Sadhbh Byrne

Institution: Suicide Prevention research unit, Orygen, the National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Australia and Centre for Youth Mental Health, the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Supervisory team: Dr Jo Robinson.

Position: Research Assistant.

Current research: The main project I am working on at Orygen is the safeTALK and Reframe IT (STAR) trial, which is evaluating the effectiveness of an integrated, multimodal intervention in reducing suicide risk, improving risk recognition, and increasing help-seeking among secondary school students. I am also leading a small study to explore young people’s experiences seeking care for self-harm from emergency departments. My PhD research examines parents’ and peers’ support-giving in response to young person showing signs of depression, and involved the participation of over 500 young people and over 200 parents from across the Leinster region of Ireland.

Research interests:

• The role of ‘informal’/social support in youth mental illness
• Perceptions of self-harm (in particular: peers’, parents’, healthcare workers’)
• Parents’ understanding of adolescent mental illness
• Gendered experiences of mental health and illness

Recent Publications:

• McMahon, J., Murphy, F., Cannon, M., O’Brien, G., O’Callaghan, M., Flanagan, R., O’Connor, K., Chambers, D., Byrne, S., McGorry, P. (2018). Where next for youth mental health services in Ireland? Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 1-5. doi: 10.1017/ipm.2018.12
• Robinson, J., Byrne, S., Bailey, E. (2018). How can parents support young people to safely navigate social media? Orygen, 16^th March 2018. Retrieved from: https://www.orygen.org.au/About/News-And-Events/2018/parents-social-media
• Robinson, J., Bailey, E., & Byrne, S. (2017). Social media can be bad for youth mental health, but there are ways it can help. The Conversation, 12^th December 2017. Retrieved from: https://theconversation.com/social-media-can-be-bad-for-youth-mental-health-but-there-are-ways-it-can-help-87613
• Byrne, S. (2016). Support givers: Exploring the role that parents and peers play for young people with depression. Women Are Boring: Fascinating Research By Interesting Women, 21^st November 2016. Retrieved from: https://womenareboring.wordpress.com/2016/11/21/support-givers-exploring-the-role-parents-and-peers-play-for-young-people-with-depression/
• Byrne, S., Swords, L., & Nixon, E. (2015). Mental health literacy and help-giving responses in Irish adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Research, 30(4), 477-500. doi:10.1177/0743558415569731

Can help with: Proof-reading, event organisation, visual design, youth engagement.

What’s essential to your well-being? Sleep, therapeutic journaling, quiet time, painting, sunshine. Also: a colourful wardrobe, trashy TV, a good book, an interesting podcast

Find Sadhbh elsewhere:

• Twitter
• ResearchGate
• Email: sadhbh.byrne@orygen.org.au