rationales, process, feasibility, acceptability, and impacts of adaptation. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse (10.1177/15248380241266183)
- Hewitt, G., Copeland, L., Murphy, S., Jones, S., Edwards, A. and Evans, R. 2024. Understanding school-based counselling services in complex systems: developing a whole system approach. Health Education (10.1177/00178969241263189)
- Pell, B., Melendez-Torres, G. J., Buckley, K., Evans, R. and Robinson, A. 2024. A realist evaluation of a “whole health” response to domestic violence and abuse in the UK. Violence Against Women (10.1177/10778012241265364)
- Copeland, L. et al. 2024. School and community-based counselling services for children and young people aged 7-18 in the UK: a rapid review of effectiveness, implementation and acceptability. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research 24(2), pp. 419-458. (10.1002/capr.12688)
- Laurenzi, C. A. et al. 2024. Development of a school-based programme for mental health promotion and prevention among adolescents in Nepal and South Africa. SSM Mental Health 5, article number: 100289. (10.1016/j.ssmmh.2023.100289)
- Jacobsen, J. S., Evans, R., Morgan, K., Thorborg, K., Oestergaard, L. and Sørensen, D. 2024. An exercise and patient education intervention to reduce pain and physical limitations in adults with acetabular dysplasia: study protocol for a process evaluation integrated within a randomised controlled trial (the MovetheHip trial). Trials 25, article number: 411. (10.1186/s13063-024-08262-y)
- Langergaard, S., Evans, R., Andreasen, J., Schultz Petersen, K. and Overgaard, C. 2024. Targeting belongingness among older people through engagement in senior centres: intervention development study in Denmark. Health Promotion International 39(2), article number: daae032. (10.1093/heapro/daae032)
- Williams, A., Bayfield, H., Elliott, M., Lyttleton-Smith, J., Young, H., Evans, R. and Long, S. 2024. Secure futures? A mixed methods study on opportunities for helping young people referred to secure children's homes for welfare reasons. Journal of Children's Services 19(1), pp. 38-53. (10.1108/JCS-06-2022-0019)
- Taussig, H. N., Fulginiti, A., Racz, S. J., Evans, R. and Cary Katz, C. 2024. Long-term impact of the Fostering Healthy Futures for Preteens program on suicide-related thoughts and behaviors for youth in out-of-home care: A randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Community Psychology (10.1002/ajcp.12745)
- Evans, R. et al. 2024. Acceptability, feasibility and perceived effectiveness of online and remote mental health and wellbeing interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study with care-experienced young people, carers and professionals. Children and Youth Services Review 156, article number: 107321. (10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.107321)
- Anthony, R., Haslam, Z., Morgan, K., Evans, R. and Willis, S. 2024. Mental health and wellbeing related social support for care-experienced children and young people: A Scoping Review protocol of type, source and quality.. [Online]. OSF. (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/2U7BZ) Available at: https://osf.io/2u7bz/
- Evans, R. et al. 2024. What mental health and wellbeing interventions work for which children and young people in care? Systematic review of potential outcome inequities. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal (10.1007/s10560-023-00956-7)
2023
- Reed, H., Murphy, S. and Evans, R. 2023. Optimising a co-production framework for developing public health interventions: application and testing of school-based Research Action Groups. Health Research Policy and Systems 21(1), article number: 133. (10.1186/s12961-023-01086-3)
- Shenderovich, Y. et al. 2023. Family-focused intervention to promote adolescent mental health and well-being in Moldova and North Macedonia (FLOURISH): Feasibility study protocol. BMJ Open 13, article number: e080400. (10.1136/bmjopen-2023-080400)
- Moore, G., Evans, R. E., Hawkins, J., Shenderovich, Y. and Young, H. 2023. What does 'following the guidance' mean in an era of increasingly pluralistic guidance for the development, evaluation and implementation of interventions?. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 77, pp. 753-754. (10.1136/jech-2023-220880)
- Stabler, L. et al. 2023. ‘I probably wouldn’t want to talk about anything too personal’: A qualitative exploration of how issues of privacy, confidentiality and surveillance in the home impact on access and engagement with online services and spaces for care-experienced young people. Adoption & Fostering 47(3), pp. 277-294. (10.1177/03085759231203019)
- Macdonald, S., Hewitt, G., Evans, R., Rees, A., Brown, R., Anthony, R. and Jones, S. 2023. Wellbeing and mental health support in schools and colleges for care experienced children and young people: a mixed-methods study of delivering and receiving support. Presented at: BERA Conference 2023, Aston University, Birmingham, 12-14 September 2023.
- Evans, R. et al. 2023. Interventions targeting the mental health and wellbeing of care-experienced children and young people in higher-income countries: Evidence map and systematic review. Systematic Reviews 12(1), article number: 111. (10.1186/s13643-023-02260-y)
- Littlecott, H. J. et al. 2023. Perceptions of friendship, peers and influence on adolescent smoking according to tobacco control context: A systematic review and meta-ethnography of qualitative research. BMC Public Health 23, article number: 424. (10.1186/s12889-022-14727-z)
- Hewitt, G. and Evans, R. 2023. Optimisation of school and community-based counselling services: a whole-education system model. Presented at: 29th Annual BACP Conference., 19 - 20 May 2023BACP 29th Annual BACP Research Conference Abstract booklet.
- Macdonald, S., Hewitt, G., Evans, R., Rees, A., Brown, R., Anthony, R. and Jones, S. 2023. Mental health and wellbeing support in schools and further education colleges for care-experienced children and young people. Presented at: EuSARF - 'Equity and Social Justice in Child, Youth and Family Welfare', University of Sussex, 12-15 September 2023.
2022
- Wood, S. et al. 2022. A UK-wide survey of family group conference provision. Project Report. Cardiff: CASCADE.
- Rees, A., Roberts, L., Mannay, D., Evans, R., Staples, E. and Hallett, S. 2022. Listening to the experts: Learning about relationships and their impact on educational experiences from children and young people in state care. Relational Social Work 6(2), pp. 36-57. (10.14605/RSW622202)
- Copeland, L. et al. 2022. Adapting population health interventions for new contexts: Qualitative interviews understanding the experiences, practices and challenges of researchers, funders and journal editors. BMJ Open 12, article number: e066451. (10.1136/bmjopen-2022-066451)
- Evans, R. et al. 2022. Wellbeing in Secondary Education (WISE) intervention to improve the mental health and wellbeing of teachers: a complex systems approach to understanding intervention acceptability. Prevention Science 23, pp. 922-933. (10.1007/s11121-022-01351-x)
- Smith, R. J., Atkinson, P. and Evans, R. 2022. Situating stigma: Accounting for deviancy, difference, and categorial relations. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 28(5), pp. 890-896. (10.1111/jep.13749)
- Moore, G., Buckley, K., Howarth, E., Burn, A., Copeland, L., Evans, R. and Ware, L. 2022. Police referrals for domestic abuse before and during the first COVID-19 lockdown: An analysis of routine data from one specialist service in South Wales. Journal of Public Health 44(2), pp. e252-e259. (10.1093/pubmed/fdab343)
- Taylor, A. et al. 2022. Defining research priorities for youth public mental health: reflections on a co-production approach to transdisciplinary working. Health Research Policy and Systems 20(1), article number: 72. (10.1186/s12961-022-00871-w)
- Evans, R., C. Katz, C., Fulginiti, A. and Taussig, H. 2022. Sources and types of social supports and their association with mental health symptoms and life satisfaction among young adults with a history of out-of-home care. Children 9(4), article number: 520. (10.3390/children9040520)
- Mannay, D. et al. 2022. The strengths and challenges of online services and interventions to support the mental health and wellbeing of care-experienced children and young people: A study exploring the views of young people, carers, and social care professionals in Wales during the Coronavirus pandemic. Project Report. Cardiff: The Fostering Network in Wales.
- Hewitt, G. et al. 2022. Review of statutory school and community-based counselling services: Optimisation of services for children and young people aged 11 to 18 years and extension to younger primary school aged children. Project Report. [Online]. Welsh Government. Available at: https://gov.wales/review-school-and-community-based-counselling-services
- Turley, R. et al. 2022. Staff wellbeing and retention in children's social work: systematic review of interventions. Research on Social Work Practice 32(3), pp. 281-309. (10.1177/10497315211052639)
- Evans, R., Sampson, C., MacDonald, S., Biddle, L. and Scourfield, J. 2022. Contesting constructs and interrogating research methods: re-analysis of qualitative data from a hospital-based case study of self-harm management and prevention practices. Health 26(1), pp. 27-46. (10.1177/13634593211038522)
2021
- Kidger, J. et al. 2021. Mental health support and training to improve secondary school teachers’ well-being: the WISE cluster RCT. Public Health Research 9(12) (10.3310/phr09120)
- Kidger, J. et al. 2021. An intervention to improve teacher well-being support and training to support students in UK high schools (the WISE study): A cluster randomised controlled trial. PLoS Medicine 18(11), article number: e1003847. (10.1371/journal.pmed.1003847)
- Moore, G. et al. 2021. Adapting interventions to new context - the ADAPT guidance. The BMJ 374, article number: n1679. (10.1136/bmj.n1679)
- Stabler, L. et al. 2021. A scoping review of system-level mechanisms to prevent children being in out-of-home care. British Journal of Social Work 52(5), pp. 2515-2536., article number: bcab213. (10.1093/bjsw/bcab213)
- Copeland, L. et al. 2021. The what, why and when of adapting interventions for new contexts: A qualitative study of researchers, funders, journal editors and practitioners’ understandings. Plos One 16(7), article number: e0254020. (10.1371/journal.pone.0254020)
- Reed, H. et al. 2021. Co-production as an emerging methodology for developing school-based health interventions with students aged 11-16: Systematic review of intervention types, theories and processes and thematic synthesis of stakeholders’ experiences. Prevention Science 22, pp. 475-491. (10.1007/s11121-020-01182-8)
- El-Banna, A. et al. 2021. Systematic review of economic evaluations of children's social care interventions. Children and Youth Services Review 121, article number: 105864. (10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105864)
- Movsisyan, A. et al. 2021. Adapting evidence-informed population health interventions for new contexts: a scoping review of current practice. Health Research Policy and Systems 19, article number: 13. (10.1186/s12961-020-00668-9)
- MacDonald, S., Sampson, C., Biddle, L., Kwak, S. Y., Scourfield, J. and Evans, R. 2021. Theorising health professionals’ prevention and management practices with children and young people experiencing self-harm: a qualitative hospital-based case study. Sociology of Health and Illness 43(1), pp. 201-219. (10.1111/1467-9566.13211)
- Evans, R. et al. 2021. Care-experienced cHildren and young people's Interventions to improve Mental health and wEll-being outcomes: Systematic review (CHIMES) protocol. BMJ Open 11(1), article number: e042815. (10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042815)
- Gobat, N. et al. 2021. Developing a whole-school mental health and wellbeing intervention through pragmatic formative process evaluation: A case-study of innovative local practice within the School Health Research Network. BMC Public Health 21, article number: 154. (10.1186/s12889-020-10124-6)
2020
- Evans, R., Moore, G., Movsisyan, A. and Rehfuess, E. 2020. How can we adapt complex population health interventions for new contexts? Progressing debates and research priorities. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 75(1), pp. 40-45. (10.1136/jech-2020-214468)
- Fisher, H. et al. 2020. Delivery of a mental health first aid training package and staff peer support service in secondary schools: a process evaluation of uptake and fidelity of the WISE intervention. Trials 21(1), article number: 745. (10.1186/s13063-020-04682-8)
- Bevan Jones, R. et al. 2020. Practitioner review: Co-design of digital mental health technologies with children and young people. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 61(8), pp. 928-940. (10.1111/jcpp.13258)
- Campbell, M., Moore, G., Evans, R. E., Khodyakov, D. and Craig, P. 2020. ADAPT study: adaptation of evidence-informed complex population health interventions for implementation and/or re-evaluation in new contexts: protocol for a Delphi consensus exercise to develop guidance. BMJ Open 10(7), article number: e038965. (10.1136/bmjopen-2020-038965)
- Jennings, S. and Evans, R. 2020. Inter-professional practice in the prevention and management of child and adolescent self-harm: Foster carers’ and residential carers’ negotiation of expertise and professional identity. Sociology of Health & Illness 42(5), pp. 1024-1040. (10.1111/1467-9566.13071)
- MacDonald, S., Sampson, C., Turley, R., Biddle, L., Ring, N., Begley, R. and Evans, R. 2020. Patients’ experiences of emergency hospital care following self-harm: Systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative research. Qualitative Health Research 30(3), pp. 471-485. (10.1177/1049732319886566)
- Turley, R. et al. 2020. Promoting the retention, mental health and wellbeing of child and family social workers: a systematic review of Workforce interventions. Project Report. [Online]. London: What Works Centre for Children's Social Care. Available at: https://whatworks-csc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/WWCSC_Systematic-Review-of-Workforce-Interventions_July-2020.pdf
- Scourfield, J., Evans, R., Colombo, G., Burrows, D., Jacob, N., Williams, M. and Burnap, P. 2020. Are youth suicide memorial sites on Facebook different from those for other sudden deaths?. Death Studies 44(12), pp. 793-801. (10.1080/07481187.2019.1614109)
- Evans, R., Sampson, C., MacDonald, S. and Biddle, L. 2020. Contesting and contested constructions of self-harm ‘prevention’: interrogating privileged methods in a hospital-based case study of self-harm management and prevention practices.. Presented at: The 4th Annual Critical Suicide Research Network Conference (CritSui4 2020), Vancouver, Canada, 12-13 June 2020.
2019
- Movsisyan, A. et al. 2019. Adapting evidence-informed complex population health interventions for new contexts: a systematic review of guidance. Implementation Science : IS 14(1), article number: 105. (10.1186/s13012-019-0956-5)
- Evans, R. et al. 2019. Adolescent self-harm prevention and intervention in secondary schools: A survey of staff in England and Wales. Child and Adolescent Mental Health 24(3), pp. 230-238. (10.1111/camh.12308)
- 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 73(6), pp. -. (10.1136/jech-2018-210840)
- Mannay, D., Staples, E., Hallett, S., Roberts, L., Rees, A., Evans, R. and Andrews, D. 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(1), pp. 51-63. (10.1080/13575279.2018.1521375)
- Rees, G., Brown, R., Smith, P. and Evans, R. 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., Evans, R., Hawkins, J., Littlecott, H., Melendez-Torres, G., Bonell, C. and Murphy, S. 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)
- Scourfield, J., Colombo, G., Burnap, P., Evans, R., Jacob, N., Williams, M. and Caul, S. 2019. The number and characteristics of newspaper and Twitter reports on suicides and road traffic deaths in young people. Archives of Suicide Research 23(3), pp. 507-522. (10.1080/13811118.2018.1479321)
- Brand, S. et al. 2019. Mapping the evidence about what works to safely reduce the entry of children and young people into statutory care: a systematic scoping review protocol. BMJ Open 9(8), article number: e026967. (10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026967)
- Williams, A., Bayfield, H., Elliott, M., Lyttleton-Smith, J., Evans, R., Young, H. and Long, S. 2019. The experiences and outcomes of children and young people from Wales receiving Secure Accommodation Orders. Project Report. Cardiff: Social Care Wales.
- Evans, R. 2019. Seeking, safety and signalling: carers’ interpretation of self-harm in looked-after children and young people.. Presented at: BSA Annual Conference 2019 - Challenging Social Hierarchies and Inequalities, Glasgow, Scotland, 24-26 April 2019.
- Reed, H. 2019. Assessing the use of participatory methods in coproducing wellbeing interventions with secondary school students. Presented at: Exploring the potential for creative and arts-based methods for applied psychological research, Birmingham, England, 11 June 2019 Presented at Evans, R. and Murphy, S. eds.
2018
- Moore, G. F. 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, pp. 1951-1965. (10.1007/s12187-017-9524-1)
- Brand, S. et al. 2018. Mapping the evidence about what works to safely reduce the number of children and young people in statutory care: A systematic scoping review. Technical Report.
- 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. 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)
- 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. (10.1186/s13063-018-2617-4)
- Evans, R. 2018. Seeking, safety and signalling: carers’ interpretation of self-harm in looked-after children and young people. Presented at: The 3rd Annual Critical Suicide Research Network Conference (CritSui3 2018), Perth, Australia, 12-13 December 2018.
- Evans, R., Turley, R., Sampson, C. and MacDonald, S. 2018. The experience of short term self-harm management and prevention provision for over 8 years and their carers: systematic review and thematic synthesis. Presented at: 4th Suicide and Self-harm Early and Mid-Career Researcher's Forum, Glasgow, Scotland, 6-7 June 2018.
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., White, J., Turley, R., Slater, T., Morgan, H., Strange, H. and Scourfield, J. 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., Evans, R., Staples, E., Hallett, S., Roberts, L., Rees, A. and Andrews, D. 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., Evans, R. E., Hawkins, J., Littlecott, H. and Turley, R. L. 2017. All interventions are complex, but some are more complex than others: using iCAT_SR to assess complexity [Editorial]. The Cochrane Library (10.1002/14651858.ED000122)
- Evans, R., Murphy, S., Scourfield, J. and Turley, R. 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. F., Littlecott, H. J., Evans, R., Murphy, S., Hewitt, G. and Fletcher, A. 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)
- Evans, R., Brown, R., Rees, G. and Smith, P. 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)
- Long, S. J., Evans, R. E., Fletcher, A., Hewitt, G., Murphy, S., Young, H. and Moore, G. F. 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), article number: e014198. (10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014198)
- Evans, R., Kidger, J., Grey, J., Bell, S., Brockman, S. and Harding, S. 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. pp. -.
- 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. 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.
- Evans, R., Janssens, A., Parker, R., Russell, A. and Mathews, F. 2017. 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 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., Hallett, S., Rees, A. and Roberts, L. 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 (IMPRINT), Galway, 19-20 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., Jamal, F., Moore, G., Evans, R. E., Murphy, S. and Bonell, C. 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. 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)
- Mannay, D., Staples, E., Hallett, S., Roberts, L., Rees, A., Evans, R. and Andrews, D. 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).
- Evans, R. E. 2016. Growing up in care: the disempowerment and disenfranchisement of carers. BMJ 353, article number: i1866. (10.1136/bmj.i1866)
2015
- Mannay, D., Staples, E., Hallett, S., Roberts, L., Rees, A., Evans, R. E. and Andrews, D. 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., Staples, E., Hallett, S., Roberts, L., Rees, A., Evans, R. E. and Andrews, D. 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., Murphy, S. and Scourfield, J. 2015. Implementation of a school-based social and emotional learning intervention: understanding diffusion processes within complex systems. Prevention Science 16, pp. 754-764. (10.1007/s11121-015-0552-0)
- Evans, R., Scourfield, J. 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. 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)
- Evans, R. E., Helen, M. E., Slater, T., Turley, R. L., White, J. and Scourfield, J. B. 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.
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.
Teaching
Undergraduate Teaching
Evaluating Social Policy, Practice and Innovation (2nd year)
Postgraduate Teaching
Evaluating Interventions in Complex Systems (MSc Social Policy/Professional Doctorate)
MSc Social Policy Research Methods Seminar Series
DECIPHer Methodological Short Courses
I am convenor of the DECIPHer Intervention Adaptation short course (commenced 2022), and presenter for the Process Evaluation short course (which I led 2016-2019), both delivered at Cardiff University annually.
I have contributed to the leadership of bespoke versions of the short course programme nationally and internationally, delivering courses to the following: Welsh Government; Kings College London; HSC Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland; University of Aalborg, Denmark; University of Aarhus, Denmark; University of Southern Denmark, Denmark; University of Stellenbosch, South Africa; University of Namibia, Namibia; University of Galway, Ireland; University of Wageningen, Netherlands; University of Klagenfurt, Austria; and Canadian Institute for Collaborative Learning Institute in Evaluation, University of Waterloo, Canada.
Research Interests:
- Children and young people
- Mental health, social and emotional learning, and wellbeing
- Self-harm and suicide
- Domestic violence
- School-based intervention
- Family-based intervention, notably in kinship care, foster care and residential care
- Development, adaptation, evaluation and implementation of interventions
- Qualitative research methods
- Complex-systems informed, mixed-method systematic reviews
- Global health (particularly in relation to intervention adaptation)
Recent Select Research Funding (Infrastructure and Grants)
- Family-focused adolescent and lifelong health promotion (FLOURISH). Horizon, (2,999,492), 2023-2026
- Commonwealth Fellowship / ERASMUS Fellowship in collaboration with University of Namibia and Ministry of Basic Education, Namibia, Commonwealth Fellowship / ERASMUS, 2022.
- A co-produced qualitative exploration of young women’s perspectives on psychological distress in their population and priority actions for responding, NIHR-PHR. (£42,062), 2022.
- Family group conferencing for children and families: Evaluation of implementation, context and effectiveness (Family VOICE), NIHR-PHR. (£1,173,396), 2021-2025.
- Review of Statutory School and Community-Based Counselling Services and research and design of a pilot for primary aged children, Welsh Government. (£149,982), 2020-2021
- Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer), Heath and Care Research Wales. (£2.488,488), 2020-2025.
- Mental Health and Wellbeing Interventions for Care-experienced Children and Young People: Systematic review of intervention theories, process, effect and equity, NIHR PHR (£277, 789). 2020-2022.
- Family Recovery after Domestic Abuse (FReDA): A feasibility trial and nested process evaluation of a group based psychoeducational intervention for children exposed to domestic violence and abuse. NIHR PHR (£570,808), 2019-2021.
- DECIPHer short course teaching Univeristy of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Newton Mobility Fund (£9,700), 2019.
- HASTAG South Africa and Nepal, MRC Research to improve adolescent health in LMIC settings. (£504, 247), 2019-2020.
- British Academy Rising Star Impact Award, British Academy (£11, 500), 2019-2020.
- Evaluation Health Pathfinder, SafeLives (£200k), 2019-2020.
- The Transdisciplinary Research for the Improvement of Youth Mental Public Health (TRIUMPH) Network, UKRI. (£1.2m), 2018-2020.
- Secure Futures. Social Care Wales (£100,000), 2018-2019.
- Adaptation of evidence-informed complex population health interventions for implementation and/or re-evaluation in new contexts. MRC Methodology Research Programme. (£320,261), 2018-2020.
- What Works Centre for Children's Social Care, Department for Education. (£4.8m) 2017-2020.
- Centre for Population Health and Wellbeing Research (NCPHWR), Health and Social care Research Wales. (£1.5m), 2018-2020.
- 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.
Supervision
PhD Supervision
I am interested in supervising PhD students in the area of children and young people's mental health, self-harm and suicide. I am particularly interested in the role of family in mental health outcomes, including the experience of being in care. I am keen to supervise PhDs with a focus on methodological innovation, especially in relation to the international adaptation of interventions for new contexts.
Current PhD Students
Dr Lucy Maddox (NIHR) (in collaboration with University of Bath and University of Birbeck) (2022-2027)
Bethan Pell (ESRC) (2021-2025)
Sofie Langergaard (University of Aalborg) (in collaboration with University of Aalborg, Denmark) (2019-2023)
Lorna Stabler (ESRC) (2019-2023)
Rachel Parker (ESRC) (2018-2023)