About

I am a Chartered Psychologist, Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and Senior Lecturer in Psychology.  My research focuses on parenting and child development within diverse and clinical contexts. I teach Developmental Psychology provision across the BSc (Hons) Psychology Undergraduate Programme and led the MSc in Applied Developmental Psychology from 2017 - 2021.

Research interests

My main research interests broadly include: 

• Parenting
• Child development during hospitalisation and the early years
• Perinatal mental health

My most recent research interests cover: 

• Nature Connectedness 
• Connection to nature at night and the night sky
• The impact of light pollution on human (psychological) health, biodiversity and natural environments

Recent publications

Published Peer-Reviewed Journals and Book Chapters

• Holland, F., Harvey, C. and Barnes, C. (2024) Connecting Families with Nature: A Nature Connectedness Activity Handbook. University of Derby. https://repository.derby.ac.uk/item/q54w3/connecting-families-with-nature-a-nature-connectedness-activity-handbook
• Furlong, R., Hallam, J. & Barnes, C. Conservation volunteers’ experiences of connecting with nature during the COVID-19 pandemic: an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Discover Psychology 4, 30 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44202-024-00144-3
• Hall, K., Barnes, C., Duggan, L., Walton, S., Moran, P., Turner, K. and Evans, J. (2024) The applicability of nature-based interventions to support mothers’ postnatal wellbeing: A conceptual review. Wellbeing, Space and Society. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wss.2024.100187
• Barnes, C. and Passmore, H. (2024). Development and testing of the Night Sky Connectedness Index (NSCI). Journal of Environmental Psychology. 93, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102198
• Hall, K., Evans, J., Roberts, R., Brown, R., Duggan, L., Williamson, M., Moran, P., Turner, K. & Barnes, C. (2023). Co-designing a nature-based intervention to promote postnatal mental health for mothers and their infants: a complex intervention development study in England. BMJ open, 13(12), e075366.http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-075366  
• Owen, K. and Barnes, C. (ed.) 2023. Family Relationships in the Early Years. London Sage
• Owen, K., Barnes, C., Hunt, T., & Sheffield, D. (2023). Measuring categorisation in pre-school children: new toolkit, new insights. Journal of Human Growth and Development, 33(2), 184-193. https://doi.org/10.36311/jhgd.v33.14750
• Hall, K., Evans, J., Roberts, R., Brown, R., Barnes, C., and Turner, K. (2023) Mothers’ accounts of the impact of being in nature on postnatal wellbeing: a focus group study. BMC Women's Health 23, 32. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-023-02165-x
• Barnes, C., & Adamson-Macedo, E. N. (2022). Understanding the impact of newborn touch upon mothers of hospitalized preterm neonates. Journal of Human Growth and Development, 32(2), 294-301. https://doi.org/10.36311/jhgd.v32.13322
• Barnes, C., Harvey, C., Holland, F., & Wall, S. (2021). Development and testing of the Nature Connectedness Parental Self-Efficacy (NCPSE) scale. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 65, 127343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127343
• Ashra, H., Barnes, C., Stupple, E., & Maratos, F. A. (2021). A Systematic Review of Self-Report Measures of Negative Self-Referential Emotions Developed for Non-Clinical Child and Adolescent Samples. Clinical child and family psychology review, 24(2), 224-243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-020-00339-9
• Ashra, H., Barnes, C., Stupple, E. J. N., & Maratos, F. A. (2021). Negative self-referential emotions and mental health in youth: The importance of self-criticism. Current Research in Psychiatry, 1(4), 63-67. https://doi.org/10.46439/Psychiatry.1.020   
• Owen, K., and Barnes, C. (2021). The development of categorization in early childhood: a review. Early Child Development and Care, 191(1), 13-20
• Owen, K., and Barnes, C. (2021). The role of play in child development. Sage: London
• Young, N., Hallam, J., Jackson, J., Barnes, C., and Montague, J. (2021). Exploring the lived experiences of mothers who identify with ‘gender disappointment’. Journal of Health Visiting, 9(11), 470-478
• Vargas-Porras, C., Roa-Díaz, Z. M., Barnes, C., Adamson-Macedo, E. N., Ferré-Grau, C., Molina-Fernández, D., and Inmaculada, M. (2020). Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Perceived Maternal Parenting Self-efficacy (PMP SE) tool for primiparous women. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 24(5), 537-545
• Maratos, F.A., Montague, J., Ashra, H., Welford, M., Wood, W., Barnes, C., Sheffield, D. and Gilbert, P., (2019). Evaluation of a compassionate mind training intervention with school teachers and support staff. Mindfulness, 10(11), 2245-2258
• Maratos, F. A., Duarte, J., Barnes, C., McEwan, K., Sheffield, D., and Gilbert, P. (2017). The physiological and emotional effects of touch: Assessing a hand-massage intervention with high self-critics. Psychiatry Research, 250, 221-227
• Knibb, R. C., Cortes, A., Barnes, C., and Stalker, C. (2016). Validation of the English version of the scale for psychosocial factors in food allergy and the relationship with mental health, quality of life, and self-efficacy. Journal of Allergy, 2016
• Knibb, R. C., Barnes, C., and Stalker, C. (2016). Parental self‐efficacy in managing food allergy and mental health predicts food allergy‐related quality of life. Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, 27(5), 459-464
• Knibb, R. C., Barnes, C., and Stalker, C. (2015). Parental confidence in managing food allergy: development and validation of the food allergy self‐efficacy scale for parents (FASE‐P). Clinical & Experimental Allergy, 45(11), 1681-1689
• Tristão, R. M., Neiva, E. R., Barnes, C. R., and Adamson-Macedo, E. (2015). Validation of the scale of perceived self-efficacy of maternal parenting in Brazilian sample. Journal of Human Growth and Development, 25(3), 277-286
• Duarte, J., McEwan, K., Barnes, C., Gilbert, P., and Maratos, F. A. (2014). Do therapeutic imagery practices affect physiological and emotional indicators of threat in high self‐critics? Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 88(3), 270-284
• Barnes, C.R. and Adamson-Macedo, E.N. (2007) The Perceived Maternal Parenting Self-Efficacy (PMP S-E) tool: Development and Validation with Mothers of Hospitalised Preterm Neonates. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 60(5), 550-560
• Barnes, C.R. and Adamson-Macedo, E. N. (2004) Perceived Parenting Self-Efficacy (PMP S-E) of mothers who are breastfeeding hospitalised preterm neonates. in Adamson-Macedo, E.N. (Ed.), Expanding Frontiers of Neonatology. Special Issue of Neuroendocrinology Letters, 25(1), 95-102
• Adamson-Macedo, E.N. and Barnes, C.R. (2004) Grasping and Fingering (active and haptic touch) in healthy newborns. in Adamson-Macedo, E.N. (Ed.), Expanding Frontiers of Neonatology. Special Issue of Neuroendocrinology Letters, 25(1), 157-168

Membership of professional bodies

• Chartered member and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society
• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Qualifications

• PhD. “Cognitive, Emotional and Environmental Mediators of Early Parenting in High-Risk Families (Scholarship awarded by School of Applied Sciences, Research Institute in Healthcare Science, University of Wolverhampton)
• PG CERT HE - Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (University of Wolverhampton)
• BSc (Hons) Psychology and Human Biology (University of Wolverhampton)

Teaching responsibilities

I lead the Developmental Psychology provision and specialise in topics such as parenting and child development.

Additional interests and activities

Doctoral Supervision

Completions

• Dr Atiya Kamal - Children's compensatory health beliefs: An exploration of capacity, context, scope and measurement
• Dr Kay Owen - Automaticity and the development of categorisation in preschool children: Understanding the importance of play
• Dr Alexandra Karousi – An investigation into parental understanding of autism and the development of an individualised autism profiling tool
• Emily-Rose Cluderay - Moving through motherhood: co-designing dance for maternal wellbeing

Current supervisions (As Director of Studies)

• Emily Overman - An exploration into the lived experiences of low SES parents implementing behavioural interventions to a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Angela Dace – An investigation of the Derby Community Parenting Programme

Current supervisions (As Supervisory team member)

• Hajra Aziz - Negative self-referential emotions: Their importance, development, and measurement in children/youth’
• Callum Wolman - A pedagogical tool to develop Theory of Mind in 5-8-year-olds
• Sophie Rickard - The impact of biophilic school design on educational attainment, connectedness to nature, wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviours
• Madeeha Rahim-Rasool - An Exploration of seclusion and restraint practices for Autistic patients in a secure setting: Investigating the experience of these practices from a patient perspective, and the views and opinions from a staff and family/carer perspective

Research Grants

Research Grants awarded at the University of Derby

• Exploring the relationship between compensatory heath beliefs in parent-child dyads, Birmingham City University small development grant (2016, £1000) – Drs Atiya Kamal, Christopher Barnes and Vicki Staples
• Self-efficacy and its relationship to quality of life in parents of children with food allergy, Aston University research pump-priming money (2013, £2000) – Drs Rebecca Knibb, Christopher Barnes and Carol Stalker
• A longitudinal study investigating the developmental effects of an early tactile intervention upon premature and full-term born babies during their first year of life, Internal Research Funding (2013, £3,225) Dr Christopher Barnes
• A cross-cultural comparison of Perceived Maternal Parenting Self-efficacy (PMPS-E) and feeding practices in mothers of newborn babies, Internal Research Funding (2012, £3,330) Dr Christopher Barnes
• Maternal beliefs and practices regarding allergen avoidance during pregnancy and lactation, Internal Research Funding (2010, £3,200) Dr Christopher Barnes
• The role of self-criticism in responsiveness to touch & compassionate imagery, Mental Health Research Unit, Derby funding (2010, £5000) Drs Frances Maratos and Christopher Barnes

Postdoctoral Research Grants awarded at the University of Wolverhampton

• BIG Lottery Fund – Understanding the mental health of refugees within the UK (2009, £500,000)
• KTP – Evaluation of Specialist Care Homes and their impact on children’s development – ESRC funded (2009, £160,000)
• A Needs Assessment of the CAMHS Service in Walsall and its impact upon children’s development, Commissioned by Walsall PCT. (2009, £15,000)
• Novel Learning Aids for Newborns funded by a Mercia Spinner and Sciart grant. (2008, £15,000)
• Improving the Mental Health of BME Men, Commissioned by the Men’s Health Forum and on behalf of the Department of Health. (2008, £30,000)

Selected Published Research Reports

• Barnes, C.R. and Sallah, D.K. (2009) A Needs Assessment of the CAMHS Service in Walsall. A 6-month project funded by Walsall PCT
• Adamson-Macedo, E.N. and Barnes, C.R. (2008) Novel Learning Aids for Newborns. A 5-year study developing a new learning aid to enhance the cognitive, motor and communication development of newborn babies funded by a Mercia Spinner and Sciart at the Wellcome Trust