Sadhbh Byrne

Dr Sadhbh Byrne

Location John Hume Building

Floor 3rd

Room 3.02

Email Sadhbh.Byrne@mu.ie

Biography

Dr. Sadhbh Byrne is an Assistant Professor/Lecturer at the Department of Psychology, Maynooth University. Sadhbh is interested in support-giving, particularly as it relates to young people who are experiencing mental health challenges - support from friends/peers, parents and other caring adults, family systems, schools and other communities, and healthcare providers. She is also interested in the use of participatory research methods including co-design.

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

Research Interests

Research Projects

Title	Role	Description	Start date	End date
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

Publications

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
	2025	Michael J. Wilson; Sadhbh J. Byrne; Krista Fisher; Zac E. Seidler; Katerina Kavalidou (2025) 'National analysis of hospital-presenting suicidal ideation and self-harm among males'. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, . [Link] [DOI]
	2025	Sadhbh J. Byrne; Elizabeth Nixon; Lorraine Swords (2025) 'Depression Literacy in Parents of Adolescents in Ireland: Exploring Associations with Gender, Age of Adolescent, and Empathy'. Journal of Child and Family Studies, . [Link] [DOI]
	2024	Byrne, Sadhbh J.; Swords, Lorraine; Nixon, Elizabeth (2024) 'Depression Literacy and Self-Reported Help-Giving Behaviour in Adolescents in Ireland'. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, . [Link] [DOI] [Full-Text]
	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 peopleâs 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]

Professional

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

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".