Cathy Creswell

Creswell was educated at University of Oxford, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts (BA)^[5] degree^[when?]. She later qualified as a Clinical Psychologist at University College London followed by a PhD in 2004.^[6]

Creswell joined the University of Reading as a research fellow in 2003, where she was later promoted to a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research Professorship.^[7] At the University of Reading she led the Anxiety and Depression in Children and Young People clinic (AnDY).^[8][9]

Creswell studies why some children develop anxiety disorders.^[10] Anxiety disorders often emerge before the age of 12 and develop in preadolescence.^[11] and although 6.5% of children suffer from anxiety disorders, only 2% of those who meet the diagnostic criteria for anxiety disorder seek any effective treatment.^[12][11] In fact, only around 40% of families of children with children seek any type of help.^[11]

She has studied how interactions between children and their parents can maintain or break vicious cycles associated with child anxiety.^[13] As part of this work, Creswell showed that children of anxious parents are more likely to become anxious, but that this likely reflects a complex interaction of child, parent, and other characteristics ^[11] For example, she showed that anxious children were more aware of signals from their parents; and that non-anxious children were less likely to be influenced by what their parents were doing.^[11]

As a result of this work, she developed a therapist-guided, parent-led cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for the management of child anxiety disorders, which is a now available on the National Health Service (NHS).^[11] She demonstrated that only 5 hours of therapist-supported training was enough to support parents in helping their children tackle anxiety.^[11]

She joined the University of Oxford in 2019. At Oxford, Creswell leads the Emerging Minds Mental Health Network.^[12][14] Emerging Minds is a network that looks to reduce the number of children who experience mental health challenges. Creswell is a member of the scientific advisory group of Evidence to Impact, a not-for-profit organisation that looks to improve public health.^[15]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Creswell co-led the Co-SPACE (COVID-19 Supporting Parents, Adolescents and Children during Epidemics).^[16] Co-SPACE looks to understand how families cope with coronavirus disease and the impact of the pandemic on children and young people's mental health.^[16] In May 2020, the first round of results from the Co-SPACE study, showing that work and their children's wellbeing was the most frequent source of stress for parents.^[17][18] Her study revealed that only 1 in 5 families who had previously received care continued to do so throughout the lockdown.^[17] In particular, the highest levels of stress were found amongst parents of children with special educational needs (SEN).^[17]

Creswell's publications^[1][2][3] include:

• Evidence from turner's syndrome of an imprinted x-linked locus affecting cognitive function^[19]
• Murray, Lynne; Cooper, Peter; Creswell, Cathy; Schofield, Elizabeth; Sack, Caroline (2007). "The effects of maternal social phobia on mother–infant interactions and infant social responsiveness" (PDF). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 48 (1): 45–52. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01657.x. ISSN 1469-7610. PMID 17244269.
• Creswell, Cathy (23 April 2019). Parent-led CBT for child anxiety : helping parents help their kids. ISBN 978-1-4625-4080-8. OCLC 1083715089.
• Creswell, Cathy (11 April 2019). Helping your child with fears and worries : a self-help guide for parents. Willetts, Lucy,, Cooper, Peter J.,, Waite, Polly, 1972- (Second ed.). London. ISBN 978-1-4721-3861-3. OCLC 1101411122.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)