Bethany Cliffe

• MSc
• Research Assistant at University of Bath

Background Around a third of suicides in the United Kingdom occur in public spaces, such as on the railways, at bridges, or coastal locations. Increasingly, the use of Artificial Intelligence and other smart technologies are being proposed as a means of optimising or automating aspects of the surveillance process in these environments. Yet relative...

Evidence suggests that digital peer support can be valuable for individuals struggling with their wellbeing, particularly those who do not feel able to or do not want to engage with other services. The current study explores the experience of young adults engaging with a digital peer support smartphone app. Interviews were conducted with 11 young a...

Background Little is known about the social validity of self-harm prevention apps for young adolescents with severe mental health problems who repeatedly self-harm. Objective We assessed the acceptability, use and safety of BlueIce, a self-harm prevention app for young adolescents who self-harm. Methods Mixed methods study involving a content ana...

Background Many university students self-harm but few receive support. Smartphone apps have been identified as acceptable sources of support for students who self-harm, but the use of supportive self-harm apps is yet to be explored in this population. Objective This study sought to explore the acceptability and safety of a specific app (BlueIce) f...

Mobile Health (mHealth) has the potential to be transformative in the management of chronic conditions. Machine learning can leverage self-reported data collected with apps to predict periods of increased health risk, alert users, and signpost interventions. Despite this, mHealth must balance the treatment burden of frequent self-reporting and pred...

Depression is common in adolescence, and subthreshold symptoms even more so. Untreated, it is disabling. Yet, upscaling traditional clinic-based provision would be prohibitively expensive. We aimed to investigate frontline, non-specialist professionals’ use of and attitudes towards technology to increase the availability of early help. Method Cros...

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, technologies such as videoconferencing were used to deliver mental health appointments remotely online. For many people, this was a change from previous methods of mental healthcare receipt and delivery. We aimed to explore in-depth how practitioners, young people and parents in the UK experienced this trans...

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, technologies such as videoconferencing were used to deliver mental health appointments remotely online. For many people, this was a change from previous methods of mental healthcare receipt and delivery. We aimed to explore in-depth how practitioners, young people and parents in the UK experienced this trans...

Self-harm and other mental health difficulties are very common amongst university students, but students face numerous barriers in accessing professional support. Support offered via a smartphone app may help to overcome some of the barriers they face, while providing support that is acceptable and helpful. However, there is limited research on sup...

Background Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among young people aged 15-29 years worldwide and suicide rates are increasing. Suicide prevention strategies can be effective but young people face barriers to accessing them. Providing support digitally can facilitate access, but this can also pose risks if there is inappropriate or harmful...

BACKGROUND Self-harm and other mental health difficulties are very common amongst university students, but they face numerous barriers in accessing professional support. Support offered via a smartphone app may help to overcome some of the barriers they face while providing support that is acceptable and helpful. OBJECTIVE Evaluate the implementat...

BACKGROUND Many university students self-harm but very few seek professional support for it. Smartphone apps have been identified as acceptable sources of support for students who self-harm, but they are yet to be explored in this population. OBJECTIVE This study sought to explore the acceptability, safety and effects of a specific app (BlueIce) w...

This study sought to understand students’ experiences and perceptions of interventions for self-harm, including what aims of the interventions they felt would be the most beneficial. 25 students with experience of self-harm thoughts/behaviours participated. The data were thematically analysed and three key themes were identified: ‘understanding sel...

University students are twice as likely to self-harm than community controls but, unfortunately, help-seeking among this population is particularly low. Given the stigma around self-harm, the face-to-face nature of traditional support for self-harm can be a barrier to help-seeking. Smartphone applications (apps) are a possible alternative source of...

BACKGROUND Self-harm is a growing issue, for which individuals do not often receive treatment. mHealth interventions are a possible solution to some of the barriers individual face when seeking support that have also been found to be effective in improving mental health. Reviews of mHealth interventions for self-harm thus far have had limiting excl...

Background Self-harm is a growing issue with increasing prevalence rates; however, individuals who self-harm do not often receive treatment. Mobile health (mHealth) interventions are a possible solution to some of the barriers that individuals face when seeking support, and they have also been found to be effective in improving mental health. Thus...

Background: Insomnia in adolescents is common, persistent, and associated with poor mental health including anxiety and depression. Insomnia in adolescents attending child mental health services is seldom directly treated, and the effects of digital cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for insomnia (CBTi) on the mental health of adolescents with sig...

Background Technology can increase child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) capacity by supporting and delivering interventions, yet it has not been widely adopted by CAMHS child mental health professionals. Uptake can either be facilitated or obstructed by child mental health professionals' attitudes, which remain largely unknown. Metho...

BACKGROUND Insomnia in adolescents is common, persistent, and associated with poor mental health including anxiety and depression. Insomnia in adolescents attending child mental health services is seldom directly treated and the effects of digital CBTi on the mental health of adolescents with significant mental health problems is unknown. OBJECTIV...

Background Sleep disturbance in adolescents is common, with up to one-third reporting significant symptoms of insomnia. Research with adults has demonstrated that Web-based cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTi) can improve both sleep and mental health. However, research with adolescents is lacking, and we know little about whether CBTi w...

Background Adolescents are digital natives, with the majority now owning their own smartphones and having internet access. Although the internet and smartphone applications (apps) can provide mental health support, little is known about how young adolescents use digital technology for mental health purposes. There are many digital health resources...