Biography
Lorraine Swords is an Assistant Professor with the School of Psychology and Co Director of the Trinity Research in Childhood Centre. Lorraine graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) in Psychology from University College Dublin (UCD) in 2000 before completing a Master of Psychological Science in Health Psychology at the National University of Ireland, Galway, in 2002. She returned to UCD in 2003 to study for her PhD in Psychology on the topic of children's perceptions of psychological disorders in their peers. Prior to taking up her lectureship at Trinity in 2009, Lorraine worked as a researcher on the National Longitudinal Study of Children in Ireland, Growing Up in Ireland.
Lorraine's primary teaching responsibilities are in the area of developmental psychology and, along with her collaborators and postgraduate students, she researches, presents and publishes on topics relating to children's health and wellbeing. She has particular research interest in peer interactions in the context of physical or mental health conditions in childhood and adolescence, focusing on help-seeking, help-giving and stigmatizing responses.
Publications and Further Research Outputs
Peer-Reviewed Publications
M Bhargav, L Swords, Two Sides of the Coin: The Roles of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Positive Childhood Experiences in College Students" Mental Health, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 39, (11-12), 2024, p2507 - 2525
Psychosocial & Contextual Influences on Children"s Healthcare Participation in, editor(s)John Massie, Georgina Hall, Lynn Gillam , Deciding with Children in Pediatrics Children's Participation in Healthcare Decision-Making, 2024, pp1-120 , [Swords, L.]
Lorraine Swords, Mary Kennedy, Trevor Spratt, Pathways explaining the intergenerational effects of ACEs: The mediating roles of mothers' mental health and the quality of their relationships with their children, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 92, 2024
Swords, L, Kennedy, M & Spratt, T., Mothers" Mental Health & Quality of Parent-Child Relationships as Pathways Explaining the Intergenerational Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences, International Society for Study of Behavioural Development, Lisbon, June 2024, 2024
Maiorano, N., McQuillan, K., Swords, L., Vallières, F. and Nixon, E., Barriers and Facilitators to Co-Creating Interventions with Refugee and Migrant Youth: A Process Evaluation with Implementors, Global Implementation Research and Applications, 2024
SJ Byrne, L Swords, E Nixon, Depression Literacy and Self-Reported Help-Giving Behaviour in Adolescents in Ireland, Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 2024
Swords, L, Nixon, E & Heary, C., The influence of pandemic anxiety and coping on Irish adolescents" depression symptoms during COVID 19., Society for Research in Adolescence, San Diego, USA, April 2023, 2023
Swords, L., Spratt, T. and Hanlon, H., Professional Burnout as a Mediator in the Relationship Between Pandemic-Related Stress and Social Care Workers" Mental Health, British Journal of Social Work, 2023, p1 - 15
Teresa Sordé-Martí, Adnan Abdul Ghani, Bilal Almobarak, Tiziana Chiappelli, Ainhoa Flecha, Mina Hristova, Anna Krasteva, Fredrika Kjellberg, Katie McQuillan, Elizabeth Nixon, Misbah Qasemi, Olga Serradell, Emilia Aiello, Lorraine Swords, Hend Talal Abdulrahman, The REFUGE-ED Dialogic Co-Creation Process: working with and for REFUGE-ED children and minors, Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10, (1), 2023, p1-10
Sharon Chi Tak Lee, Jorge Palacios, Derek Richards, Anna K Hanlon, Kevin Lynch, Siobhan Harty, Nathalie Claus, Lorraine Swords, Veronica O'Keane, Klaas Enno Stephan, Claire M Gillan, Bringing Precision in Psychiatry (PIP) Online: A Large-Scale Internet-Based Investigation of Self-Report and Cognitive Predictors of Response to Depression Treatment, Biological Psychiatry, 93, (9), 2023, pS54 - S55
Calatrava, M., Swords, L., & Spratt, T., Socio-emotional adjustment in children attending family centres: The role of the parent-child relationship, British Journal of Social Work, 2023
Bhargav, M., & Swords, L. , COVID-19 related stress among college students in higher education institutions (HEIs)., SMARTEN Network Education for Mental Health., Kings College London. UK., 2022
Donohue, D., & Swords, L., The portrayal of mental illness in popular children"s programmes on Netflix: A content and thematic analysis, Journal of Popular Media Culture, 2022
McQuillan, K., Vallieres, F., Nixon, E & Swords, L., School-based Trauma-informed Care for Migrant and Refugee Youth; a Systematic Review of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Practices., Trauma Informed Practice Ireland, In from the margins, trauma informed practice as a driver for inclusion., Dún Laoghaire, Ireland., 2022
Bhargav, M. & Swords, L., The Role of Thwarted Belongingness, Perceived Burdensomeness, and Psychological Distress in the Association between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Suicidal Ideation in College Students., British Journal of Psychology (Open), 2022
Stigma in, editor(s)Eilis Hennessy, Caroline Heary & Maria Michail , Understanding Youth Mental Health, Open University Press, 2022, [Lorraine Swords, Eilis Hennessy & Caroline Heary]
Byrne, S., Vallières, F., Swords, L., Nixon, E., McQuillan, K., Effective mental health and psychosocial support practices for the integration of refugee adolescents in education settings. , European Association for Research on Adolescence., Dublin, 2022
McQuillan, K., Byrne, S., Vallieres, F., Nixon, E., Swords, L., Effective Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Practices for the Inclusion and Integration of Migrant and Refugee Children in Educational Settings: A Systematic Search and Literature Review., Psychological Society of Ireland., Portlaois, Ireland., 2022
Lee CT, Palacios J, Richards D, Hanlon AK, Lynch K, Harty S, Claus N, Swords L, O'Keane V, Stephan KE, Gillan CM, The Precision in Psychiatry (PIP) study: an internet-based methodology for accelerating research in treatment prediction and personalisation, BMC Psychaitry, 2022
Bhargav, M., & Swords, L., Risk factors for COVID-19-related stress among college-going students., Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 2022, p1 - 7
Byrne, S., Nixon, E., Swords, L., Depression literacy in parents of Irish adolescents., International Association for Youth Mental Health,, Copenhagen, 2022
Brennan Emma, Swords Lorraine, Parenting with a spinal cord injury: A systematic review of mothersâ and fathersâ experiences. , Rehabilitation psychology , 2021
Bhargav, M; Swords, L. , (2021). Childhood Adversities and Suicide Ideation (SI) in College Students: Implications and Future Directions. , netECR e-conference , Glasgow, 2021
Boonyananth, N. & Swords, L. , A Systematic Review of Adverse Childhood Experiences & the Cycle of Violence: Positive Identity Development as a Protective Factor. , UCD Child and Youth Research Seminar Series, Dublin, 2021
McLoughlin Affraic, Wilson Charlotte, Swords Lorraine, Parents' Experiences of Their Children's Solid-Organ Transplant: A Meta-Ethnography of Qualitative Studies , Journal of Pediatric Psychology , 2021
Monson Tracey, Swords Lorraine, Spratt Trevor, Establishing outcome measures in practice: Developing a model for services working therapeutically with children and families , The British Journal of Social Work , 2021
Boonyananth, N., & Swords, L., Positive identity development as a possible protective factor against cycles of violence in young people experiencing ACEs, Child and Youth Research Seminar, Online., 2021
Bhargav, M; Swords, L. , Thwarted Belongingness, Perceived burdensomeness and Psychological Distress explains the Association between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Suicide Ideation in College Stude, UCD Child and Youth Research Seminar Series, Dublin, 2021
Eilís Ní Chorcora, Lorraine Swords, Mental Health Literacy and Help Giving Responses of Irish Primary School Teachers, Irish Educational Studies, 2021
Spratt, T., Swords, L. and Hanlon, H., Domestic Violence and Whole Family Interventions: Charting Change in the Lives of Service Users, British Journal of Social Work, 2021, p1-23
Swords Lorraine, Hennessy Eilis, Heary Caroline, Qualitative methods advancing research into the expression and experience of stigma in childhood and adolescence. , Stigma and Health , 2021
Monaghan Conall, Swords Lorraine, I'm still learning: perspectives on returning to education among early school leavers , International Journal of Inclusive Education , 2021, p1 - 14
Bhargav, Madhav & Swords, Lorraine, Adverse Childhood Experiences Predict Mental Health Functioning in College Students: A Test of Interpersonal Theory , Children & Young People's Mental Health Early Career Researchers' Forum, Online, 23 & 24 September , 2021
Spratt, T., Swords, L. and Vilda, D., Outcomes for Families Referred to Family Centres: Using Validated Instruments to Chart Changes in Psychological Functioning, Relationships and Children's Coping Strategies over Time, British Journal of Social Work, 2020, p1-22
Sarah Hughes, Lorraine Swords & Charlotte Wilson , Adolescent Stress and Coping: A theoretical consideration , Psychological Society of Ireland Annual Conference , Online, 2020, 2020
Hanlon Holly R, Swords Lorraine, Adolescent Endorsement of the â Weak-Not-Sickâ Stereotype for Generalised Anxiety Disorder: Associations with Prejudice, Discrimination, and Help-Giving Intentions toward Peers , International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health , 17 , (15 ), 2020, p5415 -
Amanda Dunne, Rory Carolan, John McHugh, Lorraine Swords , Parental Perspectives of Paediatric Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures, Irish Psychologist, Psychological Society of Ireland Annual Conference , 46, (5), 2020
Sarah Hughes, Lorraine Swords & Charlotte Wilson , Adolescent Stress and Coping: A theoretical consideration, Irish Psychologist, Psychological Society of Ireland Annual Conference , (46), 5, 2020
Amanda Dunne, Rory Carolan, Lorraine Swords, & Gillian Fortune, Patient and Family Perspectives of Paediatric Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures: A Systematic Review , Irish Psychologist, Psychological Society of Ireland Annual Conference , Online, 46, (5), 2020
Hanlon, H. R. & Swords, L., Overthinkers, attention-seekers and wallflowers: peer perceptions of clinical anxiety disorders in adolescence, Journal of Public Mental Health, 2019
Swords, L. & Spratt, T., THE MEDIATING ROLE OF PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS IN THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EARLY LIFE STRESS AND EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIOURAL OUTCOMES, 7th ENSEC Conference -Well-being and Social, Emotional Development, Budapest, August 29th - 31st , edited by Zsolnai, A. & Rausch, A. , ELTE, 2019, pp1 - 157
Dunne Amanda, Carolan Rory, Swords Lorraine, Fortune Gillian, Patient and family perspectives of paediatric psychogenic non-epileptic seizures: A systematic review , Seizure , 71 , 2019, p279 - 285
Byrne, S., Swords, L., & Nixon, E. , Caregivers and peers' detection of symptoms of adolescent depression and support-giving behaviour., World Psychiatric Association Thematic Congress: Innovation in Psychiatry: Effective Interventions for Health and Society, Melbourne, Australia., 2018
Swords, L. and Hanlon, H., Weirdos, wallflowers and attention- seekers: An exploratory study of adolescents' perceptions of peers with social anxiety disorder , ECMH - 7th European Conference on Mental Health, Split, September 19th-21st, 2018, pp1 - 115
Heary, C., Hennessy, E., Swords, L., & Corrigan, P., Stigma towards Mental Health Problems during Childhood and Adolescence: Theory, Research and Intervention Approaches, Journal of Child & Family Studies, 2017, pDOI 10.1007/s10826-017-0829-y
Byrne, S., Swords, L., & Nixon, E. , Exploring the factors associated with Irish parents' and peers' support-giving responses to an adolescent with depression., International Association for Youth Mental Health Conference., Dublin, Ireland., 2017
Silke, C., Swords, L. & Heary, C. , The predictive effect of empathy and social norms on adolescents' implicit and explicit stigma responses, Psychiatry Research, 257, 2017, p18-125
International Student Exchange in, editor(s)J. Mirsky & L. Rubinstein , Transnational Teaching and Learning in Child & Youth Welfare, Padova, Italy, Centro Studi e Ricerca Sociale, 2016, pp7 - 184, [Zinn, D., Fargion, S., Share, M., Swords, L. & Nuttman-Shwartz, O]
Crowe, M., O'Sullivan, A., McGrath, C., Cassetti, O., Swords, L., & O'Sullivan, M. , Early Childhood Dental Problems: Classification Tree Analyses of 2 Waves of an Infant Cohort Study. , JDR Clinical & Translational Research, 1, (3), 2016, p275 - 284
Silke, C., Swords, L. & Heary, C. , The Development of an Empirical Model of Mental Health Stigma in Adolescents, Psychiatry Research, 242, 2016, p262 - 270
Is Family Structure a Source of Inequality in Children 's Lives? in, editor(s)Williams, J., Nixon, E., Smyth, E. & Watson, D. , Cherishing all the Children Equally?, Dublin, Oak Tree Press, 2016, pp58 - 79, [Nixon, E. & Swords, L. ]
Byrne, S., Swords, L., & Nixon, E. , Parents" and peers" responses to adolescent depression: The development of the Intentions to Provide Mental Health Support scale. , International Association for Youth Mental Health Conference., Montréal, Canada., 2015
Kierans, J. & Swords, L., Exploring the Appearance Culture in Early Adolescence: A Qualitative Focus Group Approach in the Republic of Ireland (ROI), Journal of Adolescent Research, In Press, 2015
Byrne, S., Swords, L. & Nixon, E., Mental Health Literacy and Help-Giving Responses in Irish Adolescents, Journal of Adolescent Research, 30, (4), 2015, p477 - 500
Byrne, A., & Swords, L., "Attention seeker", "drama queen": the power of talk in constructing identities for young people with mental health difficulties, Mental Health Review Journal, 20, (2), 2015, p65 - 78
Stigma associated with disease and disability during childhood and adolescence: A developmental approach in, editor(s)Corrigan, P. , The stigma of disease and disability: Understanding causes and overcoming injustices, Washington DC, American Psychological Association, 2014, pp205 - 222, [Heary, C., Hennessy, E. & Swords, L. ]
Nixon, E., Swords, L., & Murray, A., Growing up in Ireland, National Longitudinal Study of Children: Parenting and Infant Development., Dublin, Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, 2013, p6 - 64
Swords, L., Merriman, B., & O'Donnell, M., Family Wellbeing on a limited income: A study of families living at risk of poverty in Ireland, Dublin, Family Support Agency, 2013, p1 - 83
Yorke, L., & Swords, L., Advances and challenges in participatory research with vulnerable children in Ireland, Celebrating Fifty Years of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin: A Special Issue of The Irish Journal of Psychology, 33, (2-3), 2012
Swords, L, Heary, C, Hennessy, E, Factors associated with acceptance of peers with mental health problems in childhood and adolescence, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52, (9), 2011, p933-941
Greene, S., Williams, J., Layte, R., Doyle, E., Harris, E., McCrory, C., Murray, A., O'Dowd, T., Quail, A., Swords, L., Thornton, M., & Whelan, C., Growing up in Ireland, National Longitudinal Study of Children: Background and Conceptual Framework, Dublin, Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, 2010
Greene, S., Williams, J., Doyle, E., Harris, E., McCrory, C., Murray, A., Swords, L., Thornton, M., Quail, A., Layte, R., O'Dowd, T., & & Whelan, C., Growing up in Ireland, National Longitudinal Study of Children: Review of the literature pertaining to the first wave of data collection with the infant cohort at nine months, Dublin, Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, 2010
Swords, L., Hennessy, E. & Heary, C., Adolescents' beliefs about sources of help for ADHD and depression, Journal of Adolescence, 35, 2010, p485 - 492
Swords, L., Hennessy, E., & Heary, C., Development of the Children's Attributions about Psychological Problems in their Peers (CAPPP) Scale, Child: Care, Health & Development, 37, (3), 2010, p446 - 455
Williams, J., Greene, S., Doyle, E., Harris, E., Layte, R., McCoy, S., McCrory, C., Murray, A., Nixon, E., O'Dowd, T., O'Moore, M., Quail, A., Smyth, E., Swords, L., Thornton, M., Growing up in Ireland: The lives of 9 year olds, Dublin, The Stationery Office, 2009, 161
Hennessy, E., Swords, L., & Heary, C., Children's understanding of psychological problems displayed by their peers: A review of the literature, Child: Care, Health & Development, 34, (1), 2008, p4 - 9
Swords, L., & Groarke, A., Experience with breast cancer: Effects on comparative optimism, anxiety, attitudes and breast self-examination, Irish Journal of Psychology, 25, (1-4), 2004, p76 - 89
Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications
Byrne, S., Vallières, F., Swords, L., Nixon, E. , The REFUGE-ED project: Plan and progress to date., Child and Youth Research Summer Seminar Series., Online, 2021
Spratt, T., Swords, L. and Hanlon, H., A Therapeutic Response to Domestic Violence: Signs on the Road to Safety, Dublin, Daughters of Charity Child & Family Services, 2019, p1 - 57
Spratt, T., Swords, L. and Vilda, D., Why Measures Matter: Charting Change in the Lives of Children and Families, Daughters of Charity, October, 2018, p1 - 135
Swords, L., Greene, S., Boyd, E., & Kerrins, L., All You Need Is Children's Perceptions and Experiences of Deprivation in Ireland , Dublin, September, 2011
Research Expertise
Projects
- Title
- Evaluating Early Childhood & Family Centre Services
- Summary
- Developing a suite of evaluation tools to implement across Early Childhood and Family Centre services. Providing training, monitoring implementation, data analysis and reporting.
- Funding Agency
- Daughters of Charity Child & Family Services
- Date From
- 2015
- Date To
- Ongoing
- Title
- Evaluating the Dublin Safer Families Service
- Summary
- Developing a suite of evaluation tools to implement across Dublin Safer Family services. Providing training, monitoring implementation, data analysis and reporting.
- Funding Agency
- Daughter of Charity Child & Family Service
- Date From
- 2016
- Date To
- Ongoing
- Title
- Transnational Academic Careers in Child and Youth Welfare (TACHYwe)
- Summary
- TACHYwe is a transnational collaborative learning and working environment that aims to develop and implement postgraduate courses on international child and youth welfare. The 10 participating universities and institutes are Trinity College Dublin, University of Hildesheim (Germany), Free University of Bozen (Italy), Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Israel), Sapir College (Israel), Haruv Institute Jerusalem (Israel), Moscow State Regional University (Russia), Don State Technical University (Russia), and Fondazione Emanuela Zancan (Italy). The project is funded for three years by the EU-cooperation programme Tempus IV with a grant of €970,000.
- Funding Agency
- EU Tempus IV
- Date From
- 2011
- Date To
- 2014
- Title
- Family Well-being in Difficult Times: A Model of Factors Influencing the Well-being of Families on Limited Incomes in Ireland
- Summary
- In recent years Ireland has suffered its most serious economic contraction in generations, with one in five Irish households with children lives on incomes that are 60 per cent below the median national income (Central Statistics Office, 2008). Such economic pressures can result in long-term social and economic costs for children, families, and communities (e.g. Golonka & Hoffman, 2008; March et al., 2011; Ridge, 2002, 2007). Research in Ireland by McKeown, Pratschke and Haase (2003) has identified family circumstances such as employment or social class as one of four broad sets of influences on the well-being of family members. While it is clear that families under financial pressure experience the repercussions across many aspects of their members' lives, research suggests that families can be active agents in how they respond to, and manage, these situations (e.g. Gordon, 2000). Guided by family systems theory and ecological perspectives about families, the present study proposes to mine data collected as part of Growing Up in Ireland (GUI), the National Longitudinal Study of Children in Ireland, to investigate how limited family income can influence key family well-being measures. Key Research Question o Among families living on limited incomes, what are the key factors that, directly or indirectly, influence their well-being? . What are the characteristics of families who 1. are doing well? 2. are experiencing difficulty? Understanding the relative roles of key factors in contributing to adaptive functioning among families on limited incomes is of critical importance to developing future policy to safeguard the wellbeing of the family and its members. Using data collected as part of GUI can give us a sense of how families with limited incomes are faring and how this is so on a truly national scale.
- Funding Agency
- Family Support Agency
- Date From
- July 2011
- Date To
- June 2012
- Title
- All You Need Is... Children's Perceptions and Experiences of Deprivation in Ireland
- Summary
- This paper reports the results of a study aiming to derive a child-generated set of indicators of child deprivation. To date child poverty and deprivation have been calculated on the basis of the child being reared in a household assessed as living in relative or consistent poverty. There is a convincing argument for including children in the development of child-specific indicators to capture the extent and experience of child deprivation. Using the socially perceived necessities method with children and their parents to identify child necessities and enforced lack of these necessities is innovative in the study of childhood deprivation in Ireland. Two hundred and sixty two children, aged from nine to eleven years from 28 urban and rural primary schools, and their parents, from across the social spectrum, participated in this study. The approach used was the socially perceived necessities method which has been widely applied with adults but not with children. In this study, a list of 49 material (things to have), activity (things to do) and service (thing that help) necessities was presented to the children and their parents and they were asked which items they believe are necessities that no child should have to do without due to low income. They then reported on their ownership and deprivation of these items. An index of 12 indicators of child deprivation was developed based solely on child responses. Although children acknowledge the importance of basic necessities such as adequate food and clothing, they also place an emphasis on being able to participate in typical family activities (e.g. holidays or going out for a meal) and to access services (e.g. library or shops). Evidence from this study suggests that while household deprivation is related to child-specific deprivation, household and child deprivation are not one and the same phenomenon. In some instances children experience more deprivation than their parents, while in others parents may be going without in order to ensure that their children's needs are met. It appears that some children are protected from experiencing the level of child-specific deprivation that might be expected considering their parents' reports of household deprivation, while other children in homes with little or no apparent household deprivation are experiencing a surprising lack of child essentials. Thus, the distribution of resources within the family is complex and there is a need to clearly identify the factors at play here. However, using household indicators of deprivation or parent reports of deprivation in data collection as a proxy for children's own experiences is inadequate as it does not help us to sufficiently identify or satisfactorily understand the actual experiences of deprived and non-deprived children living in deprived and non-deprived homes. Preliminary results arising from the development and early application of the 12-item child-generated deprivation measure suggest that it has potential for use with children in the changing Irish economic context and that it could serve as a useful child-centred adjunct to current means of calculating levels of child poverty.
- Funding Agency
- Barnardos & The Society of St. Vincent de Paul
- Date From
- July 2010
- Date To
- July 2011
Recognition
Representations
Journal Reviewer for Child Development; Journal of Adolescence; Early Intervention in Psychiatry; Journal of Adolescent Research; BMC Public Health; BMC Psychiatry; Frontiers in Public Health, among many others.
Awards and Honours
School Award for Teaching Excellence Recipient
Trinity Excellence in Teaching Nominee
Trinity Excellence in Research Student Supervision Nominee
Union of Students in Ireland 'Teaching Hero' Award Recipient
Provost PhD Project Award Recipient
Trinity Excellence in Teaching Nominee
Memberships
European Network for Social & Emotional Competence
International Association for Youth Mental Health
Psychological Society of Ireland