Helen L Fisher
Biographic Data
| ID | 1742333 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Helen L Fisher |
| GIVEN NAMES | Helen L |
| FAMILY NAME | Fisher |
| SIGNATURE | FISHER H L |
| AFFILIATIONS | King's College London |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4174-2126 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 26 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 26 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Maternal expressions of warmth and negativity and adolescent mental health
BACKGROUND: Emotions that mothers express about their offspring are associated with offspring mental health during childhood, but little research has explored whether this extends into adolescence. We investigated associations between maternal warmth and negativity towards twin offspring at age 10, and subsequent mental health outcomes in early and late adolescence. METHODS: The Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study is a population-…
Psycho‐social factors associated with disagreement between prospective and retrospective measures of childhood maltreatment
BACKGROUND: Prospective and retrospective measures of childhood maltreatment often identify different individuals and are differentially associated with psychopathology. This study examines psycho-social factors that may explain discrepancies between these measures. METHODS: Data were drawn from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative birth cohort of 2,232 children born in 1994-1995 across England and Wales and…
Are Wednesday's Children Full of Woe? Children's Differences in Personality Are Independent of Day of Birth
INTRODUCTION: Nursery rhymes, which are rich in literary devices, benefit children's language learning. Less is known about the influence that nursery rhymes' messages may have on children's development. We focused on "Monday's Child," a popular nursery rhyme that alleges children's day of the week of birth forecasts their differences in personality and physical traits. METHODS: Data came from E-Risk, a UK population representative, longitudinal …
Autistic traits in childhood and post‐traumatic stress disorder as young adults
BACKGROUND: Despite the higher prevalence of childhood traumatic experiences and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in autistic adults, research on trauma-related psychopathology and autistic traits in young people is lacking. This study examined if high autistic traits in childhood predispose individuals to traumatic experiences, the development of PTSD and general psychopathology, and greater functional impairment by age 18, in both the gene…
Can a warm and supportive adult protect against mental health problems amongst children with experience of adversity? A twin‐differences study
BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with mental health problems, but many children who experience ACEs do not develop such difficulties. A warm and supportive adult presence in childhood is associated with a lower likelihood of developing mental health problems after exposure to ACEs. However, it is unclear whether this association is causal, as previous research has not accounted for genetic and environmental confound…
Parenting in childhood predicts personality in early adulthood
Personality traits such as openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness predict important life outcomes, and fostering them is therefore a major policy goal. A key modifiable factor that is thought to influence personality is the parenting individuals receive when they are young. However, there is little empirical evidence on the potential impact of parenting on personality traits beyond early adolescence, particularly using causally informativ…
The relationship between type, timing and duration of exposure to adverse childhood experiences and adolescent self‐harm and depression
BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are well-established risk factors for self-harm and depression. However, despite their high comorbidity, there has been little focus on the impact of developmental timing and the duration of exposure to ACEs on co-occurring self-harm and depression. METHODS: Data were utilised from over 22,000 children and adolescents participating in three UK cohorts, followed up longitudinally for 14-18 years: th…
No prediction without prevention
Given the rate of advancement in predictive psychiatry, there is a threat that it outpaces public and professional willingness for use in clinical care and public health. Prediction tools in psychiatry estimate the risk of future development of mental health conditions. Prediction tools used with young populations have the potential to reduce the worldwide burden of depression. However, little is known globally about adolescents' and other stakeh…
A Systematic Review of Resilience Factors for Psychosocial Outcomes During the Transition to Adulthood Following Childhood Victimisation
Exposure to childhood victimisation (i.e. abuse, neglect, domestic violence or bullying) can detrimentally impact later psychosocial adjustment. However, this is not the case for all victimised children; some do well despite their experiences and are considered to be resilient. Understanding the factors associated with such resilience is important to inform interventions to support better psychosocial outcomes among victimised children. This revi…
Videoconference-based Creativity Workshops for mental health staff during the Covid-19 pandemic
Online Creativity Workshops appear feasible and acceptable in reducing stress in psychiatric staff. Integrating a programme of Creativity Workshops within healthcare staff support may benefit staff wellbeing
The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on intimate partner violence and mental health
This is what loneliness looks like
The present study used quantitative and qualitative methods to explore how lonely young people are seen from others’ perspectives, in terms of their personality, behavior, and life circumstances. Data were drawn from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, a cohort of 2,232 individuals born in the U.K. in the mid-1990s. When participants were aged 18, they provided self-reports of loneliness, and informant ratings of loneliness were provi…
Defining culturally compelling mental health interventions
There is growing policy, practice, and research interest in reducing the treatment gap for adolescent depression in low- and middle-income countries, where 90% of the world's adolescents live. Despite increased efforts for adolescent depression services in these settings, there is a risk that services will not be utilized if initiatives are not culturally compelling. Therefore, we propose three considerations for culturally compelling programs an…
A myth-busting mental health tour of the National Gallery in London
This paper describes a mental health-awareness audio tour of the National Gallery, London, and evaluates the development and implementation of the tour. This smartphone-based audio tour was co-produced by Gallery staff, young people with lived experience of mental health issues, academics, and technologists. Interviews (N = 22) were conducted with developers and data-collectors (who had gathered feedback from Gallery visitors who undertook the to…
The Identifying Depression Early in Adolescence Risk Stratified Cohort (Idea-RiSCo)
Background: The characterization of adolescents at high risk for developing depression has traditionally relied on the presence or absence of single risk factors. More recently, the use of composite risk scores combining information from multiple variables has gained attention in prognostic research in the field of mental health. We previously developed a sociodemographic composite score to estimate the individual level probability of depression …
Associations between ADHD and emotional problems from childhood to young adulthood
BACKGROUND: Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with emotional problems, and their co-occurrence often leads to worse outcomes. We investigated the developmental associations between ADHD and emotional problems from childhood to early adolescence and examined the genetic and environmental contributions to their developmental link. We further tested whether this developmental association remained across the transition to …
Lonely young adults in modern Britain
Background The aim of this study was to build a detailed, integrative profile of the correlates of young adults’ feelings of loneliness, in terms of their current health and functioning and their childhood experiences and circumstances. Methods Data were drawn from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, a birth cohort of 2232 individuals born in England and Wales in 1994 and 1995. Loneliness was measured when participants were aged 18. R…
Protective Factors for Early Psychotic Phenomena Among Children of Mothers With Psychosis
Background: Early identification of sub-clinical psychotic experiences in at-risk individuals is vital to prevent the development of psychosis, even before prodromal symptoms emerge. A widely-replicated risk factor is having a family member with psychosis. The Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study has shown that better cognitive functioning, a stimulating family environment, and a cohesive community, are protective against psychotic…
Residential neighborhood greenery and children's cognitive development
Children who grow up in neighborhoods with more green vegetation show enhanced cognitive development in specific domains over short timespans. However, it is unknown if neighborhood greenery per se is uniquely predictive of children's overall cognitive development measured across many years. The E-Risk Longitudinal Study, a nationally representative 1994-5 birth-cohort of children in Britain (n = 1658 urban and suburban-dwelling participants), wa…
Measuring childhood maltreatment to predict early-adult psychopathology
Both prospective informant-reports and retrospective self-reports may be used to measure childhood maltreatment, though both methods entail potential limitations such as underestimation and memory biases. The validity and utility of standard measures of childhood maltreatment requires clarification in order to inform the design of future studies investigating the mental health consequences of maltreatment. The present study assessed agreement bet…
Development, implementation and evaluation of Altered States of Consciousness
Background The arts can increase public awareness of mental health. Stigma about psychosis remains high despite common occurrences of psychotic experiences in the general population (e.g. hearing voices, seeing visions, and other unusual sensory experiences). Targeted approaches may therefore benefit stigma reduction. This project aimed to produce an immersive art installation that increased public understanding of psychotic experiences. Methods …
Assessment of the psychometric properties of the Graded Care Profile version 2 ( GCP2 ) tool for measuring child neglect
Child neglect is highly prevalent, with extensive effects on children's development and often long‐lasting consequences. It is a complex issue, and the identification and assessment of neglect presents particular difficulties for professionals. The Graded Care Profile (GCP) is a tool that can help practitioners to assess neglect, but the updated version of this tool (GCP2) requires psychometric testing. We sought to test the GCP2 with qualified s…
Childhood Maltreatment Predicts Poor Economic and Educational Outcomes in the Transition to Adulthood
Objectives. To test whether childhood maltreatment was a predictor of (1) having low educational qualifications and (2) not being in education, employment, or training among young adults in the United Kingdom today. Methods. Participants were from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative UK cohort of 2232 twins born in 1994 to 1995. Mothers reported on child maltreatment when participants were aged 5, 7…
How data science can advance mental health research
Role of Environmental Confounding in the Association between FKBP5 and First-Episode Psychosis
Our results suggest that the extent to which genetic variants in FKBP5 can influence susceptibility to psychosis may depend on other etiological factors. This finding requires further validation in large independent cohorts. Potentially this work could have translational implications; the ability to discriminate between genetic etiologies based on a case-by-case understanding of previous environmental exposures would confer an important clinical …
Childhood Maltreatment Predicts Poor Economic and Educational Outcomes in the Transition to Adulthood
Objectives. To test whether childhood maltreatment was a predictor of (1) having low educational qualifications and (2) not being in education, employment, or training among young adults in the United Kingdom today. Methods. Participants were from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative UK cohort of 2232 twins born in 1994 to 1995. Mothers reported on child maltreatment when participants were aged 5, 7…
Residential neighborhood greenery and children's cognitive development
Children who grow up in neighborhoods with more green vegetation show enhanced cognitive development in specific domains over short timespans. However, it is unknown if neighborhood greenery per se is uniquely predictive of children's overall cognitive development measured across many years. The E-Risk Longitudinal Study, a nationally representative 1994-5 birth-cohort of children in Britain (n = 1658 urban and suburban-dwelling participants), wa…
Development, implementation and evaluation of Altered States of Consciousness
Background The arts can increase public awareness of mental health. Stigma about psychosis remains high despite common occurrences of psychotic experiences in the general population (e.g. hearing voices, seeing visions, and other unusual sensory experiences). Targeted approaches may therefore benefit stigma reduction. This project aimed to produce an immersive art installation that increased public understanding of psychotic experiences. Methods …
How data science can advance mental health research
The prevalence and impact of child maltreatment and other types of victimization in the UK
Role of Environmental Confounding in the Association between FKBP5 and First-Episode Psychosis
Our results suggest that the extent to which genetic variants in FKBP5 can influence susceptibility to psychosis may depend on other etiological factors. This finding requires further validation in large independent cohorts. Potentially this work could have translational implications; the ability to discriminate between genetic etiologies based on a case-by-case understanding of previous environmental exposures would confer an important clinical …
Measuring childhood maltreatment to predict early-adult psychopathology
Both prospective informant-reports and retrospective self-reports may be used to measure childhood maltreatment, though both methods entail potential limitations such as underestimation and memory biases. The validity and utility of standard measures of childhood maltreatment requires clarification in order to inform the design of future studies investigating the mental health consequences of maltreatment. The present study assessed agreement bet…
Development, implementation and evaluation of Altered States of Consciousness
Background The arts can increase public awareness of mental health. Stigma about psychosis remains high despite common occurrences of psychotic experiences in the general population (e.g. hearing voices, seeing visions, and other unusual sensory experiences). Targeted approaches may therefore benefit stigma reduction. This project aimed to produce an immersive art installation that increased public understanding of psychotic experiences. Methods …
Assessment of the psychometric properties of the Graded Care Profile version 2 ( GCP2 ) tool for measuring child neglect
Child neglect is highly prevalent, with extensive effects on children's development and often long‐lasting consequences. It is a complex issue, and the identification and assessment of neglect presents particular difficulties for professionals. The Graded Care Profile (GCP) is a tool that can help practitioners to assess neglect, but the updated version of this tool (GCP2) requires psychometric testing. We sought to test the GCP2 with qualified s…
Childhood Maltreatment Predicts Poor Economic and Educational Outcomes in the Transition to Adulthood
Objectives. To test whether childhood maltreatment was a predictor of (1) having low educational qualifications and (2) not being in education, employment, or training among young adults in the United Kingdom today. Methods. Participants were from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative UK cohort of 2232 twins born in 1994 to 1995. Mothers reported on child maltreatment when participants were aged 5, 7…
How data science can advance mental health research
Lonely young adults in modern Britain
Background The aim of this study was to build a detailed, integrative profile of the correlates of young adults’ feelings of loneliness, in terms of their current health and functioning and their childhood experiences and circumstances. Methods Data were drawn from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, a birth cohort of 2232 individuals born in England and Wales in 1994 and 1995. Loneliness was measured when participants were aged 18. R…
Protective Factors for Early Psychotic Phenomena Among Children of Mothers With Psychosis
Background: Early identification of sub-clinical psychotic experiences in at-risk individuals is vital to prevent the development of psychosis, even before prodromal symptoms emerge. A widely-replicated risk factor is having a family member with psychosis. The Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study has shown that better cognitive functioning, a stimulating family environment, and a cohesive community, are protective against psychotic…
Residential neighborhood greenery and children's cognitive development
Children who grow up in neighborhoods with more green vegetation show enhanced cognitive development in specific domains over short timespans. However, it is unknown if neighborhood greenery per se is uniquely predictive of children's overall cognitive development measured across many years. The E-Risk Longitudinal Study, a nationally representative 1994-5 birth-cohort of children in Britain (n = 1658 urban and suburban-dwelling participants), wa…
Associations between ADHD and emotional problems from childhood to young adulthood
BACKGROUND: Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with emotional problems, and their co-occurrence often leads to worse outcomes. We investigated the developmental associations between ADHD and emotional problems from childhood to early adolescence and examined the genetic and environmental contributions to their developmental link. We further tested whether this developmental association remained across the transition to …
The Identifying Depression Early in Adolescence Risk Stratified Cohort (Idea-RiSCo)
Background: The characterization of adolescents at high risk for developing depression has traditionally relied on the presence or absence of single risk factors. More recently, the use of composite risk scores combining information from multiple variables has gained attention in prognostic research in the field of mental health. We previously developed a sociodemographic composite score to estimate the individual level probability of depression …
The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on intimate partner violence and mental health
This is what loneliness looks like
The present study used quantitative and qualitative methods to explore how lonely young people are seen from others’ perspectives, in terms of their personality, behavior, and life circumstances. Data were drawn from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, a cohort of 2,232 individuals born in the U.K. in the mid-1990s. When participants were aged 18, they provided self-reports of loneliness, and informant ratings of loneliness were provi…
Defining culturally compelling mental health interventions
There is growing policy, practice, and research interest in reducing the treatment gap for adolescent depression in low- and middle-income countries, where 90% of the world's adolescents live. Despite increased efforts for adolescent depression services in these settings, there is a risk that services will not be utilized if initiatives are not culturally compelling. Therefore, we propose three considerations for culturally compelling programs an…
A myth-busting mental health tour of the National Gallery in London
This paper describes a mental health-awareness audio tour of the National Gallery, London, and evaluates the development and implementation of the tour. This smartphone-based audio tour was co-produced by Gallery staff, young people with lived experience of mental health issues, academics, and technologists. Interviews (N = 22) were conducted with developers and data-collectors (who had gathered feedback from Gallery visitors who undertook the to…
A Systematic Review of Resilience Factors for Psychosocial Outcomes During the Transition to Adulthood Following Childhood Victimisation
Exposure to childhood victimisation (i.e. abuse, neglect, domestic violence or bullying) can detrimentally impact later psychosocial adjustment. However, this is not the case for all victimised children; some do well despite their experiences and are considered to be resilient. Understanding the factors associated with such resilience is important to inform interventions to support better psychosocial outcomes among victimised children. This revi…
Videoconference-based Creativity Workshops for mental health staff during the Covid-19 pandemic
Online Creativity Workshops appear feasible and acceptable in reducing stress in psychiatric staff. Integrating a programme of Creativity Workshops within healthcare staff support may benefit staff wellbeing
The relationship between type, timing and duration of exposure to adverse childhood experiences and adolescent self‐harm and depression
BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are well-established risk factors for self-harm and depression. However, despite their high comorbidity, there has been little focus on the impact of developmental timing and the duration of exposure to ACEs on co-occurring self-harm and depression. METHODS: Data were utilised from over 22,000 children and adolescents participating in three UK cohorts, followed up longitudinally for 14-18 years: th…
No prediction without prevention
Given the rate of advancement in predictive psychiatry, there is a threat that it outpaces public and professional willingness for use in clinical care and public health. Prediction tools in psychiatry estimate the risk of future development of mental health conditions. Prediction tools used with young populations have the potential to reduce the worldwide burden of depression. However, little is known globally about adolescents' and other stakeh…
Autistic traits in childhood and post‐traumatic stress disorder as young adults
BACKGROUND: Despite the higher prevalence of childhood traumatic experiences and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in autistic adults, research on trauma-related psychopathology and autistic traits in young people is lacking. This study examined if high autistic traits in childhood predispose individuals to traumatic experiences, the development of PTSD and general psychopathology, and greater functional impairment by age 18, in both the gene…
Can a warm and supportive adult protect against mental health problems amongst children with experience of adversity? A twin‐differences study
BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with mental health problems, but many children who experience ACEs do not develop such difficulties. A warm and supportive adult presence in childhood is associated with a lower likelihood of developing mental health problems after exposure to ACEs. However, it is unclear whether this association is causal, as previous research has not accounted for genetic and environmental confound…
Parenting in childhood predicts personality in early adulthood
Personality traits such as openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness predict important life outcomes, and fostering them is therefore a major policy goal. A key modifiable factor that is thought to influence personality is the parenting individuals receive when they are young. However, there is little empirical evidence on the potential impact of parenting on personality traits beyond early adolescence, particularly using causally informativ…
Maternal expressions of warmth and negativity and adolescent mental health
BACKGROUND: Emotions that mothers express about their offspring are associated with offspring mental health during childhood, but little research has explored whether this extends into adolescence. We investigated associations between maternal warmth and negativity towards twin offspring at age 10, and subsequent mental health outcomes in early and late adolescence. METHODS: The Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study is a population-…
Psycho‐social factors associated with disagreement between prospective and retrospective measures of childhood maltreatment
BACKGROUND: Prospective and retrospective measures of childhood maltreatment often identify different individuals and are differentially associated with psychopathology. This study examines psycho-social factors that may explain discrepancies between these measures. METHODS: Data were drawn from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative birth cohort of 2,232 children born in 1994-1995 across England and Wales and…
Psychology (24 works) · Medicine (22 works) · Psychiatry (19 works) · Clinical Psychology (15 works) · Mental health (13 works) · Child Abuse and Trauma (9 works) · Developmental psychology (9 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (7 works) · Clinical Psychology (7 works) · Longitudinal study (7 works)