Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
Dr Maria Loades is a Reader (Clinical Tutor) for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology programme. Maria qualified as a Clinical Psychologist from the University of East Anglia in 2008. After qualification, she worked in a variety of mental health settings, predominantly in community Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). She completed a post-graduate diploma in cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for children, young people and families at the Anna Freud Centre/University College London in 2013, and a Postgraduate Certificate in the Supervision of Applied Psychology Practice at the University of Oxford in 2015. She was accredited by the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapists (BABCP) as a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist and is also registered with the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC).
Maria's research programme focuses on enabling adolescents to access effective treatments for emerging mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Maria secured an NIHR doctoral research fellowship in 2016 to further her research into depression in adolescents with fatigue in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Bristol and the Royal United Hospital, Bath. She was also a co-Investigator on a Wellcome Trust funded project to develop a universal school based programme to prevent anxiety and/or depression in young adolescents in the Western Cape, South Africa.
Maria currently holds an NIHR Advanced Fellowship award (2023-2028) to improve access to early help for adolescents with depression symptoms in the UK using self-help online single session interventions (SSIs). She leads the informal spotLight on Adolescent Mood Problems (LAMP) research group, and is part of the Child Mental Health and Development Group.
Research interests
- Developing and delivering scalable Cognitive and/or Behavioural treatments for children and young people
- Adolescent depression, particularly enabling access to evidence based help early
- Therapist competence in delivering CBT, particularly in the field of child and adolescent mental health
- Coproduction and participatory research with young people
- Better meeting the needs of under-served populations in child and adolescent mental health service provision
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
PhD , Doctor of Philosophy, University of Bristol
Award Date: 29 Oct 2021
Doctor of Clinical Psychology, University of East Anglia
Award Date: 1 Jan 2008
Master of Social Science, University of Cambridge
Award Date: 1 Jan 2006
Bachelor of Social Science, University of Cambridge
Award Date: 1 Jan 2004
External positions
Honorary Clinical Psychologist, Wilts & BANES Mental Health Support Teams, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
1 May 2023 → …
Clinical Psychologist, Bristol Child Psychology Practice
1 Sept 2021 → 30 Apr 2023
NIHR Research Fellow, University of Bristol
1 Oct 2016 → 28 Feb 2022
Senior Clinical Psychologist, Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
20 Jul 2014 → 1 Sept 2018
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Bath NIHR Mental Health Research Group
Jacobsen, P. (PI), Betts, J. (CoI), Brown, C. (CoI), Button, K. (CoI), Fairchild, G. (CoI), Freeman, T. (CoI), Halligan, S. (CoI), Hines, L. (CoI), Lambert, J. (CoI), Loades, M. (CoI), Russell, A. (CoI), Stallard, P. (CoI), Sunderland, P. (CoI) & Taylor, E. (CoI)
National Institute for Health Research
1/01/25 → 31/12/29
Project: Central government, health and local authorities
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School based sleep programme for teens
Loades, M. (PI)
Economic and Social Research Council
1/09/23 → 28/02/26
Project: Research council
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Improving access to timely evidence-based help for youth mental health using single session interventions
Loades, M. (PI)
National Institute for Health Research
1/05/23 → 30/11/28
Project: Central government, health and local authorities
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Sharing information about mental health services: To reach adolescents where they are, we need to market early help provision on social media
Loades, M. (PI), Desrochers, D. (Researcher), Edgar, S. (PI), Luximon, M. (PI) & Sung, B. (PI)
1/04/22 → …
Project: Research council
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The development, implementation and feasibility of a psychosocial intervention for persistent fatigue in patients with endometriosis
Loades, M. (CoI) & Roomaney, R. (PI)
Project: Research-related funding
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Consenting for themselves: A qualitative study exploring a Gillick Competence assessment to enable adolescents to self-consent to low-risk online research
Loades, M., Willis, L., Wilson, E., Perry, G., Luximon, M., Chiu, C. & Higson-Sweeney, N., 4 Mar 2025, In: BMJ Open. 15, 3, e090747.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Covid - the stories, the scars and the healing: Ella Rhodes speaks to psychologists about their work during the pandemic and the lasting effects that remain
McManus, J., Morgan, G. & Loades, M., 2 Jan 2025, Psychologist, 38, 1-2, p. 19-22 4 p.Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article
Open Access -
Debate: Where to next for universal school-based mental health interventions? Addressing the mental health crisis among young people in low- and middle-income countries
Coetzee, B. & Loades, M., 28 Feb 2025, In: Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 30, 1, p. 105-107 3 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review
Open Access2 Citations (SciVal) -
Integrating Artificial Intelligence in Youth Mental Health Care: Advances, Challenges, and Future Directions
Marshall, N., Loades, M., Jacobs, C., Biddle, L. & Lambert, J., 10 Apr 2025, In: Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry. 12, 1, 11.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open Access -
Investigating Project Care UK, a Web-based Self-help Single-Session Intervention for Youth Mental Health: Programme Evaluation
Loades, M., Perry, G. & Marshall, N., 18 Jun 2025, In: JMIR mental health. 12, e72077.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access
Datasets
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Systematic Review of Depression in Paediatric CFS/ME
Loades, M. (Creator), Crawley, E. (Creator) & Sheils, E. (Data Collector), University of Bath, 2016
DOI: 10.15125/BATH-00127, https://doi.org/10.15124/CRD42015016813
Dataset
Prizes
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Fellowship to attend Global Consortium for Depression Prevention at Brown University, USA
Loades, M. (Recipient), 1 Jul 2023
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
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King's College London (External organisation)
Loades, M. (Member)
31 Jul 2001 → …Activity: Other contribution to the discipline › Role on a committee, board or panel
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Anna Freud Centre for Children and Families London UK (External organisation)
Loades, M. (Member)
20 Jan 2023 → …Activity: Other contribution to the discipline › Role on a committee, board or panel
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BJPsych Open (Journal)
Loades, M. (Peer reviewer)
26 Dec 2024Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial roles › Publication peer review
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PhD thesis examination
Loades, M. (Examiner)
24 Sept 2024 → 8 Nov 2024Activity: External examination and supervision › External examination
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Pre-prints: An introduction
Loades, M. (Participant)
9 Dec 2024Activity: Academic conferences and events (excluding conference publications) › Other academic event (organisation, presentation, attendance)