Dr Sadhbh Byrne

    Psychology, ALL Institute

    John Hume Building
    3rd
    3.02

    Biography

    Dr. Sadhbh Byrne is an Assistant Professor/Lecturer at the Department of Psychology, Maynooth University. Sadhbh's research focuses on child and youth mental health, including self-harm and suicide. She is interested in social support and support-giving behaviour - support from friends/peers, parents and other caring adults, family systems, schools and other communities, and healthcare providers.

    Prior to taking up her position at MU in August 2022, Sadhbh was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Global Health, Trinity College Dublin, on the H2020-funded REFUGE-ED project (www.refuge-ed.eu), working with TCD PI Dr. Frédérique Vallières. From 2017-2020, Sadhbh worked in the youth suicide prevention research unit led by Prof. Jo Robinson at Orygen/the Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Australia.

    Sadhbh completed her PhD at Trinity College Dublin under the supervision of Dr. Lorraine Swords and Dr. Elizabeth Nixon. Her PhD explored the factors associated with parents' and peers' responses to adolescents showing signs of depression.

    Research Interests

    Sadhbh's research focuses on child and youth mental health, with a particular interest in:
    • The young person’s microsystem - the role played by parents and other caring adults, family systems, peers, schools, and healthcare providers.
    • Self-harm and suicide

    Sadhbh also has an interest in social support and support-giving behaviour. 

    Research Projects

    Title Role Description Start date End date Amount
    PRovision of Informal Support for Mental health (PRISM): Co-designing a survey with youth to explore the nature of informal support provided, experiences of support provision, and needs of young supporters. Principal Investigator Young people experiencing mental health challenges often turn to their friends for support, particularly in late adolescence and emerging adulthood. However, little is known about the nature of the informal support provided by friends, or what it is like to provide this support. In this project, we aim to explore the (a) nature of support provided, (b) experience of providing support, and (c) information and support needs of young supporters. This information will be gathered through a survey, co-designed with young people. 01/12/2023 30/11/2024
    Evaluation of safeTALK suicide alertness gatekeeper training with 16-18 year old young people across youth work settings in Ireland Principal investigator 17/11/2022 30/06/2023
    Development and evaluation of Continuing Medical Education to equip GPs in Ireland to manage adolescent mental health presentations. Co-Investigator 01/10/2021
    REFUGE-ED - Effective practices in education, mental health and psychosocial support for the integration of refugee children Postdoctoral Research Fellow
    Multimodal Approach to Preventing Suicide in Schools (MAPSS) Senior Research Assistant
    Parent Education for Responding to and Supporting Youth with Suicidal Thoughts (PERSYST) Senior Research Assistant
    A Qualitative Account of Young People’s Experiences Seeking Care from Emergency Departments for Self-Harm Lead 01/05/2018 31/12/2020
    Best practice when working with young people presenting with self-harm or suicidal ideation in primary care Senior Research Assistant
    Coping with Self-Harm: Psychoeducation for parents and other carers supporting young people who self-harm Senior Research Assistant
    An exploration of caregivers’ and peers’ support-giving responses to adolescents showing signs of depression Scholarship holder

    Book Chapter

    Year Publication
    2020 Robinson, Jo; Cox, Georgina; Hetrick, Sarah; Byrne, Sadhbh (2020) 'Youth suicide: Prevalence, predictors, and prevention' In: Youth Mental Health: Approaches to Emerging Mental Ill-Health in Young People. USA : Routledge. [Link]

    Peer Reviewed Journal

    Year Publication
    2022 McKay, Samuel and Byrne, Sadhbh J. and Clarke, Alison and Lamblin, Michelle and Veresova, Maria and Robinson, Jo (2022) 'Parent Education for Responding to and Supporting Youth with Suicidal Thoughts (PERSYST): An Evaluation of an Online Gatekeeper Training Program with Australian Parents'. 19 (9). [Full-Text]
    2022 Byrne, Sadhbh J and Bailey, Eleanor and Lamblin, Michelle and McKay, Samuel and Pirkis, Jane and Mihalopoulos, Cathrine and Spittal, Matthew J and Rice, Simon and Hetrick, Sarah and Hamilton, Matthew and others (2022) 'Study protocol for the Multimodal Approach to Preventing Suicide in Schools (MAPSS) project: a regionally based randomised trial of an integrated response to suicide risk among secondary school students'. 23 (1):1-16. [Full-Text]
    2022 Troya, M Isabela and Spittal, Matthew J and Pendrous, Rosina and Crowley, Grace and Gorton, Hayley C and Russell, Kirsten and Byrne, Sadhbh and Musgrove, Rebecca and Hannah-Swain, Stephanie and Kapur, Navneet and others (2022) 'Suicide rates amongst individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds: A systematic review and meta-analysis'. 47 . [Full-Text]
    2021 India Bellairs-Walsh; Sadhbh J. Byrne; Sarah Bendall; Yael Perry; Karolina Krysinska; Ashleigh Lin; Maria Michail; Michelle Lamblin; Tina Yutong Li; Sarah Hetrick; Jo Robinson; (2021) 'Working with Young People at Risk of Suicidal Behaviour and Self-Harm: A Qualitative Study of Australian General Practitioners' Perspectives'. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, . [DOI] [Full-Text]
    2021 Sadhbh Byrne; India Bellairs-Walsh; Simon Rice; Sarah Bendall; Michelle Lamblin; Emily Boubis; Brianna McGregor; Meghan O'Keefe; Jo Robinson; (2021) 'A Qualitative Account of Young People's Experiences Seeking Care from Emergency Departments for Self-Harm'. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, . [DOI] [Full-Text]
    2020 Karolina Krysinska, Sophie Curtis, Michelle Lamblin, Nina Stefanac, Kerry Gibson, Sadhbh Byrne, Pinar Thorn, Simon M Rice, Alison McRoberts, Anne Ferrey, Yael Perry, Ashleigh Lin, Sarah Hetrick, Keith Hawton, Jo Robinson (2020) 'Parents' Experience and Psychoeducation Needs When Supporting a Young Person Who Self-Harms'. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17 (10). [DOI] [Full-Text]
    2020 India Bellairs-Walsh, Yael Perry, Karolina Krysinska, Sadhbh J Byrne, Alexandra Boland, Maria Michail, Michelle Lamblin, Kerry L Gibson, Ashleigh Lin, Tina Yutong Li, Sarah Hetrick, Jo Robinson (2020) 'Best practice when working with suicidal behaviour and self-harm in primary care: a qualitative exploration of young people’s perspectives'. BMJ Open, 10 (10). [DOI] [Full-Text]
    2019 McMahon, J.; Ryan, F.; Cannon, M.; O'Brien, G.; O'Callaghan, M.; Flanagan, R.; O'Connor, K.; Chambers, D.; Byrne, S.; McGorry, P.; (2019) 'Where next for youth mental health services in Ireland?'. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, . [DOI] [Full-Text]
    2015 Byrne, Sadhbh and Swords, Lorraine and Nixon, Elizabeth (2015) 'Mental health literacy and help-giving responses in Irish adolescents'. 30 (4):477-500. [Full-Text]

    Conference Contribution

    Year Publication
    2023 Sadhbh Byrne; Mikayla Morton; Philip Hyland; Sinéad McGilloway; Jo Robinson; Samuel McKay; Eleanor Bailey (2023) International Association for Suicide Prevention World Congress Suicide alertness training with young people in Ireland: Listening to the voices of key stakeholders Piran, Slovenia, .
    2022 Byrne, Sadhbh; Nixon, Elizabeth; Swords, Lorraine (2022) International Association for Youth Mental Health Depression literacy in parents of Irish adolescents Copenhagen, .
    2022 Byrne, Sadhbh (2022) European Association for Research on Adolescence Effective mental health and psychosocial support practices for the integration of refugee adolescents in education settings Dublin, .
    2021 Byrne, S., Bellairs-Walsh, I., Rice, S., Bendall, S., Lamblin, M., Boubis, E., McGregor, B., O’Keefe, M., Robinson, J. (2021) International Association for Suicide Prevention 31st World Congress Young people’s experiences seeking care for self-harm from emergency departments Online, .
    2021 Byrne, Sadhbh (2021) Child and Youth Research Summer Seminar Series The REFUGE-ED project: Plan and progress to date Online, .
    2021 Byrne, S., Bellairs-Walsh, I., Rice, S., Bendall, S., Lamblin, M., Boubis, E., McGregor, B., O’Keefe, M., Robinson, J. (2021) 18th Annual Psychology, Health and Medicine Conference 2021 Young People’s Experiences Seeking Care from Emergency Departments for Self-Harm Online, .
    2020 Byrne, S., Bellairs-Walsh, I., Rice, S., Bendall, S., Lamblin, M., Boubis, E., McGregor, B., O’Keefe, M., Robinson, J. (2020) Society for Mental Health Research Annual Conference Young people’s experiences seeking care from emergency departments for self-harm Online, .
    2019 Byrne, S., Bailey, E., Pirkis, J., Mihalopoulos, C., Rice, S., Spittal, M., Hetrick, S., Yuen, H. P., Hamilton, M., Lamblin, M., Stefanac, N., Wills, M., Johnstone, T., Robinson, J. (2019) International Association for Youth Mental Health Pilot data and study protocol for the Multimodal Approach to Preventing Suicide in Schools (MAPSS) trial Brisbane, Australia, . [Full-Text]

    Report

    Year Publication
    2023 Sadhbh Byrne; Mikayla Morton; Philip Hyland; Sinéad McGilloway; Jo Robinson; Samuel McKay; Eleanor Bailey (2023) Suicide alertness training with young people in Ireland: Listening to the voiecs of key stakeholders. [Report]
    Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2024) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.

    Professional Associations

    Description Function From / To
    International Association for Youth Mental Health Member -
    Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Member -
    Children's Research Network Member -

    Honors and Awards

    Date Title Awarding Body
    01/11/2021 Postdoctoral Publication of the Year (Highly Commended) Trinity College Dublin School of Psychology
    01/09/2020 Child and Adolescent Mental Health journal top peer reviewer Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health
    01/01/2014 Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Irish Research Council
    01/01/2013 Úna Burke Memorial Prize for best final year thesis in child psychology Trinity College Dublin School of Psychology

    Committees

    Committee Function From / To
    Mental Health Reform - Research Advisory Committee Committee Member 15/11/2022 -
    Trinity College Dublin School of Psychology Research Committee Ph.D. Representative 01/09/2014 - 31/08/2016
    Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) Student Affairs Group Communications Officer 01/09/2011 - 31/08/2014

    Employment

    Employer Position From / To
    Trinity College Dublin Postdoctoral Research Fellow 04/01/2021 - 29/07/2022
    The University of Melbourne Researcher 09/10/2017 - 01/12/2020

    Education

    Start date Institution Qualification Subject
    Trinity College Dublin Ph.D. Psychology
    Trinity College Dublin Postgraduate Certificate Statistics
    Trinity College Dublin Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Psychology

    Other Activities

    Description
    Affiliate Investigator, Centre for Research Excellence in Suicide Prevention (CRESP), a National Health and Medical Research Council Australia funded programme, that brings together leading experts and those with lived experience.

    Outreach Activities

    Organisation Type Description
    The Mental Elf Civic Society I regularly contribute blog posts to The Mental Elf, a website that helps clinicians, researchers, and interested members of the public keep up-to-date with all of the important and reliable mental health research and guidance. [Link]
    Child and Family Support Network - Dublin Southeast Civic Society I gave a webinar aimed at parents and organised by the Child and Family Support Network for Dublin Southeast. The webinar was co-delivered with Madeleine Connolly, Senior Social Worker and Systemic Psychotherapist at the Lucena Clinic (CAMHS) and addressed the topic "Towards understanding and responding to self-harm".